Here’s a love story for you:

A linux n00b hears of this miraculous “free” operating system that is apparently easy to use and configure. He tries one version just labeled Dapper Drake, of all things. It loads, it runs, it simply works. Fast forward almost two years and another few versions he downloads the latest one called Gutsy Gibbon. This time, he’s a little battle scarred since Feisty Fawn didn’t jive too well with his wireless card (for those who care, do NOT get between a geek and his wifi network. It’s not pretty).

So he gives it a go.

And finds that (although there are some snags) Ubuntu is as lovable as ever.

End of story.

Truth be told I didn’t really care about linux till Ubuntu. The philosophy, the approach, the community all seemed to gel together and invite me to give it a go. As of now, the latest release fixes a lot of issues, introduces some new bugs but overall is a hell of a free operating system. My brother (who has inexplicable problems with Windows on his Toshiba laptop) was skeptical but now he enjoys the virus-and-risk free environment and the stability it offers.

The Wife uses it to check her email, watch Youtube and chat with her friends on Gtalk, oblivious that it’s NOT Windows. I don’t have to worry about messing up obscure Windows registry settings or inadvertently downloading malware into my laptop. If something does happen and you can’t boot into Windows, put in the Ubuntu CD and it’ll boot for you into a workable desktop so you can save your documents.

If that isn’t worth the cost of free, I don’t know what is.