Ease of repair and upgrading...

One of the things I consider when buying a new computer, is how easy it is to repair or to upgrade with relative ease.

I like to upgrade the RAM, or change the battery when it dies, by myself. While I could learn how to change the processor, change the screen, and other repairs by myself I don't mind having someone else doing them. Actually, I believe that is a good thing that computers and other electronics to be easily repaired or upgraded.

It's both economically and environmentally conscious that computers should be serviceable. After all, if computers could be easily made to be as new by skilled servicemen, those computers can have a longer life. This doesn't mean that the original owner can't buy a new computer if the need arises, but the computer can be used by other family member or friend whose needs are meet by that computer.

Not only that, since those computers are usually substantially cheaper than new ones more people can have access to have their own computers.

Let's be honest, the argument that you need the greatest and newest hardware to do the basic stuff that most people does is not true. And there is a lot of great Linux distros that run on that kind of machines, that actually are targeted to run on them. So, you can get the best software with all the modern safety futures that are needed for the basics that runs on substantially more affordable hardware.

Environmentally, the it makes sense to keep the computers or its components for as long as possible. This helps to keep them put of landfills as long possible, and to recycle all that can be recycled would be a great plus.

Servicemen can be a lot of help when come to be able to recycle components, since they can take those components and do the recycle process themselves. Either by using those components on other computers, or handing them to other people to do so.

But, it's important to be conscious of this, and buy only those models that are easily repaired. And when possible, try to give or sell your old computer to those who need them or can put your computer on good use.

For the love of learning...

As a geek, I love learning how thinks work and how systems work to make things happen. How changing any part of a system can alter its functionality, thus being able to make it work better by tweaking any of the individual parts.

This is one of the reasons why I've been using open source software for a long time. Because even though I don't have the technical skill to tweak much, I still can learn about how the software works from the inside-out. And I can do it in an environment that encourages the study of the source code, and if you can't contribute with code you can contribute by giving ideas on how to make the software better.

The first open source software I used was Firefox, and then Songbird as my media player. A couple of years ago I made the jump to Ubuntu, and I've no regrets.

I've fulfilled my thirst of knowledge, and I'm still learning much about software development and how the FLOSS community works. I've seen the complexities inside the FLOSS community, and I'm trilled to be part of it.

Using Ubuntu has been fulfilling, and even though there has been some hiccups along the road, it has been quite a satisfactory road. And I've a new level of respect for those who have build FLOSS and Ubuntu.

They have built quite the great piece of software.And they keep improving it all the time.

It'd be great to see people as engaged on science and mathematics as people are on FLOSS. We can really build a better world if all this was done on the open.

Ubuntu is the distro for me...

As an user that has been using Ubuntu on the regular basis for a couple of years now, I've to say that I simply have enjoyed the experience very much.

When Unity was made the default UI with the 11.04 release, I liked even more.  Yes, at its release Unity had many bugs and was not as customizable as other UI running on Linux. Yet, Unity worked for the and I enjoy using it.

And with at the maturity it has reached on Ubuntu 12.04, I can really can see myself using it for a long time coming. There's no other OS out there that works for me as Ubuntu does, or I enjoy as much using.

Ubuntu is the one distro that I'd share with people that want an easy to use OS, that is stable and easy to use. I like doing some technical stuff on my computer, but in general I just want a OS that works and is in line with what I believe. That's why I use FLOSS almost exclusively, I just use Skype to have video calls with family and friends.

There are some areas of improvement on Ubuntu, but I can see that Canonical and other developers are heading in the right direction to solve the issues I've. And if, for whatever reason, they don't take Ubuntu in a direction I don't feel comfortable with, I can rest assured I can jump to another Linux distro that does.

Chipset manufactures could benefit from Linux...

One would think that chipsets manufactures would benefit greatly by supporting all three major operating systems out there. Yet, you find out that Nvidia and ATI chipsets drivers are lacking on Linux.

Which is ratter baffling, since it would seem logical that supporting drivers for Linux would be beneficial to them in order to sell more chipsets. Linux might have a small share of the market, yet when you see the number of people and companies who run Linux on their systems it starts to make a lot of sense to support Linux.

And if they actually made the Linux drivers open source as the OS itself, they could rely more on the Linux developer community to maintain and develop the drivers needed for the chipsets to be run on Linux.

Not only that, some of the developments that could be ported to other OS because they give more stability or security for benefit to a wider sector of users.

If chipset manufactures really collaborated with the Linux community, and the wider FLOSS community, both sides have a lot of benefits to reap. Working together the development would be faster, and could have a bigger scope, if chipset manufactures and the FLOSS community created synergy by working hand in hand to get to the common goals.

At the end, both sides are not enemies.

FLOSS builds communities...

I like how FLOSS projects allow people to come together to build communities around projects that they want to work on because they believe in them.

This turns out far better software, because individuals are allowed to contribute as the can. They can either contribute their time and expertise to work directly work on the code or help manage the project, or contributing money is an option if the individual doesn't have the skills or time to contribute to the project.

There is also a possibility to help by reporting the bugs that you find along the way, either by filing the report manually or using an automated tool to do so.

This facility to be able to create communities to work on a certain project, or to create either a new project or a fork of an exiting one, give the FLOSS community its unique flavor and strengths. There are several projects at a time aiming to better, or solve, a particular problem or issue, making it progress faster and more since you have people working on it that do it because they want to make the project better.

But, most importantly is that work on FLOSS projects helps to build bonds among users. Mainly because people are working together on something they believe in, and thus they exchange ideas and viewpoints to make their collective goals come to fruition.

It also helps to develop critical thinking, since it's important to have it when solving problems or laying future plans. Also it helps to develop creativity, to solve problems in different ways when the standard way doesn't seem to be able to come with a way do so.

It helps to develop the ability to work with others as a group, to learn how to lead and how to talk with teammates.

At the end, even if you aren't paid to do a certain job, the abilities and skills you learn from working on any given project can prove invaluable later.

Linux and the distros are not the same thing...

It's somewhat sad to see how many tech commentators don't seem to get that Linux is the core than runs all the various distros out there. In a sense, Linux is the engine that powers all the distros, while each distro picks what parts will it use to give the usability and looks the distro's team is looking for.

That's why there are several user interfaces, like GNOME, Unity, and KDE, from which distros can pick the one they feel is right to get their flavor of Linux to work and look a certain way.

To some extend, the development of the Linux core and the different user interfaces are on separate tracks. Mainly because Linux interacts with the machine itself, and the user interface interacts with the person using the computer. So, their development has different targets to hit.

But, that's where Linux sets itself apart. Since each distro has the choice to use any of the different users interfaces out there, the user get a real choice of what suits his computing needs. Systems can be readily be built to suit the needs of a certain user with relative ease, and using components that can integrate a lot better with those needs.

If you don't like where a particular distro is going, there are others that can take you where you want to. As users, Linux and the distros using it as a core give users a level of freedom that Windows or Mac OS X will never give.

If you want to have freedom to choose how your computer works and how it looks, jump over to Linux. It's only a matter of finding the right distro for you.

Linus Torvalds and the Millennium Technology Prize...

Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, was awarded today Finland's Millennium Technology Prize. This prize is awarded every second year, and it's awarded to life-enhancing technological innovations.

For me that Linus Torvalds was awarded with the Millennium Technology Prize is a well deserved recognition. After all, the operating system that he created not only powers the Internet and some of the most important stock exchanges in the world. It also powers the supercomputers on which most of modern scientific research is carried out.

This way, Linus Torvalds' OS is on the forefront of the things that contribute to the betterment of our quality of life. And not only that, it has proven that free and open source software is a legitimate development platform on which people can work together and contribute to create something larger than the sum of its parts.

Personally as a Linux users, it makes me proud that the who created the core of the OS I use and love was recognized for the work and effort he has been doing over the years.

So, cheers Mister Torvalds, and congratulations for a well deserved prize!