When I worked at a university in the area of educational technology, I was a major advocate for open-source software.I took every chance I got to evangelize Linux and open-source apps to the student body.Part of it had to do with helping cash-strapped college students eat less instant ramen, but the other part was philosophical.
Windows and macOS are ultimately products of a corporate machine that can fool you into thinking things have to be a certain way, but with Linux there are several aspects of the experience that can teach you another path.Give old hardware a new lease on life Blow off the dust and save money and the environment When I did my postgraduate degree, I only had a desktop computer, and the course required that we have a laptop computer in class.With no budget to speak of, I had to get said laptop, or I would not be in a position to take the course.
My solution was to buy a used netbook (remember those?) that came with a stripped-down Linux distro, and then replace it with Ubuntu Linux.That little computer with its low-end Intel Atom CPU and just 2GB of RAM served me for three years of on-campus life.The lightweight requirements of Linux allowed me to buy exceptionally cheap hardware that most people considered obsolete, and use it to the same effect as other students who showed up with MacBooks just to take notes and do some web browsing.
That's one of the best reasons to bring Linux to school with you this year.Computer hardware prices are at an all-time high.RAM, in particular, has risen several hundred percent in price.
So the less RAM you can get away with, the better.It's especially useful for older computers that don't support Windows 11, and can't use Windows 10 because there's no more support for it from Microsoft.Load a modern distro of Linux on these computers, and you have an up-to-date computer system that might run a little slower, but is fundamentally capable of the same things as newer machines.
Have a distraction-free school computer Learn to focus the right way Some people may disagree with me, but I find that Windows 11 is not conducive to a distraction-free work environment.Even when I activate the more peaceful modes, or disable as many notifications as I can, I still find things that annoy or distract me as I work.Luckily my actual daily-driver work machine is a MacBook, not a Windows PC.
So there are no ads anywhere, and a widget full of news stories (and more ads, if we're being honest) doesn't just jump out at you if you move the mouse pointer too far left.However, Macs are not always the most budget-friendly option.Even the entry-level MacBook Neo is now (without an education discount) $700! So one awesome way to get a streamlined and focus-friendly experience is by using a Linux distro like Mint.
If you really like the macOS aesthetic, you can give Elementary OS a try too.Learn skills you won't get from Windows or macOS Become the hacker wizard of your dreams To be clear, you don't actually have to learn about things like the terminal, or scripts, permissions, filesystems, and all the other things people associate with Linux if all you want to do is use it like a typical office PC.Which is to say, you'll mostly browse the web, and may use some offline apps like a word processor or spreadsheet program.
But, if you're anything related to IT, cybersecurity, or computer science, you're going to have to work with Linux in your career regardless.Although it's not a popular desktop operating system, Linux has a massive presence everywhere else.So using Linux on a daily basis while studying is a great way to get some bonus learning done and familiarize yourself with the OS that you're likely going to need anyway.
It's the right place to learn coding This is the right vibe for coding Close You might think that since everyone is using AI to write code now, that you're not going to need any of that silly coding knowledge.The truth is that while AI can take over the manual process of creating code, someone with deep knowledge of the subject still has to quality-assure and guide that process.It's like having a pocket calculator take over the mental process of calculation, but you still need to understand math to use a calculator correctly.
Linux is the ideal coding environment, and it's simple to set up all the tools you need to start writing your own code.AI-assisted or not.It's also a great place to experiment with virtual machines, containers, self-hosting, server management, and a bunch of other practices that you'd think would only be for students studying computer-related stuff, but are quickly becoming more mainstream as private cloud technology becomes more popular.
There's no downside to learning Linux Linux can save you money, help you focus, and give you easy opportunities to upskill yourself for a future job market that's looking quite uncertain.You can be as conservative or experimental as you want to be, there's some flavor of Linux that will suit your student life perfectly.It doesn't matter whether you're in high school or college.
Heck, there's no reason why elementary school kids with laptops shouldn't go with one of the many education-focused distros.It costs you nothing but time, which students usually have to spare.
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