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When you boot into Puppy it'll ask you 3 questions before the operating system starts:

1 what type of mouse are you using
2 what language do you want
3 what type of graphics engine do you want to use.


You can probably just hit <enter>, <enter>, <enter> for all of these options, because the default choices all look good.  I've never seen a Live CD boot so fast, it's amazing.

The interface is attractive IMO, it provides a beautiful background and the windows look and behave in a way which I can appreciate for their minimalism and functionality, in other words it has a very intelligent "look and feel" as we call it.

The desktop is full of icons with all types of needed software for media, office, networking, and the like.  And there is not one type of application that takes more than 1 second to be up and running, everything behaves in a simple click-boom-go manner.  There is a button on the desktop to install.  You can click this and do an easy install to a flash disk, external drive, or whatever you want.  If you have a 200Gb external drive you could travel the world with your Operating System in your pocket including your favorite mp3s, movies, and with your personal settings and software all ready to go.

To learn more about Puppy linux and get it for yourself please go here www.puppylinux.org

    So what was it that caused me to start to use linux and then continue using it almost 10 years later.  First of all, it was just simple curiosity.  Linux has always been "free" to download and install, and although the installation process hasn't always been easy I could still promise you that anyone who knows how to read, follow instructions, and has a little freetime could most certainly install even the most complex distributions of linux.  Regardless, I was advised by a co-worker (who happened to be the IT for our company) to start off by trying Mandrake linux (which I believe has since been renamed Mandriva) because its very user friendly.  And he was right.  The installation was painless, and although not everything worked at first (such as sound) I was very impressed with the interface, and surprised to find that everything basically worked the same as windows.  There was a start button with an organized menu system, and when I clicked on a software it opened up in a window, nothing so out of the ordinary...

My very first impression of linux was very simple: 

1.  It has all of the software I need upon installation.  No need to install MS Office, Adobe Illustrator, MSN, etc...

2.  The Operating System's interface (such as the desktop, the windows, and the menus) was more attractive, more flexible and had more choices to play with, while at the same time being less complex and easier to use than Windows.

3.  All of the software in general was easier to use, more organized, and comprehensive documentation was available online or offline for everything.

4.  I didn't have to pay a dollar.

So why wouldn't everyone be using linux?

    The first problem (during that time) was that linux didn't necessarily come with any guarantees.  Just as I had a sound problem with my first installation, many people were also having problems with the graphics (known as the X org), and if it didn't work then you'd have to find a way to get online to read some boring documentation or ask someone in a forum and wait 2 days for a response.

    Then, even with a successful installation, or after days of bug fixing, you would probably come to find that a lot of the software could also give you headaches.  Perhaps things wouldn't work as they were supposed to, or perhaps the entire system would lock up and you would be left staring at a screen that doesn't move no matter which key or mouse button you click.

    So it's no wonder that most people who first tried using linux during these days were daunted and decided to go back to windows in order to carry on with a regular computer user's life.

    So why didn't I quit using linux then?  Well, during that time, all of the pre-mentioned issues were also very common with windows.  Frequent lock-ups, crashes, and the infamous "blue screen of death" were common for every computer regardless of Operating System.  Being that I was so much more impressed with my first impression of linux then I was with windows, I decided to keep pressing at the issues I had with linux and get the problems solved until I didn't need windows anymore.

  At any rate, as of the time of this article (Feb 2009) the following would be a list of reasons that I continue to use linux.

1.  Tons of free and easy to install software.  Although installation hasn't always been easy on linux, recent distros such as Debian and Ubuntu (a variant of Debian) have got it down to an art.  You simply choose the software you want from a menu, then the Operating System will automatically download it and install it for you.

2.  Freedom from the pirate's headache.  As we all know, most people are constantly trying to figure out how to hack, crack, and steel windows softwares which were intended to be paid for.  This is most likely what leads to the majority of bugs, viruses, and unwanted adversiting that you have to deal with on a Windows machine.  Not to mention the fact that even when you pay for a software there's no guarantee that it'll work.  Most current linux softwares are tested and approved for their particular distro, and although they too have problems, at least I didn't have to pay for it.

3.  Learning and community.  Whereas windows has a lot of secret code which you shouldn't be looking for, and frequently commands you to seek help from some qualified Windows official (who you'd also have to pay for), the linux community encourages you to look deeper and learn more.  Most problems I've run into in linux can be solved after a google search and changing a few words in a text file. 


And just to be fair, some things which I actually do miss sometimes from Windows:

1.  Games.  Although the list of free games you can find in linux is not a short list, it's not the most entertaining selection.  This is understandable in my opinion, for all the hard work and extreme talent it takes to make a high quality game I do actually believe that they deserve to get paid a ridiculous sum of money.

2.  Support for latest softwares.  When a new software comes out, it tends to be developed for Windows first, for Macs second, and (if ever) for linux last.  Again, I believe this makes sense since most linux users generally aren't paying money.  But even new free softwares (such as Google's new web browser 'Chrome') seem to come available for linux last.


I could go on and on about the other benifits of linux, but most of it might be from a developers perspective.  Moreso I could rant and rave about why MS is a company which I care not to support, but there's already dozens of blogs about that already. 

I'd like to make one more note and clarify that the ideas mentioned in this article about linux being "free" is subject to argument over the concept that linux is "Open Source".  There are actually distros of linux which ask for financial support, and many distros provide improved support for paid memberships, but I am generally referring to the absense of $ payment required to use many distros of linux.  I think this is worth mentioning, and I do hope that happy linux users will find a way to donate and support for the millions of programmers who've helped to make linux what it is today.

So I'll just leave it at this and if you have any comments or questions please use the contact link.