Okay, so everyone knows that I'm a Linux and open source nutjob. Really, I do try to keep it at a minimum. I'm not going to go around bagging on other OSes without good reason, and I don't believe that Linux is the cure-all, end-all. I've even written in the past about problems that I felt Linux had to overcome to be a desktop OS competitor. I'll even go so far to admit that there are some things about Vista that look pretty cool, and there are things about OS x that I have been quite impressed with. They all offer their own good sides and bad sides. For me, though, Linux offers me more good than any of the other options--and I think it can help a lot more people than it is helping right now. And this is why I am a Linux evangelist of sorts.

Now, this very long preface is only meant to introduce the fact that I had a pretty cool Linux experience today. You might be surprised to discover that this cool experience began with my computer being broken. Well...not broken broken. Here's the scoop:

So, just like Windows, Ubuntu Linux offers regular updates (for security and upgrading and such). A nice little icon pops up and says, "Hey! You need to upgrade your system!" Normally, I don't think much about it, and I didn't this time. I really should be a little more careful because on rare occassions, the upgrades might not be completely campatible with all the programs on your system. Well, that's what happened this time. This morning I downloaded and installed a kernel update (which, if you don't know, is a pretty serious deal...but Linux has made this upgrade process extremely painless). Unfortunately, I did not know that the new kernel was not yet compatible with the drivers for my wireless card. So, when I booted up with the new kernel, suddenly I didn't have wireless working! Now, this is a bad deal--no wireless means no internet for me on my laptop.

Well, at first I was worried my wireless card finally gave up the ghost (this is a pretty old laptop now, but computer standards). But, when I booted into Windows (yes...unfortunately I still have to have Windows installed for communication purposes--Google, will you please get on the ball and release a Linux version of Google Talk? Thanks.) I found that my wireless card was working just fine.

Now I needed to figure out what the problem was. Here's where the Linux and open source coolness kicks in. One of the best things about Linux is the community behind it. I quickly signed on to the Ubuntu Linux online forum, and before I knew it I had been told what the difficulty was with the new kernel. Apparently the Ubuntu people were aware of the problem, and there was already work on fixing the drivers to the wireless card to work with the new kernel. Still, I couldn't wait for the drivers to get fixed...I wanted internet now!

Well, fear not. This is the next really cool thing about Linux (at least Ubuntu Linux). Every time Ubuntu installs a kernel update like this, it makes it ridiculously simple to back up and use the old kernel instead. In fact, it doesn't uninstall the old kernel when it installs the new one. It always keeps two kernels on the system--the new one, and the one you were using before. This way, if a new kernel breaks something, you can easily head back and use your old, working kernel until everything gets fixed. All you have to do is select the older kernel from the boot menu--an option most people don't even notice when they're booting their computer. This strikes me as an absolutely brilliant safeguard! Can you imagine doing something like this in Windows? It might be possible, but I was just so impressed by how easy Linux made it.

Okay, I won't go on and on because I know it's boring to most of you. But, for those who are interested...Linux up!