In the Beginning

In the beginning, there was a man, his computer and the world wide web. This man was curious, his computer top of the line, the world wide web immense and ever changing. He saw it was good, thus he enjoyed the first decade. Soon, Microsoft came out with Windows XP. Things seemed simple then, his computer getting on in age, his internet, more complex. However, no complaints there, and almost another decade passes. His thought, "this is cool!".

One day, he runs into his first virus, and so he calls on McAfee and Norton. His first Trojan quarantined and deleted, crisis averted. Yet, now, he finds that his computer is not so top of the line and the internet has become too much for his browser. Its even more advanced, more complex. Now, he starts to wonder, is it time to replace Ol' Faithful? Fate makes the decision for him. His computer contracts an ITD (internet transmitted disease) known as Sasser. There was a cure, but it was too late. His computer was lost. Now comes a new machine.

However time has passed his system by. It is no longer sufficient for him to merely carry on as he did before, on the turtles back, with dead weight below, and nothing but vast distances of information highway before him. He needed to strike back. But how? The answer was staring at him, but it was a daunting task.

This is a story of a man who lived breathed and ate on the information superhighway. Who suffered thanks to a crippled closed source system. Who finally saw the light! This is the beginning of mrgnuopensourceman.

mrgnuopensourceman

It is not because of speed that I got to this point, and despite the name, I am not a linux programmer, nor have I completely eliminated the use of Mister Softie* (Microsoft). There is a place for everything. My voyage into open source started reluctantly. I had two chances to live the Open Source Life before I came to this point. However, I was disgusted with the idea of leaving what I once thought was my well ordered world of closed source. The catalyst of my movement into open source may be one that many have felt, but have not dared to act upon, and when this frustration finally led me into the plunge, it was not easy, and even to this day, there are bumps. I should also point out that I really am not truly living the Open Source Life, because there must be a balance between with how we work and live.

This blog will talk about open source and how to incorporate it to your present computing needs. I discuss it as a layman, since that is exactly what I am in this field. This is not anything that is new, I am sure that there are others that have tried to do what I am going to attempt now. This is what is wonderful about the world wide web, there can be a diversity of ideas on the same topic, and because of the speed of publication and consumption of these ideas, there is a good chance that someone will read your post. Of course, I will have to think of some clever way of getting people to this blog, but I'm working on it, so give me time.

An Introduction

If there is anything that can be said, I am not tech savvy, at least not yet, but I'd like to think of myself as a Techie. I am typing this on an ASUS Surf 4G 3e PC (EEE) running on Xandros, a Linux distribution. I own a Nokia N800 to use as an alternative internet device, also running Linux, which links directly to Google Documents. I use a BlackBerry Curve for reading my emails and for jotting down stray thoughts. So I think of myself as being a Techie**, in the same way that one calls themselves a Trekkie, it doesn't mean that they live on the Enterprise and have there phasers set to stun! They are just fans of the show, just as I am a maniac for gadgets!

This blog will talk about the voyage. The path that I have taken and why is irrelevant now. Its to help others, to give the hope that yes, there is an alternative. The pitfalls and dangers that await do not have to be as daunting for you, as they were for me. That is why I am writing this blog and if I can intermix some life lessons along the way, that would be just fabulous!

I am a Philosophy major, with a minor in Political Science. I wish to go to law school after I get my bachelors, yet, computers have always been with me. That and music. So you can expect a lot from me. If you look at this site, and have any feed back, if you think that you can teach me how to write a proper blog, perhaps you have also some grammatical corrections you wish to state, or if you find that this first post is long winded, and feel that I should cut back, or perhaps, may be you may want to warn me about this path that I am about to take, please, don't hesitate. Feel free, its your dime.



What's Next?

My first post.

Launch Date: on or before February 1st.




* I ripped off the terming of Microsoft as Mister Softie from Jim Cramer of Mad Money. This ones for you bud, your the man! Anyone have a problem with him, you've got one with me!


** Maybe Techies may be offended by my even trying to include my self, please feel free to holler at me if you like!