Linux – better at something than Windows?

Let me just say, by the title I don’t mean that Linux isn’t usually better at stuff than Windows. I wouldn’t be using Linux if I thought it was rubbish; in fact, I think quite the opposite: Linux does have its advantages over Microsoft in many ways. The more I use Linux the more I appreciate its power; however I do get frustrated sometimes when I want to (for example) watch a DivX movie but find that installing the media player takes me an hour because of all the dependencies.

So, it came as quite a surprise when something worked pretty much out of the box without me actually having to install anything!

As an engagement present, Philippa and I received some money for a digital camera, so we bought the Fuji FinePix F810. It’s a very nice camera – the only thing is, the only software that came with it was for Windows / Mac.

I searched around a bit on the ‘net, and found that there is something called gPhoto that you can use to connect to digital cameras. Downloading and installing it looked a bit funny, however, I wasn’t sure about it. Anyway, after spending 15 minutes searching around, I found that (miracle of miracles) it was actually installed on my computer!

I connected up the camera via USB and after a brief pause, it told me that a device had been connected that contained photos, and did I want to import them into my photo album! Now that is usability for you. Something that works straight out of the box with Linux (that doesn’t in Windows) is quite rare, but I’m happy to report that… well, I’m happy! I can browse the photos and edit them using the GIMP. It’s great!


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