I'll never use Linux... (But did you know you're probably using one of its cousins ...?)

The old adage says that we all hate change.  But people do like trying new things...  The trouble is that the 'new thing' you're playing with probably isn't all that new.

There are some stock responses I get when I mention that I have started using Ubuntu, (I usually get the questions "What's that?" and then they look at me in a strange way when I explain it's a version of Linux) the more memorable of which are:

• Why would you want to use something that nobody else uses? (Nobody...? Really...?  At the time of writing this post Google had been running its 'Communities' functionality in Google+ for just over 2 months.  The OMG! Ubuntu! community has over 10,000 members.  That's on a so-called small social media platform.  The Facebook Ubuntu page has nearly 700,000 likes.  Don't tell me nobody uses it.)
• Why use something that's unsupported?  (Unsupported...?  If you're using a LTS release - I mention it in this post - you're getting five years worth of support...  If you're not using a LTS release - take a look at AskUbuntu and you'll find tons of support by people that want to help you - not forced to, because they're paid to do so.)
• Yeah, I know it's free... But you get what you pay for... Pay nothing and you get low quality.  (Again, this post counters that.)
• I don't want to learn a new operating system.  (If you're a Windows user, you remember converting from XP to Windows 7...  How about moving over to Windows 8?)
• You'll never convince me to use Linux.  (Thing is, you probably are using something very similar already.)

What do I mean that you're probably using something similar already...  Well that takes a bit of a history lesson.

Danger! Education Inbound!  Back in the late 80s, when I was studying Electronic Engineering, one of the computer systems I used in the college was a UNIX network.  This may be a familiar term to many of you.  Unix can be considered to be the father to a lot of operating systems out there.  Unix is trade-name protected, proprietary software that when something is developed for it, requires certification before it's released.  Of the many adapted versions of Unix, you may be familiar with OS X and iOS - Yep Apple's operating system is a modified and certified version of Unix.

Linux is effectively a clone of Unix, but differs in the fact that its 'free and open source' software.  That doesn't mean that the software free of financial cost, it's more of liberty to the software.  But the code is shared for anyone with the skills to develop and enhance it.

Like Unix, Linux has a lot of adapted versions - and this blog is about one of them, Ubuntu.  But one you're more likely to be familiar with is something called Android.  So if you use an Android phone or tablet, you're using a Linux based operating system.  If you use a Mac, iPhone or iPad, you're using its cousin (if you're a Mac user and have used Linux at any time, that's the reason why you know where the close, maximise and minimise buttons are).

So I don't have to convince the vast majority of you to use a Linux system - as the chances are, you're already using one...  Or a very close relation.