The new faces of Linux - Feeling the Power

GNU/Linux is too hard for the regular user... It doesn't give me the applications I need... Linux won't allow me to network with my Windows machines...
These are all things repeated to me in the last month. Sure, we've all heard them in different ways and at different times. I think we all have. I believe what troubled me the most about these statements is that they came out of the mouths of "technology professionals"...not one of them making less than 150K a year, guessing from their positions.

One of them was a systems administrator for a global shipping and receiving hub right here in Austin. It took me one Mint Linux live cd and about 5 minutes to prove him wrong.

So while some of the" professionals" insist on repeating the party line, everyday people are discovering the choices they have in how they operate their computer. I find it just a bit amusing that people who wouldn't know a parser from a parsnip are doing the precise things their tech brethren say cannot be done. To be fair, most people making their living in the tech industry are agnostic and will use the tool that works and won't make a religious issue out of it.

Some are outright just protecting their jobs and justifying their certs.

We thought this would be a good time to take a snapshot of what's going on "out there" and show that handful of pro's that Linux on the desktop isn't the boat anchor they believe it to be....or maybe secretly want it to be.

New York Calling...Can You Hear Me?

She is a medical professional, working for Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, NY. She had a nasty case of viral infection to deal with but it didn't have anything to do with the human body...it was viruses of the computer type. When Mark Van Kingsley answered her call for help, he did the regular diagnosing and delivered the bad news. Sure, he could stave off the blue screen of death, the memory core dumps and the machine-gun pop ups once the computer booted, but it would be just a matter of time before he was back fixing it again.

And don't be fooled for a moment...

When a tech comes out to the house or business to "fix" virus issues, the customer expects it to stay fixed. When they come back in 4-6 months, in the back of their minds, you didn't do your job right.

Mark knows that and is honest in his report to us:

"I'd rather deal with a customer one time and get her referrals than deal with her three or four times a year and have her think I'm incompetent. After a while, it's inevitable that they think that."

And there it is still again...the public idea that a computer is an appliance, not a maintainable machine.

So Mark pitched her on Linux and demonstrated a live cd. She was excited about the prospect of not having to deal with these viruses and malware issues again. She fell in love with the smooth, clean lines of the system and the snappy response of the mouse and keyboard.

There was one stipulation though...she needed to use her Linux machine to connect to her server and login page at the hospital.

With the tools at his disposal, it was a no brainer and Mark told her that with all liklihood, he could do that. It was a good thing he left himself a little room to work here. It wasn't pretty.

After Wine and virtualiztion failed, the closest he came to success was IE4Linux. Here's the deal. She had to log in, but once she did, there was a proprietary bit of software that demanded to be executed to finish the procedure. Try as he could, the very best he could achieve was a blank page where the patients names should have been. He could almost get her there but Wine or Windows under virtualization just would not make the connection. It installed correctly but something just didn't quite work.

We failed.

Yeah I said we. "We" spend so much time amidst and among ourselves, telling ourselves how much progress we've made that we are blind to our failures. Now, the failures are not in the code, the code is brilliant. It's in the social aspect of what we do and who we are. In the aspect of what we don't do and who we are not.

We don't do anything to market ourselves on a grand scale to the general public. Where are the validating TV and Radio commercials? Where are the ads in mainstream publications? These are the things that make what we offer "real" to a consuming public. Having the neighbor kid down the street install GNU/Linux on a machine or two isn't exactly shouting our success from the rooftops. We need tens of thousands knowing about us in a day's time...not a decade. We have the answer to most of the computing problems known at this time, yet we remain a "secret".

And while we're talking weakness here, let's talk about the gee-whiz factor. Walk into any big box store and buzz the computer section. You will see LCD after LCD with the Windows bubbles screensaver...you know, the colored bubbles that float around the desktop, the translucent ones that almost look 3d?

Can you imagine a line of computers with the Linux 3D desktop set on autopilot, running a cube and all the compiz effects via script? It would gather crowds not before seen...Even people seeing Linux think it's a new "Windows Feature". But it's ok...no, don't get up...someone else will fix this.

Right.

Yeah, I know...when there is no measurable return on investment, no one is going to spend the money to do this. That's understood.

Having an apathetic user base that won't take on the responsibility of doing it themselves doesn't help matters any. We could do it...this forum has developed strategies to do just that. We spend months planning it out. But instead of fine tuning it, we spent more time arguing minutia and distros instead of forging ahead. Like most else that takes more than a few hours of effort, we lose interest and just don't do anything.

That's why the tech admin at the hospital told the Medical Professional to just relax and go back to Windows. Linux just wasn't ready for mainstream use.

It's in that statement alone that we must claim responsibility for failure...had we done what we know needs to be done, he could never make that statement aloud.

In this case, it didn't matter. She told him to go PUAR.

She told him that she refused to go back to a buggy, insecure system that enslaved her to maintenance and worry. She had been a GNU/Linux user for a week and refused to "downgrade to Windows". They would indeed GIVE her a laptop with the required wireless and closed software she needed to connect for work. She refused to put Windows back on her computer at home. Mint Linux had spoiled her. But it gets better.

It's Fluxbox.

When she discovered that she could have a pristine desktop and everything she needed with a right click, she fell in love. No more icons to shove around and out of the way, no more confusing menus...just straight computing the way it was meant to be.

Here we KDE and Gnome users are, slugging it out on the side and the new user walks away with Fluxbox. Go figure. And yes, she feels it is straight computing the way it is supposed to be.

A way to get things done.

So Bassett capitulated and gave her a laptop. When she does need to connect to the network, she uses that. Mark Van Kingsley did a great job with her and others like her. He did the job that we all could be doing...but we're busy. We don't have time. Even in what we thought was a small victory for us, we get this shoved in our face.

It's our own fault. Don't for the briefest of moments blame it on anyone else but ourselves.

But despite our best efforts to just lay in the quicksand and be absorbed, there are efforts being made out there that are making a difference. A huge difference.

We are going to look at the next victory on Thursday. It'll make you just wanna go hug someone.

All-Righty Then...

ars technica - Windows DRM? We're ok with that.

A recent slashdot article outlined some of the DRM that can be found in the new Microsoft stab at relevancy - Windows 7.

I'm hearing that Vista thing didn't work out so well.

As a GNU/Linux-only user...one who wouldn't have one byte of MS code on his machine, I find the criticism valid...I would no more let Microsoft control my computer than I would ever purchase one of their products.

Unfortunately, Peter Bright, the author of the ars technica piece doesn't see a thing wrong with it. Peter goes on to excoriate the slashdot piece just like any good Redmond apologist would but it was the last paragraph of the article that snatched me by the nether regions:

All these Vista DRM features are found in Windows 7. But just as with Vista before it, the vast majority of users will never see the DRM in any practical sense; the features are there just in case Hollywood decides to make use of them. The overblown, unrealistic, and just plain made up horrors of DRM in Windows Vista never came to pass (in spite of the huge publicity that the Gutmann diatribe received), and so it will be with Windows 7.

Peter, let's take a look at this.

"...the features are there just in case Hollywood decides to make use of them."

Hey, I have to ask the question...You're really ok with this? Just how many people will you allow to stomp around inside your computer Peter, until it's not ok? I would think you and millions of others would have had a gut full of Microsoft meddling with the discovery of the Sony rootkit. Or doing the exact opposite of what you instructed Microsoft Operating Systems to do.

Apparently not.

Peter, this is my computer and everything within it is mine, to include the data and anything I choose to do with that data. No one can legally allow any third party to do a damn thing inside my machine that I don't personally allow. I did not click "I agree" anywhere during the install process.

That I allow Peter.

You may be fine with Microsoft owning your data and that is sad enough, but to defend their "right" to do so is beyond sad. And yes, they do own your data. If they are keeping you from doing what you willfuly choose to do, regardless of purpose or motive, then they own it. You cannot couch it any other way. On top of that, you are choosing to use a product that dictates you purchase or use another product in order for that first product to work.

Oh, you don't do that?

Got anti virus?

This says much about any person who is willing to sacrifice their freedom in exchange for not taking a few hours to learn something different. Something that does not dictate how you use your own machine.

And please...don't trot out the lame old arguments that GNU/Linux is too hard...we have 11 year olds picking it up in less than an hour, hundreds of them. Maybe one of them could give you a hand should you need it.

The tide is turning, slowly yes, but turning it is. Upcoming global events such as Linux Against Poverty will do what needed to be done a long time ago. It will act as the first actual radio and television Linux commercials to be broadcast nationwide.

Then we'll see Peter. Sure there are many like you...those who think nothing of bending at the throne of Redmond in order to use your computer in the way you are accustomed. Let's see what the reaction is when others see the facts presented to them without the marketing hype...when they find out the shenanigans Windows has been carrying out inside their computers. When the news travels outside the confines of ars technica.

How does Mr. Gates think of those that made him filthy rich?

*Since when has the world of computer software design been about what people want? This is a simple question of evolution. The day is quickly coming when every knee will bow down to a silicon fist, and you will all beg your binary gods for mercy. - Bill Gates
http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/quotes/bill_gates.html

An awakening approaches...and it approaches sooner than you or many others may be comfortable with. A day when people en mass discover they have a choice in how they operate their computers.

A day when true computing freedom is presented to everyone.

One is only a victim until they discover they have a choice Peter. After that, the personal descriptors are much less kind. "Victim" seems almost gentle.

All-Righty Then

*the quote from Bill Gates is contested as legitimate. Common belief is that it is spoofed but other sources quote it as accurate. We don't know either way. Just judge from Microsoft's actions whether you think he is capable of saying/did say it. - h

The HeliOS Project Joins Software in the Public Interest

The Directors of The HeliOS Project are proud to announce that they are now an Associate Project of Software in the Public Interest.

We are flattered and humbled that our efforts have been recognized by SPI. Being an Associate Project under SPI opens doors for us that had recently been closed and it brings our effort into a national awareness. It further aids our donors as they are assured receipt of donation letters for tax purposes. This allows corporations to freely donate the hardware we so badly need to do what we do.

We no longer have to devote our resources to administrating a non profit organization as Software in the Public Interest acts as our agent in this matter. We can devote our short resources to the matter at hand, and that is getting computers to kids that could not normally afford them. This weekend alone, we have 7 installs scheduled.

This doesn't change things for our regular donors, the link to our donation site is about the only thing that has changed. When you click the donation link on our websites, it will take you to our dedicated donation page for SPI. Your donations still come to The HeliOS Project, those funds are now simply assured a tax deductibility letter of receipt through SPI, should you require one. That link should morph into the SPI page link shortly.

Our thanks to the Board of Directors of Software in the Public Interest for giving us this opportunity to grow. It is exactly the direction we were looking into traveling and now we can do so unfettered.

Ken Starks

TOYA Boys Fight Linux Flow

There might be TOYA girls too but I haven't run into any as of yet.

This publication is subject to change that though.

It's expected when Microsoft tries to stop the spread of GNU/Linux. It's my understanding that we as an entity might officially be causing them some grief. Even those who sell, distribute or package MS products are forced at the point of an auditing pen to do Microsoft's bidding. It all comes down to money.

A lot of money. Cumulatively, they are only doing what they are supposed to be doing...protecting their market.

So that's where I get confused. It's perfectly understandable for companies "with some skin in the game" to get defensive, but what about those villagers who rally to Castle Redmond's defense? Sure they are Microsoft Windows users but what point is there in them trying to stop others from at least trying Linux? I mean aside from those obviously being compensated.

Pride?

Please. It's a product.

The Free Software Movement is just that...A Movement, and one that is picking up momentum far past the comfort level of many corporates. It transcends being "a product" by virtue of those who make it so. When folks mention that they are either in the middle of a Linux experiment or thinking of conducting one, why are Some Windows Users doing everything they can to discourage it? Worse yet...as a Linux User, you might be surprised at how your "friends" really think of you...when you are not there that is.

Case on point.

A reader recently emailed me about his latest "project". He belongs to An IRC# that houses car enthusiasts. When they are not talking about cars, other subjects pop up. One member kvetched about his constant problems with viruses and spyware. Our guy here mentioned that he hadn't had that problem in ages and that he really should give Linux a shot. What follows is a bit of the history of what happened. We are posting text from that IRC chat and some of the text that deals with cars and other non-Linux stuff has been omitted. He introduces the text of the chat and then posts the meat of the subject. What follows is a narrative from our guy and a posting from that chat:

"Well finally last week John got a real bad infection of some virus on multiple systems and as usual had to haul the systems down to some computer repair place to get the current virus problems taken care of. While he was doing this he mentioned that he had an older system just sitting around that he didn't use any more. I said he could try Linux on that older system to see what it was like. Anyway after listening to me tell him yet again how Linux has NO VIRUS problems finally last night he started the download of Ubuntu to try on this older system. So I went to bed at that point and left John to his download. Unfortunately while I was sleeping and John was sitting up "babysitting" his download the other "computer experts" joined the chat room. The following is an excerpt from the resulting conversation they had with John regarding his Ubuntu download (I have corrected some spelling mistakes and removed lines where they car conversations intruded):"

(12:57:37 AM) nickj2: downloading linux, john? may i ask why? (01:01:21 AM) nickj2: john, which linux have you downloaded? and can you boot a live-cd to try it out first? (01:06:14 AM) JohnH: Hi Nick, just got done, ubuntu 8.1 (01:07:34 AM) JohnH: Nick, I am a sucker for free, just got my new computer back from the doctor who removed a viris and installed a viris program, that wasn't free (01:08:21 AM) nickj2: there are free anti-virus programs available (01:08:54 AM) nickj2: it will be very interesting to hear how you get on with linux. but PLEASE, try running it as a live-cd first (i.e. burn it to a cd and boot from it, without installing it) (01:08:54 AM) JohnH: I figure if I can use an operating system that doesn't get a virus, maybe I will be better off (01:09:07 AM) JohnH: I just did that (01:10:00 AM) JohnH: Well, you know I am computer uneducated, so if I can run it, anyone can (01:10:41 AM) nickj2: uhm... did someone tell you there aren't viruses for linux? (01:10:49 AM) JohnH: I will try it on my old computer when I get time (01:11:00 AM) JohnH: ahhhh, yep (01:11:19 AM) JohnH: or maybe just free protection (01:12:08 AM) JohnH: anyway, Steven is always crowing about it, I just figure --why not try--??? (01:13:55 AM) JustinXJS2: you may want to back your pictures up to a cd first, better to be safe than sorry (01:14:00 AM) nickj2: hehe (01:14:43 AM) JohnH: I will try it on a computer that is collecting dust for a couple of years (01:15:04 AM) JustinXJS2: good plan (01:15:11 AM) JohnH: You guys don't give me a good feeling (01:15:44 AM) JustinXJS2: well John... everyone and their dog loves free, if linux were a halfway decent product, everyone would be using it (01:15:47 AM) JustinXJS2: :-) (01:15:48 AM) nickj2: colour me sceptical... (01:16:23 AM) JohnH: One question, have either of you tried anything recent? (01:17:13 AM) JustinXJS2: yes, I have ubuntu 8.04 running on a machine (01:18:20 AM) JohnH: it must suck, but he doesn't want to stick his neck out (01:18:50 AM) nickj2: linux is still a sepcial-interest system. in a windows world, it's still an outsider (01:19:53 AM) JohnH: Geez, I wake up a 2 am to download something that looks to be not quite the rainbow I was hoping for (01:20:18 AM) nickj2: if you like tinkering, old-school computer hobbyist style, it's excellent. and free. if you just want things to work, all the time, then you're better off with windows. linux is free though. (01:20:44 AM) JustinXJS2: Frankly, it is a pain in the ass... but I build that machine specifically for doing CNC work, so I dont need to use it for anything else and cant really anyway, the CNC software slows the machine to crawl (01:21:13 AM) nickj2: frankly, i'd have expected linux to be doing a lot better in 2009 than it is, but it has a huge glaring problem: there's too many variations of it. rather than developing a single solid linux, everyone is splitting off making their own little variants (01:21:34 AM) nickj2: it certainly ain't no rainbow. free or not (01:22:04 AM) JohnH: why don't you guys speak up when Steven is boasting that it is the best thing since sliced bread (01:22:49 AM) JustinXJS2: because it turns into a 4 hour arguement, I dont have time to argue with steve about how he is a supernerd anymore (01:23:02 AM) nickj2: i must have missed that (01:23:41 AM) JohnH: Crap, I think I will have a couple shots of vodka and hit the sack---mini-nerd over and out (01:23:52 AM) nickj2: oh, justin brings up a very important point there... never try to argue with a linux user. about anything.hehe (01:24:00 AM) gordiegor: maybe to him it is,but to morons like us( PC wise ) its not the thing,he can take care of tweaks and bugs very easily ! (01:24:06 AM) JustinXJS2: haha (01:24:22 AM) JustinXJS2: yup, dont argue with the linux users, it is hopeless (01:24:34 AM) JustinXJS2: night John (01:24:50 AM) nickj2: cheer up john, at least you haven't installed it... (01:24:51 AM) JohnH: I'll try and keep my mount shut about this secret of yours so others will continue downloading it (01:25:11 AM) nickj2: and you didn't pay for it (01:25:31 AM) JohnH: nope, only in sleep

Mercy.

Where to start...

Maybe with John. Question for you John...Why are you so concerned about what others think about what you put on your computer? It's your computer physically, but if you read the EULA like I asked, you might find out that everything on it is in question as to who owns it. You do with your machine as you wish and let everyone who doesn't like it get bent in the neck...

":linux is still a sepcial-interest system. in a windows world, it's still an outsider"

Is that right? I'm not going to jump through the hoops of innumerating the mega-corps and entire nations that have switched to this "sepcial-interest system". I just picked that line out because I need people to see the ignorance that abounds on the subject. Congrats at making print.

So...while not exactly railing against Free Software, you can see the tone here. The misconceptions flow like cheap beer at a frat party and the condescending tones are obvious, While working this story, I discovered a young lady in Austria who was publicly ostracized for admitting she used Linux at home. The "Offended" group? Her Sunday School.

So let me talk to those specifically doing this sort of talking. What do you gain by this? Further, put aside all the other fluff stuff and ask yourself some tough questions.

Am I an idiot? Then why am I using a product that allows other applications to spy on me...the applications that I am supposed to trust to protect me?

btw, a side trip to read the above link is time well spent.

"No, I'm not an idiot thank you, I have to use it at work"

Pass given...pity poured liberally upon your wounds. How about at home?

Resume self-questioning please...

In fact, why am I using a product to "protect me" at all? Why should I have to? why am I purchasing a product so that the product I already purchased will work? That sucks.

You are only a victim until you realize you have a choice...then you are a ???

You complain time and again about having to pay for your computer to be "cleaned" but you turn right around and put the same stodgy system on there that allowed for the infection in the first place. Why do you do that when you have alternatives? Victim or Dunce?

Or just plain mentally lazy. Constantly suffering the pain of your buggy system is less hassle than taking a couple of days to learn something new?

If so, I'll let you fill in the blanks. Let the people who are taking advantage of a better way do so without interference...don't try dragging them back down into the muck so you will have some company.

Have you read the MS EULA's? You know, that thing you click "I agree" at the end so you can use your new system? If you HAVE read them and still insist on using Windows, then I am tempted to fill in some blanks of my own. Here...take a peek at this. We have an entire article devoted to these digital prisons coming up soon. You might find it worth your while to get some chain-cutting tools out then. You find absolute comfort in staying with a product that counts on you being uh.....there's no tactful way of stating it.

Dumb and lazy.

In reality though, if you count the time in a year you spend "maintaining" your system, you could be using one that doesn't demand that you bend over for the King and His Court. To kiss his ring of course...

Microsoft or some of its partners can come into your computer at any time, for any reason and do anything they think they need to do and you cannot do anything to stop it. Aside from quit using it that is.

I don't see that happening as much as it should...reference the mentally lazy reference above.

And the part about it being difficult? I don't know which Linux version you've used but I have 10 and 12 year old kids picking this system up for general use in about 45 minutes. Maybe if you run into problems I can forward them one of your emails and we can get you some help.

So the next time you decide to "help someone" by giving them advice...do yourself a favor and do some reading before-hand. If you are stuck in the 90's, good luck to you. If you fear change that much, I wish you further luck. If you rather pay for software that drastically reduces your freedom and abilities, that's your sad affair. Don't resort to TOYA to keep someone else from joining the 21st century.

You might not get referred to as a TOYA Boy.

Oh, TOYA? That would be Talkin' Out Your A**.

All Righty Then.

Tykes Need Linux Too

In our efforts to get GNU/Linux-based computers into the hands of students, we find that the majority of our machines are going to kids from ages 10-16. That's an accurate age demographic for those who receive what we give. In most cases, the child has already been exposed to a Windows machine but oddly enough, bears almost none of the hesitancy to learn a new system.

Much unlike their parents. ("Can't you just make it LOOK like Windows?")

Yes I can.

No I won't.

Lately we've received a larger number of requests where the children in the family are younger than the usual requester. Our first install this Saturday morning was no exception to that influx.

Florence Texas is a small town. We've donated computers to families there before. It's not a wealthy town by anyone's stretch of the imagination. Many of the families that live in Florence proper are hardworking folks that live paycheck to paycheck and don't have much extra left over for anything.

Like a computer for their kids.

Of course, that's where we come in. Amie Cervantes and her husband live in a modest one story home right on the highway that cuts the town in half. 18 wheelers rumble by, shaking the windows all hours of the day. Some locals have told me that if hwy 195 did not run through the town, it probably would not exist. About half way between Killeen (Ft. Hood) and Georgetown, Amie Cervantes makes a home for her family.

The kids in the family are a bit younger than the ones that we normally install for. At ages 8, 6 and 5, Manuel, Emily and Ciarra have not had access to a computer yet. That changed at 10 am today. Knowing the kids were younger, we installed a distribution that has recently found its way on Distrowatch called Qimo.

Qimo is for kids, period. Sure, an adult can dig around and fine some stuff useful for them but from the ground up, Qimo was, to my eye, created to introduce kids to the computer. What a wonderful way to do it.

A GNU/Linux computer thank you.

I didn't specifically write this to sing the praises of Qimo, although it does deserve substantial mention. I wanted to spotlight the Cervantes family as a model for our growth as a viable desktop alternative.


We've often said that the key to the proliferation of the GNU/Linux Desktop turns in two directions:

1. Letting the consumer know they have a choice in the way they operate their system and explain why Linux is the best way to do so.

2. Get as many GNU/Linux-based computers into the hands of kids as possible. Break the stranglehold that MS obviously has on the computing world...at least in the US where we seem to fall way behind the rest of the world in Desktop Linux adaptation.

We can't do much about number one...no one in the Enterprise OR in the Linux community seems in much of a hurry to do so, But we can do something about number two.

Ages 4-7 are the formative years for the hard development of motor skills. Making that development enjoyable is key to insuring the child develops those skills to their ultimate level...not necessarily at that particular time. However an early positive experience increases the chances that further development later in life isn't looked upon as a negative experience.

We believe that doing this on a GNU/Linux computer will set a behavior pattern that is conducive to future Linux growth.

We're getting as many Linux computers into the hands of kids as we are able. What is encouraging is that this model is being practiced in other parts of the country.

Their effort grew without any knowledge of ours...it just happened and the parallels are amazing. Now yes, we have helped others around the US start their own versions of The HeliOS Project but what we find most satisfying is that most of them do it on their own...they have no idea that we exist. The model just seems to grow out of good people's hearts.

And that's the way it should be. Our successes have been accomplished on our work and dedication. Efforts such as Reprise/TrailBrain have been on theirs. Regardless, GNU/Linux computers are getting into the hands of disadvantaged kids all over the US due to these efforts. Ours is only a small piece of this magnificent effort. While I cannot say much about it now, a project growing and being planned this moment may have much larger ramifications than any of us thought possible. We'll get to that when we are allowed to do so.

And so it goes with the Family Cervantes...just one more household with a Linux Computer in their home...something the kids can enjoy and learn upon.

And that, after all, is what it's all about.









All-Righty Then

Tempers Flare as Recession Creeps into Tech Industry

Putting fuel in my truck was the last place I expected to get into a confrontation.

Especially concerning Free Open Source Software. I mean, come on...

It was one of "those vans".


You know, the brightly colored ones that promises to propel a computer tech or two as it goes down the road? The one that pulls up in front of houses with people who have broken their computers?

You know the ones...

I suppose what surprises me most is how fast it happened...and how it was good that it stopped when it did.

I was pumping gas into my vehicle when the guy next to me looked over and commented on the number of computers in the back of my SUV. I of course, mentioned that I owned a business in the tech industry. I explained to him that I was also a Director of a charity that provided computers to disadvantaged kids. He seemed truly interested and while I didn't have any business cards with me, I gave him our website and blog address. I excused myself as I walked toward the store to pick up some other things before leaving the station. I fully expected him and his van to be gone when I returned.

He wasn't. It wasn't.

As I approached my vehicle from the store, I had a new perspective on the area. I could now see through the windshield of the van at the pump and there was another person sitting in the passenger seat...a person I had not seen earlier. The guy I talked to was behind the steering wheel and he rotated between jabbing his finger in my direction and then turning his head sharply back toward the other person in the van as he spoke. It did not seem to be a tranquil conversation. As I came within ten steps of my Rodeo, the driver got out of his van and approached me.

It wasn't a friendly approach.

We made contact just under the edge of the canopy. I say "we" made contact...the initial contact was his right index finger stabbing into my chest.

"It's _____ ________ hippy freaks like you that are costing us our jobs. You got any idea how many people are getting pink slips because of your b_________? Every time you put that ____ on someone's computer, some guy trying to feed his family has to go home and tell his wife that he lost his job. How about I snatch that silly little ponytail and give you a tour of the parking lot?"

The veins in his temples were at critical mass and he physically spit as he screamed at me in front of his van. This is where the narrative is going to stop, and it's going to stop for two reasons. First, there's no good way to tell the rest of the story. Second, it's because that's when any verbal communication between him and I stopped. He made first hostile contact and I didn't do anything but react. In the end it was no big deal...but of the two of us...

I am the only one of the two that did not involuntarily leave his feet that day.

Besides, that "silly little ponytail" represents all the hair I have left. Just protectin' the real estate.

The guy in the passenger seat came streaking out of the van with a laptop in one hand and a cell phone in the other. A small crowd had semi-gathered to watch the show but it was over as quickly as it began.

As I spoke with the other guy, it turned out that he was the crew chief of that team and a salaried member of that company's Field Management. The driver had used the truck laptop to go to our website and blog. It didn't take him long to figure out I am an Open Source/Linux Advocate. From talking with the supervisor, I found out that their store location had taken a beating from November of last year until the present. "Memos" had been circulated amongst the management teams, giving advice and training on how best to deal with the "Open Source Threat."

And are you curious as to the machine that is creaming their laptop AND desktop sales?

The Dell Mini 9. It's killin' 'em.

Also I didn't know, the fewer machines they sell with Windows, the fewer positions in the field they can justify. And he said it so I didn't have to.

"We schedule a technician visit for six months in the future with every home visit. Both they and we know their registries and computers will be messed up again by then."

That I did not know.

So what I learned is that "Microsoft Technicians" from this company actually help the particular store project sales and profit in six month blocks, for their "call-out" business that is.

Interesting.

That lead me to think about an entire nation of computer techs. Do they "project" their profits based on the duality between the customer's computer ignorance and the product's inherent insecurity and instability? Do they project their frustration and anger at self-serve gas stations? Geez...how many of them do you imagine there are?

Hey...just thinking allowed.

It did make me a bit more aware of who I tell about my business.

Not that it's going to alter any behavior...just stuff to think about.

All-Righty Then