So it has been a while since my last on linux as my main box, I’ve really basically just been using Linux every day. After getting past some of the usability issues with DVDs, movies, mp3s, and other media, I’ve definitely settled into a nice rhythm with Ubuntu.

My biggest issue lately has been my external firewire drive which is NTFS. Since I run Ubuntu on my laptop, and laptops shouldn’t be tethered to anything except a mouse and power, I decided it was in my best interest to stop wrestling every 4 days with Ubuntu vs NTFS (which typically I did get to work…until unplugging and replugging the drive back in and trying to remount- Nautilus is very picky and whiney), and just plug the drive into something on my network that is on all the time and likes NTFS much more (Windows). I now quite easily just smbmount over the network when I want. The added benefit is my other systems can get on it now as well.

Other than that, I’ve become very happy with my Ubuntu installation, which is kinda illustrated by the fact that I’ve not booted into Windows on this laptop since the last update a few months ago. I do cheat, however, since I have other boxes including a slightly less-powerful laptop running XP, but I definitely give Ubuntu my daily tasks. The XP box is just there for misc things and other Windows programs. Heck, I’ve even taken much more to cygwin on all my Windows boxes.

Will I stick with Linux? Yeah, I will. The reasons remain the same, though:

1) Tired of paying for an OS license at home.

2) I want much more practice with foundational Linux tools.

3) I really like being familiar with a Linux box day-to-day in addition to just knowing how to use the apps. I feel much more flexible this way. (And it adds to my skillsets.)

Will I fully ditch Windows? Never. I have older machines that love my Windows 2000 installs. My other good laptop and gaming rig both have Windows XP. And as long as my job involves any semblance of Windows, I’ll do my best to keep up with it. And Windows will always remain my backup boot option.

My goals moving forward this year in regards to Linux:

1) Become intimately familiar with BackTrack. Also adopt a couple other Livecd distros for flexibility sake. Likely Auditor, Helix, Trinity, or something related… Livecds are just too cool when it comes to laptop use.

2) Become more practised with a wider range of tools for Linux. The only difficulty here will be delving outside Debian/Ubuntu-ready packages and tracking down my own dependencies with things not in Synaptic. I might just use an older laptop as a test bed so I don’t screw up my main box too badly. 🙂 I might even look into FreeBSD.

3) Start getting familiar with running a Linux server and replacing Windows as my main server. I might look to something beyond Ubuntu for that, and might just run it from the command-line as well. This is definitely more of a “maybe by the end of the year” sort of goal.