• Smash forehead on keyboard to continue.
• Enter any 11-digit prime number to continue.
• Press any key to continue or any other key to quit.
• Press any key… no, no, no, NOT THAT ONE!
• Close your eyes and press escape three times.
• Bad command or file name! Go stand in the corner.
• Keyboard not attached. Press F1 to continue.
• Backup not found: (A)bort (R)etry (P)anic.
• Runtime Error 6D at 417A:32CF: Incompetent User.
• Error reading FAT record: Try the SKINNY one? (Y/N)
• WinErr 547: Printer not found. Use backup…..PENCIL & PAPER.
• CONGRESS.SYS and PRESIDENT.SYS  corrupted… Re-boot Washington D.C.? (Y/N)

That last one is my favorite.  And I vote for YES!  Let’s reboot Washington D.C. on November 2!

There is a cheaper and more virus and malware resistant option than the nearly monopolistic Microsoft® Windows® and Microsoft® Office®. Gone are the days in which Linux was just s tool or toy for “geeks”. With current distributions like Ubuntu Linux 10.04 it is possible to download and install a stable, usable operating system that comes with a GPL (General Public License) user agreement. Unlike pirated copies of Microsoft® Windows® and Microsoft® Office®, Ubuntu Linux is easily upgraded with regular security fixes. Due to the nature of the operating system it is extremely virus resistant and with the regular security updates it remains so.

Installing Ubuntu Linux is as simple as downloading the .iso file from the Internet and burning it to a CD. The instructions for doing so are available on www.ubuntu.com . The CD produced can be used as a “Live CD” which gives you the opportunity to try the system out without making any changes to your computer. By placing the CD in your computer and booting from it instead of your hard drive you can take a look at the operating system and the default programs that are included with it to ensure that it will work well with your computer hardware.

Installing other programs is as simple as using the Ubuntu Software Center. This is a feature of the Ubuntu experience that allows you to download programs, games and tools to accomplish many tasks right from the Internet – and they all come with the GPL “free” license. Open Office is included by default with Ubuntu Linux. This allows you to open Microsoft® Office® format documents and save to Microsoft® Windows® and Microsoft® Office® format as well.

Ubuntu Linux also runs faster on older computers that have problems with the more recent versions of Microsoft® Windows®. If you have an older Pentium III or newer computer sitting idle, Ubuntu Linux gives you a good way to get it back up and running better than new. And if you have a newer machine you can set it up with a legal, stable and secure operating system for little out of pocket expense.

And so far I’m tickled.  We’ll see what all can be done to do everything I need to do. Main concerns at this point are Frontpage (I’m going to try running it under Wine) and video editing.  Ubuntu is supposed to have new video editing capabilities – we’ll just have to put them to trial and see what can be done.  The keyboard takes getting used to.  After well over a decade of Mickey$oft Windoze’s US – International keyboard, the Linux equivalent does leave somethings to be desired.  In the Windoze variant an ‘ followed by a t produces ‘t where as the Linux version produces a blank space.  Also the ‘ followed by a c in Windoze produces a c-cedilla (don’t know how to reproduce it here, but it looks like a c with a tail under it) – here it produces a ? ??? Upside down c-cedilla?  (weirder yet – the letter it produces becomes a question mark in WordPress) I’ll have to do some homework to learn how to write portuguese on this machine now.    Still, español works fine, and that is what I type the most, other than english that is.

The mass creation and sharing of information is easier and cheaper than at any previous in history. The internet has provided the means whereby one can communicate via text, image, audio, video or any combination there of. Social networking sites such as Facebook ™, MySpace ™, Twitter ™, YouTube™ and others allow people to create virtual communities in which to share ideas, opinions, news and anything else they so desire.

This ability is at best a two edged sword. It can cut for good or for ill. It can draw people together for growth or draw them together for destructive things. Anyone can participate, all it takes is a connection to the internet. And that brings us to the title of this little blurb – mobile blogging. Today’s “smart phones” don’t just allow one to make and receive calls. They also allow one to type texts with relative ease, thanks to the familiar keyboard layout. And with an appropriate application, easily downloaded from the ‘net, one can type up a blog entry while standing in line – or waiting for the rain to slack up, like I am doing today.

Truly we live in interesting times.  The question is – will we use the tools now available for good or for ill?  Will we take an active part in shaping the world around us by entering the market place of ideas with minds transformed by God’s spirit – or will we hide and wish the world would go back “to how it USED to be”.  Change has been a constant since Eve made the first apple pie.  Too many times through out history that change has been met by apathy by those who would call themselves God’s people.

On my own profile, at the time of this writing, 487 people are listed on my “Friends” page.  In that number are relatives, other MK’s, school mates, folks I’ve worked with, people we’ve ministered to, people my wife works with, kids we’ve known since they were wee children and folks I’ve met through other folks on Facebook.  It is interesting to see how certain items appear on successive people’s pages.  Most folks on my list seem to have very similar ideas and tastes.  There’s a few who are radically different in one way or another but for the most part “birds of a feather”.

Humor, games, inspirational videos, music, prayer requests – all these and more are piped right onto my computer screen each time I connect.  It’s been a blessing to catch up with old friends from college and even a “lost” cousin or three I’ve not seen in 30 years or more – all thanks to this social networking phenomenon.

The big question is – will it be a tool or a master?  Will it rule one’s life or will one use it for good?  Who do we glorify through this medium?  Are we working for a better world – or sinking to the same level as those around us?  It is my hope and ambition that this will be one more tool through which I can bring glory to Christ’s kingdom.

I admit to occasionally looking to the Apple Macintosh side of things with a bit of curiosity.  Back in the “dark ages” an employer of mine had an old “Trash 80″ (TRS-80 by Radio Shack) that he messed around with a bit.  He had a book project he was working on and finally he decided to upgrade to something more usable.  Which took the form of one of the early Macintosh computers which he soon upgraded to a full megabyte of RAM.  The tiny little black and white monitor was usable enough for him and the mouse simplified a lot of processes as well.  He was a bit afraid of it, perhaps fearing that the wrong combination of key strokes would melt it down like in some Sci-Fi movie.  But I poked around on it a bit and was able to point him the right direction and he eventually finished his work on it. It was cool.  It was slick.  And it was EXPENSIVE.  Today the Mac has all that going for it still.

Now, as direct support missionaries we tend to count our pennies and try to eke stretch our income as best we may to obtain the greatest results with the least outlay of cash.  So each time I look at a Mac I’m reminded that the same amount of money will buy me a premium Windoze machine – complete with a lot of fancy software.  Plus, a lot of the programs I use are compatible with the newer versions of Windows or can be upgraded for a relatively low cost.  However, Windows is the worlds largest virus and also is the worlds greatest target for virii, worms, trojans and other malware.  As well as being expensive.

So for years I’ve played with Linux off and on.  The early versions were fun to play with but were not that usable for a green newbie.  Off and on I’d try side by side installs on one machine.  Windows first and then some version of Linux afterwards.  This would give me the option of choosing one or the other at boot up time.  This was less than satisfactory.

Recently a friend of mine from college days put me to thinking about a Linux distribution I’d looked at before.  It’s called “Ubuntu” and is available for download – or they’ll even mail you a CD if you like.  The way it works is you download the ISO file and then burn it to a CD or DVD.  This gives you a “Live CD” which then can be booted to.  Just place it in the CD drive of your computer and boot it up.  And you can do this without messing with your computer’s installation.  What will this do for you?  It will allow you to check out Ubuntu and see what you think – without committing to it.  It will also allow you to use a machine that does not even have a hard drive – should your hard drive crash.  All you need is an old computer with a CD drive in it.

Installing is pretty straight forward.  I installed on an old laptop that has been giving us fits for a while.  Last summer I purchased a new desktop for my darling wife and once she got it up and running I took over the problem child as a permanent Linux machine.  Ubuntu breathed new life into the old clunker!  It’s faster than it was under Windows XP Home and is much more stable.  All I did was choose the “Install to Harddrive” option at boot time and took over the whole machine for Linux.  Even setting up the wireless internet conection was not much problem – AFTER I remembered to turn it on physically. 

So – what advantages does this Linux have over a comparable Windows machine?  First – if you buy an old machine that does not have an operating system – Linux can be put on it free of charge legally.  Each time the programs that run in Ubuntu are updated the machine automaticaly detects them and lets you know updates are available – and they too are free of charge.  Ubuntu comes standard with Open Office – a very good substitute for Microsoft Office.  In fact, you can choose to save files to Microsoft’s format should you need to share them with some less enlightened person still tied to Gates’ marketing campaign.

Fooling around with this machine has been fun.  Right now I’m typing this up on it.  You can search for and install all kinds of programs, depending on your needs and desires.  I have several different web browsers (just because I can) and I downloaded a variety of other programs to try as time allows.  If your main uses of a computer are for office and internet, there’s little – if anything – that Ubuntu can’t do.  In fact, there’s even a handy, dandy little program called “Gimp” (Graphic Image Manipulation Program) that you can “photo shop” with. What’s not to like?

These CD’s and DVD’s are available for download in an ISO format (That’s an image of a CD or DVD that allows you to make an exact copy with your CD or DVD burner) Right now I’ve got various generations of Linux in different flavors. Ubuntu, Knoppix, Fedora Core 6, and a couple others I’m to lazy to go look at right now to remind me what they are. The way they work is you put them in your CD or DVD drive on your computer and then restart the machine. You’ll have to set it to boot from the CD/DVD drive and each computer works differently there. I’d suggest you look in your manual for information if you don’t know how to do that. Anyway, once you reboot to the CD/DVD the Live CD/DVD will start right
up and run the program right on your computer. This will let you see how things work without worrying about installing or overwriting your windoze installation.

For newbies to Linux, there’s a few things to keep in mind. If there’s a glitch on your computer some versions of Linux simply won’t run. But neither will WinXP. I’ve got one motherboard that Linux simply will not install to a hard drive connected to it. Nor will a Live CD work with it – but I also can’t install WinXP on it either. Yep, it’s on the way to the dump someday – perhaps. I still haven’t tried it with Win ’98 – and I’m a glutton for punishment and refuse to give up until a piece of hardware is confirmed to be 100% dead.

For those of you who are interested in messing with video, etc. Take a look at Video Linux. It’s a version of Linux setup to allow you to mess around with Video. So far I’ve just downloaded and burned the ISO but haven’t had time to play with it. The concept is intriguing and we’ll see what happens when I get a chance to play with it.

There are more distributions out there than you can shake a stick at.  All kinds of “flavors” of Linux that will do different things or are set up for certain applications only. I’d suggest you stick with one of the major distributions at first, Fedora Core 6 (based on Redhat Enterprise) or SuSE’s latest. You can get both the full ISO (For DVD or CD) or a Live CD ISO for either of them. That’ll let you at least get a taste of what you can do with Linux.

And Linux can breath new life into an old computer. We were able to upgrade our work machines to fairly recent technology. This frees up a couple of older boxes to play with.