Call me crazy, but I am a person who cannot live with feelings of guilt and indignity. When I purchased my beloved computer, it came equipped with a pirated copy of Microsoft’s Windows XP. As is the case with many other Pakistanis, I am unable to buy a legal copy of the Windows operating system. It is expensive and unreliable considering the support options and security issues. I kept using pirated Windows XP, which often displayed an icon in the task bar informing me of my computer’s security condition. Most Windows XP users would be familiar with this feature. It strongly recommends that you install an anti-virus utility on your computer and enable automatic updates. A legal copy of any popular anti-virus utility is another expensive software. Therefore, instead of using a pirated version of Norton Anti-virus, I left my computer unprotected.

Everyone knows that Windows is quite vulnerable to bugs, viruses, trojans and spyware. There seems to be an attack on Microsoft products on a daily basis and in order to combat these vulnerabilities you need to get patches from the Windows Update website. My cable internet connection did not allow me to download updates using the automatic update utility and Microsoft’s Windows Update website didn’t allow me to download updates because I was using an illegal copy of Windows XP. I don’t know about other people but I felt ashamed whenever I saw a notice telling me that I needed a genuine Windows license in order to take advantage of security updates. I felt ashamed when they indirectly told me, “We know you are a thief and we let you get away because we know you are poor and needy.”

I am neither poor nor needy. Companies such as Microsoft think that the citizens of Third-world countries need pirated software for their computing needs and just like any power hungry corporation, they pretend to be kind and gracious by not persuading our governments to aggressively wipe out illegal software. I wanted to tell them, “No sir, I can’t take something in such a shameful way. No matter how pretty and valuable it is.”  This was the reason I went looking for other options and found the wonderful world of Ubuntu.

I knew about Linux and free operating systems such as Red Hat, Mandrake, Debian and others of their ilk. I decided to give one of them a try and bought a set of Red Hat Linux installation CDs. The installation itself went smoothly enough but after booting, my internet didn’t work. My modem was not supported and my cable service provider was using an ISA server with some strange settings. During my first attempt to install Linux, I had accidentally deleted Windows and now had no choice but to reinstall it. My initial attempt to migrate failed miserably but I did not give up. I kept looking around for a simple easy open-source solution. Meanwhile, I started using open source programs such as OpenOffice, Gimp, Firefox and Thunderbird on my PC.

One day I came across Ubuntu Linux. I immediately ordered their CDs after learning that Ubuntu is not only free but they also ship free CDs globally. I received my package in three weeks. Unlike many other Linux distributions, Ubuntu comes with only one install CD containing almost everything one could ask for. In light of my previous attempts to install some Linux distributions, this time I didn’t make the mistake of deleting my Windows partition from my hard disk. I installed Ubuntu and as with my previous experience, it installed smoothly. However, my internet connection still didn’t work. This time, I decided to struggle a little and configure my system. Ubuntu has great community support options and I successfully configured my internet with the help of the Ubuntu Wiki, Ubuntu Forums and IRC chat rooms. It was remarkably simple considering all I had to do was discuss my problem with other community members. I even found a driver for my HCF Conexant modem. Now I can browse the web, create documents, chat with friends without using any pirated software.

Ubuntu is a complete operating system based on GNU/Linux and the  of software freedom. Ubuntu is an ancient African word that means “humanity towards others”. Ubuntu markets itself as Linux for Human Beings. It has almost everything that a Windows user might want and then some. It has OpenOffice to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations, GIMP to create and manipulate images and Gaim to chat with friends on Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, Google Talk and IRC. By default it comes preloaded with the Firefox web browser and Evolution, a mail suite. It has audio and video players and you can download codecs for almost every media file available. You can plug in your mobile phone, digital camera, iPod or whatever digital accessory you use and Ubuntu automatically detects it.

There are more than 15,000 packages available for one to download and install. If you don’t like Firefox then you can always use Konqueror, Epiphany, Galeon, Opera or Mozilla. You don’t like Gaim? No problem. Try xchat, aMSN, Gajim, licq. I have completely migrated to Ubuntu and am using it for my personal computing needs. I don’t remember a single moment when I regretted my decision to use Ubuntu.  I have solid reasons to prove that I am doing the right thing.

Ubuntu is free software. It is free in the sense that it offers the freedom to redistribute, modify and use. There is no enterprise edition, no license fees and you are free to use it for both commercial as well as personal purposes. You are free to modify your operating system completely and redistribute it. You are free to submit patches for bugs or localise the system to your language.

Ubuntu means humanity towards others. By using Ubuntu you become part of a worldwide community struggling for software freedom. You can help others by answering questions in support forums or help the community maintain Wiki-based documentation. You can translate Ubuntu or any of its components in your local language, chat with other Ubuntu users and make friends from all over the world. Free software brings people closer and allows them to solve each other’s problems. People out there are contributing their precious time, knowledge and money to help each other. Who wouldn’t like to be part of such a great community?

In light of this, legal aspects now seem the least important reasons to love Ubuntu. But you cannot ignore them. I used Windows but it was not my Windows. Using Ubuntu I can say it is my Ubuntu because not only am I legally entitled to use it, I am also allowed to redistribute, modify and contribute to it. It empowers me to work for the community and tell other people to join. I am legally allowed to enjoy the freedom of making lives easier for other human beings.  There is no excuse for using illegal software anymore. Today, I wonder why people even try to find lame excuses to use illegal software when there is such an abundance of better, legal and free software. I am thankful to free and open source software not because it is legal but because I no longer fear the indignity and shame that I faced while using pirated software.