Moving Day Approaches for The HeliOS Project

Finally...

Luck broke our way and in a big way.

Darrel Raynor, the Director for Asset Management for The HeliOS Project has secured for us a warehouse and office. It will be free of charge for a while...

You have no idea what a relief this is.

Instead of working out of a large, converted metal building with minimal climate control (do closed windows count for climate control?), we will have an actual warehouse and repair facility for our work. I even get a desk.

Go figure.

At any rate, we are looking to move the first week of November I am thinking. What we might well need are a couple of volunteers to supply a truck/van to move the computers and various components/boxes we have as well as giving us a hand in bringing them into the facility.

There is quite a bit to move.

I realize this is short notice but we need to vacate the facilities currently being used in order to stop any further rental fees from being brought to bear. The 500 dollars we are now spending on space and facility rental can now go to more important things....

Like securing machines needed to do what we do. If you can help, please contact me at helios at fixedbylinux dott kom.

We are also going to need shelving and some fairly sturdy tables. Skip Guenter has volunteered to do some carpentry work for us with one condition.

I am not to pick up or even enter into the room where power tools are being used.

Agreed.

Thanks for giving us a hand.

Salting the Bones...

We've talked about killing Linux Myths before.

Whether it be security through obscurity or Linux is just not ready for the desktop.

Logic and current unbiased data have proven otherwise. But there is still one that persists...

Linux Users are cheap and Linux Users are not a profitable market for gaming developers.

Ahem...

I think we, at least on some scale, have disproved that. Flash Forward to 2dBoy and Frictional. While we agreed not to divulge some fairly intimate statistics about each company sales, we are able to, and did report at the time, that Linux Users slayed all previous sales records for each game.

See, some myths and even some cultures believe to stop a spirit or ghost from haunting you, someone must unearth their remains and pour salt on their bones...

Demons and Spirits, reportedly, cannot cross a salt barrier. Some say to burn it for good measure.

So metaphorically...we are trying to stop this persistent haunting...

Yeah right helios...initial Linux momentum for sales then the Win and Mac folks resumed their purchasing pace.

Wanna bet?

Please...bet me now. Baby needs a new pair of shoes. She wears a size seven, loves heels and is 38....

nevermind...

I not only want you to look at the numbers here...I want you to do the math.

It's pretty amazing. Now, given some of you are as mathematically-challenged as I am, here is what I am driving at. Taking the market share for Windows, the number of Linux Users both paying the most for this special "name your price" sale and the fact that they remain customers since they discovered 2dboy...

Well, all there is to do now is to salt the bones.

Linux Users will buy games they enjoy....but given DRM and other restrictions, there may be a caveat or two there.

From the 2dboy website (linked by graphic below)

Breakdown By Platform

We were expecting the average price paid to be highest for Linux users and lowest for Windows users, but the gap was larger than we thought it would be…

Also, the per-platform download breakdown was pretty surprising, with Windows accounting for 65%, and Mac and Linux pretty much splitting the remainder evenly:

As well, given that many Windows users feel it is fine to steal games and apps, these numbers are not surprising...

And stop it...you know who you are. Anyone who would rather steal a game from these guys than pay a few lousy bucks for it will mug girl scouts without hesitation.

So...is this going to get the attention of companies like EA and other big name game distributors?

Probably not...too bad...

Their loss.

All-Righty then

Linux - T + 180 days

Let me take this opportunity to remind all that the prize drawing for some pretty cool computers is still running. This drawing gives us the funding to run The HeliOS Project. Come see us here to see what we are offering.

It's been something we've been needing to do for a while now.

Time, or the lack thereof has prevented it.

So here it goes.

We looked back 6 months and chose 10 of our Linux computer recipients and spoke with them individually. More to the point , we presented them with a series of questions.

See, none of the kids or parents that received HeliOS Project computers had ever heard of or used Linux. One of the screening questions we asked was: "did you use or do you now use windows outside of your home?"

In order to qualify the people, the answer had to be yes...although they did not know it.

Our goal was simple. Gather empirical data to indicate whether a Linux user of 6 months was comfortable with the system and how they saw it in relation to Microsoft Windows TM

This was no where near scientific of course. And as stated, the data collected is empirical at best but it gives us an idea of what we are working with and how we personally might be able to make it better.

So here is what we found.

The people queried ranged in age from 15 to 31. Of the ten people agreeing to talk to us, there were six female and four males. Not that it should make any real difference, I simply note it as a statistical fact.

Seven of these people either worked with Windows at school or at their place of employment. So is Linux vs. Windows equal to mixing oil and water?

Not even close.

What we found most surprising is the way our Linux Users adapted and researched in order to make things work between their machines. They actively sought answers to their problems. Spreadsheets via Excel transferred to Linux machines caused some problems in formatting but not enough to cause any real issues.

Reportedly, documents originating from Calc which contained inserted graphs, diagrams and graphics did not hold their formatting perfectly when saved as an Excel document and opened on the Windows end. But to be fair, neither did the same graphs, diagrams and graphics when sent from a 2003 Microsoft Office Excel document to a Microsoft Office 2007 user. In fact, some of the inserted graphics were completely absent between the two MS offerings. A bit of fiddling with the Calc-created spreadsheet rendered the document completely usable.

DocX continues to be a problem for many.

Three of the Linux Users found themselves in a position to install Windows Vista either at work or at school. In speaking to these users, it was a bit amusing to listen to their complaints about the install process. Six of the ten had installed Linux for friends and family, so they were somewhat versed in the installation of a Linux distribution.

In all three cases, none of the folks had driver CD's or internet access after installing Windows. They found themselves having to identify the specific hardware on the computer, find another computer with Internet access and slog through the Google process of finding the needed drivers. One of the biggest complaints in finding the needed drivers were the PITA redirects to sites for Driver Doctor and Driver Robot which puts a ton of spyware on your computer in the name of helping you automatically update your drivers.

What stuck us as most surprising is that every person who used Windows at work has inquired to their employer as to whether they would be allowed to use Linux at work. All but one were told no. The young Intern at an insurance company was given permission to dual boot her computer with Linux. An install she did without any tech support or help.

This brings us to the conversations where eight of our people commented that when they got home, they experienced relief or happiness that they could use a computer that "just worked". They noted that there were no 30 minute update procedures to tolerate, no warnings of virus threats and no having to reboot because their mouse wouldn't move correctly or that the current page showing was locked up.

While the comments and answers were largely positive, we also asked how Linux could be better in their opinion. Here is a list of comments or suggestions from some of the participants. Note some of them may seem like "old issues" to many of us, but also keep in mind that these are relatively new Linux Users. Keep in mind as well, these users have either Linux Mint or SuperOS installed on their computers...both derivatives of Ubuntu.

"The only decent program I've found for my ipod is Songbird but it crashes constantly. Can't the people making other Music apps like Banshee make ipod support easier?" Traci - undergrad UT

I do not own an ipod or any type of device like it so I could not comment on the question. Maybe someone here can address this.

"I have a USB storage device plugged in where I keep my music and movie collection. At any given time, a box pops up saying that a device has been detected that has pictures on it and wants to open F-spot for them. It happens a dozen times a day and is really annoying. How can I make this stop?" Mike - high school senior

This is a problem I have encountered often myself. It seems that 2 usb storage devices are constantly being "discovered" and announced. Annoying indeed, but personally not bothersome enough for me to investigate. Any ideas here?

"I want to install a couple KDE applications on my computer, one of them is Kstars but I am worried that mixing KDE stuff with Gnome is going to screw things up. It's happened before and I had to start all over. Is this ever going to be addressed?" Lisa - ACC student

Agreed, it is a crapshoot when you do this. I personally found that SuperOS comes with many of the KDE libraries already loaded so when you install a KDE app into this Gnome environment, all the knots are already worked out. YMMV however and I've found that mixing environmentally-specific apps can cause trouble down the line a bit. Long enough away so that you can't remember what you installed that is now causing the problems.

"When I have desktop effects enabled, there are times when I click something and the screen darkens for up to a minute before anything happens and after that my computer runs slow. When I turn off the effects it fixes itself. I have a one year old computer running two gigs of ram. This should not happen." Juanita - restaurant server

Noted this myself and not quite sure why this happens. I only run effects on my demonstration laptop...only so long I can tolerate wobbly windows and pretty sparkles before they get annoying or in the way of my work.

"I like the way you install applications in Linux. It is so much easier than in Windows but sometimes I cannot find specific programs that I need. I usually end up going onto the internet and searching for something that comes with a deb installer but they crash because something isn't in the deb that is needed. Is there ever going to be a time when all packages work on all Linux machines?" Amanda - freshman TSU

No, probably not and I feel your pain. We either have to learn how to compile our own or go to the forums and ask someone in the packaging threads to do it for us. Slashdot had a piece on someone working on universal binaries but I don't think the politics will allow it to happen.

The thing that stood out most in these meetings was the overall happiness with the stability of their systems. What made a big difference in the majority of the users was the fact that they did not have to do the reboot dance after an installation or regular machine update. Of further interest was the non-issue of virus protection. Every person spoken with that used Windows at work or school voiced annoyance over having to deal with it on the Windows machines.

When asked about the "learning curve" when they first started using Linux, all but one just shrugged and said it wasn't a big deal. Of course, we sat down with each of them when we installed the computers and spent an hour showing them the system. However, no one stated any real problems in acclimating to the new system.

No this is not all-inclusive by any stretch but this gives us some idea of what the new Linux User thinks and how they adapt to Linux. I am sure there are many that took the dive into Linux and ran back to the safety of Windows. We plan to speak with 10 more users as they mature to 6 months use in May.

Let's see how they differ from the above observations.

Those who insist on reiterating the same tired line that Linux isn't ready for the desktop may have axes to grind instead of opening their minds. When we have Professionals of many walks using Linux on a daily basis and as their only OS, then you have to question the motive or experience of those making such statements. Besides, we have 12 year olds using it on a daily basis.

Maybe these folks would appreciate one of our kids stopping by and giving them a hand.


All-Righty Then

Linux - Fostering Hope

When Lynn Bender came to me with his grand plan for Linux Against Poverty, I never in my 56 years imagined the impact his efforts would have on not only us, but the disadvantaged kids of Austin and the surrounding area. Through Lynn's efforts, we were able to put together over 200 workable computers and give them away to those needing them most.

I don't know if many of you know or understand the numbers that are in need...I mean true need, not just a matter of bad family budgeting.

But it's like one of those troublesome dreams.

The faster you run toward your goal, the farther away it gets.

The goal posts moved on us again today...

but that's a good thing. They were moved by Carole Keeton Strayhorn. I have followed and supported her politically and always admired her strength and courage...not to mention her tenacity and thick skin. But after an hour and a half meeting with her today...

I'd charge the Gates of Hell with a bucket of ice water for this woman.

See, she's not just a politician, Carole is a person who takes personally the fact that many kids are in a hell of their own. As we saw at The Settlement Home, there are kids who's lives have been so disturbingly disrupted by death or disaster, through unspeakable abuse or neglect, that they need every break they can get. Not all foster children are like that...but enough of them to completely turn my insides to ice when I hear the stories.

They need to be shown that they are loved.

Carole Keeton Strayhorn has given us a shot at giving them just one of those breaks. We agreed today to be their computer supplier and technical support for her Foundation, Our Texas Grandchildren.

And we do so with a mix of pride and humility. Two attributes that are not necessarily mutually exclusive. We will start with a group home and a few individual home installs...I will personally attend these to give guidance until her volunteers are comfortable with the process. Her volunteers will take over the physical install of the Linux operating system and performing the installs.

We are honored to be a part of Carole's work.

So... This is as good of time as any to announce our Christmas Season hardware drive.

We will be needing P4 computers, flat-screen LCD monitors, keyboards, mice, decent Nvidia or ATI video cards, usb wireless devices and sound cards. Of particular need are DVD/CD rom drives and PCI wireless cards.

If you care to donate computers or equipment, contact me via helios at fixedbylinux dott komm. We are also posting a PSA with KUT radio, the public radio affiliate here in Austin.

We have earmarked 30 computers for Carole and her Foundation and have those machines on hand. That will leave us enough to finish Space12 and about two weeks of individual installations for kids who need a computer. After that...

We'll be out of machines.

So...

Here we go folks. Like my dad was fond of saying when life threatened to get chaotic...

"Hold on boy, things are fixin' to get western..."

It does indeed appear that this may be one of those times. We welcome it.

Now if you will excuse me...I need to go make sure I have a good supply of ice water.

All-Righty Then...

Unique Prizes Highlights HeliOS Project Drawing

We've had drawings in the past...drawings that fund our efforts. It's particularly challenging this time of year as we struggle to keep our doors open. It's been a tough six months for us but we've managed to hang in there. Many thanks to those who have helped us. I wouldn't be writing this announcement if you had not been there to help

But extraordinary times demand extraordinary effort...

And sacrifice....however we are glad to do it if it keeps us afloat.

Welcome to our semi-annual prize drawing. We have a unique if not a collectors item offered as first prize so let's get to the good stuff.

The Larado Quadrado

Last year, when everything seemed to be pointing to success for Loye Young, the economy took its nasty downturn and the computer manufacturing company, Issac and Young Computer Company had to close down. Loye and his company manufactuted the Larado Quadrado. A larger version of a shuttle computer with a dual core 64 bit chip, complete with ATI video, a gig of ram with dvd/cdom burner and a generous hard drive. It also has a pci wireless adapter. Loye put a lot of love and sweat into manufacturing these machines but he did not get a chance to make many.



Loye presented me one of these machines during a visit to Austin.

I am offering this machine as our grand prize. As much as I hate to, I think that this great computer stands as a testament to those who struggle until they win. What I like is the LED on the face that monitors hard drive and cpu temperatures. No need for widgets or panel apps...it stares you right in the face. In the 3 months that I used it, it performed in a stellar manner. I only put it away because I didn't want to put a bunch of hours on what may become or may already be a collectors item. Be aware though, we are only offering the computer...the picture is just to show you the machine in relation to the monitor and perephrials.









Note on the back of the machine, the serial number...that should fairly well verify the rarity of these machines.







The Toshiba Tecra M2

This is a great little laptop...not exactly new, but with Linux driving the 1.6 gig chip and with a gig of ram and an intel chipset, we've had great success with these machines. Our thanks to Andy Krell of Nfusion for giving us a cartload of these. This is the last of the bunch, as the rest were given away to our HeliOS Project kids.

For those that don't know of us, The HeliOS Project has given away just shy of 1000 computers to Austin and Central Texas children in the past 4 years. We have built two great computer labs in Austin and may be slated to be the donated computer suppliers for a foundation called Our Texas Grandchildren, founded by Carole Keeton Strayhorn, former Comptroller for the State of Texas.

These are the kids that have had the roughest times in foster care. They have a special place in our hearts and we aim to pave some of the uneven road that lies ahead of them.

AMD 50x15

And of course, our drawing would not be complete without a prize of dubious worth and mention. We are offering our last AMD-manufacured 50x15 mini computer. Unique in that we seldom offer anything that runs Windows but in this case, we will make an exception. It fits in a drawer or huddles on the corner of a desk, fully capable of web browsing, word processing and has apps for photo manipulation. USB ports abound for you various needs as well. And we promise, if you so state, we will not announce the name of the winner for this prize.

People do tend to talk...

Tuxbymail or do-it-yourself Certificates

Know someone who is serious about using Linux but is still hesitant? Give them a certificate for Tuxbymail? They ship us their laptop and we install Linux either as a dual-boot or clean install for them. They pay shipping and insurance but in return, new life is infused into what they might consider a doorstop. Also, we offer to send someone you choose a do it yourself kit from out HeliOS Solutions store. Live CD's for them to explore with the entire user manual for the distro. We are offering 4 of each prize.

Please bookmark this announcement as we have others who may add to the prizes. The drawing is 10 dollars per entry and you can click our non profit conduit icon at the top left of this page to enter. Or, you can click here. Each 10.00 entry gives you a different chance at one of these prizes... so a 30.00 entry will secure three chances. If you are unable to participate using this link, email me at helios at fixedbylinux dott kom and we can give you an alternative.

Because of shipping costs and ambiguous export laws, we cannot ship the machines overseas and I apologize for this. We've ran into problems before shipping even new computers so unfortunately, we cannot ship them outside of North America. However if someone outside those borders does win a Do It Yourself Kit certificate, we will be glad to send that anywhere in the world.

The drawing will be held on November 8th, 2009.

My warmest and most sincere thanks to those who help us do what we do. We count on your support and are most grateful for it.

All-Righty Then

The Grand Experiment - Linux Ads on Radio

For those that are not aware, two radio ads introducing people to Linux and our services/non profit recently ran on KLBJ AM radio in Austin Texas.

The results were surprising in part...some of them confirmed wide-held suspicions about computer users in general.

Some of them fostered thoughts of running knitting needles through my eyes...

often.

What follows is our analysis of those ads and some potentially important information that may prove useful for anyone wanting to do what we did.

The ads were scheduled to run multiple times during the week and weekend. The 30 second spots would run during the week and the 60 second spot would run exclusively during the Kim Komando show. It ran once an hour for the duration of her program.

In total, there were just at 100 ads played for a two week period. We had scheduled a month to do this but budget restraints just did not allow it. The first surprise is that our web traffic did not jump like we anticipated. People chose to call us and talk rather than visit a website and get their information. Those that did visit the site were there for a short period. noting the duration of visits and pages clicked on by the visitors...they went to the "contact us" page or to get the phone number.

The fact that many chose to call instead of reading a website for information, at least to me is telling. As well, Thomas Holbrook of freedomwareproject.org graciously placed our ad on The Oracle Broadcasting Network online radio site. To date, we have fielded four inquiries from that ad. One sale pending the upgrade of his current computer.

We fielded 179 phone calls, 63 emails and 4 personal visits of inquiry from the ads. There are three categories in which I have placed these communications.

Cautious and curious.

Interested but skeptical.

Should never be allowed to touch a computer without professional on-site guidance

The first group comprised the largest and ranked at just over 62 percent of the calls. Their questions were probing and showed sincere interest but almost all of them asked more about the legality of Linux than they did the efficiency of it. Once the Free Software concept was explained to them, caution dropped significantly, especially when they found that large corporations were involved with the effort. Many expressed concern that there seemed to be "no one at the helm".

We explained this to them to the point of becoming a potential and unacceptable time sink. Some but an obvious minority, thought that a loose-knit group of thousands of developers is superior to one company holding the reins.

It was this group that purchased our services with the exception of one.

The second group, the ones that I identify as skeptical, were so for a reason. The 60 second ad produced the majority of the calls. 83 percent of them to be exact.

The skepticism stemmed from the 30 second ad. I will take direct responsibility for this particular failure.

The trick was to encapsulate the essence of Linux, or the benefits therein within 30 seconds.

It was kind of like trying to fill a pillow with goose feathers using a fork.

I wrote the ad, thinking that if people knew what the various EULA's allowed Microsoft and third-party vendors to do in and to their computers, it would prompt them to investigate further. As well, I did not proof the final and consequently, there were some untrue things stated in that 30 second ad. "all the software you will ever need is free".

A third grader can pick that apart. My bad....

lessons learned.

The skepticism stemmed from that ad.

"No one can do that to my computer", said one email. "It's illegal and Microsoft didn't get where they are today by breaking the law."

Sigh...

Where do you go with that? Espeically when your phone has three calls waiting on hold.

You simply guide them to the EULA and wish them luck.

The third category made me sincerely consider large amounts of narcotic pain medications.

All of them, to the last one, thought Linux was a "program" they could run on Windows and solve these problems.

Question from us: "Did you go to our website and read about Linux and the advantages?"

Caller/emailer: "No, I just want to know how to get this free program"

Response from us: "Linux isn't a program, it is a different operating system. It is designed for security and ease of use."

Caller/emailer: "A what?"

Response from us: "An operating system. Microsoft Windows is an operating system, Linux is an alternative operating system that will stop the problems you are currently having with your system now."

Caller/emailer: "OK, then I want to install that program on my computer. Will I still be able to play online poker?"

And no, I didn't want the narcotic pain medication for pleasure purposes.

I thought it would dull the pain when the knitting needle penetrated through to the eye socket.

It was during these little talks that I sincerely wished that spontaneous combustion was a common occurrence...my end or theirs...

Either way would have provided the desired relief.

In all, we made six sales. out of all the calls and email inquiries we received, there were six sales. However, there is a fairly well-known employment agency that is working with us to migrate 30 percent of their clerical machines to Linux. That isn't sealed yet but should it become so, these ads, from our perspective, would be a success.

An interesting side note...four out of the six people that hired us to install Linux on their home computers were female.

As it stands now, even in my most delusional of days, I cannot present this grand experiment as a success.

Monetarily it failed. When you recover less than half of what it cost to run the ad, it just plain didn't work.

Now, had we run the sixty second ads exclusively...would the outcome be different?

We think so...we simply didn't have the money to find out. As well, maybe running fewer ads during the week but stretching them out over a 30 day period might have been more efficient.

So...the forkable ads are out there for whoever wants to use them. We may try it again with the 60 second ad at a later date, but for now...we are chalking it up to experience gained and moving forward.

knit one - pearl two...

All-Righty Then

Bank Robbery via Broken Windows

Most of us do it on a weekly basis...

bank online.

The majority of us have become comfortable with it just as we have most of our online tasks...

It's time to take pause...if you are a Windows User that is.

A recent story told of a new or re-engineered trojan that was allowing Russian, African and possibly US hackers access to bank accounts across the globe.

And as the media is fond of withholding, this isn't a Computer Problem...

This is a Microsoft Windows Problem.

Reports differ greatly but many report that millions are going to be stolen if they have not been already. Will they "patch" it?

Probably, until someone comes up with something new...some 15 year-old kid will have it ready within hours of the patch.

There is no sense in preaching to The Choir...you all know the sermon chapter and verse...

I won't bore you with the sermon.

Just let your Windows-using friends that Microsoft has again allowed thievery and shenanigans to reign supreme within the plastic, wire and metal that makes up their computers.

Windows User's are not all morons or lazy....or apathetic.

Some have gotten a clue.
(my thanks to Richie for the link)

Pass it on.

All-Righty Then

The Twisting Path To Linux

We all have our tolerance for pain...

some of us have higher limits, some just won't deal with something that causes us discomfort at any level.

Life's too short.

Dave Kaplan, a friend and colleague of mine who spearheaded the Portland Lindependence event, emailed me a few days ago and told me about a successful switch to Linux.

There were a few surprises to say the least...none as surprising as how it came about.

Bill Mathis is a computer user. His old machine just wasn't doing what he wanted so he did what most people do.

He bought a new computer...

It came with Windows Vista tm.

Now that wasn't the agent of change for Bill. Oh, let's talk about the path that led to the current situation.

Bill is a retired graphic designer. Bill did most of his work with pen and ink...there were no "graphics programs" to do what Bill did. Bill worked for an ad agency and his work was hand drawn. By the way...have I mentioned that Bill Mathis is 85 years old?

You might want to take that into consideration...especially if you know those that argue against Linux because it is too difficult to learn.

I would hazard a guess that any 85 year old person is fairly well set in their ways.

Unless something becomes t0o painful or inconvenient to maintain...

So Bill settles in with his new computer, but something bothered him about it. He couldn't get the fonts to look right, he didn't like the available color combinations and he found that making the computer do what he wanted entailed either downloading third-party software or purchasing said software.

Bill did what most Windows Users do when they are not sure how to proceed.

He called Microsoft.

Go ahead...groan, it's ok. I did too.

Bill was summarily told to call Acer...it was their problem. Since there was nothing "wrong" with the operating system, the ball was in Acer's court, not theirs. He called and searched until he found the right number for their support...the support that deals with new and warrantied computers.

Guess what he was told...told a few times actually because the tech agent had an accent that Bill found hard to understand...?

Take the computer to a local repair shop and let them deal with it.

Pain threshold reached.

Bill Mathis boxed up the computer and shipped it back, demanding a full refund, which he received.

Hang on, this twist will pull a few G's. Dramamine for the squeamish available.

Bill frequents a book/record/CD store. The owner, Scott; knows Bill well. Bill was complaining to Scott about the recent events and asked Scott if he know anyone that might look at his old computer...the one he had prior to purchasing and returning the new one.

Scott looked up and around the store aisles and then pointed...

To Dave Kaplan, who The Fates had dictated be there at that precise time.

Dave went over to Bill's house later and assessed the situation. Running 256 meg of ram, Dave 'splained to Bill that a memory upgrade was in order. For a small fistful of one dollar bills, Dave upgraded the machine to one gig and installed SuperOS on it. As well, since he had his money back from Acer, he bought a new LCD flat screen.

Good move.

SuperOS along with Linux Mint are the two standards for our HeliOS Solutions and HeliOS Project installs. No muss, no fuss...everything works out of the box...no futzing around with enabling Multiuniverse repositories...the average computer user wouldn't know where to look.

Hence, our choices of distros.

Bill was at home with the Gnome Desktop within minutes. He didn't care for the color theme so Dave showed him how to change it, modify it to his liking and get new themes to play with.

Bill was pleaseantly surprised at his ability to control his environment. That is extremely important to him.

So...for those that still want to carry on the argument that Linux is too hard to use?

Please...with a few minutes of personal support, we have 10 year olds using it as part of our project and they don't need any more help than Bill did...probably less as they have not been indocrinated yet.

Seems the Windows Way can be unlearned...

And I don't care how old you are.

Bill Mathis, my hat is off to you.

All-Righty Then...