A Picture’s Worth…Well, Something Anyway

As a follow up to a post on my switch to a Linux desktop, I thought it’d be instructive to post a screenshot so that a.) you can verify for yourself that I’m not falsifying my alternative desktop credentials and b.) so that you can see what it looks like. Many potential users I speak with seem to have the impression that Linux is this weird, horrifically intimidating operating system that can only be run by command line. It can be that way, of course, but that’s hardly a requirement. See below:

Things to note:

1. The email client is Evolution 1.4.6 (can’t wait for 2) running the Ximian Connector. The important part of that is the fact that you’re looking at an Exchange 2003 back end, with my folder of Google Alerts. Some decent kit, as my colleague would say.

2. The IM client is Gaim and you can see that I have MSN, Jabber and AOL contacts in there. I have a bunch of Yahoo ones in there off screen as well.

3. The browser – minimized because my screen just isn’t that big – is Firefox, which I’ve covered before.

4. The UI is GNOME 2.6, which is a desktop common to Sun, Red Hat and to some extent, Novell.

5. The wallpaper, for those interested, is “Nature Captured” from Deviant Art – you can grab it here.

6. The desktop icons, BigSog and RedMonk, are Samba and FTP links that open a local Windows server and our remotly hosted website, respectively. Nothing truly unique about this functionality, but it’s quite handy.

Everything in the picture is free and downloadable. Applications, icons, graphics, operating system, UI, everything. Pretty cool, n’est-ce pas? Maybe I’ll hope James isn’t reading and give myself a bonus for saving RedMonk some cash 😉