Keithblog

When Microsoft (or even Apple) release their next operating system there is inevitably the warnings that it won’t run on your current PC. Or if it will, you have to pay to upgrade, sometimes as much as the full package. This is not how Ubuntu works, as it is possibly one of the simplest upgrades ever.


Today when I decided to check for any security updates (yea, even Linux has those) I was met by a message telling me that a new distribution was recently released. All I needed to do was click the upgrade button and that was that. After a couple of hours the brand-spanking new system rebooted and that was that.I didn’t have to recreate users, reinstall software, move my files and folders.

Can you imagine logging into Windows XP and being given a link to download and install Vista? Nope, you (either way) it has to be paid for - a new PC or the Upgrade.

The short of it is I’m happily blogging on Ubuntu 7.10 - the Gutsy Gibbon, none the poorer.

This is only possible thanks to the unique way Ubuntu is funded by Canonical Ltd - a South African company set up by Mark Shuttleworth to promote open source software.

It really makes you think, just how much does the Department of Education pay Microsoft for the rights to install and use Windows & Office across the Northern Ireland education system? And how many more teachers could it employ? With Linux operating systems and applications such as OpenOffice.org, why pay?