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As most of you know, i'm an avid Ubuntu desktop user. I've come to like it so much, it has become the number one replacement for Windows XP in the house here. If its not a Mac , its probably running some Ubuntu distro. Why ? well , because for me, Ubuntu was easy to install and comes with a very nice way of updating and installing extra software. When it comes to my favourite Linux distribution (as a workstation) Ubuntu wins hands down …
But at a certain moment the novelty wares of, the "alternative choice of OS" looses its gleam and you arrive at the harsh reality of everyday life. Faced with a DVD that I would like to backup, I fret and search through my Ubuntu OS looking for an easy program to do this with. Its one of those situations where you can recite 50 Windows XP programs to do the trick, yet are not in the ability to find one simple solution for your predicament on your linux system. When it comes down to the crunch : Ubuntu should be able to do the trick just as easy as Windows or Mac-OS does. Sure, everybody can smack together a linux distro that lets you surf, chat, email, even play the occasional mp3 and WMV file. But what if things get more complicated.
Looking at the tough decision that my fellow Podcaster Dave is going to have to make : Reinstalling his (only) Windows XP machine, I wish I could give him an alternate choice. Forget Gatesware : Go open source … my heart screams. Yet in the harsh light of reality that is not always an option. Dave uses audio editing software like Soundforge an stuff, in order to work magic with the recordings of the Globalgeek Podcast. He needs multi track editing, compression tools, audio processing and mp3 encoding capabilities . Sure there are some nice programs for that in Ubuntu. But he who says you can do all that in AUDACITY has clearly not been into podcasting for long.
But an sliver of hope does gleam on the horizon. As the new edition of our beloved Ubuntu comes around, so does a special 'multimedia' distribution. UBUNTU STUDIO is the name, and a distribution to fit the multimedia geek is the aim : According to their wiki : Ubuntu Studio aims to be a multimedia editing flavor of Ubuntu for the Linux audio, video, and graphic enthusiast or professional who is already familiar with the Ubuntu-Gnome environment. Ubuntu Studio is currently in planning . So that sounds mighty cool to me. A tailored 'flavour" of a popular Linux distribution for multimedia geeks like us ? Will it be able to pack the crunch ? We"ll see when we get out hands on it.
Rounding up I must say that with distributions like this and interesting developements on both the Linux and the Apple front, me enthousiasm for Vista is just non existant. Its like having Steve Balmer in a Thong at the side of my bed, begging me to let him do everything my heart desires, yet failing in getting exited about the fact. Exept for some eyecandy the only thing I've heard about Vista so far has been a string of bad news. I'm sorry : Its not that I'm anti MS. Hell, appart from the security fuck-ups I liked their last two OS'es. But .. But together with my Mac and the current Linux systems I allready use .. I find no love for their new OS.
I wish it was April allready.