Showing headlines posted by helios

Helios is rarely a man of few words. In this case, even this announcement makes pondering the news a silent moment.

It all started when someone from the rarefied air of management asked Stu if he could make them a map of their campus. They had no idea of what to expect. Take equal parts of OCD, Knowledge of free software and the pure love of creating something and this is what you get.

Once we demonstrated a GNU/Linux live cd for him and showed him how he could run his "necessary" programs via Wine and VirtualBox, he was sold...and I mean on the spot. We used two 8 gig thumb drives to copy his music, pictures and documents then did a partition session and replaced his Windows Vista sytem with Mint Linux. After 29 minutes, I announced that his install was done and that we would now boot into his new Linux Operating System. His jaw dropped.

That's why the tech admin at the hospital told the Medical Professional to just relax and go back to Windows. Linux just wasn't ready for mainstream use. She told him to go PUAR. She told him that she refused to go back to a buggy, insecure system that enslaved her to maintenance and worry. She had been a GNU/Linux user for a week and refused to "downgrade to Windows". They would indeed GIVE her a laptop with the required wireless and closed software she needed to connect for work. She refused to put Windows back on her computer at home. Mint Linux had spoiled her. But it gets better.

The "Quiet Revolution" continues. While the main media and mainstream tech entities slumber, GNU/Linux is gaining ground. This decade-long struggle is not far from being proclaimed "an overnight success." Here is exactly how it is doing so.

The Directors of The HeliOS Project are proud to announce that they are now an Associate Project of Software in the Public Interest.

It's not like we haven't almost begged Time Warner and others to give us a hand here. We've presented plans to help local residents budget themselves into full subscription plans...all we asked for is a reduced rate to start with. They didn't have the courtesy to write us a PUAR letter. That's fine...we'll find a way to go around them.

The conversation between them was personal. He was mentioning to Scott that before being laid off, he had been shopping for a laptop for his little girl. She's only 11 so it wouldn't have been anything fancy, just something that she could use for school and to help her learn how to do graphic art. She wants to learn how to do it on the computer. He was pretty bummed that he wasn't going to be able to do it for her. Fate. Sometimes I think She is mistaken for just being in tune to what is going on around you.

This can be done...and for those who honestly need it...it will be. It will simply take time and focus. Until then, we need to get the most disadvantaged among us wired. It was suggested prior to this edit that we were a "tin cup project" wasting resources when companies like NetZero and others exist. Man, we've tried those every 6 months to see if there has been any improvement in service and coverage. There has not. Our students need broadband for their studies and research. Saddling them with 1992 technology with 2009 equipment is oh, just a tad absurd.

It's been one of the loudest excuses I've heard for people not wanting to use Linux. "Linux won't play my games." Well first, that's not near as true as it was a short year ago. Second - if it is so, it's because the people that write the games don't think you are a market force worth investing in. That, it seems, is changing as well. Linux Community...Prepare to get Goo'ed.

It's been discussed to distraction...whether advertising Linux would do any good or not. Well, we've posted some professionally-done audio files for you to work with. Cut them, splice them, add your own input and music or get inspired and create a new one from scratch. The Linux Community is reaching a tipping point of it's own. When that happens, the true talent comes to the forefront...as you will see here.

What does this have to do with Linux or Open Source? As always, helios crafts his story so that after a few sentences, you really don't care. Rest assured...it will tie in, and in a surprising manner.

When it was just a one-guy operation, The HeliOS Project was able to take care of most inquiries and visitors via a blog. Things for The HeliOS Project have changed and they’ve done so quickly. With 4 additional directors named to the organization, The HeliOS Project seems poised to do some good things in the coming year. Now, people wanting to know more or wanting to help them do what they do, have a new website to visit.

The Linux Community is having an on-again off-again love affair with Dell. It's been a rocky affair since Dell decided it would bump the positive side of their ledger by offering the Linux Operating System on their products. There have been some embarrassing public displays of affection and there have been equally public spats, with a few pots and pans thrown... So it goes with passionate couples. A word of advice is always welcome though and I might offer one of the afore-mentioned parties a bit of it now... Duck.

In 2008, The HeliOS Project built, placed and supported 329 computers where they were needed. Sometimes it was necessary to travel over 100 miles to do it. Admittedly, 329 computers doesn’t sound like much. Not many at all in the scope of things. That is until you take into consideration one relevant fact.

I sat down with Brenda and began writing out some things she needed to know and asked her about any particular filters she might want on the system. It wasn't five minutes into our talk when Arlene pulled at my sleeve. "Which one is the DVD burner?" I looked at her then over at the computer. Evelyn had already found K3b and had hooked her Ipod to the machine, using Songbird to manage the sync. The computer had been on less than ten minutes. What many adults must go into forums and ask, these kids figured out in minutes and without a bit of help. And some wonder why we do this thing we do...Pictures of this family can be seen on this blog.

But if we are to understand metastasis, then we know it's the spread of cancer throughout the host. Ballmer had no idea how right he was to use this term. Unrelenting, untiring, unstoppable and destructive. Fortunately, the only thing being harmed by this metastasis is Microsoft's business model. I'm going to share with you bits and pieces of an amazing three day period. Let me show you "metastasis".

The computer user and the operating system are melded into one, once he or she sits down at the machine. It is the user that makes an operating system successful or not. If you care to disagree, let's take a look at general public opinion concerning Vista. As unkind as it may seem to many of you, there are some stark realities we must face in going forward.

Microsoft IS paying attention to what the Linux Community writes...it's come to a point where they can no longer ignore the obvious. With their stockholders on the verge of revolt and their numbers falling quickly, to do otherwise would be financial suicide. So congrats MS...you took the Red Pill... Now comes the bad news...

So...let's keep on handing out cd's, holding our Lindependence events, flooding You Tube with Cube videos ad nauseum and anything else we can think of that reaches hundreds of people in a months time. Microsoft is reaching millions a day. And their doing it with your penguin.