I’m sitting in a Linux session at the Hot Springs Technology Institute. It’s a geeky session with lots of talk about the various directors in the Linux file structure. Most of it is making sense for about fifteen seconds. But it’s extremely interesting to me — for about 15 seconds. I’ve actually go Ubuntu running on my Mac, so I’m following along.
On another issue, I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize for the people who I will encounter at NECC next week who I should recognize, but will not. I’m sure that I have some learning disability to makes it hard for me to recall proper nouns 😉
So, please forgive me for a much less than suitable memory.
Well, seems like David has found what I’ve been talking about at NECC, FETC, CUE, TCEA, T+L, CoSN, and anyplace else that gives me room to talk for the past four years: Linux is here, and it is ready for the student desktop, Working with Indiana, I get to see the impact of this as 100,000 students use Linux instead of any other OS. The fact is that most of them don’t even know they are doing it. The same will happen for San Diego in the coming 3 years (100,000 students).
Now David, here’s some advice as you get started in ths Linux playground. First, the Ubuntu distro is a great place to start. It is robust, well supported, ad there is a ton of great stuff that runs on Linux (feel free to link to http://www.tcpdpodcast.org and click on my open source page for easy links). If you need some help, e-mail me and I’ll try my best to ease any challenges you encounter.
By the way, in the past four years Linux has never crashed on my system. Not once, even when I’m running a program I compiled myself (bugs and all).
When you are ready, you might want to also look at one of the SLED versions from Novell (including SLED). The main difference is that Ubuntu is like a reliable Ford you can kick around and it just keeps working. SLED (as a finely crafted piece of German Engineering) is more like Norma’s BMW Z-3. A bit tempermental, but absolute kick-ass when you hit the gas.
By all means, visit the Novell booth at NECC. I’m sure they will be giving copies away. While you are there, see if they will give you the latest copy of my new book on the topic.
Welcome to the party! I’ve been in the water four years, and you should come in – it’s just fine!
David Thornburg