Open Source...ooohhhh yeeeaaahhh!
I'll be honest, at the first thought of Open Source/free software, I was skeptical. My brain still operates on placing value through dollars for most goods, and amateurs making software just for fun sounds more like an undergrad technology project than something I would want to run my computer with. I, however, was very wrong...
In IT521, we have beat this idea to death, yet it still fascinates me. Geniuses of technology are working together to bring their work and software freedom to the masses, like William Wallace with a keyboard... but with no killing. In this experiment, I hope to use as much Open Source software as I possibly can, and document my experience here. The primary programs I will be using are Firefox and Open Office since an internet browser and word processor are the programs I use the most often. I will use Ubuntu through the Dell Dr. Pfaffman issued to me at times during this experiment as a means of comparison with my Mac and campus computers. I will not use it all the time, though, because it is not practical to carry with me on a regular basis for the simple reason... it's too damn heavy. (I may sound pathetic, but I'm okay with that.) This will also allow me to see how prevalent Open Source is with other machines.
This first post will be describing my experience the last couple of weeks with Firefox.
Up until recently, I used computers as little as possible and would feel exhausted and irritable if I sat in front of a computer for more than a half hour doing anything other than write a paper. I used the programs I was instructed to use, which included (of course) Internet Explorer. When my wife gave me a Macbook for Christmas last year, I made the switch to Safari, which ran circles around Explorer. Throughout these years, Firefox was always around but I knew nothing about it. As an undergrad, I thought it was used as a tool for other operations, that I as a peasant computer user would no nothing of. When I would visit the computer lab at ETSU (where I earned my undergrad), I would move to a different computer if it was the only browswer available on the computer I was on.
However, I have seen the light and my eyes have been opened to the wonders of Firefox and its ability to make my life a little easier. It features all the same tools as Safari, and has considerably more than Explorer. My internet use is primarily restricted to ESPN, Yahoo!, iGoogle, Facebook, UTK, and various news sites (BBC, NPR, MSNBC, etc.) With ESPN being the site I visit the most, I use it to watch games on ESPN360 and listen to ESPN Radio. I also use MSNBC to watch their streams of Sunday night NFL games, and Hulu to catch up on the Office and 30 Rock (I don't have cable). All these operations use a different system and tools to provide these videos, and Firefox handles them all with appearant ease. In fact, it streams NBC's NFL games (which works through Microsoft Silverlight) better than Safari. Firefox also allows users to save their ID and passwords on most sites that require them. The top of the window features a Google search box, an easily recognizable icon for a home site, and will make suggestions for previous sites based on what I enter into the address box.
Simply put, Firefox is comparable to Safari and greatly supasses Explorer... all while charging ZERO to the user. When competing against the giant numbers posted by Microsoft and Macintosh, zero can be the largest number of all.
In IT521, we have beat this idea to death, yet it still fascinates me. Geniuses of technology are working together to bring their work and software freedom to the masses, like William Wallace with a keyboard... but with no killing. In this experiment, I hope to use as much Open Source software as I possibly can, and document my experience here. The primary programs I will be using are Firefox and Open Office since an internet browser and word processor are the programs I use the most often. I will use Ubuntu through the Dell Dr. Pfaffman issued to me at times during this experiment as a means of comparison with my Mac and campus computers. I will not use it all the time, though, because it is not practical to carry with me on a regular basis for the simple reason... it's too damn heavy. (I may sound pathetic, but I'm okay with that.) This will also allow me to see how prevalent Open Source is with other machines.
This first post will be describing my experience the last couple of weeks with Firefox.
Up until recently, I used computers as little as possible and would feel exhausted and irritable if I sat in front of a computer for more than a half hour doing anything other than write a paper. I used the programs I was instructed to use, which included (of course) Internet Explorer. When my wife gave me a Macbook for Christmas last year, I made the switch to Safari, which ran circles around Explorer. Throughout these years, Firefox was always around but I knew nothing about it. As an undergrad, I thought it was used as a tool for other operations, that I as a peasant computer user would no nothing of. When I would visit the computer lab at ETSU (where I earned my undergrad), I would move to a different computer if it was the only browswer available on the computer I was on.
However, I have seen the light and my eyes have been opened to the wonders of Firefox and its ability to make my life a little easier. It features all the same tools as Safari, and has considerably more than Explorer. My internet use is primarily restricted to ESPN, Yahoo!, iGoogle, Facebook, UTK, and various news sites (BBC, NPR, MSNBC, etc.) With ESPN being the site I visit the most, I use it to watch games on ESPN360 and listen to ESPN Radio. I also use MSNBC to watch their streams of Sunday night NFL games, and Hulu to catch up on the Office and 30 Rock (I don't have cable). All these operations use a different system and tools to provide these videos, and Firefox handles them all with appearant ease. In fact, it streams NBC's NFL games (which works through Microsoft Silverlight) better than Safari. Firefox also allows users to save their ID and passwords on most sites that require them. The top of the window features a Google search box, an easily recognizable icon for a home site, and will make suggestions for previous sites based on what I enter into the address box.
Simply put, Firefox is comparable to Safari and greatly supasses Explorer... all while charging ZERO to the user. When competing against the giant numbers posted by Microsoft and Macintosh, zero can be the largest number of all.
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