Dude!

When you're going to college, you should really have a laptop. That's what I've been told, anyway. It would come in handy for writing, research, note-taking, and, of course, entertainment. You can't forget entertainment. To survive anywhere these days, you need a computer, and if you're on the go, you need a laptop. I've known this for a long time.

Until around six months ago, I didn't give much of a thought about the operating system that my future laptop would run. Without question, it would be Windows, and probably Windows Vista at that. Anyway, since I've switched to Linux, I had thought that finding a good laptop would be a challenge. Laptops themselves are a dime a dozen (not literally), but since I don't know that much about computer hardware (or Linux), installing Linux on a laptop might be difficult.

My dad took me to some stores to show me some laptops so I could get an idea of what I wanted, but I knew that installing Linux over Windows would not be the best way to go. Besides the fact that I don't want to give Microsoft my money at all (let alone for a product I'd get rid of immediately), I would need to have a laptop with Linux pre-installed and the guarantee that everything would Just Work. If my computer crashed because I needed such and such a driver or the ATI or the wireless thingy wouldn't start, I wouldn't know where to turn to. Generally, if a company sells a computer with software on it, that's sort of a guarantee that the software will be compatible with the hardware. Although in this case the playing field would be limited a great deal, I decided it was worth it.

Ubuntu is the Linux distribution I've been using, and I've decided to stick with it because there's little hassle involved and everything Just Works. Probably the foremost company that specializes in pre-installed Ubuntu systems is System76. Although I've heard lots of good things about their products and their service, I couldn't help but notice that their prices were quite a bit higher than the equivalent Windows systems I could find in stores. But because they offered full support for Ubuntu, I decided that System76 would be the way to go.

Then something happened: Dell decided to sell computers with Ubuntu pre-installed. Although they currently have only one laptop model with Ubuntu pre-installed, I found that I could get a better computer for less money than if I had bought from System76. Besides that, I could help show a major computer vendor that there really is a demand for Linux. On Tuesday night, my dad and I were going over the specs I wanted, and I found that the cost would come out to $1,083 before taxes and shipping. So my dad wanted to know if Dell offered student discounts. I looked around on the site but couldn't find anything easily. He decided to give them a call.

Before I knew it, my dad was buying the laptop I wanted over the phone. After going over the specs with the sales guy, I picked up another phone so I could hear too. The guy said it was his first Ubuntu sale and that he didn't know much about it, although he was interested in finding out. He warned us that the computer came with no anti-virus software, and that's when we explained how Linux isn't nearly as susceptible to viruses as Windows. He was impressed and asked us to keep in touch so he could learn more about running Linux.

I wasn't sure if I wanted 1 GB or 2 GB of RAM; 1 GB would be decent for now, but I want the computer to last at least four years, so I need to make sure it'll still be decent tomorrow. So the guy doubled the RAM from 1 GB to 2 GB for free. My dad asked if there were any discounts, so the guy gave a discount and made the shipping free. Throughout the whole process, the sales guy was very amiable and didn't try to push anything on us that would have cost more money. The final cost after tax came out to $1,088.63. He said it would ship no later than Tuesday, June 26. Contrary to my expectations, buying a computer from Dell over the phone was a pleasant experience.

After that, we bought my sister's computer. She wanted a Mac so it would match her new iPod. I don't have anything to say about that.

Now, one big question remains. What should I name my computer? Before switching to Linux, the concept of formally naming a computer was unknown to me, but it seems that there's even been an entire RFC written on the topic. Apparently it's common if you have a group of computers to follow a theme with their names. Even if you only have one, you're supposed to give your next one a name in the same vein, or something like that. That's what the cool people do. Anyway, it's got to be something clever and not dumb. Any ideas?

Here are one guy's memories of working at Microsoft in the early '90s.

When people switch from Windows to Linux, they're often concerned about things that they could do in Windows that they can't in Linux. However, it's a two-way street. Here are things you can do in Linux that you can't do on Windows.