I use it because it is free

The Free part of open source is not just about not paying for the software (which can be pretty significant in some cases, but non consequential in other cases), it is also about freedom.
Are you going to be forever free to use Windows XP/Vista without having to change your infrastructure to accommodate that ?.
Even if windows and all its components are free (as in pirated or given to you, or included in the computer you purchased) once you commit to it, you are tied, you are almost forbidden to move your processes somewhere else because it may not be cost effective.

But in the free world of open source, you are free to choose between Apple's OS, any Linux distribution (Fedora, CentOS, RedHat, Susse, etc), any Unix flavor(Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, any BSD flavor, etc) without severely impacting your bottom line. And you are also free to make your business use open source as a tool, a platform, or as a foundation to your business IT requirements.

On the other hand, if you use a piece of software that contributes to your business bottom line and it is cost effective, it does not matter which platform it runs on, what matters is that it is doing what it was gotten for.

upgrade to Fedora 8 on Dell Latittude d510

The other day I upgraded my old notebook, an HP Pavillion ZE4400 to Fedora 8 from a running Fedora 7, I saved all the rpm packages because I was planning to upgrade my other machines (no point on re-downloading everything again). To do this, I followed the procedure outlined at a couple of the multiple guides found on the internet:

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/YumUpgradeFaq

http://allaboutfedora.blogspot.com/2007/11/live-upgrade-from-f7-to-f8.html

http://www.gagme.com/greg/linux/f8-tips.php#upgrade

but instead of going with the update right away I did (multiple times, while uninstalling packages causing conflict):
yum --downloadonly upgrade
I got a full directory cache with all the required packages. Then I copied them to an external drive (/var/cache/yum), all these files can be copied onto the cache of the machine to be upgraded.


Also I always install the livna repository (http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-8.rpm)and installed it before hand.

With each install I also keep a log with all the output and search for the *.rpmsaved *.rpmnew files and replace or delete as needed.

Everything went fine. System is now running Fedora 8.

For my wife's dell latitude D510 running F7 I downloaded the DVD iso and booted the machine with it. To my surprise, the machine enters either an endless loop or endless waiting state. I found a note on the internet:
http://hip2b2.yutivo.org/2007/12/08/upgrading-to-fedora-8-on-a-dell-latitude-d510/

I will wait for the guys from the fedora Unity project to create a new F8 dvd (re-spin) that fixes the problem (I of course e-mailed the person in charge to learn if the problem was on his radar):
http://kanarip.blogspot.com/2007/12/fedora-8-re-spin-in-making.html

diversity, I love it!

Every user has her/his own idea of the most useful desktop.

http://www.fedoraforum.org/gallery/browseimages.php?c=1

Very enlightening and refreshing, You could even keep that page up and hit reload every couple of days to get to see a new set of amazing screen-shots.

This is I can call diversity.

Yes I get it!

I have been using UNIX for a while, I used SunOS, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, BSD, and now Linux, suddenly I realize, what is next ?.

The transition between these operating systems has always been very smooth, and thanks to open source software (which means thanks to thousand of developers behind it, thanks to thousand of companies funding these open source projects, thanks to thousand of companies that base their strategies and business plans around Linux and open source, and thanks to hundreds of companies like SUN, IBM, SGI,RedHat that innovate and share their wealth and wisdom with the community), it just gets simpler and simpler.

It has been about 17 years of working with systems that are basically compatible and that do not force me to re-think my whole way of using computers, at the same time, these systems have always given me the freedom to shape my work environment.

Now days I only use Fedora Linux, it has an excellent community supporting it and it just works. There are daily updates fixing problems and security issues, and there is an upgrade every 6 months, which can be applied either via a CD/DVD boot up, or even on-line (while you are busy working and being productive, the system upgrades itself). Every computer I use is a Fedora system, at work all our systems are Fedora systems, and same thing at home.

There are many, and I mean hundreds of versions of Linux, "distributions" in the Linux jargon, and the great majority of them are excellent as well. I encourage you to get one, and I am certain that you can find one that matches your favorite color, even if that color preference changes once a week.

But then there is the conundrum, the upgrades are simply better one after the other, if there is a problem, it will soon get fixed (I even get the chance, and so do you, to e-mail the actual person that is in charge of the area of the OS or program that has the issue and help in the process of fixing it). The Gui guys, Gnome, Kde, Xorg, Xfce, etc keep coming up with new stuff. Distributions are very advanced, innovation is all over the map, OS, user programs, GUI. All this makes me wonder about what is next.

But does it really matter what is next?, I know that in 6 months a new distribution is going to be ready, heck, I could start using its beta version right now (so can you), and if anything is broken it will get fixed real soon, at the same time, it is going to have many great new things while I am resting assured that it will let me use what I always used and are accustomed to without any drama.

Linux, I get it. Fedora, I get it. Unix, I get it. Open Source, I get it.

Do you ?

Note: I admit, there are so many ideas that this post tries to talk about that I probably ended up saying nothing.