PC users are of several kinds, the casual user, the business user and the enthusiast.
I guess I fall under the enthusiast, because my love for computers extends beyond what they can be used for. I became a guide by virtue of hands-on experience but I am not an expert via training or ego. I make no claims of guru status though my wife will exclaim to friends a certain nerdiness and geektatude. I am compared to a hot rodder knowing enough to detail a car but not to make the show circuit and collect trophies.
I read all about computer operating systems in Byte magazine before I even had a computer. DOS and DOS front-ends were replaced by MS Windows 3.0 thru to XP. I stumbled upon Linux in a library book. LST Linux was a German distribution I almost got to work on my 286 DOS machine. I still am not a programmer, if I load it on, push the enter key and it doesn't work I'm done. I tried Slackware, at that time formatting separate partitions for each system folder was my understanding. Today I make one partition for the system and one for a memory swap area. I think one for the home or user files should be done so that upgrading is less a pain. The part many don't get is that they don't have to install it to use it. Just pop in a live-CD Linux, reboot, use it, save to flash drive, shutdown, remove CD and done, without changing your PC. Do your homework if you plan to install and/or get knowledgeable help.
Once you have a working system you don't usually go around comparing your system to others. But, because you do get to use other systems, you notice what annoys you and what sparks your praise. The system you use the most is the standard and defending that is normal. Believe me, no one is objective, bias is rampant and spin is everywhere. It's cool but, nice but, ugly but, expensive but, and cheap but. Butts are standard on users and concerning their PCs.
Linux was like a mystery to be solved. How did Linux run on equipment meant to run Microsoft? I had to pay for every Microsoft software and so-called free-ware for it was awful. Here is Linux, not great but OK, with open source free and better than any free-ware for Microsoft. The improvements over the years were steady and the cost did not go up, what is this? How can this go on and people not regard? I think because I was willing to go a little deeper into PC stuff, I got hooked. Linux lets me play with my collection of PC hardware and get stuff done too. Hot rods for show are cool but to be able to drive it like any other cars is what makes it cooler yet.
My kids visit, I don't dual boot for their sake. They have few questions or no questions about Linux. They use what's on my machines, it's not difficult or different. To me the Linux desktop is simplicity and works well. Sophistication and polish often gets in the way of efficient working. I'd rather have simplicity and polish. Linux does this, especially the Gnome and XFCE desktops, though some would say this of KDE desktop, I don't feel that way. What ever is your fav, I am sure the simplicity and polish factors are high for you.
Showing posts with label life in Linuxville. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life in Linuxville. Show all posts
Monday, October 25, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
job hunting geeks and HR filters
Ever wonder why they call it "state of the art" and not "state of the science"?
While you're pondering, my realization is that I have been a computer user for a good number of years, and through that time I have become mildly obsessed. I didn't learn machine code, or Basic or scripting or wire wrapping circuit boards by hand. I have known ones who could boast in those skills. I'm just a button pusher fascinated by what happens when all the software and hardware are in place and you click the button, wow!
If you put this here and that there, does that work? What if you tried this or used that in a different context? My favorite is update older concepts, repackage them, use them in the present context. Why, because there are sweet-spots where everything seems to fit and work just right. A lot of times products off the shelf miss that sweet-spot. There are all kinds of different users so the sweet-spots are different. We all settle for what's close enough. Sometimes we are psyched into stuff because the advertising has brainwashed us. We complain because it ain't "sweet."
You find that level of computing you can understand, then the science becomes art. I had a friend, M. Booker. He had a dream job, at least to me. He worked for DEC Equipment in the heyday of the mainframe. He put them together and made them work. That was a job. Man, I envied him and marveled at his stories. M. Booker is a tad younger than I yet he was into computing way before me. Some get that chance to grow up with computers, that's why they are gurus and geeks. It's not weird, it's the same for auto enthusiast we call grease-monkeys, gear-heads and lead-foots.
My world is so strange, the people around me are so into stuff. They try to pull you their way or push you another. Where you are at does not appear viable to them. I am talking as an unemployed person taking jobs as they come and advice. There are sweet-spots with jobs too. Most often there is sacrifice because the focus of the job and the energies spent are not always your ideal. But you do what you need to do to support yourself and family, even putting aside the sweet-spot. You flex and adapt and apply yourself at work, then at home you tinker, dabble and dream.
Going through school, getting a job according to that training, having a career, that is science. When life doesn't flow this straight or this smoothly it becomes an art. I do not know all I am capable of, I just know I have a habit of applying myself. I do not know everything up front and total recall or regurgitation of industry standards is not proof of ability. Experience is time spent in a focus. When companies insist on experience, they are not interested in your capacity to learn or your ability to apply yourself. They're not interested in are you familiar enough, they ask do you know it? Yes or No? Do you know the science?
They insist on science, but it is really an art? Especially with computers, every area is so broad. You have to go against what you feel is the realized truth to sell yourself, "Yes, I know it." Then they demand proof and spit out hypothetical situations to which you are to supply real typical solutions. "We want the science." I am an artist, won't really know till my hands are on it. When I am seeing the real problem and I am engaged in the process, then all my resources and energies and knowledge converge, I am blank and stumbling when you ask me now. My job is to get a job, not work the job! It's a different focus."
Some HR folks set the Rubic's cube in front of you and say fix it. They expect you to have autistic focus, as if they are not there, instantly grabbing the cube without emotion. Then expect a furry of twisting and flipping without bending the elbow. Ok Mr. Johnson, you can almost do it but you took longer than the industry standard. Can you explain? Yes, Mr. HR, most of my experience of late is in trying to get a job, not actually working a job. Job seeking erodes and diminishes my technical skills by diverting my energies to skills I don't need when I have the job. Over time I wonder what's wrong with my job seeking skills and dump more time into that rather than keeping my job skills sharp. Then, every job I apply for in IT is asking for something a little different and they want experience. I can't know it all and you don't offer on the job training these days.
Meanwhile, back at the Linuxville guide office, lab and center for job search and part-time decompression chamber, life with Linux goes on.
Often I am downloading and running Linux live-CDs to see how well they run on my assortment of equipment. I fuss with ideas I learned in school or read somewhere or dreamed of. And I fix stuff of friends, most of whom only know Microsoft and never heard of Linux. They ask for Microsoft advice and wonder what kind of geek are you if you aren't a Microsoft expert? I'm a stranger in a foreign land, yes, but also being a desktop Linux enthusiast I am not too cool with the Linux server crowd. Some think the desktop is a dumbing down, I say I use a cup instead of a bucket, still I drink, same Linux, smaller portion.
While you're pondering, my realization is that I have been a computer user for a good number of years, and through that time I have become mildly obsessed. I didn't learn machine code, or Basic or scripting or wire wrapping circuit boards by hand. I have known ones who could boast in those skills. I'm just a button pusher fascinated by what happens when all the software and hardware are in place and you click the button, wow!
If you put this here and that there, does that work? What if you tried this or used that in a different context? My favorite is update older concepts, repackage them, use them in the present context. Why, because there are sweet-spots where everything seems to fit and work just right. A lot of times products off the shelf miss that sweet-spot. There are all kinds of different users so the sweet-spots are different. We all settle for what's close enough. Sometimes we are psyched into stuff because the advertising has brainwashed us. We complain because it ain't "sweet."
You find that level of computing you can understand, then the science becomes art. I had a friend, M. Booker. He had a dream job, at least to me. He worked for DEC Equipment in the heyday of the mainframe. He put them together and made them work. That was a job. Man, I envied him and marveled at his stories. M. Booker is a tad younger than I yet he was into computing way before me. Some get that chance to grow up with computers, that's why they are gurus and geeks. It's not weird, it's the same for auto enthusiast we call grease-monkeys, gear-heads and lead-foots.
My world is so strange, the people around me are so into stuff. They try to pull you their way or push you another. Where you are at does not appear viable to them. I am talking as an unemployed person taking jobs as they come and advice. There are sweet-spots with jobs too. Most often there is sacrifice because the focus of the job and the energies spent are not always your ideal. But you do what you need to do to support yourself and family, even putting aside the sweet-spot. You flex and adapt and apply yourself at work, then at home you tinker, dabble and dream.
Going through school, getting a job according to that training, having a career, that is science. When life doesn't flow this straight or this smoothly it becomes an art. I do not know all I am capable of, I just know I have a habit of applying myself. I do not know everything up front and total recall or regurgitation of industry standards is not proof of ability. Experience is time spent in a focus. When companies insist on experience, they are not interested in your capacity to learn or your ability to apply yourself. They're not interested in are you familiar enough, they ask do you know it? Yes or No? Do you know the science?
They insist on science, but it is really an art? Especially with computers, every area is so broad. You have to go against what you feel is the realized truth to sell yourself, "Yes, I know it." Then they demand proof and spit out hypothetical situations to which you are to supply real typical solutions. "We want the science." I am an artist, won't really know till my hands are on it. When I am seeing the real problem and I am engaged in the process, then all my resources and energies and knowledge converge, I am blank and stumbling when you ask me now. My job is to get a job, not work the job! It's a different focus."
Some HR folks set the Rubic's cube in front of you and say fix it. They expect you to have autistic focus, as if they are not there, instantly grabbing the cube without emotion. Then expect a furry of twisting and flipping without bending the elbow. Ok Mr. Johnson, you can almost do it but you took longer than the industry standard. Can you explain? Yes, Mr. HR, most of my experience of late is in trying to get a job, not actually working a job. Job seeking erodes and diminishes my technical skills by diverting my energies to skills I don't need when I have the job. Over time I wonder what's wrong with my job seeking skills and dump more time into that rather than keeping my job skills sharp. Then, every job I apply for in IT is asking for something a little different and they want experience. I can't know it all and you don't offer on the job training these days.
Meanwhile, back at the Linuxville guide office, lab and center for job search and part-time decompression chamber, life with Linux goes on.
Often I am downloading and running Linux live-CDs to see how well they run on my assortment of equipment. I fuss with ideas I learned in school or read somewhere or dreamed of. And I fix stuff of friends, most of whom only know Microsoft and never heard of Linux. They ask for Microsoft advice and wonder what kind of geek are you if you aren't a Microsoft expert? I'm a stranger in a foreign land, yes, but also being a desktop Linux enthusiast I am not too cool with the Linux server crowd. Some think the desktop is a dumbing down, I say I use a cup instead of a bucket, still I drink, same Linux, smaller portion.
Monday, April 27, 2009
"are we there yet?"
Have you ever seen that movie with the rapper "Icecube" called "Are we there yet!?!" It's got a Swedish handyman the likes of "Mr. Hanny" on "Green Acres". Being a Linuxville guide is like that. Just about everything in town, I can do, learn to do, or direct you to who can do, given enough notice. Hey, I've got the scars to prove it! Linuxville is a pretty diverse place, I live among the Ubuntu and am rather fond of XFCE as my desktop of choice (Xubuntu).
You want to know so much more than I can tell you, you want me to explain every reason and nuance and condense the whole of Linux into a few sound bytes...........impossible. Here is what I did. I read about Linux on various sites to get a handle (never quite clear!). Then I went to http://www.ubuntu.com and downloaded the appropriate .iso file, burned the CD. And just so I could have the official CD, I ordered the free CD too. AOL had free CD's also, if you remember, only when you ran them, you got stuff you didn't expect installed on your computer. Now with Linux (any flavor), you only get the software you asked for. Put the CD into your machine but instead of trying to run a file from MS Windows, restart or reboot your system, so that your computer boots from the CD instead of your hard drive with MS Windows on it. And then you will be asked to run it without installation or to install it. Linux will run off the CD, not install anything on your machine and when you shut it down will quit without a trace. While it is running, you can see what it comes with, how it works, what it looks like and if all your hardware responds. This answers all those questions you were going to pelt me with. Close your mouth before you ask, how they can offer this for free........ please. The catch, it's not a Mac, not MS, it's Linux!!
The live-CD of Ubuntu is wonderful, no time limit, no secret codes, no disabled features, what you see is what you get. The live-CD is the basic system, once you install it, you have access to change it, add to it, tweak it. And like I said, if you are not sure about installing, you now have a Linux live-CD you can play with anytime your curiosity gets stirred. If you want you could never install it yet use it and save files to your jump drive!! Now that's awesome!!
Aside from all the neat web sites you can google, there is one magazine you can download in .pdf format that is superb, Full Circle Magazine. The link is, http://www.fullcirclemagazine.org/ and of course, it is about Ubuntu. In the latest issue there is another interesting link for you social types, http://myubuntu.ning.com. This is on top of all the forums and news pages. If you got an inkling of the artist gene, check out http://www.linuxgraphicsusers.com. You will not be turned away. If you are a document maker Open Office is the name and for tips check out http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/.
I felt much separation anxiety until I visited http://www.webi.org/ and http://www.schoolforge.net/ and said these run on Linux or MS. Then after a bout of "what about" I visited http://www.linuxalt.com/ and http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Linux_software_equivalent_to_Windows_software, to realize there is a chance I may not even need MS at all. The clincher was when I could output documents in MS file formats if I had to and I could read them and convert them, all without a single MS boot-up. My one MS machine probably gets turned on once every other week, if that.
I am completely happy in Linuxville except for the GUI unrest between the KDE and Gnome crews. XFCE uses the same libraries, tools as Gnome yet has managed to avoid headlines. If lower resource use is a must, XFCE is the way to go, but there are desktops that are even leaner if you need them. XFCE provides a good mix of functionality and lightness. My realization goes like this, an older machine is fine but the cost of adding memory to them has not gone down. If you have 512 MB Linux will not give any hesitation on the desktop. Less memory might require you seek lightness. I just ordered another 512 MB for my newer machine. That will give me 1 gig (1024 MB) of memory and a better performing machine. I could install KDE or Gnome, which do work in 512 MB, but I won't, XFCE works just fine. Yeah, I'm there!!!
You want to know so much more than I can tell you, you want me to explain every reason and nuance and condense the whole of Linux into a few sound bytes...........impossible. Here is what I did. I read about Linux on various sites to get a handle (never quite clear!). Then I went to http://www.ubuntu.com and downloaded the appropriate .iso file, burned the CD. And just so I could have the official CD, I ordered the free CD too. AOL had free CD's also, if you remember, only when you ran them, you got stuff you didn't expect installed on your computer. Now with Linux (any flavor), you only get the software you asked for. Put the CD into your machine but instead of trying to run a file from MS Windows, restart or reboot your system, so that your computer boots from the CD instead of your hard drive with MS Windows on it. And then you will be asked to run it without installation or to install it. Linux will run off the CD, not install anything on your machine and when you shut it down will quit without a trace. While it is running, you can see what it comes with, how it works, what it looks like and if all your hardware responds. This answers all those questions you were going to pelt me with. Close your mouth before you ask, how they can offer this for free........ please. The catch, it's not a Mac, not MS, it's Linux!!
The live-CD of Ubuntu is wonderful, no time limit, no secret codes, no disabled features, what you see is what you get. The live-CD is the basic system, once you install it, you have access to change it, add to it, tweak it. And like I said, if you are not sure about installing, you now have a Linux live-CD you can play with anytime your curiosity gets stirred. If you want you could never install it yet use it and save files to your jump drive!! Now that's awesome!!
Aside from all the neat web sites you can google, there is one magazine you can download in .pdf format that is superb, Full Circle Magazine. The link is, http://www.fullcirclemagazine.org/ and of course, it is about Ubuntu. In the latest issue there is another interesting link for you social types, http://myubuntu.ning.com. This is on top of all the forums and news pages. If you got an inkling of the artist gene, check out http://www.linuxgraphicsusers.com. You will not be turned away. If you are a document maker Open Office is the name and for tips check out http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/.
I felt much separation anxiety until I visited http://www.webi.org/ and http://www.schoolforge.net/ and said these run on Linux or MS. Then after a bout of "what about" I visited http://www.linuxalt.com/ and http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Linux_software_equivalent_to_Windows_software, to realize there is a chance I may not even need MS at all. The clincher was when I could output documents in MS file formats if I had to and I could read them and convert them, all without a single MS boot-up. My one MS machine probably gets turned on once every other week, if that.
I am completely happy in Linuxville except for the GUI unrest between the KDE and Gnome crews. XFCE uses the same libraries, tools as Gnome yet has managed to avoid headlines. If lower resource use is a must, XFCE is the way to go, but there are desktops that are even leaner if you need them. XFCE provides a good mix of functionality and lightness. My realization goes like this, an older machine is fine but the cost of adding memory to them has not gone down. If you have 512 MB Linux will not give any hesitation on the desktop. Less memory might require you seek lightness. I just ordered another 512 MB for my newer machine. That will give me 1 gig (1024 MB) of memory and a better performing machine. I could install KDE or Gnome, which do work in 512 MB, but I won't, XFCE works just fine. Yeah, I'm there!!!
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
a day in the life in Linuxville
I fire up my PC and put on my pants like everyone else, the wait is not too bad ( some are soooooo impatient!). PCs are not like light switches, if you want instant on, don't turn them off. The boot process insures your system is "all" working.
I get a brief balloon that says I'm able to connect to the net. I start doing something and in the notification bar an icon tells me I got system updates. I click it and a window opens showing each update, a brief description and a check box for each one, in case I don't want them. I let it run and can move to another desktop if I choose to.
On my MS PC if I want to add software, I have to find/know where it is on the net or have a disk. Then I have to hope and trust they haven't included spam, malware, adware and other stuff. With Linux, most available software is in a secure online repository. You access this repository via an add/remove program called Synaptic. You can search by program type and you get a brief description. Of course if you absolutely don't know what a program is you can "google it".
Also there are ways to install stuff outside of Synaptic if you have too. Because it is a repository (sort of like FTP), you only get the software you ask for, period. And if the software won't run on your type of PC (32 bit, 64 bit), it will tell you. Also if other software is required (dependencies) it will find them and que them for install them for you, but it will tell you what they are. The repository system is very practical because software is written in a basic code then compiled to run on various hardware. You can get the source code to compile it yourself or get the pre-compiled ready to install and run on your machine software.
User logic says, I just do it without thinking, oh wait, there's details, now I'm worried, what are they, should I be concerned, what do I do now? We do this a couple of times, once we see what it is all about we go back to doing without much thinking. This is normal. See, feel, fuss, understand.......it's all in the process. Once in a while we get a kink and need to be rebooted! Ha! Ha!
The most used apps, web browsers and email, cause we like probing the far reaches and getting stuff. This is universal. And when I'm not working or blogging I use GIMP and Inkscape to dabble. I was in love with digital dabbling since I saw the first Macintosh and went, ooooooooh!
Mouse mashing and digital dabbling are unofficial open source technical terms you may use without fear of user agreements, DRM, or copyright infringement.
One thing I listen to all the time is Mac and MS Windows users who cross over to Linux bringing their baggage with them. This is normal, you can't help comparing what you are used to with what you are now getting. These users are so intelligent they forget "familiarity breeds contempt". If you've honed your skills on something else, something new is gonna sting. No pain, no gain is true in computing. Some even learn to expand their skill set by dual booting. Well, it is said we only use 10% of our brains, Linux might push that to 11%. And with your added brain power you could consider yourself savvy.
One of my other favorite activities is YouTube videos. Video tutorials, screencast and live music (especially jazz) is the new school. If you want to learn something without college tuition, this is the way. Linux has a number of media players, mine is called VLC.
People who focus on the operating system are prone to complain about it. This is true for any OS. The inventor of Linux said the OS should be invisible, doing its job in the background. Users who realize this are blessed because all you need to do is click the mouse when necessary, type when necessary. Once all the installing and setup is over the OS is the application launcher and resource manager, point and click already. As I have said before users only care about the applications, can they do the job? Linux is reliable and stable. Not many system crashes in my Linux life. And when it does crash or freeze a Ctrl-Alt-Backspace combo closes you down back to the login prompt. Linux is rather self healing and forgiving. I never had to defrag or do major housekeeping to speed it up degrading performance. You can shut it down abruptly with less danger than on MS machines. But let me emphasize, do not rush booting or shutting down if you want your system to stay stable. Just as it checks if the systems are up, it checks if systems are shut down.
And when the day is done I hang up my penguin guise and ease into the alternate universe.
I get a brief balloon that says I'm able to connect to the net. I start doing something and in the notification bar an icon tells me I got system updates. I click it and a window opens showing each update, a brief description and a check box for each one, in case I don't want them. I let it run and can move to another desktop if I choose to.
On my MS PC if I want to add software, I have to find/know where it is on the net or have a disk. Then I have to hope and trust they haven't included spam, malware, adware and other stuff. With Linux, most available software is in a secure online repository. You access this repository via an add/remove program called Synaptic. You can search by program type and you get a brief description. Of course if you absolutely don't know what a program is you can "google it".
Also there are ways to install stuff outside of Synaptic if you have too. Because it is a repository (sort of like FTP), you only get the software you ask for, period. And if the software won't run on your type of PC (32 bit, 64 bit), it will tell you. Also if other software is required (dependencies) it will find them and que them for install them for you, but it will tell you what they are. The repository system is very practical because software is written in a basic code then compiled to run on various hardware. You can get the source code to compile it yourself or get the pre-compiled ready to install and run on your machine software.
User logic says, I just do it without thinking, oh wait, there's details, now I'm worried, what are they, should I be concerned, what do I do now? We do this a couple of times, once we see what it is all about we go back to doing without much thinking. This is normal. See, feel, fuss, understand.......it's all in the process. Once in a while we get a kink and need to be rebooted! Ha! Ha!
The most used apps, web browsers and email, cause we like probing the far reaches and getting stuff. This is universal. And when I'm not working or blogging I use GIMP and Inkscape to dabble. I was in love with digital dabbling since I saw the first Macintosh and went, ooooooooh!
Mouse mashing and digital dabbling are unofficial open source technical terms you may use without fear of user agreements, DRM, or copyright infringement.
One thing I listen to all the time is Mac and MS Windows users who cross over to Linux bringing their baggage with them. This is normal, you can't help comparing what you are used to with what you are now getting. These users are so intelligent they forget "familiarity breeds contempt". If you've honed your skills on something else, something new is gonna sting. No pain, no gain is true in computing. Some even learn to expand their skill set by dual booting. Well, it is said we only use 10% of our brains, Linux might push that to 11%. And with your added brain power you could consider yourself savvy.
One of my other favorite activities is YouTube videos. Video tutorials, screencast and live music (especially jazz) is the new school. If you want to learn something without college tuition, this is the way. Linux has a number of media players, mine is called VLC.
People who focus on the operating system are prone to complain about it. This is true for any OS. The inventor of Linux said the OS should be invisible, doing its job in the background. Users who realize this are blessed because all you need to do is click the mouse when necessary, type when necessary. Once all the installing and setup is over the OS is the application launcher and resource manager, point and click already. As I have said before users only care about the applications, can they do the job? Linux is reliable and stable. Not many system crashes in my Linux life. And when it does crash or freeze a Ctrl-Alt-Backspace combo closes you down back to the login prompt. Linux is rather self healing and forgiving. I never had to defrag or do major housekeeping to speed it up degrading performance. You can shut it down abruptly with less danger than on MS machines. But let me emphasize, do not rush booting or shutting down if you want your system to stay stable. Just as it checks if the systems are up, it checks if systems are shut down.
And when the day is done I hang up my penguin guise and ease into the alternate universe.
Friday, April 03, 2009
puttin on the TUX
As you all know, I've been picking at the user psychology and all the subtle inside feelings and mental wrestlings of making home in Linuxville. Easy for some, extremely hard for others. In this installment I present further propaganda, a photo of the whole country of Linuxville.........
Yeah, I am in there just left of center, wearing the black and white outfit, shades and waving.
In the technology realm, quite a lot depends on the hardware and I've been hammering you all with the display-less laptop as a desktop replacement. There have been many very inventive, even innovative computer configurations in the past few years, a few are making it into the marketplace. The shift in user preference is slow and entry prices for new hardware concepts are steep. But in this tight budget economy perhaps newness just requires incremental steps instead of huge leaps of techno-faith. I give you guitars as an example.........
Top left we have the classical guitar, next Les Paul (today's standard), then an attempt to fulfill every guitar players dream (to play it all). On the bottom is the Chapman Stick. If you haven't heard of Emmit Chapman's Stick, go get your Google search working. Guitars go step by step and the GUI part is the same. So in computers I want something next step like, not radical and pricey. The standard case PC is being over taken by laptops, but the portability aspect is over played. Full-sized keyboard comfort yet laptop technology and oh man, that detached display is the way to go. I really don't have to carry a computer everywhere I go, or want to.
Hey! Don't force me to use car examples! OK! As much as I admire foreign cars here in America, they did not make sense until they made a mid-size car. This is because we like roominess not tight and efficient cars. We also don't all like aerodynamic shapes and so while going back and forth between truck profiles and bullet-like sports cars the cross-over hybrid van like sedan became very popular. I my self like that Dodge Caliber, not too small or too big, it looks like it has muscles and carries people without folding them first. And 30 mpg is not bad either, that's better than my present Chevy.
So, why would you play a Chapman Stick when everybody understands a regular guitar? The creative avenues are wide open. It is the same with Linux, the creative avenues are wide open. You can do the same old stuff and/or go beyond, take the next step.
Speaking of creative avenues, will someone please inform the library folks that the 30+ Photoshop books in the computer section and the 30+ Photoshop books in the photography section are all about the same thing, Photoshop. And the books on computer illustration, drawing and painting are few if any. Libraries should be getting books to help folks learn stuff, not books by professionals selling glorified portfolios. GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program is free and useful for any computer art/photo work and by everyone. Learning GIMP is no harder than Photoshop or any other artist software. GIMP being free makes it accessible to everyone just like library books themselves. If I had to pay to get into the library, I would save my money. Why a library would have 60+ Photoshop books and no GIMP books is madness and ignorance.
The above expression of disillusioned rage is typical among Linux fans who enjoy the comfort of holding a printed book on Linux or Open Source Software subjects. If it were not for internet info sites, we'd be out in mass, looking much like the first picture in this post.
Yeah, I am in there just left of center, wearing the black and white outfit, shades and waving.In the technology realm, quite a lot depends on the hardware and I've been hammering you all with the display-less laptop as a desktop replacement. There have been many very inventive, even innovative computer configurations in the past few years, a few are making it into the marketplace. The shift in user preference is slow and entry prices for new hardware concepts are steep. But in this tight budget economy perhaps newness just requires incremental steps instead of huge leaps of techno-faith. I give you guitars as an example.........
Top left we have the classical guitar, next Les Paul (today's standard), then an attempt to fulfill every guitar players dream (to play it all). On the bottom is the Chapman Stick. If you haven't heard of Emmit Chapman's Stick, go get your Google search working. Guitars go step by step and the GUI part is the same. So in computers I want something next step like, not radical and pricey. The standard case PC is being over taken by laptops, but the portability aspect is over played. Full-sized keyboard comfort yet laptop technology and oh man, that detached display is the way to go. I really don't have to carry a computer everywhere I go, or want to.Hey! Don't force me to use car examples! OK! As much as I admire foreign cars here in America, they did not make sense until they made a mid-size car. This is because we like roominess not tight and efficient cars. We also don't all like aerodynamic shapes and so while going back and forth between truck profiles and bullet-like sports cars the cross-over hybrid van like sedan became very popular. I my self like that Dodge Caliber, not too small or too big, it looks like it has muscles and carries people without folding them first. And 30 mpg is not bad either, that's better than my present Chevy.
So, why would you play a Chapman Stick when everybody understands a regular guitar? The creative avenues are wide open. It is the same with Linux, the creative avenues are wide open. You can do the same old stuff and/or go beyond, take the next step.
Speaking of creative avenues, will someone please inform the library folks that the 30+ Photoshop books in the computer section and the 30+ Photoshop books in the photography section are all about the same thing, Photoshop. And the books on computer illustration, drawing and painting are few if any. Libraries should be getting books to help folks learn stuff, not books by professionals selling glorified portfolios. GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program is free and useful for any computer art/photo work and by everyone. Learning GIMP is no harder than Photoshop or any other artist software. GIMP being free makes it accessible to everyone just like library books themselves. If I had to pay to get into the library, I would save my money. Why a library would have 60+ Photoshop books and no GIMP books is madness and ignorance.
The above expression of disillusioned rage is typical among Linux fans who enjoy the comfort of holding a printed book on Linux or Open Source Software subjects. If it were not for internet info sites, we'd be out in mass, looking much like the first picture in this post.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)