Today is the last day of 2005. From tomorrow, it is the dawn of a new year - 2006. As usual, many of us are introspecting about the year gone by and at the same time resolving to set right the mistakes, bad habits and other faults of ours. So this is the time for new year resolutions.
The year 2006 has a lot in store for us in terms of excitement, knowledge, cutting edge technologies and more. Excitement because this year will see the release of three major projects - two by commercial multi-billion dollar corporations and one by the equally strong player in the Free Software Movement.
For the first time in the history of Apple, 2006 will see the formal release of Mac OSX on the Intel platform . 2006 will also see the release of a new operating system by Microsoft called Vista - which it hopes, will change the way people perceive of Microsoft Operating Systems.
But as a Linux enthusiast, the one thing I am looking forward to in right earnest is the release of KDE 4.0 for the Linux platform. KDE 4.0 is seen by many as a fitting answer in terms of usability, stability, beauty and aesthetics in the desktop arena. It is said to contain a lot of improvements over the current version of KDE and is being designed with the lay person in mind. There is a lot of hope that the release of KDE 4.0 will see a major push for Linux in the PC desktop market. And even though this alone may not be enough for a Linux dominance, it will definitely increase the use of Linux by desktop users.
5 New Year Resolutions in favour of Linux
But as a Linux user, each one of us have a duty to act proactively so that Linux finds more acceptance with the computer users in general. So here are my new year resolutions for 2006 favouring Linux
- First and foremost I have resolved that I will earnestly help anyone I come across who is facing a problem in installing Linux on their machine.
- I have a huge cache of Linux CDs of a variety of distributions which includes Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, Fedora, Knoppix, SuSe among others. I have decided that I will hand out these CDs to anybody that I come across who is even remotely associated with computers. What is more, during the conversation, I will persuade him or her to install and try out Linux on their machine.
- If ever I have to take decisions regarding buying new computers or any other hardware like printers and scanners, I will make sure that those hardware have support for Linux. Also I will make a strong pitch to embrace Linux over other OSes (where ever possible) at my work place.
- Through my writings, I will share my views and experiences with everybody in using Linux on a day-to-day basis.
- And lastly, I have resolved that I will give my support to only those candidates or political parties in my country which strongly supports the embrace of Open Source software over proprietary ones in the government. Why this last resolution ? Well I will explain that in another post.
If you have any new year resolutions in favour of Linux, then you are most welcome to include them as a comment in this post.
17 comments:
It's nice to know that you have resolved to accomplish so much :) . Though even this will be so little as far as getting Linux on each desktop PC is concerned. But we need to start somewhere. And this is the right way to make a begining.
As far as I am concerned, I have resolved to use Linux where ever it is possible. And this year onwards, I am making a switch from Quicken to GNUCash or KMyMoney.
Mike J Abraham
Carolina
I have made the resolution to finaly do what I am calling the switch. I am herby pledging to end by days as a dual booter and say goodbye to windows once and for all (at least on my computer, as Ill still have to use it at school). I have created a blog to talk about my progress, It is located at http://linswitch.blogspot.com
~Donald B Guy
Thanks for the new year resolutions ravi.
And a very happy and prosperous new year to you too. :)
Looking forward to reading more of your articles in the comming days.
I never could have put it better. I think this is exactly what Linux needs for a better future in the PC linux market.
I have been a linux user since the past year or so and I haven't looked back ever since. It has also helped that I was not tied down to using propritery software.
Good work!
Simons
I've already filled my resolution and did the switch. There's still a Windows partition still, but only for backup reasons. Once I get all the information there sorted, it will be deleted and the switch complete.
Also, as a blog titled "all about Linux" I think a nice resolution will be to acknowledge the actual creators and use the GNU/Linux name.
Excellent work.
And a happy (LinuxY :) ) New Year to you too.
What i am doing is REFUSING to fix peoples windows installations that become useless because or trojans virii malware or operator error.I WILL if they let me install linux for them instead but i will no longer give m$ free support for my friends or family.
Ravi,
First of all wish you too a very happy and prosperous new year.
I myself have switched to linux about 6 months back. And I have not looked back ever since. I have had my own startup troubles but I have over come them now.
As far as my new year resolution is concerned, I intend to pursuade others to switch to linux too. I am not a techie so I can't help regarding troubleshooting but I could direct them to the right site though.
Bolton
Bravo to all of you. I must state that the latest (in)security exploit problem with Windows Metafile (WMF) on the Windows + IE platform is pretty much the last straw for me.
Thus my objectives for year 2006 are:
(1) use Linux much, MUCH more often for not just activities like web browsing, but by transferring as much of my workflow over to Linux-based applications.
(2) Learn more about the command-line interface and shells (e.g., bash) and the commands I need to accomplish administrative tasks.
(3) Continue to preach to friends that any security problems they have can be mostly dealt with by taking the responsibility and time to learn about their systems.
And best wishes for this year and beyond, everyone.
What a lovely post. I think I'm going to have to echo those 5 ideas you've come up with. Get active, meet new people, help them out, learn a few things in the process. Best wishes to all, far and wide for '06. :)
Great! Could I suggest a small change to #3?
I will earnestly help anyone I come across who is facing a problem in installing Linux on their machine.
Add:
...and I will file a bug report about the problem.
If installation is difficult, that's a bug, which the developers will want to fix. But they can't fix it if they don't know about it.
One way to promote Linux is to give your old boxed sets or professionally made CDs to your local library.
When buying new hardware be sure to check that the Motherboard will support the LinuxBios. See here for more info:
http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/free-bios.html
BD
I resolve to help more people switch to Linux. In fact I would like to do a promotion that my blog, Linuxblogger (http://linuxblogger.dyndns.org/weblog/), will help get 1000 people switched to Linux before the start of 2007.
you will earnestly help to anyone who wants to install linux?.
How many time since last linux installation?, are you planning give mouse click assistence? ;-).
Ravi,
Really enjoyed reading your new year resolutions. Keep up the good work.
Not sure about your last one there. What if the only political candidate is someone who supports OSS, but also supports the total withdrawal of welfare programs, the persecution of ethnic minorities, etc? One-policy voting is foolhardy, my friend! OSS is an important issue, but it pales in comparison to such things as global poverty, national healthcare and the like. Vote with your mind, not with your heart!
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