I am thankful for these times that people also care about others because we don’t just talk about technology for work but how we could use technology to help ourselves amidst calamities. The past weekend was terrible in the Philippines but people from here and abroad all cared to share something with us to help my fellow Filipinos. I was one of the luckier ones that wasn’t badly affected by Typhoon Ketsana. Others were flooded and their homes were swept away by the water, and there are those who were able to leave their homes but everything …read more

I read news that Vodafone is avoiding Linux netbooks because users get confused about it. Confused in their expectations of netbooks, that’s their issue. If they don’t want their customers to be confused about their expectations of netbooks, they should check how they are also marketing these netbooks. If people get confused about

My netbook connected via Synergy to another laptop.
Anyhow, I think that this boils down to people not doing their homework. For sellers, or those who bundle netbooks with their services (like telcos), they should research on their offerings before they do the marketing so …read more

Every Linux geek I’ve met recommended an essay called “In the Beginning was the Command Line” by Neal Stephenson. I suppose that it’s a bit dated because some of the things that were true back during the time it was written don’t necessarily hold true anymore. In any case it really is an interesting read because it gives new Linux users insight and humor at the same time.
From that essay, you could learn something about Linux and other operating systems as well. I didn’t really know about BeOS until I read that essay. And there were …read more

The Shy Connector
View more documents from Sacha Chua.

I met Sacha through blogging. Technically we knew each other from high school but we mainly connected when I started learning about Linux 5 years ago. She’s one of the most encouraging people I’ve met and she even helped me throughout the time that I was panicking when I got a kernel panic message. She is also an Emacs and Drupal geek and her blog’s really a great resource on those topics, as well as how to have a well-balanced life.
Anyhow, her slideshow talks about how to be the shy …read more

Raiden’s Realm’s article about The death of Linux Evangelism, and the rise of Education is a challenge to all of us who spread the word about Linux to people around us. Sometimes we might just be blabbering about Linux and it might look like we’re trying too darn hard to ’sell’ Linux to them even we don’t mean it to come off that way. It’s not a matter of just saying something pro-Linux.
Beyond the sales pitch
Linux is something that has been talked about time and again. Many slogans have come about. Many articles have talked …read more

There are many things that could have probably made various users switch to Linux. It could have been because they really felt that the operating system they used to have as something terrible. (Take Windows 98, for example.) Another factor for switching could be what the work required. In any case what makes a person keep on being a Linux user? I suppose that this is a very personal question and I’d really love to read your answers.
Some people I know stay as Linux users for the same reason they switched. It could be …read more

There are days when I just want to tell friends and co-workers to just use Linux even when they express so much fear.  Why?  Because there’s nothing to fear!   I haven’t had something as tricky as a kernel panic for the longest time.  When it comes to drivers, there are a lot of helpful forums, plus our sys ads are capable of helping us.  Even if they don’t know everything, they are skilled enough to help us through our problems, whether it’s on Linux or Windows.
I see that some of our co-workers have family members who use netbooks with Linux.  …read more

Carla Schroder’s blog entry today about changing the world one penguin at a time gave me a different perspective on advocacy. It’s not the same as what I’d normally encounter. I’d usually encounter people saying “Let’s introduce Linux to one and all.” But she has a different perspective: Introduce Linux to those who are actually interested. In her words:

In other words, don’t waste your time on people who are not receptive. Using a well-set up computer isn’t very hard for even the greenest Linux greenpea, despite all the propaganda and FUD to the contrary. But no …read more

It takes an awesome parent to raise kids who have a healthy appreciation of technology. They will not be afraid to let their children know more technology and they will even teach them how to become responsible as they use various technologies in their lives. It does not mean that they will just let their children run wild among the many internet forums or let them use technology irresponsibly.
Sometimes my co-workers joke around about how they will raise their children. They joke that they will teach them how to program even when they’re just babies. …read more

Sometimes we forget that Linux has a social aspect. Being part of the community that uses and/or maintains Linux distros, packages and specific applications make us learn new things from other people and more often than not we end up communicating with them online and if possible, offline. Some people get scared and intimidated of the ones who love saying “Read the manual” or “Search for the answers first before asking us. There’s plenty of information online that’s been written already.” But aside from that there really are friendly people in the world of free …read more