ten practical reasons to switch to linux (for the non-programmer/ordinary user...so don't run away on seeing the title)

Rules for me:
-The twisted world assumes that ideological = impractical. Therefore I will not invoke ideological debates on FOSS and corporate monopoly.
-Being better than the worst does not make you good. Therefore no comparisons will be made with windows vista. Though I thank it profusely for driving me into linux.

Hem, hem...Ten practical reasons.

10. Every average piece of software that you use on linux IS FREE. You may choose to purchase specific software suites like research imaging software but for everyday purposes, everything is free. This includes the operating system. You do not have to spend a dime on anything beyond your hardware. Ubuntu linux, in fact, is shipped for free as well when you order it.

9. Any software that you need is available in a single descriptive repository program called the package manager. All you would have to do is check what you wish to install from the list and once you are done the software gets downloaded and installed automatically and in one shot without going through a host of checks and options. Any software. You do not have to go online and search webpages for legal software and download and install each individually. There is nothing like a trial or partial version. The repositories are maintained free of malware so you don't have to worry about them. Just check off the list and it is delivered full and safe. And free.

8. The functioning is faster. The installation is faster. The internet is faster. It is just much simpler and better organized than anything else that you are currently using. A Mac definitely gets close because of its unix core but linux is the gold standard for speed because it manages even a heterogenous set of programs better. RAM utilization is excellent so you don't have to keep buying new chips every year. Recommended (basic is even lesser) system requirements match those of windows and mac from 5 years ago. And it is free.

7. Upgrade to new versions of programs and even operating systems seamlessly in minutes. Synchronize all your data online automatically without a click.

6. Middle click to copy and paste. If you do not find it more addictive than tabbed browsing then I will switch to Windows Vista for the rest of my life.

5. Eye candy. Yes, Eye candy. For those that value appearance and aesthetics, Compiz on linux is more customizable, use oriented and visually stunning than Aero or Aqua. In addition, the physics are spot on as made note of by experts. And it is free.

4. No you do not have to learn to use terminals and write programs. Yes you have a GUI with buttons and hyperlinks with easy options. Yes linux is compatible with almost every piece of hardware unless you are evil and tailor make it to be Windows only only only. It runs on Mac and on a pc to the full. I think someone actually managed to make it run on a toaster. And yes, it is free.

3. Customize. Integrate. Don't do what the program allows you to. Tell the program what you want. Tailor your desktop to look like a mac or a windows or a unique hybrid interface that suits your mood and whim. Work a web page like a program from your computer. Automate a sequence of unrelated programs and name it after your girlfriend. Delete anything including the start menu button and the dock. Create a hundred other things that you prefer in its place. Run windows games and even office 2007 or 2008. Make and break doors, walls and windows.
Windows does not do it. Mac tries. Linux delivers. For free.

2. One stop solutions. You have one player that plays all breeds of music and videos. One ripper for all purposes. One IM that covers everything. And it need not be an i-something. Pick what you prefer. Yeah, free.

1. Control. Liberty. Independence.

Rules for you:
-read without fear
-think without fear
-live without fear.

Average Monday

It is 6:30 am. You jump start your day by cart-wheeling out of bed and smoothly landing next to your alarm clock. You stop its tantrums, grab a towel and get washed, cleaned and dressed. You wolf down a bowl of cereal grab your essentials and head out to lab. It is a beautiful day and everything outside looks surreal. You jaunt down the walkway as you turn on the music. 'Bhor aayi gaya andhiyara' floats into your ears. It is perfect.

It is 7:15 am. You walk into lab, open the -20, get out a frozen cell pellet and put it in the water bath. You head to your desk where two screens of floating 3D bubbles suddenly switch to a login screen as you roll your fingers over the mouse. You want to start your perfect day with checking the news, mail and sporting highlights. John walks into your room and sees you, looks at his watch, smirks and walks away. You look at him, turn back to your screen and smile to yourself. He's not going to ruin this monday. Yeah.

It is 7:45 am. The mail has been marked as read. Some have been responded to. Nothing new in sports or world news. You interlock your fingers and bend them till you hear eight cracking effects in unison. Work begins.

It is 8:45 am. Every one else pours into lab and wishes you a good morning. You pull off your head phones and wish them back. You stop scaling the data that you were at and start discussing with them, your ideas on the idiots of the world.

It is 9 am. Rob walks in with a tall mug of coffee. 'He drinks too much coffee for a Brit', you tell yourself for the nth time. Rob claps his hands and announces, 'protein group meeting'. You grab your notebook and walk over to the meeting desks.

It is 9:30 am. You have to leave for Dr. Muzyczka's Advanced Virology class. But you also want to just leave the lab and run away. John told the others about how you showed up at 7:15 am. Kat raised her eyebrows, Jeanne laughed and Rob nearly spilt his coffee. You gave an uneasy smile and said you do come in early sometimes. They laugh harder. It dies down and the meeting resumes. Near the end Rob says, "The ones of you that are really cool would...". Jeanne buries herself further into her arms, Kat looks straight up at the ceiling and John tilts his chair back further. Rob looks at you and smiles. You open your mouth in horror. He hands you a small list of high school student names and tells you about how they will visit the lab and look to you for a 2 hour tour of the facility. You curse yourself. You want to run away. Rob realizes your plight and smiles wider. John smiles too and Kat gets back to looking around the table. You want to run away. Yeah.

It is 10:30 am - You spent an hour in Dr. Muzyczka's class learning how to tilt your chair on one leg without holding the table. You grab a tall cup of hot chocolate from Starbucks on your way back to lab. You enter and notice that the morning's excitement has died down. People are briskly walking around with gloved hands and others are peering into lines and lines of codes and numbers on their computer screens. You head silently to yours, open a terminal and resume your scaling. You take breaks to go to your wetlab bench and work on the cell pellet.

It is 12:30 pm - Your data scaling has progressed. The cell debris has been seperated from the supernatent. Rob walked in 3 times and informed you that he has emailed you something that he also tells you in person. You nod away to the side and see Kat and Jeanne head out for lunch. You join them and walk over to the cafeteria.

It is 1:00 pm - Life is not fair at all. Tina needed the cells that you had lysed because the virus in them was a mutant virus and not the wild type that you expected it to be. She apologizes to you for not labeling the tube. You get a fleeting image of mahatma gandhi in your head and tell her that she can of course have the sample. She smiles at you and thanks you. You walk back to your desk in the manner of a saint that gave up the last of his clothes to a freezing man. Tina thanks you again and smiles at you. You wave your hand and smile like a good king and sit down at your desk. Tina thanks you again and smiles at you. Something is wrong. It took you too long to realize that it was quite a foolish move to do that in front of the rest of the lab. Everyone else is grinning away too. John turns around, looks at you and a broad grin opens up on his face and mutters, "Waitaminnit. You did that all morning and it wasn't wild type?". He is evil. Rob walks in, smells the air, turns to you and smiles almost identically. You curse both of them and make a mental note to enter their email addresses at a porn site database. On second thoughts, you decide to enter the entire lab's set of email addresses at a porn site database. With the exception of yourself.

It is 2:30 pm - You download the paper that is to be discussed at Crystallography journal club and read through it carefully. You take short breaks in the middle where you stare around at what the others are doing and check your mail.

It is 2:55 pm - You have finished reading the paper. You look up at the Chuck Norris poster that you got on your birthday, grab your laptop and join the rest of the bunch as the head out for journal club.

It is 4 pm - Journal club was fun. Your spirits return. You check your mail. You call the racquetball club and book a court for 6 pm. You do not want to work now so you join the rest of the bunch as they crack jokes on Rob and ridicule his accent. You join in and use the chance to call Rob a few names as Rob sighs silently and takes the hits. You realize that Rob will never be the bully of the lab. Ever.

It is 5 pm - You walk to Mavis' room and tell her about your day's progress. You nearly talk to her for 45 minutes before you realize that you have to run to racquetball. You grab your shoes and break into a trot as you head up the hill.

It is 7 pm - Racquetball was a blast. You won the series 3-2. You walk home, get a shower and make some spaghetti. You eat it slowly as you check on recent videos on youtube. After that you grab a cup of Yoghurt and settle on the couch and watch Sportscenter on TV.

It is 8 pm - You head back to lab. Its quiet. Nobody is here. You flip on the lights in your room and get back to work. You turn on the music. It was a good idea to rummage through the old computer equipment to find these speakers. People randomly walk in and out of lab. You briskly walk get some purification done and refine data.

It is 11 pm - You head back home and speak to Subbu along the way. You then speak to mom and dad on skype for 10 minutes, do the dishes, clean up, grab your psp and turn on some comedy videos and flop on the bed. You are asleep in 3 minutes.

Brand Espousal

Cell phone - Sony Ericsson

Gaming Console - Nintendo Wii

Portable Console - Sony PSP

Guitars - Ibanez

OS - Gentoo, Ubuntu, SUSE

Shoes - Adidas

NCAA team - Florida Gators

IPL team - Mumbai Indians

Colour - Blue

Racquets - Wilson

Bats - Gunn & Moore long handles with wide grips

Clothing - Provogue, Gior Dano

Input accessories - Logitech

Music Directors - Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, John Williams

Movies - Excel Entertainment

Shaving accessories - Gillette

Cars - Maruti

Shades - Police

Bikes - Mongoose

Headphones - Motorola

Memory - Western Digital, San Disk

Music - Carnatic, Heavy Metal

Games - Parker Brothers, Milton Bradley

Other Games - Maxis, Ubisoft

Rice - Ponni

Bath - Herbal Essences

Theme parks - Disney, Essel

Winter wear - Columbia

Watches - Timex

Tools - Black & Decker

Chips - Tostito's

Kitchenware - Corelle

Stationary - Camlin, Reynolds

Colors - Crayola

Chocolate - Cadbury's

Photography Cameras - Nikon

Video Cameras - Sony

Lighting - Philips

Washing Machine - Siemens

Refrigerator - Godrej

Language - Urdu

Salad needs - Bertolli

Computers - Sony, Dell

Amplifiers - Stranger

Speakers - Kenwood

Baggage - Swiss gear

Monitors - Samsung

TVs - Toshiba

Digital Clocks - Radioshack

PSC's - HP

Film - Kodak

Batteries - Duracell

Animation - Disney

Card - Visa Electron

Candy - Alpenliebe, Hajmola

Television - Shankar Nag

Dental needs - Oral B, Colgate

Wood - Rosewood

Floors - Polished tile

Soda - Pepsi

Tyre - MRF

Two-wheelers - Bajaj

Scent - Sandalwood

- material side

There was a time when...

If I ever lose track, this will remind me...

• When I was 14, I shoplifted food products on a daily basis with trusted accomplices.
• I was 6 when I first beat Prince of Persia and within a couple of months I was able to complete it within 20 minutes...reproducibly.
• I enjoyed embroidery when I was 8. My mother approved because she was a broad-minded person.
• I excelled at making rudely-worded parodies of popular Hindi numbers with a partner in crime when I was 13. We are still very proud of it.
• I was goalkeeper for the school football team when I was 9. We lost our first and last game 5-0 and I scored one goal.
• I read my first non-pictorial classic – Moby Dick - when I was 6. I read my last – The Coral Island when I was 11.
• I have wanted to be a teacher/scientist ever since...well actually thats all I've ever wanted to be.
• When I was 13, my 11-year old sister was an inch taller than me and my best friend took special notice of that. I grew in late spurts.
• I learnt what the fear of death was when I turned 8. The Latur earthquake woke me up in the wee hours of the morning and I felt it for a whole 3 minutes.
• When I was 10, neck springs and hand springs took me the effort of dropping a pen. When I had to prove it to my friends at the age of 14...
• When I was 9, I made a superhero character for myself and called it Sharkanian (Shar-cane-yan) because I had pointier canines back then. I had a proper costume with a blue cape and leggings and a mask (modified from Cathay Pacific's original makes). I wore the costume everyday and took particular delight in making a superhero appearance in front of mom's guests. I even wrote and directed a skit to be played at a get-together complete with the background score taken from Danny Elfman's creation for Batman that my dad recorded for me. It was shot down for lack of superpowers and structure in the script.
• My tally of head injuries demanding stitches is 9. I still have the scars and bald spots.
• When I was 7, I regularly beat people up for fun during lunch break. The victims took it quite well. It was our fight club.
• I was quite convinced that I was a good sprinter when I was 15. I raced everyday and clocked 12 seconds. I told the faster runners that I was more of the long distance types.
• I climbed my first tree when I was 6. My parents were very pleased. My previous attempt at climbing was head injury demanding stitches number 2.
• When I was 13, I got inspired by the Parker Brothers and made my own WWE-themed board game that was loosely similar to Dungeons and Dragons. My dad critically acclaimed the effort and said that I should attempt to focus on educational value on my next project.
• I learnt Sindarin when I was 16 just because I wanted to escape to a new world.
• I held a green belt in Taek-won-do when I was 9. I was not the best student.
• I have been wary and fearful of girls ever since the age of 12. I still think that it makes me cool.
• I have never had a tooth cavity that required filling. Until two months ago.
• My most recurring nightmare is being back in SYJC and failing the board exam. Until the age of 17 it was being dragged butt-naked through the dead marshes to Mordor.
• I did not know competition (healthy and unhealthy) until the age of 20.
• I ranked 27^th in the state in a scholarship exam when I was 12. And lost the mark-sheet.
• My dad bought our first car when I was 7. It was by far our coolest car because it was Aquamarine. Every car after that has been white or something duller.
• I fractured my right pinky in school after slipping and falling over water that I spilt myself when I was 11. It was my first and only fracture. I wanted to tell mom that a bus ran over it but muttered the truth and ran to my room in agony. For the next 2 months I learnt to write with two fingers and wrote an exam that way.
• I lost my last three milk teeth when I was 14 on three consecutive days during school hours. The girls laughed at me and my patient orthodontist was relieved that he could get started on fitting my braces.
• When I was 12, I once dreamt of a water-filled glass commentary box and a hole cracked on its bottom side. I woke up and thought over it and mentally derived Toricelli's Theorem. I described it to dad the next morning. His response was that I was already well established and that I should think about finishing my milk.
• I took my first photograph when I was 7 on a National analog 56. It was perfect for the first 5 minutes after which my curious sister succeeded in opening the rear compartment of the camera.
• I first saw the Adam West take on Batman and Robin when I was 8. Even back then I thought it was sad, stupid and funny.
• I learnt to spell my name completely when I was 5. It took me a whole of 15 minutes as I walked home from school with mom.
• I have smashed my nails on every one of my fingers (and 4 toes) and have had them regrow.
• When I was 13, I read the first Harry Potter book because my dad bought it for me from a trip to Hong Kong and liked it. I had no idea it would get this famous right then.
• Back when I was 14, my friends said that they would give me an over to bowl only if I bowled faster. I defended myself by saying that I was a leg spinner, hoping that they wouldn't have noticed my medium pace action and hold on the ball. I didn't get my over. I practiced leg spin for two months after that and returned to bowl a guy out on a wide delivery on my very first ball.
• I made a drawing for a Camlin competition when I was 7. The title was 'What I want to be when I grow up' and the best works were to be put on display in an exhibition. Back then, the only sophisticated job title I knew was training manager since my dad was one. I included the title in my artwork and handed it over and came home and told my parents. They laughed at me in the same fashion that people who know me generally laugh at me. Well then...you know what happened. I got a cert for my artwork and it was put up in the first row of the gallery.
• I learnt to read Tamil when I was 18. It was an entirely solo effort and my study material comprised only of bus labels and movie posters.
• I have read a total of 2 Enid Blyton books so far. After I figured out the sick logic in describing picnic food to young kids, I couldn't enjoy it anymore.
• I made my first seminar with transparencies at the age of 12 for a history class. I had to describe the works of Raja Ram Mohun Roy and dad refused to print photographs on a transparency for me so I exercised my drawing skills.
• When I was 13, I once chose to jump off the first floor to convince my friends that I was badass. An audience of 6 peers came to watch and waited for half hour as I was making all my mental preparations from the ledge that I was to jump off of. Finally one of the audience members, came up to the ledge and slid off its end and made a perfect landing after which I clambered slowly off the ledge and let go of it and landed. I assure you that still is as badass as it gets.

- Aamchi Jeeva, Aamcha Vela

Dedications

Since i found out that I am a extremely self-centered person today, I am going to keep this post about some of the other people in my life; so I may feel better about myself. Music video dedications will be made to them, in the lines of MTV select - meaning it may be about them, it may relate to them, it may be songs I sing with them or it may just be something random that I feel like hearing right now.

Yeah, its still about me and I. Whatever; onto the dedications.

Snowie - for being a girl

Gautam - for being the jackass that called me out for the last many years

Archana - for being positive control

Blue - for energizing

Dennis - for bringing cool back

Affi - for sharing the treasure

Scoobie - for being master and commander of the far side of the world

Pa and Ma - for being different

Al Gator - for being leader of a religion of choice

Audi, Nayan, Geetha, Sridhar and Mumbai - for not changing

Matt - for crossing lines to pull over

Pammi - for keeping it real

This one is not a song but it fits here better than everything else I came up with

Subbu - for being the bitch partner

Manohary - for being special

Vid - for teaching without trying

Ibt - for important lessons

India - for some right decisions

Adi, Abi and Vaishu - for being friends

And finally music - for empowering

"Your favorite song comes here"

The Talent

A nice old friend of mine from school, who sends me automatic greetings on Diwali, occasionally also includes my name in a list that he sends youtube videos to. Once such video (two years ago) that caught my attention was of this five-year old playing Mozart for an opera audience in Canberra. 'Damn', I thought. 'Someday I should play like that'. I is not the first time I had thought that.

When I was six, my mom dragged me to the local temple for a Classical dance performance by a ten-year old. The audience would have tallied two hundred. I was not interested at all but I zoned in towards the last bit of the performance where the audience clapped heavily and lauded the girl. I was pricked. I spoke little on the way home but I burst out once we were there. 'I will be a better dancer than that girl...and everyone else out there'. Mom said 'Definitely', and put me to bed. The great fire lasted a few minutes until I slept off.

After that there have been many such fits (sometimes more than one a day). I still haven't learnt to how to use a paint brush, I hold a green belt in Taek-won-do, I field on the boundary line position where batsmen convert twos to threes, I last ten seconds in a deathmatch, I run a hundred meters in twelve-and-a-half seconds and I weigh fifty six kilos with my shoes on.

My ingrained epigentics logic always told me that it is because I was from a very ordinary family with ordinary people. I started running out of excuses for the same as I grew older though. My father turned out to be National Science talent scholar and a medal winning financial analyst, my mother - a vocalist and my sister sings, paints and weighs more (though I am the better fielder, ha!). My extended family helped more by snatching man-of-the-series awards at national tournaments, winning international quizzes and even landing a Padmashri. My best friend lead the brat pack in all that would matter to twelve year olds.

Oh and if you were wondering, my top rank ever in class was seventh. For one semester.

I had some talents of course. I knew (and still know) updated character bios on most comic book heroes and foes. Em...actually that was the only talent. The other one could be the ability to over-publicize myself but well. When people want to be nice to me they agree that the latter one is and former still is not.

It was getting serious. Old uncles were starting to call me a computer wiz for helping them send email attachments. I had to find something that my mom could tell her friends about. Ok, maybe not that. But something to show that I am cool too. I had always believed that my inner talent would burst forth and shine and two hundred people will clap for me...someday. But it didn't happen. I was starting to give up and call myself ordinary. Well somebody had to be average.

But it was weird to live that way because I was not allowed to. A small portion of my class called me a scolty-bhai (bambaiyya for scholar) while my parents got somber when my grades came. "You are spoke good English re", was a very positive remark I got when I returned "rich in experience" from a small voice-culture competition. My computer magic of course got its praise from some well wishers because my deeds had grown to helping them unmute microphones. I was getting eaten up. Either I should become what I am being called or atleast they should stop their nonsense.

Cutting across to now, after a couple of lucky public examination and admission breaks (my sceptics will agree), I cannot say that I have gotten any closer to greatness; nor has my undeserved acclaim come down. To some I am still the ace swimmer and a nobel prize winner. But one thing has changed and that is that I am at peace with it.

Maybe I did give it a try. Maybe it was my friends' fault for not letting me try and learn. Maybe I didn't have the right teaching or evaluation techniques. Maybe my parents should have enrolled me in a competitive class for art or sport when I was five instead of letting me watch tv. Or maybe I just did not have the drive.

But clearly I cannot suck for lack of a revolutionary talent. To the old uncles and the classmates and the friends who thought I had it, I made a difference for that moment. For those moments I did feel on top of things. I still do. And if I could achieve that without a real talent, any kid should be able to. It is not worth it to breed children to win. It is not worth feeding them on competition and telling them that a top spot is the only thing in life. But it definitely does them a great parenting service to let them be happy and help them discover things on their own. I thank my parents for that.

I am still working on it. I am pushing to improve every little thing i do. And atleast my housekeeping,badminton and vocal music skills are starting to show. The important thing is to try and do everything and sometime maybe, just a good paintball shot at that moment can make the difference to someone. I will open on batting and hit a six off the first ball one day.

Why college football?

Since a countdown seems to have been well appreciated by my wonderful reading community (Archana and Manohary on the author's request), I will use the same here.

10. Because American football is a fun game. I have no knowledge of its roots or its relationship with the beautiful game but it is good fun to watch on its own.
Because games end in three hours so you can do something less productive for the rest of the day.
Because it has the statistics, the strategies and the diagrams for the pundits and just lines to carry a prolate spheroid across using 11 players for less informed skinny non-immigrant graduate students.

9. Because of talent, effort, strategy and skill being involved.
Because it involves brains as well as brawn.
Because reading the opponent is every player's job.
Because a single person playing well does not clinch the game. Because the word team carries a lot of meaning.

8. Because the tradition is at least a 100 years old in almost every college.
Because professors wear orange and blue on fridays and wish you 'go gators' when they see you. It is funky enough to note that colleges are that old but to have a well encouraged non-curricular activity for that long makes it something to want to be part of.

7. Because the Florida Gators are one of the hottest college football teams (Obviously I wouldn't lend my support a bunch of pansies to make me proud).

6. Because it involves young kids trying to make a career out of it. You cannot buy them and sell them. Nor can you fix games.
Because the players play come sun, rain or snow. And the crowd endures it with them.

5. Because it is a great feeling to watch fellow students and games that you saw in person being in the national spotlight every weekend.

4. Because Subbu now calls the beautiful game soccer. And went to a Bulls game. A year ago he called football a disgrace in the name of the beautiful game.

3. Because a loss can crush your mood, but not your team spirit.
Because of unique cheers, bands, songs and trademark action sequences for every team and crowd.

2. Because being at the Swamp is like being at a rock concert. Only better.
Because you being part of 90,000 frenzied, screaming rowdy reptiles DOES make a difference to the players.

1. For the top reason I will use the phrase "A video speaks 30 x 1000 words per second"