Wubi, Testing out Linux is now easier than ever before
I don’t know if i like the fact that it is named Wubi, which i pronounce like you the slang term for a security blanket, or because it opens the doors to non-tech people to move to Linux.
So what is Wubi? Wubi is a nice Graphical installer that will run inside windows. It will setup and install Ubuntu for you and use your normal boot loader. So basically you get to use linux without any troubles and on top of that when you get tired of it just go to your add/remove programs and uninstall it! It can’t be any easier than that for people to try it out, if you have troubles you can just blow it away and start over or just not use it at all if you don’t like it
This may not seem all too awesome but it is pretty cool since it will help expose people to technologies that might normally be really intimidating. One of the huge drawbacks to Windows to me is that it doesn’t provide simple and fun development tools that kids have instant access to. Linux almost always comes with at least a few programming languages installed. Mac OS X comes with all the popular languages and some that aren’t. So now if you have a windows box you can easily install Ubuntu with Wubi and your kids can play with Python or PHP or setup a server or Ruby easily and what isn’t there can be installed with package manager easily too.
Give Wubi a chance, well rather give open source and Linux a chance. If you can’t get into it completely but really like some of the power you get back when away from windows then Mac is always the best middle of the road choice of having full power with a nice interface!
