[Elecraft] Elecraft's linux utilities - somewhat OT, or maybe not

[John Magliacane via Elecraft]

On Tue, 5/27/14, Bill W2BLC <w2blc at nycap.rr.com> wrote:

> I am not trolling, I really would like an honest answer as
> to why Linux is chosen over Windows for similar operations.

Bill,

In a similar way, I'm often asked why I spend so much effort with radio equipment, antennas, sunspots, etc. in such a cellphone and Internet dominated world.

The reasons are many.  None are simple to explain.

I started dabbling with Linux 20 years ago because it gave me the opportunity to run the equivalent of Unix on low-cost, non-proprietary hardware (a PC) that I already had in my possession.  I had previous experience with Unix, recognized it as a very serious and powerful OS, and wanted to learn more about it.  At the same time, I saw Microsoft products as being very poor in quality and being targeted toward individuals who knew very little about computers and (even worse) didn't want to know anything about computers.  I wasn't one of those people.

Slackware was my Linux distribution of choice in 1994, and it still remains so today.  I find many of the flashy "all singing / all dancing" Linux distributions difficult to use when doing anything out of the ordinary because they often try to "think" for the user (in their effort to make things "easy"), and more often than not, get things wrong in the process.  To me, these distributions aim for a Microsoft-like audience (individuals who know very little about computers and want to stay that way).

Having computer experience that dates back to the late 1970s, maybe you find yourself in a similar situation for a similar set of reasons.

I also think that the growing "do-it-yourself, build-your-own (Linux) mentality" that Doug (K0DXV) pointed out is also what Elecraft is all about as well, so it should come as no surprise that many Linux fans are Elecraft fans, too.


73, de John, KD2BD

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