I find it exhilarating and freeing, although I was quite nervous about making the switch from an Ubuntu install that included a lot of windows virtual machines (so that I could help my technically disinterested friends and keep them from being ripped off by computer shops), WINE (so that I could read Nook Books on my Kindle for no other reason than because it's easy and they don't want you to) and a lot of what could be called "piracy" that I considered "laughing at myself for wanting this crap so badly in the '90s and early '00s".
I definitely simplified my virtual life and had to resist the peer pressure to reactivate my Facebook (I didn't think I could live without it until I had my nice clean Trisquel install and didn't want those icky cookies on it), Skype, flash-dependant photo sharing sites, etc. I found myself spending a lot more time learning how my computer works, the deeper implications of technology, and even dabbling in Python a bit with my five year old and a lot less time looking at pictures of cats and doing other stupid things that left me wanting to smash my PC and replace it with a manual typewriter and a set of 1963 encyclopedias. I was reminded of why I switched to "Linux" in the first place in 2003 and the adjustment was similar. I finally got Virtualbox running on Trisquel less than a month ago and I know that WINE is in the reps if my abilities ever get to the point where I can write free software for Windows users, but I don't feel any temptation to do stupid and illegal things any more. It was definitely a very emotional experience for me to let go of my false persona of "that computer wiz who is really a middle aged woman" to my less technically interested friends and live a virtual life that was more aligned with my values, the way I raise and educate my kids, the way I eat, the way I dress, the way I use my bicycle and car, and other aspects of myself that I'm used to mainstream folks considering "weird". I even picked up a fairly steady gig mending clothes for a mother of seven to replace the income I used to have from mending other people's windows and Ubuntu machines. tbh, I'm a bit nervous about using a distro based on Ubuntu and am using my newly functional Virtualbox to test out Parabola (still trying to install my GUI) and gNewSense (I could live with it if I had to) just in case and I wish there was more interest in Trisquel-Mini because microdistros and keeping very old machines out of landfills (for ecological as well as economic reasons) is a hobby of mine, but I never expected perfection. Right now I need someone to weed out the non-free software for me and suggest alternatives more than I need what I've given up or feel insecure about. I'm not a gamer, so that was never an issue for me. The community is and I find the discussions here enjoyable and enlightening. I never felt like part of a community when I was using Ubuntu and missed the people I met through Damn Small Linux and Slackware, which were also time consuming distros and are no longer appropriate for my circumstances. I have Trisquel on a desktop, a laptop, and a netbook but I didn't do all the installs myself. My then-four year old had no trouble using the installer except for spelling our names and choosing a password because he isn't literate yet. It makes me sad and angry that people dismiss this as "Oh wow, an unschooling supergenius! You must be a very talented teacher!" and miss the entire point. On Sun, 7 Jul 2013 06:03:12 +0200 (CEST) vola...@gmail.com wrote: > i just installed Trisquel in my hard drive in my desktop, its very exciting, > it was freaking easy and the default installation is very complete and > polished... i started using linux when ubuntu was in its beginings, then i > had to quit it. and know im here for the freedoom, which is waning... it > gives me huge satisfaction being using a free software... tell me hows been > your experience?... -- Heather <noordinaryspi...@gmail.com>
