lapierrefamily.org

It’s getting that tme again. New Computer! Woot! (thats one of about 3 things I woot for)

Inventory:

1. Main desktop | 3+ year old | AMD Athlon 2200+ (getting buggy)
2. PC. Laptop | 1 year old | Compaq Preario V2000 (still great)
3. Backup | 5 year old | Toshiba Satellite 5005-S504 (no screen, iffy DVD, 1 Ghz Pentium, I use an external monitor)

So – in shopping for a new PC I have also been considering a Mac. I have been checking out Mac user sites, magazines, blogs, etc… Wow. Is every Mac user a Mac fan? iSwear… iCan’t read about a Mac without feeling like i’M being sold something. iPod, iPhone, iMac, iTunes, iLife, iEtc… iDon’t know if iCan … iWould definitely try one iF they were cheaper, but since iPoor, iProbably won’t.

Back in reality – I will probably go with whatever has the best price for the best hardware, with some minimums in mind. I get a discount on Dell through my work, and Amex will give me some % back if I buy it with that card. I have had several people describe their customer service as “Dell Hell”, but I don’t use CS anyway. Besides, Jeremy works there now so he could probably help me out if I really needed it.

What excites me is; I plan on setting up fully functional Tv recording on my new PC -and- I will use my old PC as a gateway server. Check out Clark Connect. It’s a Linux based system that you install on an old PC that gives you a very high quality firewall, plus more – here’s the basic list:

• Internet Gateway
• Firewall
• VPN
• E-mail
• Bandwidth and P2P Manager
• Multiwan
• Intrusion Prevention
• Web and FTP Servers
• Antispam/Antivirus
• Content Filtering
• File and Print Services
• Data backup
• Groupware

I ‘bolded’ (emboldened?) the features I know I will use. I will also use it to synchronize all my PC’s and Laptops. Of course I will take a look at the Vista that I’m forced to buy with the new PC, but I will probably pave over it with Linux in the end.

Linux – no$, no virii, peace of mind.

I first heard of Linux in 1994 but did not try it out until 1995. That year I had installed on my screaming 486 machine, Windows 95, OS2 Warp, and Linux. First Red Hat, then Slackware. After almost 12 years I am still using Linux by choice, Windows by force. At the time I thought Warp was the coolest thing a computer could ever run – I really liked it. If it had been kept up to date I’d probably still be using it. Well, that, and if it were free. That will never happen because Microsoft help develop it and I’m sure they still control some of the rights.

Now, Linux is taking the world by storm, and it’s certainly easier to install than Windows. I think it’s easier to use, and I know it’s more secure and stable. Did I mention I really, really like Linux? Linux is well into the 3D desktops now, and Windows is just beginning to get there. I actually prefer a more functional, if plain desktop. I’ve been running Debian derivatives since 2000, (Corel, Libranet, Ubuntu) although I have been known to switch distro’s for a while just for fun. I like Suse, Slackware, Zen, KateOS, and PuppyLinux a lot. Just not quite as much as Ubuntu. I use XFCE desktop manager, although I don’t use the XUBUNTU (The XFCE branch of Ubuntu) I have used Fluxbox extensively, and KDE some, Gnome sparingly. I’ve played with all the managers, especially fun to twaek on are FvWM and Enlightenment.

Who cares? I guess I do. For a lot of reasons. That’s another post.

Check it out – running Googles Picassa, an el-cheapo TV Card using TVTime program, easily networked to my other PC’s, laptops, Sony Clie. I love it.

Windows… You DON’T get what you pay for. (MS owns it… forever)

Linux… You DO get what you DON’T pay for.

Check out DistroWatch.com for all the latest Linux news.

Little by little I’m getting the sites back up. Won’t be too long now.

This is the 27th year of my Valentine… Wendy.

Our love is as large as the universe,

yet as small as a glance.

As inseperable as light is from the sun,

and lips from a kiss.