Around here being the resident Geek…..

Means that I am the one tasked with “fixing” and “supervising” all computer operations.  While that isn’t so bad normally.  Right now www.wallgreens.com is having a sale on their photo printing…..thanks a lot.  This sale has caused my poor MacBook to be uploading pictures for over 2 hours, at this point……maybe quite a few to go.  Arrrgh do these stores really intend for people, like my lovely wife, to upload hundreds of pictures at a time???  I thought not.  No, they intended Gramma and Grandpa to upload a dozen or so….and be happy.  Do I get to do that???  No, of course not.  If you wind up using their site do remember to use the photocenter plugin for OSX or windows, otherwise you’ll be doing it one picture at a time…..a serious loss of sleep.  My wife takes an amazing number of pictures.  In my brilliance I suggested a digital camera……NOW SHE CAN TAKE EVEN MORE.  AAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!  She enjoys it so much.  But, it does cause a great deal of work for Walgreens, my MacBook…and, ME!!!  But, she does do all the cooking….so I guess we’re even.  At least that is the way of it around here.

And here we have the Easy Linux desktop!!

A little background.  I am not a MS Windows fan.  I have used MS operating systems since the good ole DOS days.  I enjoyed the control that DOS gave me over the complexity of tasks my job required.  I wasn’t very fond of Windows 3.1, stayed with DOS.  When ’95 came out I purchased a new computer and the wars began.  I enjoyed the GUI (graphical user interface), but I didn’t like the restrictions that MS put on the user.  ’98 was better, but still it had its problems.  I passed up on Windows ME, Windows NT, and 2000.  XP arrived and I thought I was in love.

Around the time XP showed up on my desktop I began to hear about Linux, a free 
operating system that could replace XP. Well, I managed to get Red Hat 7 to dual boot with XP. That’s about it.
Couldn’t get on the NET, couldn’t word process, couldn’t do anything really. But, I did notice the ability to change everything.
This ability to change everything in Linux highlighted one of the biggest annoyances of Windoze. Gates and company had decided what I could and couldn’t do to MY desktop. I began to search the net for ways to change the system…..and found them. I fixed it where my computer never “phoned home”. MS didn’t know anything about me. I have never even owned MS Office. I learned how to lock down XP, turning off nearly all of MS services. I used open source browsers. I used open source office suites. I even changed my “start” button to say “go away” & “touch not”. I learned how to alter nearly everything. I even had free virus protection.

I still suffered my share of viri & spyware (of which any Symantic, Norton, product is the worst). But, that didn’t bother me that much. But, I couldn’t forget about Linux. I kept hovering around Distrowatch and OSnews. I was learning about Linux. I tinkered now and again with Red Hat….booger-ed my system more than once doing it. Windows really doesn’t play very nice with anything else on the computer. I was feeling pretty good about my computing experience until……..

I made some hardware changes in my desktop. I rebooted and my computer demanded new authorization codes. This is when I truly discovered the truth about EULA (end user license agreements). I was aghast. How could they require a new code? Why did they care? I was fortunate. I had the recovery disks from IBM to redo my system completely without engaging MS. But, I thought, what if I didn’t….. They could easily say that I had tried to install on another computer contrary to the EULA, therefore owing them for another copy of XP. No, Alice you don’t own the software. No, on this side of the looking glass you are merely a pawn, chattel, nothing of consequence. That was the day I decided to make the jump.

I have tried a variety of Linux distrobutions: MEPIS, KANOTIX, DSL, Xandros, Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Knoppix, etc. I have made the rounds. I have found them all to work well enough to do the work I needed to do. I have relearned how to program a bit. I have relearned how to take control of the system. I have learned how to secure my system….no viri, no spyware…. It is a different world. I have been Windows free for over a year.

Today, I installed MEPIS 6.06 on my Wife’s computer. She is learning to love Linux. Yes some tweaking may be required of me, or her, mostly me…..no really only me…..always me….never her (but, that is as it has always been). She enjoys being online without the worry of malware. She is not a geek at all. She is a cook…..a wonderful cook….burrrrrrp. Sorry, got side tracked. But, she is back up and running with an operating system that she is learning. An operating system that didn’t care what computer it was on. An operating system that does all of the things she needs it to do.

Why do we accept the intrusions of companies like MS? Why do we allow them to dictate our habits? You must upgrade!!! What if I don’t want to? DO IT ANY WAY!!! I don’t see the need to constantly change my hardware just because MS decided not to support the crap they produced!!! If you don’t want to support the old systems, turn over the code. Let us do it ourselves. Its kinda like buying a car but not owning the engine. You can do most things….until they decide not to let you any more. Why don’t you own the software? Why do they retain ownership? Doesn’t make sense to me. Even Apple gives true recovery disks. After you buy the system you don’t have to talk to them anymore, if you don’t want to. But not MS. No………Billy Bob…..er, Gates insists on being involved in your business, private or otherwise.

I think Letterman and company had it right http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_o9isZY5h0 . While I appreciate all that MS has done……oh, yeah….helping everyone to get online easily (not ensuring they knew enough to avoid malware), helping every afford a computer (throwaway machines that are difficult to upgrade and hard to maintain), and ensuring that nearly everyone had someone watching over them (spying is more like it) to ensure they didn’t get into difficulties (or do anything else MS doesn’t agree with).

I enjoy the freedom that Linux gives me. I enjoy the control. I do get frustrated trying to figure out why something doesn’t work or doesn’t work right, but I am man enough to dig in and learn. Learning is good for us (oh yeah, that would be the teacher in me talking). Computing isn’t the scary black box type of thing they would have you believe…..at least it isn’t around here.