the truth in cars and computers and savviness

Once you learn driving skills on the standard driver interface equipment you can drive almost any car, no sweat! Once you learn computer skills on the standard user interface equipment you can use almost any computer. The question remains though, are you savvy? If you are a regular driver and car owner, it is safe to assume you know more than how to turn it on. At least know how to check/add oil, fill wiper reservoir, and change a tire.

Usually on computers the management is more involved and requires savviness on the user's part. Savvy means to know, comprehend, to understand. It's a strange word, like having geekness or nerdiness and can range from minor casual involvement to an obsessional technical guru. Maybe there should be skill levels with appropriate colored mice. The yellow mouse beginner, then green mouse, red mouse mid level, brown and black mouse, the ninja mouser and the click-fu master, tweaker monks, code saints.

Getting back to Linux, many of the MS school of PC have said Linux requires skills beyond the standard training. This is an echo from older Linux masters who most likely were commandline skilled. Desktop Linux is not new but because it is just now reaching into the mainstream of desktop computer users, the emphasis on graphics/mouse skills is a new school of Linux PC. But to tell you the truth, there are not many computer users who are savvy. Seems mostly green mousers in the world, and a lot of folks never go beyond using what was on the PC at purchase.

Cars and computers.........MS and Mac are commercial products, Linux is a do it yourself kit car. With Linux you can have it built for you or build it yourself. You can get paid support service or get support off the net. This flexibility drives people crazy. With all the various levels of skilled people all talking about Linux, it is hard to grasp the narrowed scope of desktop use. Even I get overwhelmed talking to Linux enthusiast who are mainframe and server trained, they just go way beyond my experience. I don't bore and stroke engines, just hang the fuzzy dice, yet I too love Linux. Believe me I've had the same "in depth" experience with electrical engineers, they actually love the details. Me, though I understand some concepts, just flick the switch.

Linux as an OS provides endless fascination, but to most desktop users, the applications are the draw. Without applications, computers and doorstops are very similar. Linux has great applications that need to be exclaimed and explained to the user world.

I am hoping the top Linux distros gets a group of hardware vendors to push the ability to run Linux. Then offer a complete solution of hardware/software and support. The price can be reasonable and still provide the liberty and freedom of open source systems. I think the desktop PC in a big case should be left to the case modders and servers. We already have laptops both compact and convenient. What's missing is the desktop that doesn't take up much space. Not the bookshelf PC, but a full-size keyboard with the PC under it using laptop technology and also being able to use any display or two of your choice. Here's a picture..........

I would market this as a Linux Desktop PC and load it with varying options. So Red Hat/Suse/Ubuntu could offer their stuff on approved and proven hardware. The hardware vendors would market partly through the Linux OS companies who offer hardware/software/support in one package. Though you could still buy the hardware or the software separately, the ability to go to say, Ubuntu, and get a complete system would be sweet.

The problem has always been with the influence of competing software companies trying to capture the desktop market by forcing hardware vendors to design and sell equipment optimized to only run their products. There only two ways to go with this, either hardware vendors hold fast to multiple operating system transparency or offer product lines that support each operating system specifically.

Then we have to redefine "the shelf". When people go to buy a computer at a store, usually at a convenient place that has a name, what is on the shelf. Linux folks have to decide, the Apple model or the Best Buy model. In any case online sales can't beat being able to touch a working system on a display stand and a customer asking "Can I take this home?". Linux has been on the "build it and they will come" mode and needs to consider the "carrots on sticks" mode. Marketing is about show and tell, creating wants and needs. Most people who would buy computers (at a store) have no idea of who or what Linux is, at all. It's the savvy who care. The few, the chosen, the savvy.

If you hang around Linuxville long enough, your savviness quotient will rise. And if you find your self expressing inner geekness (where did that come from?) don't say I didn't warn you. Each OS shapes a user's computing personality. Alas, we are so impressionable.

making yourself at home in Linuxville

Linux is more like a move-in ready fixer-upper with lots and lots of built-in amenities. The looks are quite clean and you can add/remove/improve just about everything or relocate them.

The secret to mastering Linux is that skills are transferable. Come on, it's a computer.

Skills learned while using Macs or MS Windows are also used in using Linux. The way some talk is as if you are expected to fly a plane after years of driving cars. Typing text is still typing text, clicking icons and folders are all standard user interface interactions you know and love.

"But the names have been changed to inflict the innocent".

OK, wallpaper is called a background. You know some detest lingo but if you don't speak the dialect or know the "buzz words" it's hard to communicate well. This is true also in the Mac and MS worlds. Each computer world is a sub-culture.

You should have confidence that the operating system is able to do its' job which is:
1. to tell the computer parts how to process data and what data to process.
2. to manage computer resources and put them at your fingertips.
3. to respond to your input and give you output.

Under your fingertips are two interfaces, the console or command line or terminal and the GUI or graphical user interface or desktop. When you learn how to "work it", become comfortable with it, it is natural to want every system to be like that. Difference and change can be a frustration when you've become attuned, accustomed, trained and indoctrinated. I have kept my skill set open by using MS at work and Linux at home. Being flexible is insightful, my options have improved and my limitations have lessened.

Space, the final frontier. Ever wonder why we get hot over 500 gig hard drive options when the computer only comes with 1 gig of RAM, sometimes less. And they will tell us to run Vista on that. If you want Vista in any form to run well, get at least 2 gig of RAM. Linux will run in 512MB but again, if you want it to run well, get 1 or 2 gig of RAM. Then repeat the mantra: RAM is for running programs, Hard Drives are for storage. Buy RAM first, then choose a hard drive according to your use. Let me paint a picture.............

I have an 80 gig hard drive in my Xubuntu Linux PC. 21 gig is for DreamLinux on my test partition. I have two 1 gig swap partitions. My Xubuntu partition is about 54 gig. Of that 54 gigs, 24 gigs are unused. That leaves 30 gig of files. 19 gig is my home user folder and of that 19, 17 gig are videos I collected from YouTube. That means 2 gig are personal files. And that means the operating system and all the application software files reside in about 11 gig. So, if you aren't collecting large video files, you could get away with a smaller hard drive and save money. 100 to 250 gig is fine for most people. And Linux doesn't have to be defragged.

Big hard drives are for multi-media collections. I'd rather burn my videos to DVDs and CDs.
1 floppy disc holds 1.44MB (megabytes) = 720 typed pages or (1) 9"x6" .png image@ 1.3MB

128MB Jump Drive = 88 floppies

1 gig Jump Drive = 704 floppies

8 gig Jump Drive = 5632 floppies

80 gig Hard Drive = 56,320 floppies

This is just to give you a feel for what space on a hard drive is like. Huge hard drives are bought and wasted because big numbers seem powerful. Big hard drives do not make a computer more powerful unless you need it and use it. Most could get by with 150 gig max, but drives are cheep these days and size sells. Just consider the RAM first, then the hard drive.

So in Linuxville you can have the country estate and the amenities of the city at the same time.
Pretty cool huh!

How to how to

Its' been a long precarious ride on the "other OS" transport, you finally get to Linuxville. You've seen the sights, sampled the food, enjoyed the local color and wondered how does anybody live here. To speak like a native is one thing, to become one is another. I was told by many older immigrants to this country, they listened to Frank Sinatra records because he pronounced every word so that you could understand them. I bet Mr. Sinatra never thought of his music as English tutorials.

There are a lot of great Linux books out there and you could consume them like cramming for exams, but brains require hands on to make it real. Lucky for you the live-CD Linux is freely available. Next is to play with it, curiosity only kills cats if the threat is real. Point-n-click, point-n-click, mouse around, open and close........Once you have relaxed a bit, now you can ask "now what?"

I am as you know the artist type and I have heard how hard it is to use the GIMP, mainly by folks who insist on Photoshop. I open GIMP and gasp, "what is this?" You could explore with point and click but I recommend TUTORIALS, especially video tutorials. To follow along watching and listening to someone using GIMP leads you right into it yourself without a lot of figuring on your part. Knowing how to do one thing gives you boldness to do other things.

I cooked my first pot of rice as a boy. I read the package that said 4 pats of butter. I did not know what a pat was, put in 4 sticks of butter. Mom rescued me, corrected me, instructed me. We froze the messed I made and used it over time. I had to start over but this time everything was clear. Today I can fend for myself if I need to just fine.

I watched a GIMP tutorial yesterday, the person was showing how to use the brushes to put a grunge textured design on a snowboard. I immediately saw how to use the tools and thought what else I could do with this. By the time a book comes out, I already know how to do it, on the reference shelf it goes.

Then there are user groups, forums and blogs about many Linux applications. All resources for you so that you don't feel alone or neglected in your Linux quest. Linux takes a little work but you don't have to know it all to begin. Yeah, Linux takes a little work, no more than learning anything else you don't already know. Some things you'll get right away, some over time.

We are symbiont beings here in Linuxville, (Jedi talk!) a community. It is especially appreciated among Ubuntu users who share in the sentiments of the Ubuntu meaning. Then Linux has always been a community effort.

The Linuxville handbook - tweaking the user

I am poking fun at us, but how many of us have full intent to impose our standard upon the products we buy, especially if we don't like the looks of it and we buy it anyway?!!

Being a satisfied Ubuntu guy, more specifically a Xubuntu guy, I have heard many complain about Ubuntu Linux's brown themes. I think the humanity focus on the range of skin tones have inspired these themes. But if you are predisposed to not favor bio-bag colors you could, as most Linux distros allow you, change them. Xubuntu is more grey or gray than brown, but there are themes that move beyond that also. Me, I kind of like grey (gray too!).

When a commercial product is offered, a limited range of choices means less work for the company and the ease of no-brainer, habitual, pattern forming, I'm use to this, familiarity for you. Linux lets you tweak things until they are comfortable for you, then you can develop all the habits you want. Choice first, habitual later.

I laugh, it's like going to a gallery to buy a picture. You spend all day looking, then deciding, then someone says "do you want to frame that picture?" Oh no, frames, so many frames. It is a good thing I can download pictures I like and use them as desktop backgrounds. This makes the frame/theme thing a minor issue.

Desktop icons and refrigerator magnets have a lot in common. We were duped to believe desktop icons would organize our mess by shear handiness. A few, yes. A dozen or more and a search tool is required. I have my file manager icon on a toolbar and my files in folders, so easy to click-n-pick. I have program launchers also on a toolbar and I also have the dropdown menu selector. I can get to everything without obscuring the beautiful desktop background with icons. It is all about moving things around and neat habits and easy work flow for yourself.

I should say something about eye candy. Eye candy is cool but marginally useful. Some folks just want shadows behind windows, sort of a pseudo 3d look. But some really like swirling cubes with videos playing on each side, windows that wobble when moved and mimicking other OS desktops' toolbars, themes and colors. Is it because of envy or I got that too and "BET YOU CAN'T DO THIS", bragging rights, I don't know your motives or inspiration. The fact you can do it is enough for some and some must exploit it to the max, "IT'S SHOW-N-TELL TIME BABY, TUX RULES!!". Pick your level of visual excitement.

Hey, it's your computer, your data, nobody is going to manage it for you but you!!! My car is cool enough, I even wash it sometimes. The interior is.......well, I am not proud of having to excuse the mess. A little housekeeping and I won't hear "gee, your car rides nice". Yeah, and I'm really sorry about the mess. Fixing hardware is fun, tweaking users is difficult at times.

There is a hidden war in the user interface world that probably began with the typewriter. We came into computers via the typewriter keyboard and wheither we touch-type or hunt-n-peck (like me), the keyboard ruled until the mouse. Someone reduced it all to a few mouse buttons with the help of display graphics, of course. Now we tussle between mouse or keyboard ability. If you learned keyboard skills, you are in one camp. I am willing to bet all hunt-n-peck folks are avid mouse mashers. Keyboards are the domain of the skilled, the trained with the dexterity of a dancer, the nimbleness of finger and mind to remember what symbol and what key invokes what magic, with swift precision. Truly an art and has been an Olympic event in many schools and offices. To see it all reduced to a cursor, a picture and a mouse button is extreme madness. It is sacrilege to some and salvation to others. We even have that weird finger pad on laptops.
Well, I don't mean to take sides but........

I am a card carrying member.

Linuxville handbook - how to be a native.

My wife affectionately describes me as a computer "hacker". I cringe because common folk misguided by the media think a hacker is a malicious deviant. But behind the keyboard, a hacker has ALWAYS been a connoisseur of code, a computer programming enthusiast, a computer science whiz. The term "cracker" has ALWAYS denoted the bad guys (breaking and entering). Even today the means to use commercial software illegally are called "cracks" while tweaking software code to improve it is called "hacks". I challenge all writers of media to get it right. Hacking is good, cracking is bad. Who ever heard of a safe hacker?

I neither hack or crack, I am a humble desktop user who occasionally tweaks.

The real name for my favorite operating system is GNU/LINUX. GNU is the operating system part and Linux is the "kernel" part. GNU/Linux is the complete body of work, the kernel, utilities, tools, programs, applications, etc, etc, etc. So from the top, there is only one GNU/Linux.

Distributions are combinations of the above GNU/Linux parts, packaged together to make up a working system (so you don't have to do it your self, but you can!). Sort of like cars and tennis shoes, the different distributions denote different configurations of the same thing. Linux for a server might be different from Linux for a desktop workstation, but still made of GNU/Linux parts. Distributions can emphasize a culture or language, a GUI (graphical user interface), a set of tools, a range of uses, a type of computer architecture, a kind of computer (server, desktop, DPA, wristwatch). Popular desktop Linux has names like Fedora, Ubuntu, Suse, Mandriva, and .........!

Applications are what enables you to do stuff. If business requires you to use the Microsoft stuff, then you are stuck, otherwise you are free to use anything you wish, if............

IF you can do the same work/play with Linux applications. And if the final file formats are compatible for sharing files with the programs on MS and Mac systems (if you have to share with them!). This usually means .txt, .doc, .pdf and various multimedia and graphic file formats. Other than these, most users do not share files. While Linux can read and write most formats, the emphasis is on open formats not controlled by one software vendor. Then most Linux applications are Open Source, which has to do with being able to freely use and alter the code to your needs. Thus a lot of this software has been compiled to run also on MS and Mac computers. I have Open Office, GIMP, Inkscape and TuxPaint on my Xubuntu and my XP machines. They work the same, though I strongly prefer the Xubuntu machine.

Command line stigma hampers would be Linux users at the mere mention of the word. In Linux the command line is not completely covered by the user interface, the fact that it is so available is a threat. It is there if you need it and is no worst to use than using a word processor, but it does require some knowing what it does for you. YOU MIGHT NOT EVER, NEVER NEED TO USE IT! There were times when I had to use the command line even in MS XP because the XP desktop gave me no way to deal with a problem. This is why I prefer to use the term "TERMINAL" instead of command line. The terminal is the text only interface, the GUI is the graphical user interface, the same but different. "Oh, how dare they put stuff in there, I can't figure out". I am willing to bet you haven't figured out your TV remote yet either!

What would Linuxville native life be without a mascot? Tux the penguin has been the most recognized symbol to date. There have been reports of mysterious appearances in user group photos and faint images burnt into disgarded CRT monitors. I don't think there are many Tux costume fanciers but the Stiffe toy company probably had a run on penguins at times. Crop circles and the Tux shaped deep sea out cropping, and will I ever cover that little chrome XP/Vista sticker with a Tux badge? It is funny though, as little as Linux spends on a marketing strategy, that Tux is so strong an image.

I hope the above helps, better than a grass skirt. Sorry I can't offer official Linuxville passports, Tux lapel pins or a secret decoder ring, scratch-n-sniff trading cards. But as was told to me years ago, Linux kind of grows on ya!

Finally a little respect, but long way to go

Usually when I go to the main library in my town I have to browse the computer books to see what's new. I have to say browse because Linux books were scattered throughout the Microsoft forest. Well, I couldn't believe my eyes, someone put all the Linux books on one shelf. I was elated, this is a Linux impact statement (at least to me) that says Linux is worthy and recognized, sort of. You can find them without whining.

There is still a long way to go with books in the Linux world. Most books deal with the operating system, usually from a system administrator's view point. But there needs to be more books on the applications that people use. Our library has a couple of books on Open Office but none on GIMP. While I enjoy that I can get articles and downloads about Linux applications off the net, there is great comfort in having a printed book. Books still say there is authoritative and enthusiastic interest.

So, maybe your local computer enthusiast group can pool their resources together in a fund, buy Linux and Linux application books and donate them to the library. That way over time all can share. One book at a time goes a long way. This is your official homework project!!

But since Linux info has grounded itself in the digital format for these many years, you also have to wonder why technology to access this knowledge has not been front page. Digital reading devices should be as popular as iPods. Maybe there will be a drive to cut down on paper printing. Newspapers are struggling as it is. My idea is a simple one. A digital device about the size of a magazine with a USB port. There would be kiosks into which you can plug-in your jump drive and for a small fee download your choice of newspapers and magazines. Then you plug it into your reader and read away. Subscription services could email your copies to your account. And so what if the only thing you can do with the device is read. If I had wanted a full fledged computer we already have netbooks and laptop computers and such. Keeping it simple also keeps the cost down. Some genius wants to put interactive content, sound, color, a real multimedia and pricey machine, all I want is a digital newspaper I can read.

Envision this, when I turn on my cell phone it makes a sound, displays a boot screen and then allows me to call or receive calls. Suppose a similar device or the phone itself could have a USB jack/port and you could download your subscription PDF file magazine or newspaper, then go to any LCD display plug it in and read away.

Another thing is that digital content producers want digital content in file formats they control. Look, just put it all in a PDF document format we already know and love, be done with it. For instance there is a Ubuntu magazine called "Full Circle" in .pdf format. It is a wonderful and colorful magazine. The local computer group here has a newsletter in .pdf, it is very informative and interesting. I wouldn't mind paying or donating small change for .pdf publications, even newspapers can do this.

The point, quit designing I can do everything but not so well products. It is good enough to do a few things well.

Oh yeah, speaking of books, "How to do Everything: Ubuntu" by Jeffrey T. Orloff (McGrall Hill 2008) is the most understandable Linux book I've come across so far. It has history, dispels the mysteries, has some nut and bolt talk, some mouse workouts and is user friendly. It gives you enough info so that you can comfortably "work it"and a solid base to inquire further (if you must know). What, no live-CD in the back? No John, I'm not that kind of book! This is a great read me first book.

Well the Linuxville desk is due a Spring clean-up and spruce-up, better get at it, later!

Linuxville technical showcase

It's a voluminous room with swirling lights and digital sounds. There were displays of the first mainframe all the way to todays typical desktop PCs. And the big survey question, what's on your desk??

Hey, what happened to that laptop? That's SHOCKING!! It's as though somebody ripped off the LCD display and........., I just wanted you to see what I was talking about.

Oooooooh, it looks nice doesn't it? You know it does!! I gotta get me one of these!!

Those marketing people are so mesmerized by the portable laptop mystique, they can't see what a great idea this is. I want to replace my big standard desktop PC with a sleek low powered all-in-one, under the keyboard technology that already exist, a laptop without the display mounted on it. I can use any LCD display I already have, standard or wide format. This setup should be the new PC for when portability is not an issue. This would lower the cost of the PC for many folk who own displays already. What about portability? Well those who need it can get a netbook like that Asus EEE or similar, you can take it with you.

What could top this new desktop PC is a similar desktop unit without the keyboard sort of like a blade server without the rack. Wow, a desktop blade server stack or cluster stack, hummmmm.

My last bit of mental exercise is what shall we call it. Macs are Macs, MS powered computers are PCs, maybe Linux powered computers should be called LICs or Linux Intelligent Computers or LPCs, Linux Powered Computer. Gotta have a moniker.

BYOM or techno bubbles bursting in air!

Car shows, they come, they go. So far I've never went to one because I hate to see all the latest stuff they managed to put between 4 wheels. Then I realize this dream car is one of a kind, not for sale, not coming to a dealer near you! Forget the car, what about the technology? Well when the technology finally comes, it in no way resembles what I saw in the show.

The all-in-one computer, like those TV/VCR/DVD combo units. I can see it on my desk now, sleek and poised. The computer built into the monitor because we are all duped into racing after the design pace set by Apple's iMac. I relax, kickback, want to put the keyboard in my lap, sit back in a creative pose, oh wait, I need to pop in a CD. I disrupt my posture for a moment to reach across to the display to put in the CD. It is so unnatural, I guess this is why laptops are so popular, it's all attached to the keyboard. But then I am stuck, I have this great laptop (not the latest) and the display is not a wide screen, not big enough for squinty eyes and I can't cop my creative pose, hang on to it and type too (new laptop needed?).

The answer to my dilemma is to rip the display off the laptop. With this all-in-one computer in my lap minus the display tethered by a cable, I can reach my CD slot in ease while striking my creative pose and mount the display on the wall, pole, stand or base. And use any display I happen to have (BYOM, bring your own monitor!!). But laptops are supposed to be portable! Hey, just because I want a desktop doesn't mean I must have a big energy sucking computer in a dust-bunny palace. Actually, netbooks are more portable and laptops are..........less portable!

You computer folks make convertible laptops where the display will rotate, fold backward into a tablet. Why can't you make the display an attachable option? I will buy the base unit as a desktop and use a separate display of my choice. I think you computer makers are trying to sell displays with the computer as the option. I think it's child's play to put the display and hinge assembly on say a port extender block and secure it to the laptop back with two thumb screws.

Personally, the laptop is too big and not nomadic enough to be truly portable for most people and why today, netbooks are hot. This is my expert advice, rip the display off the laptop, call it the new desktop, leave the PC case for gamers and servers. This gives us three distinct classes of computers, the netbook, the low power desktop and the mod case PC. There are too many crossovers in the market.

OK, the hottest thing in PCs is to boot from a USB drive. I can boot MS XP, Vista, MS W7 on my hard drive or from that 4-32 gig thumb drive with the Linux of my choice or vice versa (my preference!). This is like a throwback to Commodore 64 days, the program cartridge plugged into the side of the computer. But with these USB thumb drives being 4 to32 gigs in size, the operating system and installed applications can be put on one drive. I know there are security issues with thumb drives in business machines. So put encrypted locks/keys on the bootable ports and maybe a physical lock so that only IT can remove it or change it. Anyway the PC itself can be fairly generic but when the jump drive is plugged in, it becomes a MS windows machine or a Linux machine at will.

Hey IT folks, if your OS and apps are on the jump drive and something gets corrupted, you only have to swap a new loaded jump drive and that PC is up and running. You still have to scan/clean the files on the server but half the work is done. You can even keep loaded jump drives handy to copy onto the hard drive if that is your way of working. Think of this as digital inoculating injectors, pretty cool.

Sometimes it's not about new stuff, but using what we have already in a different light. Yeah, in Linuxville we are use to that!.

Lookie here, the ZPC - WOW!!

Well, I don't really need another computer though it's been a couple of years and things do change over time. I tell you those netbook PCs, at least for me, would be far more handier than say a Blackberry. It's just a tad bit too small. But I don't want to buy a netbook and a cell phone. Maybe I'm just fussing, want a bigger screen display and bigger keys. On that front I am still looking.

On the desktop scene I thought a laptop would fill the bill but now I am having second thoughts. In my house I don't tend to compute all over it. Certain spaces are for focused activities and attentions, I like it like that. I do want to show you some evolutionary PC pictures. Check these out:
This, if you don't remember was the Commodore 64, an all-in-one, under the keyboard PC. It had cards you plugged into the side that were loaded with applications and games and the operating system, programming languages, etc. It had all sorts of ports for peripherals and transformer bricks for everything.

This was the Atari PC, I forget which one. It was also an all-in-one unit and a definite improvement in style and function. Don't ask me who came first.

I saw this yesterday:
This is my Dream PC, the Cybernet Zero Footprint PC or ZPC-GX31. Some body said take a laptop and gee, use your own monitor. Then remove the laptop's internal clutter and cooling nightmare. It's got a laptop's smallness and a desktop's roomy simplicity, all under the keyboard. I can use my 15" LCD or upgrade to something larger. I can move it around the house, so what it's not a laptop. Finally a desktop with flexibility. Ever try to upgrade or fix a laptop, somebody please call the service techie and former watch maker. Then having industry standard parts and few cutting edge stuffs inside, the cost has got to be reasonable, I've got to look into this further. This would make a very cool office machine or home machine. From the web site you can see this machine can fit anywhere with ease. If I were a IT manager/techie/business owner, I'd be jumping all over this company's product (there's probably a waiting list). http://www.cybernetman.com/default.cfm?DocId=602

So, here you go, no fragile clamshell, no toe stubbing, knee knocking case, no one size fits all LCD display, and no ancient of days experienced techs required. You might have to endure some teasing, "Hey, what happened to the rest of your laptop?' or "thick keyboard, no case, what kind of computer is that?" You might have to yell at the kids, "don't drink and type!", "You, with the milk, step away from the computer!!" Those keyboard skins will sale like hot cakes! Some said "looks dated". If it had a sleeked up, geeked out appearance, would that drive up the cost? Bottom price about $700. Even the low end is adequate and a LCD display for about $120 or so and still reasonable.

I've got to find out if it runs Linux well, if it does, my fate is before me. If you are a school net manager looking for new PCs, you ought to look at this Cybernet ZPC-GX31. For me it is a great compromise between a laptop and a desktop. Ah! the eloquence of form and function without the future-tech hype style, looks good on any desk. Running Linux will seal the deal and bring in a no need to build-it myself glint back in my eye.

Just a further note: The spec sheets says it will run Linux "top distros". And this baby will boot from a USB device, which means Linux on a jump drive.

freedom to compute

If there are two things that spark my imagination it is big power in small packages and small packages that run Linux. Laptops are the rage and soon to be the standard PC most people are buying these days. To have it all in one package you can take with you is so convenient, you'd have to be pretty old school to pass this up. And to top it all off, laptops are getting more and more powerful so that you don't have to buy many extra gadgets to fill it out. As a PC tech I think I need to get one...........but, I just saw in Computer Shopper the Shuttle X27 (drool, drool!). You can get it with Linux of some flavor!! Thats fully loaded hardware and software.

If you know anything about the Shuttle PC's, they are small form factor and are barebones or fully loaded. The X27 is a solid state machine (no moving parts). It's like a laptop in a tiny box, perfect for a geekologist like me and if you look around, you can fine a small price. Man that Shuttle web site is amazing. I would call these machines semi-portable. If you are wanting huge power in a little package this is the way to go.

But what I would like to see is a new desktop that is actually a laptop without a screen. I could use the LCD screens I already have. Or a LCD screen that is part of a dock extension unit that locks on the back edge of the laptop base unit. It would still be a portable but have a fully detachable screen. The idea is that if you already have a monitor and aren't looking for a laptop, just buying the bottom part cuts the cost. Those laptop LCD's can be expensive and are fragile.
This would be a good machine to drive a souped up digital picture frame (regular LCD monitor) and audio file player. Who knows what you could make this thing do. I am hoping someday for a big pile of computer stuff so that I can experiment with computers around the house. Don't get me wrong. I think consumer products are good, just not great. I never quite find what I have in mind. I think it is a good time to invent something.

the sound of small imagination bangs

Like any home or business there is a closet for used or discarded stuff. There in the corner, under the mask of dust bunny fur are old PC's, monitors, printers, etc. I can't vouch for most electronic junk but PC's that can still run a descent operating system, hard drive and CD player can still be useful. If perchance you could run Linux on it you might even redeem it from the scrap heap. And what would make an older PC attractive to purchase from a reseller? Here is the vision!!

1. PC's do not have to be hooked up to the internet to be useful.
2. PC's do not need to be in a network to be useful.
3. There is no law that says one PC per person or family, or that it must sit at a desk with keyboard in front of it.
4. There is no law that says a computer must be used a certain way.
5. There is no law that says that a computer must be able to do everything.

Internet and networks are a fine convenience, but you could do many things without it. Lets say you wanted an entertainment system besides your big screen cable fed TV. A stand alone PC could play audio and video that your TV can't supply. All you'd really need is to download stuff from the net via your regular PC or laptop to a flash drive, or burn a CD/DVD, pop it into your dedicated PC entertainment system. You could buy one of those really small, cheap, can't play games on it PC's for this. On my main computer I have movies and YouTube clips, podcasts, iTunes, lots of photos and of course my artwork. I could put them all on a USB drive or jump drive and plug into my entertainment PC.

Ever ask yourself why those digital picture frames are so small? Want something bigger? For a few bucks more get a cheap 15 inch flat screen. Hook it up to your cheap PC and run a slide show of your photos. Oh and you can buy wall mounts and pole mounts for your flat screen. The artistic and decorating potential here is great. How about laying that flat screen under that glass top table or hanging 3 flat screens, one beneath the other on a wall. My flat screen has built in speakers, not good for rattling windows, but normal listening........ah!

Linux has many applications that are very useful for these projects. Elisa Media Center is one. It will play any media file stored on your PC, the desktop interface is simple and very attractive. Then most of the image viewers and photo management apps have slide show functions. There are a great selection of audio media players, some with music driven eye candy. I use VLC to play even commercial movie DVD's.

The thing is that we get into patterned thinking that computers are meant to do this and that. We think one computer is enough and it must do everything, only it can't do everything all at once. A few cheap computers doing dedicated tasks is less bother and more fun. Sometimes I will be working on my main machine and have my older other PC just running a slide show, playing some music or a podcast. Pretty cool, huh! I am looking for ways to use computers about the house without the theater experience or without gameplay takeover of my livingroom. I am surprised few ever talk about a "simple" touch screen display in the kitchen. Those all-in-one tablet PC's are too expensive, how much power do you need for a kitchen PC anyway? With my 15 inch glorified picture frame with touch screen control, I would insert my jump drive of downloaded recipes or morning digital newspaper and have my coffee. We always want technology to do too much. That is why we don't get it. I hope I have sparked your imagination to try stuff and use Linux. Let the other guys work on the next big thing, we in Linuxville bask in the sound, a sea of small imagination bangs. A bang in every head!

Linux + Art, is there such a thing?

Most of us are totally convinced that the only shoes we can run in are Nike and Converse. We have made an industry out of running, heck there are even running magazines. It is the same with computer generated art. We have made an industry out of it. The big guns are Photoshop and Illustrator and other software that are Microsoft and Apple based. Some insist you can't be serious about computer art unless you use these programs. It's very much like saying you can't do otherwise, we won't accept it, and if you manage to do it, you are the only one.

It's also been suggested that you can't make art unless your trained. This assumes that you as an artist are pursuing a career in the commercial art world. Now with your accepted credentials you can work anywhere in the world as an artist. Canned and programmed, the artist who works for some company never really gets into what drew him into art in the first place, to be able to realize his own work.

Well, there are so many assumptions that we forget the fundamental ability of an artist is to take what is around them and formulate a new view so that we see things differently. I could give many examples from a guy drawing portraits using an Etch-a-sketch to another who uses a cheap ball-point pen to do photo-realistic work...........So why is it so hard to imagine doing artwork on a Linux computer? Linux is not taught in the art schools, or any school for that matter. Linux is so not the industry standard, the programs do not meet up to the standards, tools and functions and requirements and.........."You can't make a Linux based art business, it won't work."

I once heard of an artist not affording his art-ware, plucked his own hair out to make his brushes and I can't tell the stories of thousands of African artist who made their own paints and dyes of various substances to paint on bark, fabric and walls. We acknowledge and give great respect to them and their works. But now you have to use the industry standard training, tools, practices and materials in order to do art.

Then it is assumed I am not a purist to my Linux cause if I take the work created in Linux and pass it over to a MS or Apple computer to print out, because printer drivers for the wide format printers I prefer are not available yet for Linux.

Tools, training, practices, standards, credentials, you have to wonder if it is really art anymore.

The part that struck and stuck to my bones was an interview with an African crafts person many years ago. He was asked why he crafted. His answer was "I just want to make beautiful things." Yes folks, there is an art gene or it is just how our brains are wired.

So today, Linux (GIMP and Inkscape and others) is my pulled out hair to make a brush, my Etch-a-sketch, my cheap ball-point pen, my home made paint and dyes and even my running shoes of recycled tire treads. My motive is, "I just want to make beautiful things." And I hope people can appreciate what I have chose to call "art via Linux".



I think I have to add some background texture to them but I like the simplicity. It is all a blending of my African sensibility (I still have some!), technical drafting and other things using Linux tools. I am working on the print, pricing and marketing aspect, but things are coming along. My feeling is that art should be lived with. After all these years I am still not seeing what I like on the market. Perhaps I can put it there. Yeah, I just want to make beautiful things too!

nothing, what's formatter with you!

I know we all like to point, click and forget it, but there comes a time when the file we downloaded won't play, or won't play right. I'm talking about video files mainly but graphic files have their moments also. Between web-cam and camcorder users lots of videos are posted on the net for whatever purpose. I especially like podcasts how-to's, jazz groups and techie talk shows. From YouTube I can get them as .FLV files and on my Xubuntu Linux system play them with MPlayer or VLC. Yes, you have to have the proper codecs installed or some formats can't be viewed. Commercial DVD's need special codecs which are contained in a file off the net.

But let's say you want to convert your .FLV files to .MPG. Why? Because you might be able to copy to a CD/DVD and play them on your video player connected to your TV. Yes, without hooking your PC to your TV you can see custom made videos, slide shows and listen to music. Just pop in the prepaired CD or DVD into the TV's vid box and wah-lah!!!

Hey I didn't know I could do this either. I used a program called FFMPEG. It's a Linux program and it is command line driven. It's not that scary to use if you don't mind the Linux terminal, you'll get over it. Anyway ffmpeg will not only convert video and audio formats back and forth, it will turn a directory of jpeg photos into a slide show mpeg file you can watch on your TV.
The ideal thing is to have a DVD burner so that you have lots of room in case you are converting a long movie. You can go to the ffmpeg home page to see command structure and tweaks.

If you are an artist type or a photo bug, and you happen to have one of those wide screen TV's, you could see your own stuff big time. I wonder if you could blend in a sound track? Of course the best is to have a videocard with a S-video output, then you could easily plug into your big screen and not bother with converting. But I just wanted to let you know you could do these things in Linux.

off the curve, into traffic - like frogger, no

Going the Linux way you will see all sorts of tools you never thought of. I for one am a visual person and ideas are, you know, fleeting. I write down notes on every scrap of paper around my desk. And yes, there are various regurgitations of sticky notes and post-it notes. I have both the paper kind and the digital equivalent. Let's see, desktop icons all over the screen, sticky notes on my monitor and floating on my desktop. OOOh, I am so unorganized! I hate too many desktop icons. It's a good thing the Linux file browser is so handy, not like in other operating systems. If I want a file I go there first and fast.

Enter Tomboy Notes.........pretty cool, it's like a mini file browser for notes. You can jot things down on note pages and put them in folders to keep them in order. This is great if you are following a train of thought. You could do this with your regular file browser but this Tomboy Notes is available on the desktop and has ways for moving and reorganizing just the notes. The trouble with Tomboy Notes and my thought trains is that my thoughts include pictures.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but a picture with a few words is priceless. I was looking for a note taker app with the ability to pull in graphics. I found something so much more. It's called BasKet Note Pads. Here's a couple of pictures so that I won't have to write a book:



This BasKet Note Pads is like a notepad on steroids. What we have here is a complete research tool. You can add pictures, web links, notes, and more yet to be discovered. Talk about scrapbooking, this is way beyond that digital album you've been playing with. This could be a front-end to accessing stuff on your personal database and on the internet.

I've just uncovered a new niche in cyber-law, digital inheritance. How do you pass on your personal computer database? Digital effects, hmmm..........

Jumping into the Linux fray is not so bad, look both ways, take your time, you'll be just fine.

The Leap - actually just stepping off the curve.

We've talked about what Linux is and that it has a desktop (just like the other guys). For you it is the same point-n-click except things might be in different places under different icons. Why? Because MS and Apple get very upset if Linux had the exact same desktop as their copy-righted products. Look at all the various ink pens and cars that all do the same things (write and move your body). It is the same for operating systems, applications and computer hardware.

So when you are looking to acquire a PC/Mac your main concerns are cost and available applications. To yours truly, Linux offers the most bang for the buck and a wide variety of free software. The caveat is, learning to accept the Linux world. But the greatest of all compromises is Open Source Software. For the most part, Open Source Software is free and of course cross-platform. There are versions of applications that run on Linux and well as Microsoft PC's and some for Macs too. So, don't be pressed to switch platforms unless you really want too.

As you all know I am a digital art dabbler and in my present economic condition I can't justify paying for Photoshop or Paint-Shop Pro for that matter, just to have so-called professional graphics programs. Does this stop me from developing my interest and talents in pixel pushing? NO!! Of course if you are working in a commercial capacity, the industry standard software would be an advantage for you, if they required it. But who is to say what software produced a digital file if the format is one you can use. I have accepted the fact that when and if I need those MS Windows based professional programs, I can if I must, get them. A strange thing happens though. If you use GIMP as GIMP, without constant comparison to Photoshop, it becomes your favorite when you are using it. Sometimes a new brush (or graphics program) brings a new perspective on honed skills. If you are a big Photoshop fan, why is your life and livelihood threatened by GIMP? It is just that some are so stiff on using MS Windows and Photoshop. Are you convinced that Linux and Open Source Software based graphics is a futile dream or a form of social protest? And by the way, I do hug digital trees!!

I went on a noontime excursion to the local library. Rummaging through the Microsoft software books looking for signs of Linux life, I found a couple of new books. Linux for Dummies (at last). This is a very good book but it is not for dummies. It's more for tech savvy but don't know Linux type folks. I think the "for dummies" people try to explain too much at once. Then Ubuntu, How to Do Everything. I'm still flicking through this book, looks interesting and is closer to the Linux for Dummies idea. It shows how to do desktop stuff with Ubuntu Linux.

I am tipping my hat to the library people for buying more Linux books. We need more stuff on open source applications too. I am still waiting for a book on GIMP to grace the shelves. A few books on digital graphics that are not about photography would be a plus. Digital art, digital painting, etc. There are as many books on Photoshop alone as there are on MS Office software. Then if you flick through those books they center on photos and photo manipulation. There are none that explore drawing and painting. I guess some people still don't think of a computer as being an artist tool. Thank goodness for inter-library loans, we'd be lost without it!

Well if I absolutely must use MS based software for graphics I guess I can, but my aim is to explore, use and produce graphics with Linux software. Why? Because I can and I am. So, with Linux there is no problem making the art, but marketing and selling will take further study. We will see what develops!

Linuxville and you, a desktop user

Welcome to Linuxville!!!

You are thinking about a Linuxville visit and so you jump on the net to view some screenshots (postcards) and read the travel reviews of critics. It is so confusing because the critics of Linux never match the perspective user's vantage point. Imagine being all day on a fishing boat after promoters rave about catching the big one and you bring home the guppy. Or you are a river wader type of fishing person and you hook something that taxes both you and your equipment. I know, I know, you want the skinny from an expert, that way you can have all your questions answered. Good luck with that!

Linux in review depends on who is looking at it. If you ask the plumber, you get pipes. If you ask the artist you get pictures. If you ask the lawyer you get a legal opinion and a bill. Linux today is described by many experts who happen to be technicians, system administrators, programmers, and are proficient at running servers and large networks. But you need to hear from someone who is just like you, a desktop user, even a home user.

But, but, shouldn't they know all the nuts and bolts and inner workings of Linux thus are qualified and able to tell me what I need to know?? Yes, but no!! These folks know a lot in some areas, not enough in others. Never ask an engineer for an explanation in a nutshell, you will get the details, all the details. At first you want to know what does it look like, what can it do, how is this better than what I already have? What's the cost? What's the point? Then later you can ask about details. It is a common experience that the well versed have little patience for new users and curious inquirers. Why? Because many of these vocal experts have used Linux for years without the desktop GUI (graphical user interface). Linux works without the GUI and in some cases works better, like on servers. They will say "type this", when all you want and need is "click this".

Is there an answer to this dilemma? Yes. The pool of Linux users are really a group of symbiont communities (ooh! Jedi talk) with overlapping experiences. But what is needed is Linux from the point of view of a desktop user. The desktop Linux user is in reality a new group, most of whom have little interest in the inner workings. OK, car drivers should know how to change a tire, how to check the oil and how to adjust the driver compartment for a comfortable fit. Knowing the mechanics is optional, but not necessary. It is the same with Linux. Also, there are kinds of users with different needs. If we are talking about changing from Microsoft to Linux, it is different for a home user than for a business owner or system administrator. Home users don't have to worry about changing and maintaining large numbers of computers. So, choose your critics/reviewers wisely.

As your Linuxville guide I want you to see the views of a typical desktop user. Linux on the desktop is like a car. It maybe boring or very exciting. The desktop is about look and feel and the drive. You may want to rock the chassis, screech the tires, or just drive to work and back. Some want a normal routine experience, some want to tinker, customize, accessorize and say "lookie here".

As a Linux desktop user, my experience has drawn me to these main conclusions:

1. Linux is not a clone of Microsoft Windows or a free version of MS Windows.

2. Linux is not a substitute or replacement for MS Windows, implying that it will run your entire investment of MS based software without a hitch.

3. Linux can be used instead of MS Windows to do the same kinds of computing tasks using software written for Linux.

4. Linux can accommodate software written for other platforms, not flawlessly but it can be done.

5. Linux has its own games.

6. It is the file format that matters more than the program that created it. If the file format is liberated from one company's market controlling whims, it is more advantageous for everyone. Ask any computer networking person about networking protocol standardization and ethernet communication. And why MS Word versions (there are a lot of them!) have different formats to where a conversion program is needed is beyond me.

7. The GUI was invented on a Unix system and passed on to Apple then to MS. The icons and windows and even the tools that perform tasks in applications are all industry standards of the total computer community. This is so skills are transferable and you will know what to expect no matter which computer you use, Linux, MS or Mac, whether you type a command or click the mouse.

8. As a desktop user you have the liberty to be a poster-child or fanboy/girl for the computer system of your preference or be a free range chicken with transferable skills to use any computer under your fingers.

9. As a Linux desktop user you can be a surface skimmer (GUI user only) or deep diving codehead with equal comfort.

10. It is jesting to say that with MS you will be assimilated and with Linux you will be accommodated, but there are rings of truth here.

Well, you have reached the city limits, drive on or turn around and stay for a while. I hope your visit was/is pleasant. Don't forget the souvenirs, we have live-CD's, postcards (screenshots), my blog travel guide and, ooh! is that a bobble-head penguin on your dash? Man, you're my hero!

Linux is what Linux is

I had a friend who worked for DEC equipment years ago. DEC was a mainframe computer manufacturer. My friend was often given a list of specifications and a stack of photos from a sales manager. He was asked to make a literal pile of parts look like the photos and work like the specs. I never heard how successful he was, just that he kept his job. The customers never seen the mess of parts or the tremendous skill and effort required to put them all together. They just saw the finished product and asked where is the boot button.

I have read so many people who want Linux to be like MS Windows in every way. One look and feel, one way of doing things, even one brand name or one company to blame for screwups. This is too much like asking a horse to be a goose. For Linux to become static in nature.........it would not be Linux any more. Linux was not conceived as a single product and will never be a single product. The kernel considered to be the real "Linux" in Linux was started by one person Linus Torvalds, put on the net to be developed and extended. Many coders who already knew something about writing software for Unix added utilities and functions for Linux. Then applications were either written from scratch or ported to Linux from other Unix based platforms.

So, in reality the Linux project became a kit of Linux parts all under the umbrella name Linux. This kit contains many duplicated functions, you might say extra parts, redundant parts, because one group of developers used this library set and another a different one or one group worked this out one way and another a different way. Now comes along persons or groups who like my DEC friend wants to build a Linux system. They select from all the parts, put then together, test them and name the built system. We call this built system a distribution. Today there are 400+ Linux distributions, each unique for its features or flavor or function. It is amazing the creativity that goes into building a Linux system let alone into the parts themselves.

Should 400+ distributions cause those new to Linux to have a reason to complain and be confused? I say no. The Linux community recommends certain distributions as good starting points, popular choices and solid stable and well supported. It should be noted that you can't regard Linux the same as the off the shelf commercial software you are used to using. If you want what you have now only different and free, Linux is not what you want. If you want to keep and run all your other platform software, you might be out of luck. If you are determined to compare every inch of Linux against Microsoft because there must be a clear winner and a loser, why waste your time. Linux can replace Microsoft or work along side of it, if you can use it, use it. If you don't use it that is your choice.

So I state the facts, Linux is a kit of parts. Combinations of collections of these parts are put into tested systems called distributions. These distros are documented so that you can choose among them and not build from scratch unless you want to. Distributions like Ubuntu and Fedora are easy for new users to understand and use. Once you have some experience you might move on to Mepis or another. I will also say that Linux is Linux and you will find the same applications for any Linux OS for desktop use.

If you have the curiosity or necessity or adventurous spirit, come to a virtual Linuxville tour via Live-CD. You can see if Linux works on your hardware, if you like the tools and applications and decide if installation is in your future. Linux is what Linux is.

pushing the Titanic with a paddle

It is a simple equation, change one computer user to use open source at a time.

A single user doing personal computing usually has no problem seeing the light of change. A small business might also realize the benefits of open source applications. Schools, larger businesses and governments are reluctant to change because the cost of change is not just measured in money spent. It is not only the cost of new software, training or workflows. It is changing the minds of people all entrenched, networked and efficient at doing things as they stand. Everybody agrees that to outfit a larger concern with open source software you have to reset the mentalities of all the execs, management, support techs and work staff. This is changing the tools by which business is done. Retooling takes time and costs money.

Because of entrenchment, we have given in to teaching the next generation to follow suit, to continue doing business with the same tools, the same methods and projecting the same outcomes. Today we see that many have over stepped and over reached to the ruin of business itself. So, to make adjustments we are asking a new generation to strive to use the same tools and methods in new and creative ways.

We have outlawed the use of lead in consumer products, but the promise of the possibility of turning lead into gold still gives us reason to teach lead use to each new generation. This is true with coal and oil and all the chemicals, processes and products derived from them. To just abandon them, stop using them, is too big a change. It is unthinkable not to use them and to find alternatives puts everything we have now in jeopardy.
The American way is at stake and the way we live and do business, what we value....................

Meanwhile in the background, in diverse corners of the globe the much envied and coveted ways and means of doing business and education by which we have promoted and leveraged indirect authority and influence, is slipping as great quantities of peoples are realizing open source ways. Solar power, wind power and open source software can be had and used without war and without threats of war, without treaty violations, without patient infringement.

Oh, and by the way, some folks have invented the almost neutral backyard nuclear power generating station (still being tested and proven) so nations wanting a big political leverage/physical disaster waiting to happen doomsday device should reconsider. I don't endorse nukes, but who am I, right?

The problem is who makes the bucks? Who controls the revenue stream from the sale and use of the tools of education and business? I know this is the fact. Schools contact me all the time wanting me to attend because having been guided through their coursework at great cost to me means I've become qualified to obtain employment to be able to pay them back. If I have the right stuff, I could download the same material, learn the same knowledge and be equally able to do the work. Seems being qualified to work is a matter of paying some sort of dues to an approved institution. Then if you don't live here and got the education and skills, you can come here and work, not many questions asked. That element called the "right stuff" is rampant among people struggling to improve themselves and their nations. They won't forever endure the deals from Microsoft. MS was so worried about the One-Laptop-Per-Child program because the laptops was not using their software. MS should have been about putting solar arrays in those remote and diverse places so that kids could power those laptops and have lights, communications and pumps for drinking water, etc. Allegiance to a brand-name may grant limited opportunities but most often leaves you subject to the will of your benefactor. Believe me, mutual benefits mean you take a little less and give something in return. Now you must fight for rights, control and destiny's future. It's the give me a fish or a fishing pole/net scenario.

Don't mean to point fingers and name names, just to state principle from a point of view. Business should ask if a person has word processing skills, then what software. Using Open Office should not disqualify one from working a job using MS Word. If the job requires advanced or MS Word specific skills then say no or provide training and be done with it. Businesses have gotten out of the habit of making experts and prefer to buy an expert, trained and experienced already. To follow the just do the work trend, we've eliminated training for specific skills, research and development, engineering, and now manufacturing. We've become corporate HQ's pushing virtual paperwork for warranty, insurance, maintenance agreements, and law offices to protect patients and copy-right violations. Oh gee, no wonder average folks can't find work? You need a 4 year degree minimum to do anything. The infrastructure and substructure of business is swallowed and overshadowed by the superstructure.

The pyramid is built for the top stone only and is the monument of a single self. We ignore the fact that it is a death chamber and grave stone, while an engineering marvel, contributes nothing to the livelihood of the neighborhood except slavery in the past and tourist dollars today. Ever wonder why it is ideal to have a hermetically sealed stainless steel casket to bury a lifeless decaying corpse that will never, ever be used again? I don't need no stinking pyramid, got my own millennium time capsule! I will preserve my memory, I will defy even the dust I am destined to return to. It's my dust, darn it, my molecules, they must not be mingled, blended or dispersed!!??.............

We have been misdirected in many things, sometimes too much. In spite of all our experience we still can't admit a wrongness about our ways. I don't think anybody in the Open Source community wants to totally dismantle and decimate all we know. But what we would like to see is new ways to see and deal with problems that pledge our world. And what we are realizing is that fighting for the rights to have and use old tools and knowledge is a time and resource and people waster. We would like to see education improve life around the world and not used as a political weapon or means to enslave with ignorance and misinformation. Open source is a way, like solar panels and wind generators, to embrace and use what we already have.

making open source known and loved

He who writes the history has the strength of his point of view. I am thinking about who discovered America......., first? Does first claim really give people power, authority and influence? I do know that if you repeat a thing enough in the public's ear, it tends to stick, the same as when things appear in print. So you make a claim and repeat it until everyone believes it. The trouble is that it may not be the whole truth and maybe falsehood entirely. So, Columbus was here first from a certain point of view. The people he met here did not write history so they had no valid claim to the people Columbus reported to. He who writes the ads has the strength of his point of view. History/advertising/history, there is no difference.

We buy sneakers with the brand-name because they are endorsed by well known champions. We buy because we like to emulate and imitate and psyche ourselves into believing we are improved by having bought. What about track stars wearing the best engineered sneakers in the world being beaten consistently by unknowns wearing shoes made from recycled tire treads? Not a problem, the brand-name sneaker company will go all out to put their shoes on those faster feet. The name-brand sneaker maker's reputation remains intact and the advertising rings true. The real truth is, it's not the shoes!

Who writes history/ads, who believes them? So far in the cyber-world, the commercial names have the advantage because they write the history/ads. Any business with a product who does not market is unknown, period. It does not matter if you have truly the best product ever made, if you don't advertise it, no one will know to buy.

Linux and Open Source Software need to develop a marketing plan according to the open source way of doing business. One example I listen to everyday is Public radio/TV. It delivers in an open format news and shows not found on network radio/TV with little to no commercial advertising support, being funded by individual listeners and foundation donations. This requires two things, the ability to ask users for funding and support in a more obvious way and a certain accountability so that folks know where bucks are going. It's all about how this program is explained into the public's ear, what they see in the media. Then repeat it, until we all believe it, accept it, do it. We sort of have done some of this already but public radio/TV is well known and Linux and Open Source Software is not, so we have a lot of work to do.

Linux and Open Source Software are free, yet people have a hard time believing that. They are right for thinking that, everything cost something. While it is free, support is requested. This can be donations of money, word of mouth promoting, bug reporting, project development or however people can be involved in the user support community.

The commercial concerns in cyber-world want Linux and Open Source Software to endorse the traditional business models and structures, play by their rules, they call it a level playing field. Linux and Open Source Software does not fit those models, those structures and transends field play. We are a parallel universe sharing the same space and allowing people to travel inter-dimensionally back and forth as needed. We should stick with the open source way, we have come this far, and have worked wonders.

and try not to confuse the user this time

Part of my job as a Linuxville official is to show by my true life adventures that the fear of Linux is unfounded. The trick is in how you approach it, but you have to know that the Linux developers have come more than half way to meet you. It is called a graphical user interface or GUI. Thus begins the tale:

My car became toast as I drove it home, rattling and clanking. Not being the backyard mechanic I had it towed to the repair place. In it's place I got a loaner. I have a mid sized car. The last time of major repair I got a small car loaner, this time a SUV. I jumped in the front seat, put on the seat-belt and froze. This is different. The steering wheel is in plain sight, the pedals in familiar places, I just have to find the other stuff. Window controls, heat, radio, gear shifter, all a bit different. The posture, the view out the window and the sound of the engine and feel of the road. It was a car changing moment!

My point is every car sold has the standard layout and equipment. You can put the same driver in any vehicle. That layout is the user interface. Designers go crazy making sure the greatest swath of drivers can be accommodated, thin, tall, short and large. It is the same with computer hardware and in fact computer operating systems. Why, because all kinds of users have to use it. Many folks are lined up on the Microsoft side or the Apple side thinking their brand-name of choice invented the GUI. One company is even trying to patent all or parts of the GUI to prevent others from using GUI's without paying fees. The truth is that the GUI was invented on the Unix platform. And as with all things that enable the public to use it, the GUI became the standard way of computing on all platforms.

On the hardware side you have the keyboard, mouse, and video display. On the software side you have a text screen and GUI. In Linux you really don't need the GUI to operate it, but the GUI is the most comfortable way to use it. And when you log into Linux the GUI that is presented is no different than that on Macs or MS Windows because this is what users expect. I still can't get over people seeing Linux for the first time saying "hey, that's just like Windows, I thought Linux was like DOS!". The elements of the GUI's we have today may be different in style and varied in function but are all similar for all platforms. If they were too different from platform to platform there would be some who would like it but most would not. Businesses especially want a consistent GUI to keep training and support cost down. And how could anything be popular if wide variations were on the market. Well, what about Linux?

Linux has 30+ different GUI's. The three most popular ones Gnome, KDE and Xfce. The others are available if you want them, but most Linux distributions start with these three. Don't forget Mac and Microsoft are company products, they have to decide what they are going to sell you. Linux is open for anybody to design GUI's for it, this is what has happened. Businesses have got behind the most popular Linux GUI's so support is there for business use. If you are not a business, you can find a dream GUI and fly with it.

I just want you to know about Linux, that it is not way different as some say. That Mazda car had a rotary engine, the actual user part of the car was just like any other. Think of Linux like that. I drove the small car, the mid-size car and now the SUV. I've used MS Windows, Linux and Macs with only minor hesitation and very little learning curves, because the GUI's were similar.

Now if they can only do something about multiple TV remotes!