about 5 years ago I decided to go open source. or rather, I got fed up with Apple. up until this point was a lifelong Apple fangirl. learned how to use a computer on a Macintosh at school. when the first Apple iMac was released they put them in my school library in all the different colors and I remember being so wowed that a computer could look that cool. my first ever laptop was a Dell but have had an Apple laptop since they came in white polycarbonate. had the iPhone since the first iPhone because I knew it would revolutionize cell phones and it did.

16 years and many iPhones, iPads, Macbooks and iMacs later, all my Apple products – laptop, pc, phone and tablet all became really slow and obsolete within a few years of buying them because they were not expandable. I was getting an iPhone every couple years and a new Macbook every 3 years. I’m one of those rare Apple customers because I write, live stream, edit video, design and program all on one machine – I really use my computer to the absolute limit.

after speed issues with my desktop Mac I basically found out I needed a $6000 Mac Pro to edit video and stream efficiently, and then apple made the mistake of asking for $300 for a Final Cut Pro software upgrade right around the same time. I decided it was insane to keep paying top dollar for electronics designed to become obsolete and set out looking for a solution. and like Goldilocks I tried them all until I found something just right for me.

first things first I set out to build my own desktop computer which I considered turning into a Hackintosh (a pc with Apple operating system on it), but after researching the process I decided against it. which of course leaves only two other options – Windows and Linux. I’ve always had a general disdain for Windows and was curious about Linux. while live streaming my pc build a twitch viewer recommended Garuda Linux, and I have not looked back since. in fact I loved it so much I bought a framework laptop and also installed Garuda Linux on it. once I found out how customizable my Linux OS was I went all out aesthetically and functionally and had a blast doing it – my machine is completely tailored to me in form and function.

going open source of course meant I had to replace and learn some programs. I replaced Final Cut Pro with Kdenlive and replaced Illustrator with Krita and GIMP. the amount of money I’m saving myself in the future by using free open source software (FOSS) is huge for me. freeing myself from the clutches of Apple’s built in obsolescence by getting a Framework computer was also a huge step – there aren’t many consumer computer companies that encourage people to install Linux or repair and upgrade their own machines.

recently while going through my old storage unit, I found my macbook air from 2018 and was surprised that when I booted her up, it was running windows. then I remembered that I was experimenting with dual booting MacOS and Windows but found that it was extremely slow to the point of being painful to use. I decided since this laptop is unusable anyway, might as well try to install Linux on it. so after a lot of research on installing Linux on my particular model of macbook air I gave it a try and successfully installed Ubuntu Linux and now the thing runs like new!