Simon Clarke – he of Forest fame – has little to worry about.

So he decided to take a pop at me.

Naturally I take this in the spirit in which it’s intended – a spot of banter and a chance to fill a web page with nonsense. But it does give rise to an opportunity to provide a very rare insight into something the world has been waiting for – a glimpse into the inner workings and thoughts of my genius.

His main thrust is that I was mad to buy the laptop that I did, and then to complain about having problems installing Linux. This is where he makes his big mistake. It’s not a problem: it’s a challenge! There is a vast difference. A challenge is something I will willingly take on and when I am victorious I get a huge sense of achievement. Actually I am quite enjoying this laptop challenge as i am up against the might of HP in its determination to thwart me. David and Goliath and all that.

I haven’t fully cracked the laptop challenge yet, but am 99% there. I just have to bypass a couple of menus that irritate me but it’s no longer a fight. And the machine is incredibly fast thereby making the whole effort worthwhile.

The reason I bought the laptop is quite simple – it had excellent specifications and was on sale at around half what I would have expected. Simon suggests I should have bought the machine with Linux already installed but such a device doesn’t exist on the Irish market. Yes, I could get someone else to do the job but not only would that be hellishly expensive [cost being of primary concern to a pensioner] but where’s the fun in that?

In the second part of his musings, he wonders what is so great about Linux.

There are basically four choices out there. there is the ubiquitous Windows, Mac OS, the rising popularity of Chrome and of course Linux. The first three have one inherent problem – you are tied into the world of Microsoft, Google or Apple. I confess I know little about Chrome, never having used it and am equally unfamiliar with Mac OS but I am only too aware of the multitudes of problems with Microsoft. So why is Linux better?

Linux is free. It costs nothing. Not a red cent. Just download and install. No licences to accept, bills to pay or any of those irritating pop-ups that bang up every time you try to install something. This also applies to all software. The vast majority of Windows programmes have their Linux equivalent, where the former are hellishly expensive while the latter are there to be freely downloaded. Take for example Microsoft Office [or whatever they call it these days] and then look at Open Office or Libre Office. These two are fully compatible [with a very few minor exceptions] with MS documents. How about Gimp as a replacement for Photoshop? In fact you can even install Microsoft specific software on Linux.

Linux is easy to use. In the old days it was a geek’s toy but now it’s an everyday system that can be familiar to any Windows user. i say “can be” as this is another feature of Linux – it comes in a vast variety of flavours with different appearances. I use Linux Mint Cinnamon which would be instantly familiar to any Windows user. There are some obvious differences though such as the menu items of programmes being categorised by function rather than alphabetically [what the hell were Microsoft thinking there?].

Still not happy with the look of your desktop? There are hundreds of themes out there, all free, to customise just about every aspect of the screen.

Need I mention that Linux is fast, efficient and secure? There is no need for anti-virus software [more expense] to thwart the installation of a legitimate piece of software. Could this be the reason tht the vast majority of web servers run on Linux?

I hope this answers some of your concerns, Simon?

Can you now sleep peacefully tonight?