Three Legged Ponies

If you were to give somebody something.... Something they honestly needed, and I mean needed badly...

Would you cripple it in anyway in giving it to them?

Of course not.

Unfortunately, I've been doing just that for a number of years now, but it wasn't supposed to be this way.

As The HeliOS Project nears its 1000th computer delivery, more than half of those computers are still without Internet service.

And trust me...I've been to the major broadband carriers. There is no help there. We've went above and beyond in trying to get a deal worked out.


I've in essence given these kids just over 500 three-legged ponies. To carry the analogy a bit further...I've inadvertently put blinders on these kids.

Gcompris and Childsplay along with other educational apps only go so far...they keep the child in the box.

As I've mentioned before, most of these families have to make financial decisions. Shoes for the kids or Internet? Car insurance every month or Internet...? There just doesn't seem to be much ever left over for the broadband service they need.

One of you is sure to suggest that they should just settle for dialup. Please...don't do that. You would not cripple your kids that way...don't ask me to do mine as such.

And yes, many of them have opted for dialup.... And found it sorely lacking.

The kids they have to compete against are not thusly hobbled. Recently, students in a middle school here in Austin were assigned homework to watch either the Presidential address to students or a YouTube video by an 11 year old prodigy giving a motivational speech.

Ever tried to watch YouTube on dialup?

Those who could not access the Internet were assigned to read three chapters from: "The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make: A Guide for Teens"

Personally, I think the third option is the best but that's not the point.

Kids without computers or Internet access were asked to stop by the teachers desk and check out the book prior to leaving the classroom. Thusly gaining the stares and attention of the other kids while they filed out of the classroom.

I began to take matters into my own hands. Following Seattle's lead, I began building a Guerrilla Network in East Austin. We actually started doing so back when we first installed the initial computers at Space12. A project which will be completed now that Sam Lee has the room for the Learning Center remodeled and ready.

But our wireless network for East Austin...?

We've run into a bottleneck of sorts. USB wireless devices.

Trust me, we've field-tested 16 different makes or models.

Keep in mind, many of these computers are in "the projects"...multi-story brick and concrete structures that may be built in rows and blocks of buildings...many are denied wireless access by the other buildings around them.

The one device that we've found that works and out performs everything else we've tested is the Hawking HWUG1. it not only out performs more expensive devices, it has lasted for over 9 months so far, exposed to the elements without any measurable damage or degradation of signal.

The worst we've tried? the Netgear USB dongles.

They have consistently failed at 4 to 5 weeks of continuous use, and that is in an indoor environment. They just plain quit. We bought a bunch of them from Frys on sale for 7.99 per.

Now I know why.

We need to get as many of these USB devices and six foot usb extensions as we can. No they are not cheap until you realize that the price of one of these, especially at NewEgg equals the cost of a month of broadband service from Time Warner.

So is what we are doing legal? Marginally....as long as I don't juice the repeater output...

and we all know I wouldn't do that.

I am going to be purchasing a high-gain antennae shortly to facilitate the building of the East Austin network. I will have the expertise of two wireless security people guiding me, but for now, we need to get at least 20 of these folks online so I can start putting in the repeaters.

Should you have any experience or unique input into networks like these, I would like to hear from you.

If you have one of these beauties and can spare it, email me and we'll make the arrangements. Otherwise, we can see if we can't strike a bulk purchase deal with someone. We're talking with NewEgg now, although you may be able to find them cheaper.

If so let me know. Should you be so motivated you can donate to the project by clicking the icon at the top left of the page through our Non Profit conduit Software in the Public Interest.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

40 dollars a month for Time Warner Roadrunner or one single device that will easily deliver a years worth of wireless for that monthly price?

All-Righty Then

Bob Sutor - Here are your "Dead Ends"

The head Linux guy for IBM, Bob Sutor fairly well showed the poker hand of most Enterprise Linux entities.

Briefly, he said: Linux on the Desktop isn't worth pursuing. He called it a Dead End.

Yeah...?

Is that right?

I mean, that isn't news to me. Your guy at the 2008 Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit said as much when addressing my concern for the lack of Linux marketing.

And trust me...I got immense satisfaction from posing my question. It made the panel extremely uncomfortable.

I doubt if I will ever be invited back. Given what I heard, that's perfectly fine with me.

It brought out the truth as you see it.

Linux isn't a solution, it is a "device".

A "device" you and your corporation have used, as well as using community developers, our developers, to enrich yourselves. Sure you've contributed code...but who benefited primarily from that contribution?

You did.

But hey...that's cool. I am fully down with Capitalism...as long as it remains non-predatory....and it remembers that there are those out here who need some help.

And that you remember there are those out there who wouldn't even have a computer if it wasn't for Desktop Linux.

Hey...slip off that 1000 dollar suit Bob and change into jeans and a t-shirt, swap out those Gucci loafers for a pair of 25 dollar sneakers and spend some time with me. I'm going to show you why Linux on the Desktop is anything but a dead end.

Meet just a few of those that would call you "disconnected" for your statements.

Ken, We all wanted to let you know how much we appreciate what you do, not just for us, but for all the kids in Austin who need it. Simon and Sawyer love their computer you set up for us...they're having fun and learning at the same time. I am so grateful that their educational playing field has been leveled and that they are no longer in danger of falling behind due to a lack of technology and resource. You brought something to them that every child should have available to them, but unfortunately aren't always able to get no matter how hard their parents work. People like you are so special, and we're glad to have met you and had our lives touched by your generosity. Your dedication and hard work, coming over and giving your time to set everything up, help us with the system and to teach us new things, it's a rare thing. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Janna, Brad, Simon, & Sawyer

And Bob...that's only the beginning...the tip of the iceberg as it were...

Meet Joe Patrano and his family.

Bob, Joe works two jobs. He does so because he wants his wife to stay home and care for their children...Yes I know...how, uh..."traditional". Joe and I talked at length about the Hispanic community and their needs. See, here's the problem Bob. Most of these people have choices to make when it comes to their finances.

"Do I pay for my child's shoes and school clothing or buy a computer?" "Do I pay the car insurance or buy a computer?" "Do I pay for my child's Parent-paid school field trips for the next three months or buy a computer?

Meet Nadja and Leora LaPoint...Children of Julie LaPoint. Bob, don't these two girls deserve the chance at an even shot? They got one of our computers and they live in Dallas....four hours from me and that's without traffic.

You tell them no Bob...I don't have it in me to do so.

You seein' the problem here Bob? If I did not put Linux on the 973 computers we've built and given out, there would be 973 Austin kids without computers today.

And Bob...501 of them are still disconnected from the Internet because they cannot afford it. I've talked to Time Warner about this. They not so politely told me to go piss up a rope.

Pretty much just like you did.

So Bob, I could flood this blog with pictures and stories, from all races and creeds but somehow I get the impression that you will never slip off those Gucci loafers and put on jeans and a tshirt. You are so well insulated from the real world that it would be way outside your comfort zone to do so.

Oh, and you need to know that there is a community devoted to helping us do what we do. And yeah Bob...they too have decisions to make. "Do I help The HeliOS Project or take the bus for a few weeks to work..."

Wake up man...Desktop Linux IS important and viable...you just can't make any money from it. So a rag-tag bunch of people who care do the work, at least part of it, that you should be doing. In my opinion anyway.

Hey! I have an idea! Why don't you guys take some of that profit (fully tax deductable of course) and help me get these 500 + computers connected to the Internet so those kids can compete and grow.

Oh never mind...I forgot who I was talking to for a second...

Silly me.

All-Righty Then

Microsoft FUD An Unfired Gun In Austin

Or so it would seem.

A while back, I along with about every other Linux blogger got all bunched up over Microsoft "training" Best Buytm, Office Depottm and Staplestm in the art of besmirching Linux.

Honestly, it chapped my nether-regions.

Enough to go take a look. I looked a lot.

Best buy - 3 in Austin, 2 in Round Rock

Office Depot - 5 in the Austin Metro area

Staples - 1 in Austin...The one on Barbara Jordan Blvd

And I didn't just visit them once. All but one Office Depot, I visited twice.

Nada. Nothing....and some surprises.

There are no outward signs of any comparisons between Windows and Linux. Even more surprising was some of the responses from the sales staff.

Now I know...there were fears that I would go storming the gates, all wild-eyed and foaming at the mouth.

People that know me know that I don't do that. It's only those who know me by my blog alone that assume such a thing. Yes, I keep a level gaze and control the subject matter, but a rabid mad dog does nothing but get shot.

Or locked up.

Let me check my calendar. Nope. Neither are on my agenda.

Let me tell you what I did find. I visited these stores on Saturday/Sunday the 12th. the 19th and the 20th of September. I visited each store an hour after opening and an hour before closing...most multiple times. In the spirit of open and honest disclosure, I have a fairly new friend that works at Best Buy. See, after I did all this, he told his side of the story.

There are a bunch of closet Linux users and enthusiasts that work at Best Buy...even the Geek Squad has been known to demonstrate Linux after swearing the customer to secrecy.

Ahem...allegedly.

And they are just busting to tell their customers about Linux. But they don't.

Jobs are not easily found these days. Oh trust me on this one.

So they bite their lip and do their job...they sell the products their employer pays them to sell and they keep their mouths shut about anything else.

Most times.

I struck up a conversation with a lady at a Best Buy in North Austin this past Saturday. Ulterior motives aside, her name is Staci and she is an admin specialist for a County entity...I didn't say which county.

As she was browsing the netbooks I started a conversation with her and we began comparing the different models. I told her that it was odd that there were no notebooks with Linux pre-installed on any of them.

She cocked her head to the side as I pulled out my tagged and approved laptop and started it. There was a salesman hovering just out of hearing range, just like they are told to do once a customer says "just looking".

Of course, my laptop is set on kill. Fully optimized for the "holy cow what is that" response.

It didn't fail me.

As I spun the cube and made things blink and whirl, I explained to her that Linux was all but imune to Windows viruses and I demonstrated the OpenOffice suite, showing her how a document can be saved in .doc format.

She was honestly impressed. And confused.

"Then why are they not selling it?"

So I told her...the readers' digest version anyway.

I closed down my Acer and we talked about her problems with her computer at work. There were always tech-types asking her to get up while they stuck a usb key in and did some cryptic stuff to her machine. "Patches" they told her.

Yes, I explained to her...you always have to patch something that is broken.

The salesperson could no longer take it and approached us with a smile. He asked Staci if she needed any further help in making a choice. I believe it was the laptop opened for ten minutes with her full attention that got the best of him.

"Do any of these come with Linux". Her question was direct and without malice...she glanced over at me just for a milisecond after doing so.

"Um...no, we don't carry Linux products here. I'm sorry."

No "Windows pitch"....no "comparisons..."

Just no.

So...

What...maybe they are waiting for the release date of Windows 7? I dunno.

I get a phone call from an unknown number today at 7:25 AM. It was Brother of Staci.

Brother of Staci works at Tivoli here in Austin. Seems that Staci brought up the subject at a weekly family gathering Saturday night. Brother of Staci wasn't angry at me...

He called to ask me about my conversation with Staci in Best Buy.

See, he has been trying to get his family switched to Linux for over two years but they all refused to budge. Staci was the first to break and allowed Baby Brother to dual boot her Dell Inspiron with Ubuntu.

Over a conversation in an electronics store.

Mom and Dad should see the light soon...or so I am told. Mom is seeking reassurances about her data not getting hosed. Staci and I are going to talk about it at Chili's tonight.

With Brother of Staci in tow of course.

All-Righty Then...

Linux Events...Not Drawing The Crowds

Linux conferences and events... I don't attend as many as I should...but what I do keeps me chained here mostly. I was invited to the Linux Symposium/Conference a while back and did attend...not sure if I'd ever be invited again though. A little something about putting a panel on the spot about Marketing Linux.

Hey Redhat, IBM...Novell. It's OK man...we got it covered. At least it's a start.

At any rate, I spoke with Bob Krausen a few days ago and he told me that there was some concern expressed in a particular IRC chat...one in which John "Mad Dog" Hall participated; that attendance at some of these bigger functions is or may be dropping. Oh and John...It was a blast...hope to see you again soon.

Going by the pre-registration numbers that is...things are not as good as they used to be. Yeah, it's back to school time and college students don't have the time to travel now, that is a point. But what is concerning many is the slow but steady drop in attendance of many of these functions. Is this a trend? I dunno...

I've posted some information about upcoming/currently-running events just so everyone knows they are happening. If you get a chance, folks would like to see your face...and hear your voice. It's more important than you think.

ATLANTA LINUX FEST - September 19, 2009

Atlanta Linux Fest will be held Saturday, September 19th, 2009, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. This coincides with the 2009 Software Freedom day, so come show your support for free software! The Atlanta Linux Fest is a free grassroots conference for the GNU/Open Source Software/Free Software community to gather and share information about fun and exciting existing and upcoming Linux and Open Source Software. Attendees of all skill levels are invited to share their experiences to benefit all users of Linux/Free and Open Source Software. Atlanta Linux Fest is the place to learn, make new friends, and have fun!

Speakers include Tom Callaway, Red Hat; Steve Conklin, Canonical; Ellen Ko, Google; Dan Chen, Ubuntu; and many more. A complete list of speakers can be found at http://atlantalinuxfest.org/presentations

Register now! Registration required to use wifi.

OHIO LINUX FEST - September 25-26-27

The Ohio LinuxFest is a conference for the Free and Open Source software communities. Featuring talks by authoritative speakers, a large expo, tutorials, and more, the Ohio LinuxFest welcomes Free and Open Source Source professionals and enthusiasts of all ages and from all places to join us as we celebrate 40 years of unix.

Speakers include Dr. Douglas McIlroy, UNIX pipes and tools developer working at Bell Labs during the birth of UNIX; Shawn Powers, one of the Linux Journal editors; Cat Allman, Google; Mike Badger, author; Dr. Alexander Bandar, Idea Foundry; and many more. A complete list of speakers can be found at http://www.ohiolinux.org/speakers.html

ONTARIO LINUX FEST - October 24, 2009

Ontario Linux Fest is the conference, workshop and community meeting place that is organized and run by the community for the community. This full day of presentations, workshops, birds-of-a-feather and social networking is ready to go for the third year. Everybody with an interest in using, deploying and developing Free / Libre and Open Source Software will find Ontario Linux Fest well worth their while. http://onlinux.ca/

Speakers include Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier, open SUSE ; Jim Elliott, IBM; Louis Suarez-Potts, OpenOffice.org; Emma Jane Hogbin, advocate and author; Dru Lavigne, developer and author; and many more. A complete list of speakers can be found at http://onlinux.ca/

All-Righty Then...

Interesting Times Ahead

For those in the Central Texas area...and I am sure this is not on your normal to do list...

You may want to tune into the Kim Komando show on KLBJ AM today (Saturday the 19th of September).

Particularly around 1:04 PM, 1:45 PM and 2:05 PM, CST.

You might find it interesting...

We'll talk more about it Monday.

Edit: Just heard the 30 second spot and it played at 10:51 when scheduled for 10:59...scheduled times are not exact but within 10 minutes...now they tell me...

h

Tux Takes To The Air

We've been talking about this for years.

We just never could seem to get it done.

Now it's going to happen. It began on Saturday, the 19th of September.

As far as we can research, the "concept" of Linux as a product has never been publicly advertised. Not as an ongoing advertisement...

Broadcasting several times a day for a month.

And contrary to popular belief...every shred of information available for human consumption is not on the Internet.

Shocking as that may be to some...we may be wrong on this one.

But we are seeing no evidence of anyone else launching a prolonged advertising campaign for Linux. And we've looked.

This may be "The Grand Experiment".

Or not...

Of course, it hasn't happened to this point because people will not invest in expensive radio air time without a return on that investment. It has to be tied to something...either commercial or non profit. Just throwing Linux out to the public could do more harm than good.

In 2006, when this first started, we were approached by "George". George is a professional voice talent and he offered to cut our commercial. Once we heard him, there was no way we could say no. George has requested to remain anonymous, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why...

We figured it out.

We've received several requests for George's work...pro bono of course, and as he did it for us, he might do it for others. That makes sense.

Well no, a man has to pay for a roof over his head and as competitive as the voice talent market is...he does well enough to find paying work. Once he's heard, the requests will increase. He just cannot do that much free work. As much as he would like to, he simply cannot at this time.

We were lucky....and we are extremely grateful.

The original track he recorded ran pretty long but it was done so anyone could edit the track to fit their needs. George has given us the rights to this and one other track and has emailed the radio station with his verification. He has indeed given this to the Linux Community.

We've stripped out all the private data about our enterprise...this isn't a marketing campaign for us.

It's simply news that Linux is now on the air. It will air on KLBJ AM. It's also a way for you to use the data without having to remove our taglines.

Yeah, that's me...Mr. Considerate.

Both raw tracks are available for download and released under Creative Commons Attribute-ShareAlike 3.0 license. We stipulate no attribution is necessary. You can download the short broadcast version we used, minus our info tagline in mp3 or ogg. You can get the long version in mp3 here and the ogg cut here.

Cut, splice, hack, lay tracks under it as you wish.

This isn't about our ad or endeavor, this is simply a notice that Linux, as a "product"...as an alternative to Microsoft Windows is available. Linux now has a commercial presence on the Austin radio airwaves. We also want to make the raw tracks available to anyone that wants them.

But here's the beauty of it.

Initially we were only going to make 30 second ads...budget restraints and all that, but once we started negotiating with KLBJ AM, we found we would have money left over so we had George do the 60 second track that currently plays on air and used Free Open Source software to mix and produce it. I did it at my own computer in about 35 minutes.

Oh, and where are the 60 second spots going to run?

The Kim Komando show...one spot for each of the three hours. Three times each show for four weeks. Why? Poetic justice...her show is full of ads for antivirus software, registry fixers and all the addons that slow a Windows computer to a crawl. She is unapologetic about her preferences for Microsoft products.

A pleasant surprise awaited us as well on that Saturday. Thomas Holbrook II of Freedomwareproject.org submitted our radio ad to the Oracle Broadcasting Network. It will air there for a month. And yes...some might not care for the political activism that resides there but we also realize that there are people there that dispise MS business practices and may be ripe for change. Our deepest thanks goes out to Thomas for his gift.

People need to know they have a choice.

So whether you just listen to the production or use it for your purposes, have at it.

Tux has taken to the airwaves.

All-Righty Then...

What Are You Prepared To Do?

One of my favorite movies of all time.

The Untouchables with Kevin Costner and Sean Connery. And yes...The Malone/Sean Connery character utters the most profound line in the movie...one that carries over into real life.

"What are you prepared to do?"

No...now I am asking it...it's not a rhetorical question.

A recent Blog of helios reported, as well as many other blogs, that Microsoft is sending literature, and sometimes salespeople, to train and educate employees from Staples, Best Buy and now Office Depot, in the art of Linux FUD.

The outcry from our community has been impressive....as have the actual materials that have been handed out.

Wanna take a guess at which one will have an impact?

Anyone can sit behind a keyboard and express outrage and point out the obvious falsehoods and outright lies.

You can also apply online to take a space shuttle ride.

Both will have the same outcome.

Nothing.

What are you prepared to do?


Who is going to go to the city or county and get a permit to stand on the public entrance and hold well-made signs warning these various customers?

Who is willing to take a Linux laptop into one of these stores and let the salesman give his pitch then categorically prove him wrong?

Who is going to personally visit the Store Manager and tell him that millions of people are now aware of this campaign and sanctions are being prepared if they carry out this deception and FUD?

If only three people in each major city reading this would take just one of these actions...it could have a big impact. Of course, it has to be done professionally and with no outward sense of rancor.

Please remember...you may be dealing with a sales person who is only doing what he was told to do...if he's an MS fanboy, then he will give himself up immediately. YOU are the one that has to stay calm. They have families to feed just like we do. It's not their fault that their management are largely MS quislings...or at the very best, completely uninformed.

And no, I am not going to organize it...I've had too many disappointments in my life recently and I won't pile another one on the heap.

So what ARE you prepared to do?

Right now, I have a roster of people in Austin who are willing to do one or all of these things. There are a lot of stores to cover...and as of now, I am counting the number of people on that roster. As it stands now...the number is:

One.

All-Righty Then

The Words Are Important...

Semantics....

It's a game some of us play.

Some of us better than others and some do it very well...

Most times it is to gain an advantage.

Microsoft plays the game better than anyone in the bid'ness.

So comes a time when we have to be reminded of what is actually important and what is fluff.

It can make a huge difference.

Thomas Holbrook of The NIXED Report has written an essay...a Manifesto if you will that reminds us of just what we have...

And what is at stake.

With his permission, I have published his piece here. I sincerely want you to read it...

I will, as often as I need to in order to remind myself just how important words can be.

Thomas, the floor is yours.

The Freedomware Project Manifesto

Thomas Holbrook II

Steven Levy knew who the heroes were. In the 1950's, the Tech Model Railroad Club would transition from working on model trains to writing software for computers. Oh how they hated IBM and all of their restrictions. Can you believe that back then, one had to actually ask for permission to use one of their computers? The punch card system was horrible! It would take way too much time just to find out if the program worked correctly or needed to be fixed.

Today, saving information to storage is taken for granted. Whether it's the hard drive or some other medium, one never has to wait very long for the results of their labor. Programs can be debugged instantly, and documents can be revised with ease. Games can be played and the world wide web can be surfed for hours on end. The entertainment possibilities seem to be endless. However, it is the large media corporations that often try to dictate to the user how they are authorized to enjoy music and movies.

In addition, large software corporations often inhibit sharing of ideas by not allowing the user to share the software with other people. Software patents exist in order to prevent individuals from outdoing the large organizations who wish to retain that “competitive edge.” Having the source code was out of the question, and woe be unto those who shared copies with other people, despite the fact that the software in question was vastly overpriced. This is why organizations such as the Free Software Foundation and the Open Source Initiative exists.

Richard Matthew Stallman began the free software movement in an attempt to bring control of computers back to the user. He began work on GNU (GNU's Not Unix), a clone of Unix, a well known operating system that has survived to this day. Linus Torvalds, in an attempt to have the same power at home that Sun workstations provided him at the university, began working on Linux, an operating system kernel. Eventually, software from the GNU project was combined with the Linux kernel to produce a full fledged operating system. Control was brought back to the user, or so it appeared.

Courts in the United States ruled that citizens were not allowed to watch a DVD on a computer that used the Linux kernel. The movie industry wanted to dictate to everyone else when, where, and how their films could be enjoyed. It wasn't about money, but control. People who encoded their music in MP3 format were faced with patent fees. Without a kernel, there is no operating system, so by proxy, Microsoft is attempting to litigate Linux out of existence, while advocates are encouraging civil disobedience by using it anyway.

While the rest of the world is often free to ignore artificial restrictions set forth by the corporate multimedia entities, it will not remain that way forever without constant vigilance. Even nations such as Australia can be influenced to accept DMCA-like restrictions with enough lobbying and political gifts. For every DVD Jon who breaks the locks on movie discs, there shall be another Blu Ray that will rise up to take its place. For every helios, there shall be a Steve Ballmer. For every hero who does good deeds, there will be a corporate entity who sees such deeds as a threat to their control of the masses.

Yes, Steven Levy knew heroes. Many of them pioneered an entire industry. A great deal of them were opposed to the behavior of not allowing other people to look at and modify the source code. The Stallmans, Gospers, Greenblatts, and the Wozniaks of the world enjoyed tweaking things until they were better than they were yesterday. To the likes of Torvalds and others, it was about enjoying the development of software. That enjoyment is under threat now by the major institutions who want to control the thoughts and speech of others.

Yet “open source” does not really imply liberty, now does it? The availability of source code is emphasized. People are often allowed to share software under such licenses (but not always). The phrase “free software” comes closer, but there are too many connotations to the word “free.” Monetary cost is often applied to said word. Freeware is a term that implies that the software costs no money to obtain, but the source code is not always available. It's obvious that the word “freedom” needs to be a part of the equation.

This is why freedomware is a more important phrase. This term implies liberty and does not confuse people into thinking that one can not charge money for making copies available (they can give them away gratis if they so wish). So what is freedomware and what does it mean? Software is freedomware if the following is true:

• The user can run the software without restrictions.

• The user can make copies of the software in question.

• The user can have access to the source code and make changes if they so wish.

• The user can publish modified copies of the software, so long as recipients have the same rights as they had.

Freedomware means that the user is set free from artificial restrictions set by those who want to suck money out of them. With so called computer software “security vendors”, I believe that one word is appropriate; extortion! Due to large entities using software patents to stifle competition, users are often stuck with such products, or so they think.

With freedomware, most “open source” and all of “free software” can be placed under the same umbrella. People who look at the software will know that the primary goal is freedom, not monetary cost. To ensure freedom, we must be ever vigilant, and that does not simply mean watching the other entities and groups to make sure no transgression against such has occurred. It also means helping those who are willing to help us.

For starters, there exists the opportunity to improve 3D acceleration for graphics hardware from companies such as ATI and Intel thanks to the availability of hardware specifications. There is also an effort underway to reverse engineer the specifications of NVIDIA graphics hardware so that drivers can be written for them. OGG and FLAC are a great starting point for multimedia enthusiasts, but the software for the creation of multimedia must be improved. Effort has been underway for quite some time in the Austin, Texas area to give computers to children whose parents can not otherwise pay for them. Not only does such an effort need to be supported, but similar initiatives must be started across the country and around the world as well.

When computer users are liberated from artificial restrictions, they begin to have a better understanding of the technology in question. Those who do not understand technology will be controlled for the rest of their lives by those who do. When Steven Levy wrote his book about hackers, he was incorrect about one detail. The Computer Revolution did not start with the Tech Model Railroad Club. The Computer Revolution's true beginning is here and now.

You can contact Thomas here: thomas@freedomwareproject.org

All-Righty Then...

Incoming Rounds...Triangulating For Return Fire

Thanks to Dave Kaplan for the links...as well, thank you to my fellow blogger "PV" for posting the incriminating evidence.

AND...from the "this just in" room, we find that MS has been busy little beavers training Staples employees in the finer art of spreading untruths about Linux...I believe we are only seeing the start of this. Thanks to Rich C. for bring this to our attention. EDIT...Rich C has also discovered that Microsoft has spawned their efforts to Office Depot.

Let's just hope your boiling point is fairly high...good blood pressure is a terrible thing to waste.

Trust me.

It is a desperate move...

This one that Microsoft is making...

But should we expect anything else?

Probably not. Audacity is their calling card.

See Microsoft has no problem lying. They don't "misspeak". they don't "mis-represent the facts".

They lie through their gold-capped teeth.

If the above linked post is verified as true, and I have just fairly well verified on my own that it is; then the evidence is irrefutable....

They are liars....at the very best, they are withholding truths.

Or delusional...

All is fair in love and marketing...right?

The story is worth a read before you continue here...it's pretty compelling.

In the story, much is NOT said about the biggest weakness the Linux Operating System endures.

Marketing.

Oh, how did you know I was going to bring that up again? But this time it's different. Maybe a drop in the bucket, but all floods start with a drop.

As do small spring sprinkles.

Two years ago, I approached a guy we call George. George has a fantastic voice and he recorded a few cuts so that when we are ready, we could put some sort of Linux presence on the airwaves. It's been a long, tough road to get to this point.

But it couldn't be just about Linux...you have to tie it to something...a solid entity that could become actionable. That's when I got The Idea for HeliOS Solutions.

See, people have struggled from the beginning of Free Software/Open Source Software as how best to monetize it...to actually make a living from it. It's been a tough slog. Redhat's model seemed to work on a corporate scale.

Why not as a sole proprietorship? One that had the major intent of feeding the HeliOS Project.

In December of 2007, with the invaluable help of Sander Marechel from the Lone Wolves Foundation, the HeliOS Solutions website was build and published to the web as HeliOS Solutions.

Great idea...and we've had limited success with it. As it is now, it is just a speed bump some trip over trying to get to other places...but we have done some business. It now ranges from 50 - 300 dollars a month.

A veritable drop in the bucket....

But all floods start with one drop.

While I was a guest in the home of Mr. Ed Timar, a dear and loved friend (Ed is the one that gave us the money to rebuild the South Texas Montessori School Computer Lab), we had a lot of opportunities to talk. Through those talks, Ed decided that 1200 dollars was cheap enough to settle the argument.

Is Linux via a service company saleable? Is radio the medium to use to reach mass audience?

We are about to find out.

EDIT: many have emailed me and asked to hear the source from which we will cut the ad. It has been posted before but I will post it again for you to hear. Remember, some of this will be cut down to accommodate contact info for HeliOS Solutions.

In less than two weeks, KLBJ AM will run our 60 and 30 second ads. There will be 57 ads run each week for two weeks.

Why 60 second ads? How many of them are we going to run at 60 seconds?

Only 6.

The ads are strategically placed to do the most damage.

Damage?

Yeah Damage.

They will run once an hour for the three hour duration of the Kim Komando Show.

Poetic justice. She all but refuses to talk about Linux on her show.

See...There are three of us who tried for a 9 week period to get on her show. All three of us made it on varying occasions. We never lied. We always told the call screener that we were Linux Users and had a question for Kim. We were simply trying to see if any of us could get on to ask a Linux question.

Ain't gonna happen....ever. Stock Response?

We don't have any Linux Users Listening. I've listened to the program from time to time and it's basically a bunch of hand-holding for TSMC's (task-set mouse clickers).
It can make a Linux user want to weep..."Kim. I have viruses and it says I need to download their program...now my computer won't work at all..."

No Linux users Listening....

Probably not many. If you want Linux radio...I mean real broadcast radio...your best bet is Gutsy Geeks.

So...this is going to be a semi-public experiment. We will try to track sales, calls, responses and outcomes for the HeliOS Solutions commercials.

Flood or short-lived sprinkles...we don't know yet. We believe we might be the first in the US to try this.

Floods or sprinkles...

Either one starts with a single drop.

Let's hope for a deluge.

All-Righty Then

Let's Rock and Roll...

I've had about all the laying about I can stand.

Really I have. I've carefully tested the waters and have done 4 installs in two days...so far so good. No Red Bull, good diet (kinda) getting sleep...all the right stuff.

Again, thank you to those blessed folks who allowed me to seek the medical attention I needed...you are precious to me and I hold each of you dear, even though many of us have never met.

But it's time to get to work.

We are in fairly severe need of some perephrial equipment that many of you might have laying around. What we are short of are:

USB optical mice

USB wireless devices or internals

Inexpensive stereo speakers for the systems we install

More USB optical mice.

We are way short of those in particular.

If you have some laying around, comment or email me. I would really appreciate it.

As well, I am looking for someone who can write a one hour class syllabus on basic intro to the Linux desktop (gnome). If anyone has any experience with it, I would appreciate it. It will be for adults and kids alike...the classes that is.

Also, for those living in Austin, I need to re-arrange and organize the limited storage facility I have on site. It is a freaking mess. I am going to be more honest with you than I want to be.

I can't do a whole lot of lifting yet. I lost a lot of muscle tone and weight while I was recovering so this is gonna take me a while.

Tom King is pinging the volunteer list for LAP to see if we cannot meet out at our facility and make sense out of this mayhem.

If you can come out, that would be great. I am guessing around 10'ish this Sunday is good but after that is fine as well.

Thanks again folks for helping me get back on my feet.

I could not have done it without you.

All-Righty Then...