Computing

I have been interested in computer technology since the 1960's - back when I was in high school. 1965, my second year of college, was the first year I got my hands on a computer. This resulted in a 35 year career teaching a wide variety of computer technology courses at Chippewa Valley Technical College. About the first 2/3 of my career was spent in the programming, system analysis and design, data base design and development fields. Then I got into data communications, networking, and system administration. I was also my department's system administrator for many of the computer systems we had over that time.

Around 1995 I encountered Linux. After having a seige of problems using MS software on a simple task I switched to Linux to get the job done. Linux and the necessary applications worked so well I have used Linux almost exclusively since that time. I have never, repeat, never had a virus to deal with when using Linux. I have rarely had a system crash. Can you M$ users make that claim? I know that MS operating system reliability has improved in recent releases but it still baffles me why users put up with the poor reliability in earlier releases and the goofy things that still occur. A Vista user just told me of some funny things happening with it. I have heard several times of MS tech support recommending that a user reinstall the OS to solve a problem. That should not be necessary. I can understand a reboot, but reinstall, no.

Why did it take MS so long to start getting their act together? They have enough money to hire the best programmers in the world. Maybe because money is not a sufficient motivation. Linus Torvalds and hundreds of other contributors from around the world contributed to Linux, a free and open source operating system, because of a love for the project and a desire to freely share what they have produced.

If computer users' cars died as often as their computers did they would be irrate and on the manufacturers' case in no time. Yet frequent computer crashes on MS boxes were, and still are, treated as "normal". Why? Fear, ignorance? I have no idea. Bill and company have made huge sums of money on software that is only adequate, and then only some of the time. I won't willingly be a part of it. The only reason I can accept for using MS OS's is the need to run some software that is only available for Windows and no equivalent non-Windows product is available and to check for Internet Exploder web page compatibiity.

I have no problem with Mac OS X. I even have a Mac although I have not used it for several months. (My Mac, a G3, died. I'll get another one sometime, probably a laptop.) OS X has a Unix (BSD) core. A great improvement over earlier releases. Apple has done some good things. Unfortunately they did not open up their hardware to other manufacturers to make 3rd-party add-ons. Also there prices have been higher than Intel-like boxes. Too many people shop on price and don't consider quality. A friend of mine once said, "Only rich people can afford cheap funiture." Be patient, save your money, and buy good stuff. You will be better off in the long run.

Currently, I use Fedora 7 & 11 Linux. Previously I used the RedHat distributions and Ubuntu and Sun. My son and wife use Linux on their computers as well.

Two heads are better than one
I have been using a dual head computer system for several years. A dual head system has 2 monitors monitors side by side. It is possible to have them function independently or as one large monitor. I use the latter mode. One logical screen of 2048x768 pixels. This has numerous advantages over a single screen. In Linux this may be done using 2 video cards or a single dual head card (2 heads is not the limit). I have the Matrox G450 Dual Head AGP card. It cost over $200 when new. I got mine on eBay for about $150. They are much cheaper now and there are newer cards available, e.g., G550, and others as well as cards from other manufacturers. Matrox provides a Linux driver for this card but I'm using the standard driver included in Fedora Core 5. Some special entries are required in the X configuration file, xorg.conf. Here is my xorg.conf file.

Two mice are better than one
Office Depot had a good deal on wireless, optical mice a while back so I got one. I tried it. It works fine but I do not use it much. It is a Targus mouse with a USB interface. It runs on 2 AAA cells.

I have put the Targus mouse away for now. I recently got a good deal on a Kensington Expert Mouse Pro track ball ($10). I just unplugged the Targus mouse and plugged in the track ball. It works. I don't have all the buttons (10 of them plus a scroll wheel) configured but the basic ones and wheel work just fine.

I don't actually use both at the same time, I just grab the one that is more convienient. To have 2 mice configured requires some special entries in the X configuration file, xorg.conf. Here is my xorg.conf file. The track ball takes some time to get used to using it.

Sharing Software
The Unix environment is a tool builder's dream. There is plethora of free and open source software available. Applications, utilities, and software development tools of all kinds. It has been a tradition in the Unix culture to freely share software. In keeping with that tradition I will be posting a number of the programs that I have written that may be useful to others. Freely you have received, freely give.

Software I use regularly: