seeing the light of day

The cave of wonders is immense, you could get lost down there, but what happens when you realize few have seen it. When you hit the light of day folks all around you are misinformed or not knowing, you cock your head back, let out an aspirating cry,"Am I the only one?"

I was on a web site called www.RealNeo.us. It is a meeting place for Northeast Ohio folks to sling ideas around and report on how we can or are fixing things in our area. The site is a big supporter of FOSS that is Free and Open Source Software. Linux is included but FOSS will run on many operating systems. So while you Linux lovers may bang your heads against the MS ceiling, FOSS has burst through long ago. This is great because as I have said, once you have settled on an OS, it is the applications that really matter. And lots of users are unaware of the diverse riches of FOSS.

Let's paint some pictures........

There is this thing called user inertia that says users tend to get stuck on the things they are introduced to, things they are familiar with. This does not necessarily mean they have actual experience, a name brand is a powerful thing. The holders of the brand name do all they can to bolster up your loyalty and faith in the name regardless as to whither they deliver a quality product to you or not. Your loyalty is a pledge of revenue. After you have found this name brand stuff useful, you don't give it up without a fight.

FOSS enters the picture. Many software writers have written free programs since computers became personal. People learning to code, exploring and experimenting and not caring about a killer app that folks will pay hundreds for. There developed a second software model, collaborative development but not for profit, not propriety, not access controlled, not, not, not.
The reality is that there are FOSS that do the exact same things that for a price software does. Computer savvy folks all know these things but many typical off the shelf buyers don't. And making folks aware of FOSS is a challenge as folks are not aware, misinformed or loyal and committed to the other stuff.

FOSS covers a lot of issues that for profit companies are against. Free and open access to information is the leading reason, via file formats that are not to one vendors specs so that you can share info without a particular vendor's software. This also includes fonts so that documents look the same in any word processor, web page and email, and web sites that any web browser can access correctly. I think there should be a set of computer formats and fonts that no company can change and they must be included by law in every software. This way if people want to use propriety formats they can and if they want to use free access rated formats and fonts, they can. Free access rated, what's that? PDF files are a perfect example, but DOC files not. DOC files though a business standard are subject to change at the whim of Microsoft, which is why there are so many versions of DOC.

What does FOSS have to do with you? You may think a VW convertible Bug is a poorman's sportcar, but the top is down, the enjoyment high and the payments are right with no skimp on quality. I've said this before, you want to be a digital artist and Photoshop is $400+ dollars and you put off your dreams because of price or criminalize yourself. GIMP is free, has many of the same tools and features and allows you to exercise and sharpen your skills while you are saving up to get the pro-ware. I bought a HP desktop, came with MS Works, a usable but incompatible with MS Office, home office suite. I was always doing my homework and resumes in the wrong file format. Then not using or needing the whole MS Office package for my occasional use, I couldn't see buying MS Office, even the student edition was too much. Open Office.org for free will do all what MS Office will does. If you don't need all the advanced features that MS Office claims to have, you really aren't beholden to MS to use or buy their product.

FOSS and the digital divide are made for each other. Folks want to give older computers to needy folks and use no longer supported software that will be on them. Sure they get connected but why give your junker to someone you are trying to help. FOSS will run on older, even MS powered (Win95/98,XP) computers, be up to date and the cost is zero.

Training is a big thing as you need skills to work. I tell people over and over, computer skills are transferable. Schools are saying you need to learn this because this is what is used in business and they train you to use an industry standard product, like Microsoft stuff or Adobe. I learned to type in high school, no one ever said the typewriter we are learning on is the industry standard. I could and did transfer the skills to any keyboard. If your budget doesn't allow you to obtain the software they use in business or at school, FOSS gives you the ability to hone the skills you need without spending a single buck.

Funny how in Northeast Ohio, where I live, with all the computer groups, software users organizations, libraries and schools, FOSS is neither promoted or taught. If commercial software is the key to the digital divide, then why ain't the divide disappearing? People who use and love commercial software really don't have a mind or time for anything else. We really need to identify the FOSS community here, outline ways to learn FOSS, gather materials, videos, make courses and present them to the different layers of the teaching/learning community.


As I sit here at the Linuxville desk, rubbing my eyes and adjusting to the light of day, I realize FOSS is an overlooked and under realized solution to many problems a computer could fix. The freedom of access, the learning of skills and doing useful practical stuff at minimum cost and a tiny little learning curve make FOSS an endless wave you could surf for miles.

Linuxville School of the Arts

Let's see, you took the red pill, went down the rabbit hole and woke up in a whole different place called Linuxville. You've committed to being strapped in to learn as much as you can absorb. The slender neural-net spike inserted, you try to relax but the mixture of not knowing what to expect, curiosity and anticipation makes it all impossible. There is a surge, blinding rapid eye movements and an anguished gasp for air, you cry out, "Man, I know Ubuntu!!".........lol. OK, let's see what you got.........

When I worked for a NASA contractor, I met with a small group of guys who wanted to explore Linux. We decided to start having meetings and open it up to other designers and engineers. There were no questions about what is Linux, just can I do this and can I do that. We didn't know that much about Linux ourselves yet we were grilled as if we were experts. Our various interests in Linux at the time did not include user applications. Except for myself, the interest were in setting up a server with remote access and writing code for small devices. I was more interested in desktop functions and applications. That was back around 2004. A few years later, things have improved greatly and I know a little bit more. Besides having a full compliment of useful applications, Linux has been made flexible enough to accommodate a wide swath of equipment and users. You can use it briefly with a live-CD or be committed with a solid stable installation.

My latest adventure is to explore some of the graphic applications. I used to drool over watching people use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, Corel Draw, even PhotoPaint and others that ran on the MS pc. Economics and priorities always came into play, so building up a software library was not in the cards for me. Today it is much different, open source has made a way to give decent software for low to zero cost. The quality of software is wondwerful because developers are also in the market for paying jobs at software companies. There is lots of incentive to put out good product. It's like in sport, your performance is being watched. Linux has boasted in the GIMP for a long time. GIMP is still taking critical heat from Photoshop vets. There are rapidly fading limitations with GIMP that make it an application to watch. It is very mature and stable. Another area where computer artist go crazy over is vector graphics. While Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw and other big guns have swept the market, open source folks have put the same tools in various degrees into OpenOffice.org Draw, Sodipodi, Inkscape, Xara Xtreme and a few others I can't think of at the moment. So, you can get the tools, learn to use them for little to no cost and if you want the "pro-stuff" be familiar already in how to use them. With my intro into using these open source applications I don't see a need to own the industry standards. What is the standard part anyway, the tools or the brand-name?? As always people have their opinions, experiences and preferences. But open source gives you a wider cross-platform choice, see what works for you. The secret is that the tools are the same, skills are transferable and multiple interfaces can be learned, no sweat.

One of the things that has vexed me, tormented me since I started using a computer is transferring my pen and pencil skills onto it. In drafting it was a little easier because drafting relies on constraints and dimensions. Doing non-drafting stuff is so different. Using a mouse is like drawing with a bar of soap, and on top of that the mouse is on the pad, the eye/cursor is on the screen. The eye-hand coordination ability needs to be strengthened. I do have a "graphics tablet", with a wireless pen, but it is far too sensitive for my clumsy drawing technique and I've grown accustom to holding the mouse. I think I am more draftsman than a drawer or sketcher. Actually vector drawing works well with a mouse and the control over all the elements of the work is quite amazing. In the future we must consider a direct touch, draw on the screen display to see if that is more natural. Some laptops have that arrangement. The main thing is to fit your idea into the work flow to accomplish it. You will see you can always do things better, with less intermediate steps. Many think drawing on a computer is automatic or a creative crutch or not worthy of serious art. New tools and new media is always resisted with great pomp. Even Disney had to set up the new school next to the old school, then find a way to blend and upgrade at the same time. So now I am going to spend time figuring out how to put the stuff in my sketchbook onto my computer and make something happen. The most wonderful thing is that I am just a casual artist, doing it for fun. I can roam far and wide to the Linuxville city limits and with open source cross-platforms with the same shirt and shoes, roam some more.