Ubuntu – Is it viable for a home worker or small business?

We often hear about what tools people use for blogging and it is nearly always Mac and Windows based. In January I began an experiment. Could I live, work and be not just ok, but happy using Linux? There was no dual booting, no second computer or any cyber cafe. I was on my own.

I opted for Ubuntu. It seemed to have a decent level of user friendliness, plenty of documentation, and an active community should I need any help. Without further thought, I ordered a new hard drive, popped it in the machine, and installed Ubuntu 7.10 – Gutsy Gibbon.

Installation was not without hiccups, but then it never is. My major mistake was to not have my computer connected to the internet during installation. When Ubuntu installs it automatically connects to the internet to download the latest versions of everything. Without these it did not work, and without it working I could not connect to the internet to get it working. Quite a dilemma. I figured it out with the help of my house mates’ PC and some quick Google searches. The Ubuntu community is very helpful.

My only other problem was configuring my two sound cards. I like this set up so I can have speakers running through one and then headphones and microphone through another for Skype. Again, some tinkering and all done.

First impressions
Ubuntu is very pretty. It is quite intuitive to use. You have to accept that it will take time to become used to a Linux environment, and will at times test your patience. Things are just in different places and have slightly different names. We are working against over 10 years of using Windows, so things will take time. I do not beleive I would have had any more or less problems than if I was moving onto a Mac.

The add and remove applications system is very simple. There are no end of pieces of software available to do all kinds of things. Remember the internet is mostly powered off linux so there are tonnes of applications and names we have heard of before such as Apache and MySql.

I used Firefox and OpenOffice on Windows too, so very little has changed there. I started off using Thunderbird on Ubuntu, which I used on Windows and it all transferred no problem. Now I am using Google Mail which is webmail based and do not feel the need for a stand alone application.

I will reveal more details as the test goes on.