This seems little to do with Politics, the Environment, or liberal Values, but it does impact “Sustainable Living”.
Very soon now Microsoft’s new Operating System Vista will be shoved in your face, at what can only be considered an outrageous price, no doubt.
The whole network of Capitalist Greed, and Control will kick in to high gear. Small Businesses, everywhere, will be forced to “upgrade”, in order to not lose their valuable data, and hard fought battle of
maintaining control over a sea of information.
I’ve spent the past few days engrossed in a reacquaintance with the open source Linux software. I remember those all night sessions, way back, learning to install Windows, guess what…Never say NEVER, again! It will take nothing short of complete immersion to lick this thing. Sure, there’s a learning curve. Nobody likes to grind through all that, but it’s for a
good cause. Democracy!
More after the fold. Disclaimer: Crossposted at
my blog (that nobody sees)and aggregated at the Carolina Blog Network
That’s right, it’s all about the Politics baby! While the rich get richer, and the Government controls more and more of our daily life, there are alternatives.
People aren’t turning to sustainable living, because it’s easier. These people are realists. We can’t go on raping Gaia. We can’t continue to destroy the ever dwindling resources available to us . Yes, Virginia,
there is Global Warming!
This may not seem to be on the same page as Environmental Reform, but it is the very same principle, and after all, that’s what Liberals, and Progressives are supposed to be all about. Standing up for the
Little Guy is the KEY Democratic Meme. Oh, sure, it’s been forgotten, shoved aside, while we infight, and discuss third parties, but it is the Everything we stand for.
FREE, assembled by a consortium of anyone, the Linux
movement continues to grow. There are dozens of flavors, from the Commercially backed Red Hat, and Novell
distributions, to the more niche driven alternatives like Video Linux.
A few years back, only the “guru geeks” would be able to install Linux. People had already been converted away from the Dos Command Window, lured by one click ease (and the Dumbing down of America, I might add). But things are MUCH, MUCH, more different now. If you can download a file from the internet,and burn to a CD, you can install Linux to your PC, and be surfing in Minutes!!
Although everyone seems to have their druthers, the Current desktop favorite seems to be Ubuntu.
Within 15 minutes of a download, and burn, I have a fully functional Laptop, able to attach to my Router, and DSL Modem, and using the familiar Firefox Browser, able to surf the internets, publish to my blogs, work my spreadsheets, and write documents. Using Open Office, I have a complete office suite, compatible with Microsnerd’s Word, and Excel.
Now the hard parts… You have to relearn already known how-tos (some sentence!). Yep, even how to install your new downloads to the system. Finding things on the hard drive is not even close to what you are used to. But there are Download
Managers, and Application Install managers, there are Forums to learn from, and discuss the latest thing driving you crazy. Double YEP!, You will be a NEWBIE, asking dumb newbie questions, slapping your
head, saying DOH!. BUT….
You’ll never help pay for Bill Gate’s personal toilet paper again. You’ll be able to be the “Smart One” in conversations. You can do everything on the computer, that you could before, and more. That $250, you would spend on the next MS product, could be put to better use, on your favorite candidate, protecting you from the big ISPs,and Tech Giants, who want to take control of Your PC, Internet Use, and your wallet (sound
familiar…just like the Republican controlled Congress, isn’t it).
Open Source Software…
Open Source Politics.
Oh! Don’t forget, speaking of sustainable Agriculture…
THEY
ARE SELLING YOUR LAND OFF
