Linux Appreciation Day
Introduction
Okay, I’ll be honest, no Linux Appreciation Day actually exists officially at the time of this post. Isn’t that heart breaking?!
The only thing remotely similar to it could be SysAdmin Appreciation Day, which was celebrated just over a month ago by the way!
But that’s just not good enough, so here I am writing about it.
Why is Linux a big deal anyway?
For starters, not only does Linux power the majority of the web servers, thus being responsible for keeping the web up & running, but also acts as the foundation of Android, which accounts for roughly 70% of the mobile global market share! Needless to say that this same website runs on Linux, so if you’re reading this post on an Android device, you have already 2 big reasons to appreciate it!
Plus, if you’re into gaming, did you know that SteamOS, the Operative System (OS) behind the popular Steam Deck, is based of Linux? That’s right, if you never thought about it, now you know!
Not to mention the many IoT devices out there that use it due to its open source nature and reliability or the plenty Linux distributions who often revive old computers into a new life, saving them from turning into digital waste sooner rather than later. Speaking of which, let me tell you a story…
Right around 2014, my mom had a laptop that shipped with windows XP. It wasn’t the most powerful machine, but it got the job done considering the office work it was used to accomplish. Unfortunately, as time went by and applications became more resource hungry, the poor thing just couldn’t keep up and became increasingly frustrating to use.
Since opening a browser or using Microsoft’s Office was a struggle, she asked me if there was nothing that could be done about it, because other than performing slowly, the laptop was in pristine condition and it would be a shame to discard it just for that reason.
So I put on my adventure gear and went exploring the web for lightweight OS’s and eventually stumbled across a Linux distro called “Linux Mint Xfce”. Claiming to be resource friendly, I was keen on giving it a try. An added plus was that the user interface was not that far off from windows at the time, which would reduce the learning curve coming from windows. So I got the nearest flash drive, created a live installation media and off we went to say farewell to Windows! 👋🏻
And surprise surprise, it delivered! 🎉
Whilst navigating the web was still a bit of a struggle, editing documents was no longer a dreadful task thanks to LibreOffice (even though some compatibility issues between formats still gave my mom the occasional headache). And lastly, it was a secure and free OS still being actively maintained.
This to say that, because of Linux and its amazing community, that laptop lived many more years than it would’ve otherwise. I find that incredibly important considering how precious our planet resources are, and how crazy it is to discard a perfectly functional piece of hardware, just because software development has become evermore resource heavy over the past years.
So what can you do?
Spread the word! Make your old laptops great again by giving them a new purpose! Get involved and join your favourite Linux community! The sky is the limit people!!
Seriously though, why not host your own Nextcloud instance at home? You’d have your own private media server where you’d be able to store all your photos, videos, files and much more while maintaining full control over your data!
Or perhaps go in a nostalgia trip and turn your laptop into a full blown arcade with the help of RetroPie?
Last but not least, why not install any Linux distro on it and learn about its ecosystem by getting your hands (or perhaps fingertips) dirty? Nothing like trying it for yourself!
Hopefully these ideas sparked the curiosity in you. And remember, the best time to get into Linux was yesterday. The second best time, is today!
Farewell & Happy journey! 🐧