I've just recently changed webhosts. I'm now with iWeb. I got a dedicated server.

Why? Here are a few reasons:
- Having a server in Montreal rather than Houston (where I was before) reduces the latency of about 1ms/100km. Not much, but still an improvement.
- Using local webhosts supports your local economy. The taxes paid from patronage go to your own government.
- This being a dedicated server, I wanted the experience of installing all the required resources myself and of managing my own box. So this site is installed by hand (apache, mysql , vhosts and all).

I've been using Ubuntu GNU/Linux for about a year now.
I really like it. Mostly because it's free. In every sense that word can have. I've been legal as far as software goes for a long time now. I just don't use proprietary software anymore. Now some people argue that it's better, that it's stabler. The amazing things that free software have brought me are beyong anything large corporations can offer.

How many times have I been pleasantly surprised by FLOSS? Let me count the ways.

1. Nautilus, GTK & Compiz Fusion

Window management is a hassle. That's why it's called management. It's better when multiple models of interaction are offered. That way, you can choose which one you like, depending on the situation. Hell, GNU/Linux and its' window managers have had MacOS Exposé and Spaces (multiple desktops) for aaages.
What's more, you can fullscreen just about any application. Games, programming IDEs, Terminal, music players, you name it. This makes for great presentations when you want to show something off on your computer.
Also, Alt-moving and resizing windows is so much faster than hunting for that corner and it's accessible.
Windows have features that other operating systems need additional software in order to match. For example: *Always-on-top, *Shading(reducing the window to only its titlebar), *Perma-workspacing(the window will appear on all desktops)
Customizable panels make it so that my laptop can have optimized screen real estate. You know, where it counts, whereas my desktops (home and work) which have larger screens can show me more information about what I'm doing.
Also, deleting files. Ubuntu assumes you're not an idiot and won't ask you to confirm if you move something to the trash, only if you are deleting files in a permanent fashion.

2. Services

Apache This is where most of GNU/Linux shines. The part underneath that few people see. I'm a web developer by profession. Having the ability to natively run a webserver on my machine is important. So far, the best implementation I've experienced is on Ubuntu.
Rhythmbox, the *default* music player for Ubuntu, has built-in support for DAAP and UPNP music shares. Configuring it to stream music to my PS3 took exactly no time. I fired it up and it worked. I wish I could say the same about Windows Media Server. Which by the way, you need to restart your computer in order for it to recognise new files before the world ends.
Samba. I can share files with my friends pretty easily and be *in control* of who has access to what files. Samba works with Windows and MacOS computers as well as GNU/Linux.
Giver Why isn't there something like this on all operating systems? Giver is by far the easiest application when it comes to forking over a file to a bro in need who is right behind you. Now both of you have access to a 54Mbps or 100Mbps network and you have to get a thumb drive? No, come on. Giver uses that network to send files blazingly fast accross that network that you're not using at full potential anyway.

3. Internationalisation

i18n GNU/Linux desktop operating systems are made with the idea in mind that anyone can use them. That means ease of use and also language of use. Because FLOSS is translated in a community-driven manner, there only needs to be a small group of people fluent in a few tongues in order to translate a piece of software. UTF8 Kind of obvious as far as features go, but full unicode support allows for all the characters in all those languages to be properly displayed. Open Office Under internationationalisation? Yes. I myself speak four languages. Being able to spell-check in all four is super important for me. The more languages you speak/write, the more false friends you are likely to encounter. With the inclusion of the stardict dictionaries, all spelling and word lookup is made easy.

4. Customization

Free Software has always about freedom. This also means that the end user should have the ability to be free when addressing low level customization crisis or higher level GUI customization rages. Everything comes with source, even graphics. Some products do have some weird-ass licences (I'm looking at you, Mozilla) but in the end, most of everything can be re-appropriated, remixed and re-used with a bit of effort. Of course it's not as hard as learning how to change the source of some software.
Nevertheless, even the low-level software is meant to be customizable. Some distributions are meant to be heavily customized before use.
Gentoo, Arch and Slackware are some distros that have a penchant for making the operating system cater to exactly the user's requirements.

5. Ease of use

Tell someone who is tech litterate (can use a computer) that you use GNU/Linux and they give you that weird look. "But I don't know enough about computers to use Linux. Linux is hard, isn't it? Don't you need to work in that DOS-thingy?" Then I tell them about how my mother used Ubuntu for the 3 months where she had no decent computer, or about my brother who has a 4 year old laptop model and who uses his computer for regular 18-year old business: browsing, Facebook, IMing, the odd essay and printing. The latest versions of GDM (and KDE [can't say, don't use it]) are even moreso easy to use as the Windows or MacOS X-window systems. Ubuntu is amazing for its' ease of use. All the base software that one would get with a Mac of Windows computer is already installed and what's more, the new Software Center renders things even simpler. I counted to 7, the number of clicks it took me to install an application with Software Center. With Windows and Mac, you need to look for it on the Internet, assume that the version you're getting is legit and not some malware, then install it. That issue is not happening anytime soon for Ubuntu (I do install the odd user-compiled .deb).

Anyway, I could still go on about the ways I love Ubuntu. You get the idea. It surpasses in features, functionality, ease of use, ethics, philosophy the operating systems distributed by large and evil companies. So a Thank You to the dudes and dudettes who develop and support Ubuntu in it's ongoing quest.

Free as in Freedom, also as in Free beer.

These fonts are compiled from one of Smashing Magazine's posts.

I thought it would be nice to have a 1 shot download for all of these amazing fonts.

Here is the link.