I started toying around with Linux back in the late 90's. At the time I was looking for an alternative OS to Windows 95. Since I had a low-end machine (a 286 if I recall correctly) I needed something small.
I was fortunate to have been introduced to a guy named James Carter who told me about Linux. He invited to a local Linux Users Group in the Cincinnati area where I was quickly indoctrinated in to the world of Linux.
At that time things were MUCH different than they are now. You didn't have easy installations. Many drivers were non-existent so you had to find someone to write one for you (if like me, you weren't a developer). I even had a blog called "the Linux Newbie" which was one of the first sites focusing on Linux for regular people (i.e. non-developer types).
Most of what I know about computers today is a direct result of that period of learning. It lead me to my first IT job where I was able to work exclusively in Linux (self compiled Slackware with KDE desktop).
A few years into my Linux adventure I decided to leave my country and move to Europe. It was there that I had to quickly switch back to the Windows world as every company I went to work for only allowed Windows (Damn IT security policies!). 8 years passed by before I started playing around with Linux again.
A lot had happened in that time (and surprisingly NOT a lot happened in certain aspects - more on that some other time). Ubuntu was created. The age of easy install Linux had come. MANY drivers were available. Laptops worked out-of-box.
This site, Clarify Ubuntu, is my re-introduction into the world of Linux. Naturally it's focus is on Ubuntu and especially Ubuntu for non-developers as it's the distribution I prefer now.
I plan to use this blog pretty much like I used the Linux Newbie blog which is to create tutorials and post useful articles which can help newcomers to Ubuntu and Linux in general.
I hope someone finds it useful.
One more thing that I should make clear -- there are already many great sites for Ubuntu users. However, the one thing I have noticed is that they seem to assume that the user is part of the Ubuntu/Linux culture. For example, often they have interviews with great people like Linus Torvalds (the guy who created Linux). I believe that true end users of Ubuntu do not not care about whether Mr. Torvalds supports distribution X over Y or that he likes this desktop environment or that one. What end users of Linux want to know are the practical ways to use Linux as an OS.
Another thing other sites seem to do is assume that since you use Ubuntu you must hate Windows are Apple. I personally don't have *much* of an issue with Windows. I still think it's the OS of choice for business simply because business is so embedded with Windows products. There are simply no good alternatives to applications like Microsoft Visio (a must in my job) that still maintain full compatibility with the Windows version. And before anyone chimes in, I hate OpenOffice! It's GUI sucks, it messes up office documents and it's 'owned' by Oracle (who do suck). It's simply not up to par with MS Office.
P.S. This blog has no affiliation with Canonical, the developers of Ubuntu. This is just a 'fan' blog.
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