Well, Thursday there was the release of Hardy Heron. I did of course download and install it and a review will be coming in the near future. I wanted now to just talk about the experience of that day. I was logged into the release party channel on irc.freenode.org and there was much buzz as you can imagine. If you could manage to read and keep up with the conversation, you could feel the enthusiasm just spewing from the fingertips of everyone in the room.
This is where I have to herald the merits of the Linux community which is then compounded with "mac-fanboy" zeal. I've been to the linux-con's of old and there is a strange energy, a "high" if you will, of encouragement and acceptance on the level of what Martin Luther King and Ghandi spoke of. I've seen the novice and advance users come together and sing "Kum-ba-ya" to lighters in praise of developers and community. This was just as present on release day.
Maybe because I am physically removed from the grand event and the real-world release parties where everyone is dancing and shaking hands that in the on-line world I could actually catch the buzz and excitement. I should say, that if someone reading this has never used linux and open source software much of this energy seems bizarre and foriegn. I appologize, I don't mean to alienate, but it is in fact quite emotional.
My simple examination is that there were thousands of users online writing about their enthusiasm of the release of the new version of an operating system. An operating system that gets released every six months. Then compare it to the non-event which was the release of Vista, and the ensuing pain and laments of the users after having waited 5 years. Mac may be the exception, but it doesn't border on frenzy every six months.
Ahh, it feels good to be part of a community that feels more like the defition of community than I have with the people with which I share a physical community. Hats off to Linux and Ubuntu for keeping it all jazzed up.
Keep watching here for my Ubuntu 8.04 and my Ubuntu 8.04 + EEE Pc review coming soon.
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CafeNinja
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