I have just about had it. I won't go out on an all PC rant (again) but i must say i have just about had it. Every six months or so i go for a total redesign of my 'small' home network. I've just made up a little list what i still have to do since my last 'server-switch'. And i have come to realise i must be insane ! Sure , the complexity of my home network helps me keep my network-admin skills all sharp and fresh.. But the amount of 'workstation work' is enormous. Reinstall this , move that , download these drivers , update that etc etc. And this is presuming that the darn things will work properly (and the programs/system not going haywire). So I’ve decided it's been enough. I'm scaling down the whole shit and am going to switch to Linux or OSx where i can. I am setting up two pc's for sale and am going to round up all the hardware I don't need and yank it on Ebay or something. (so those of ya looking for a bargain : Point your ears my friends). The whole point is : You need computers to make your life easier. erm….. well , they are the one major source of trouble in my life. (they are the source of pretty much everything that is not nyana-related in my life) So its time to call in the cavalry and simplify the matters. ( So come over mr Jobs and give me one of those mini macs !). And where the Fuck is my Ibook !!!
The big switch : A different view at teaching Linux.
Introduction.
The first time I saw Linux was about five years ago, I believe it was a version 6.1 of Suse Linux. I remember being curious about the computer that was running it, and chatting up a colleague of mine (known as one of the company's uber-geeks) about what Linux was and how it worked and stuff. The story he told me dazzled me and for a while i really thought he was pulling my leg. He told me about a safe, secure and speedy operating system, that could run on machines varying from a “386” to a bigg-ass server. When I asked him what it could do , I knew he was kidding me, because he basically answered one word : EVERYTHING. My disbelief in an operating system that could be used for that enormous kind of diversity in purpose, gave him reason to explain to me just exactly how Linux was built, what the concept behind it was and how it was used. I sat down with him every lunch break for the next few days listening to his experiences with Linux and the things one could to with a “tux under the hood”. When the GNU license was explained to me, pointing out that the whole damn thing was free, I was ready to call the loony bin and have my friend planted in the funny farm. To those of you who come from a Win-world where Gates ( now Balmer ) is king and the only blue you see are the BSOD's on your computer, Linux DOES sound like an impossible utopia. And quite frankly , IT IS. There is one big big catch ! In order to protect its nest from predators, some birds make their nests high up in the trees. Natural predators do not have the ability to climb up so high without having to 1) Evolve some serious climbing skills 2) Overcome their fear of heights. And to those who are ready to make the switch to Linux , or are so fed up with the alternative there are some bounds to be broken. The big ass catch in switching from a “house of windows”' to “Torvalds Utopia” is having to drop the mouse. This trusty sidekick I have been using in my Windows based life for over ten years now (and that should be considered part of the human anatomy as an extension of the right hand) has been my palm-rest for almost half my life (i had an Amiga once, that one had a mouse too) To control an entire operating system via keyboard alone is too much to bare for some. They soon become 'ghosts in the shell'. And that shell is the other biggest scare of windows users. I started out with windows 95 where Dos was becoming a rapidly fading black-and-white-character-based memory. When i needed something i would just point and click. So when my Linux-geek-friend told me that i would have to unlearn everything i learned in a GUI enviroment, that i would have to drop my mouse and step into the dark void of bash.. I thought : I can do this ! Two weeks later, after hopelessly trying to understand the complex unix commands, getting trapped in VI once an hour and having to call for help to get me out, and basically getting NOWHERE.. I gave up. All the promises my friend had made, about what you could do with Linux , how fast it was , the great software you had etc etc seemed to reside on another planet. No way I could ever learn THAT. So I gave up and walked down the path of shame to my Windows workstation. Since then I have repeatedly tried to pick up Linux again. From downloading various versions to see which one i liked best, to actually BUYING three versions of Suse Linux, a lot of Linux books and taking classes about Linux in my local educational center.
And no matter where you go, or what you do : There are some things that are the same everywhere. Things you encounter when trying to work with Linux, and ways Linux is taught to students. I will some them up for they are the underlying fundamentals for this 'different approach' to Linux.
Ok , Its been my new years resolution, and so far I’m totally diggin' it. I promised myself to use as much open source software and freeware as i could. And so far that promise has led me to using products like : FreePDF, Firefox, Thunderbird, AVG Antivirus, Freecommander, Deepburner, Openoffice and soon : Firstclass. Its amazing what you can find on the internet if you look for it. Take Firefox for example. I started using it about two months ago, and now i'm SOOOO hooked on the tabbed-enabled-ultrafast-googlesearch-barred superbrowser, i NEVER EVER wanna quit it. Played around with MS office 2003 yesterday and I’m soooo sick of it all that i decided to make the invoices for my company in Open Office this year. Enough MS based crap. Now I know i should not bitch MS around all the time , Its like Swift said : "ANY operating system that we work with as intensively as we do, will give us a hard time". True, but still its nice to know there IS an alternative. Ok , I still use MS a lot (maybe to much) and I still haven't made the big step to Linux as yet. ( using it for ALL my needs) The thing that keeps me on the MS box is that I'm just no good on the Linux Shell. But when i think of it : Who the hell says I can't use Linux from the Guy. Let's say I want to become a Linux DESKTOP user. not yapp around in the shell all night long, BUT actually USE Linux as a desktop alternative. And so far I’ve tried that often and surprisingly it works very well. So why the hell don't I start making' the switch. I'm already gearing op to hop onto OSX (when my Ibook eventually arrives) and i'm not going to go command line on OSx, So perhaps i'll explore Linux as a Desktop system a bit more. Meanwhile I’m getting ready to switch from my exchange mail server to FIRSTCLASS mail and 'Tuuke' was gonna come over and help me out. So I’m pretty exited about that too. The way it looks like right now is that for more and more proprietary MS products, I’m finding better and free alternatives. The list so far ?
Internet explorerMozilla Firefox.
MS Media PlayerBSplayer
Outlook ExpressThunderbird
MS officeOpenOffice
MS ExchangeFirstclass
MS Desktop searchGoogle Desktop search
MSN HotmailGmail (duh!)
MSN MessengerJabber/gaim (ok, no webcam-coolness, but it works)
NeroDeepburner
PhotoshopThe Gimp
Norton AntivirusAVG Antivirus
Adobe PDF writerFree PDF
WinzipPowerarchiver
And it goes ON this way , all these programs have been personally tried , tested and approved. So if you're looking for some MS-alternatives ? Time to make the SWITCH !
Ok , I’m on a computer rant again, but the last couple of weeks have been SOOOO stressful in dealing with this whole PC shit. I'm so fed up having to spend hours and hours in a row just updating, repairing, securing, debugging the whole PC park at home.. I've just about had it. I want to work WITH the damn things, not FOR them.To those of you who are wondering just how many computers i have at home (counting EVERY pc ? ) That would be around 10
Just a Tidbit of techtalk today, Cause basically its been all techno-blabb all week long. As said in yesterdays podcast : The Minimac is out. I've found this hilarious review http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/mac-mini.ars/1
with some excellent quotes :" A 1.25 or 1.42 GHz G4 (pathetic 167 MHz FSB included), and, sure it would have been nice to have a G5 inside, but it would be nice to have a PowerBook G5 and a flying car too...." "... in the real world, the Mac mini, with the included software, does everything people need, while not doing things they don't need, like becoming infected with mall-ware..." The funniest thing is that TODAY a company released a special PC for older people called SYMPC http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/11/new_pcs_for_old_people/ I'm wondering if this is the beginning of a trend. The trend that computers should be made simple enough to USE. So you don't end up spending hours of your time MAINTAINING and DEBUGGING. Going back to the principle that the computer is a TOOL you use, just like a fork or a knife, without the hassle and the crap that comes from owning a computer system these days. In other news my own Ibook has been set back a WEEK ( frustrated moan ) so I’ll have to be patient some more.
Syl and Pretorian have been on a sleep-over adventure yesterday, and I must say it's pretty weird having those teenagers around the house. They are very well behaved and we have no trouble with them whatsoever and we have a lot of fun. Personally I just love the constant bitching and bickering Pretorian and Nyana do ALL THE TIME. I'm always waiting for an all out fight between them, its hilarious. Yesterday there mom called and asked what they where doing. Syl's reaction was very typical : " We're at Uncle Joe's, what do you THINK we're doing : We’re on the computer of course ". It made me smile :) Are we an obsessed cyber-household ? yes we are :).
Outside the weather is very pretty these days. Clouds are coming in from the east right now, and they are these big ass cumuli-clouds. They are kind of low in the sky so you can look 'over' them and see how they tower in the sky. Its like looking at a giant mountain flowing by. One can imagine just lying on one of these gigantic slopes.. Skiing down.. Or just sitting in the sun.. Coasting miles above a busy world. The view must be awesome up there. Seeing the slight curve of the horizon slide away into nothingness. Gazing at the other gigantic clouds colliding and flowing by. Just look up into the sky and daydream from time to time. I wish I had more time to do that. More time to dream from time to time.. Or just watch the clouds go by. I think we should all do that some more
Oh yes ! A quick update : SLASHDOT http://www.slashdot.com has JUST posted their article about the Mini Mac (Posted by samzenpus on Thursday January 13, @08:00AM) : That means that you could HEAR about the Mini-Mac HERE, YESTERDAY. So we BEAT SLASHDOT IN A HEADLINE !!!! How Geeky is THAT :)
