I'm a little miffed that there isn't a way to upload images to Blogger with Linux. Seems like Picassa's Hello works only on Windows. A quick Google hasn't revealed anything useful, but I'm probably not looking hard enough.

I find that my Linux system is by and large self-sufficient, with a few exceptions. Firstly, network browsing is currently not available, because I have to play around with Samba first. So when I need to get stuff of one of the other machines, I currently have to boot into Windows. Secondly, the print driver is currently quite awful, the resolution is useless. This is again trivial to fix probably, I just need to spend more time working on it.

Nowadays I try to use Linux exclusively, to give it a fair go. Whaddaya know, it's not half bad! It got me thinking how Microsoft can compete with it, keeping their current business strategy. Perhaps I've been influenced by too much open source propaganda, but it seems to me like Linux's strengths will keep growing and growing, and it will get more and more stable (as per the famous quote, "given enough eyes, all bugs are shallow"). As a desktop option, it has certainly seen an exponential boost in usability, the days of a pure CUI Linux are behind us, GNOME and KDE may not be perfect but hey, they're a heck of a lot better than what they were a few years ago.

Will Microsoft change its strategy and embrace Open source? Will it try to crush it altogether? If it does, can it succeed? I am filled with ominous anticipation. For some reason I find myself sometimes rooting for Microsoft. Reading about their business practises only has a temporary effect on me, in the long run I seem to forget it and continue my Windows-worship. I am still uncertain whether the downfall of Microsoft will bring me sorrow (or, for that matter, whether the downfall of Linux will bring me joy).

I think at the very least it will be good for MS to get some competition, although how they respond to it is another matter. I am not too impressed with the anti open-source campaign it has been trying out, since it seems to be spreading FUD rather than actual fact. Then again, this is the business world, so perhaps this is what businesses do. I can't claim to know.

On a tangential subject, I hate Linux zealots. Why not Windows zealots? Because I don't see many of them. Linux zealots on the other hand seem to be abound, and they irk me. Then again, what if their zealotry is because of the damning nature of the truth about MS? Heh I don't know.