Despite the fact that I encourage an “all open source, all the time” mindset, there are still times when I just can’t get by without adding some proprietary software into the mix.  I also know that I used proprietary software much more in the transition period before I moved into more and more open source software.  So rather than drive the hard line, I want to make it easy for new open source users to start moving closer to an all open source model.  One of the best ways to get further into open source is to use Linux as an operating system.  There’s so much more open source software available and the installation and configuration mechanisms are much better on Linux than other operating systems.  However, making the move from Windows or OSX can be a scary transition because many of the tools you currently use are no longer available.  So when I saw this article from ITWorld about how to use proprietary software on their Linux PCs, I had to pass it along.  Check out the article and comment if you have further questions.

ps.  I’ve never gone totally “free” by running completely free (as in freedom) software only.  I have been an Ubuntu user for several years now and a Fedora user before that.   I also just tried out Linux Mint recently, and it seems to be really nice especially for less techy users (or really even more techy users that don’t want to mess around with it like me) that need easier access to do normal things like playing DVDs, MP3s and Flash.  The tools you need to support almost all of your requests are just a few clicks away.

pss.  I also suggest NOT running a “dual boot” system.  If you really need to run your old operating system, install Linux, install VirtualBox (as recommended in the article) and then install your old OS into VirtualBox.  Then you can run both Linux and Windows/OSX at the same time without rebooting.  I do this almost every day at work and it’s a pretty seamless way to keep your feet in both worlds.

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