Ubuntu 8.10 – Linux is Ready for Prime Time

In browsing the NY Times sidebars, though, I found this article about Ubuntu and the company behind it, Canonical, that I thought was interesting: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/business/11ubuntu.html?em.

I tried Ubuntu Linux a few years ago and was intrigued but thought it was still to difficult for the average user. A few months ago it occurred to me that they’ve probably upgraded since then, so I upgraded to the latest release and what a difference! Ubuntu 8.10 is slick, loads fast, makes installation of applications very simple, and just generally looks like something I can live with as my primary operating system.

Linux takes up considerably less space on the hard drive and uses processor resources more efficiently, so our old PC is now running a lot faster. Ubuntu’s file system can access Windows NTFS formatted sectors, so I didn’t have to copy all my old files and move them to the new Linux partition.

The base installation includes lots of free, Open Source software, like OpenOffice, the MS Office alternative, a great photo editor (GIMP), media players, an IM client and Firefox – still the best browser, IMHO. The updated package manager makes installation of other applications a snap, so I added Scribus, a desktop publishing application and what has become my favorite HTML editor, Bluefish. Although the Ubuntu base installation includes a firewall, security problems are virtually nonexistent – hackers just don’t target Linux. If you absolutely have to run a Microsoft application, many of them can be run using WINE, which allows them to install and run within Linux.

At this point, the only drawback seems to be that it doesn’t have a driver available for my old HP scanner. A related problem(?) is that Internet Explorer is not available for Linux and there are still a few web sites that only work with IE because of their use of Microsoft’s ActiveX scripting. These sites don’t play well with Firefox or Opera regardless of the operating system, but ActiveX is also a big source of IE’s security holes.

Installation is easy and includes the option to partition your hard derive so you can keep Windows and boot to either operating system. Ubuntu can also be run from a CD-ROM if you just want to try it out, or keep it as an emergency backup OS in case Windows crashes. Check out the Ubuntu web site for all the details on the newest version. New revisions are released every six months and interim updates are installed easily using the built-in update manager.

Tai Chi in Midland

I’ve been taking Tai Chi lessons since 2005 at Chung’s School here in town. Sifu Henry Chung is a master of Praying Mantis style Kung Fu and also teaches Wu style Tai Chi. Tai Chi is a soft martial art, with emphasis on using the attacker’s energy against him. Because it is low impact and promotes strength and flexibility it is often recommended as therapy for arthritis – you’ve seen it depicted (badly) on TV commercials for arthitis medications.

In addition to the fitness, strength and coordination aspects of the discipline, Sifu Chung teaches the “application” (fighting technique) where a lot of teachers try to make it into a groovy, New Age dance routine. Our class generally consists of 30 minutes of warmup exercises, 30 minutes of practicing the “form” (a series of set moves done in slow motion) and 30 minutes of “push hands” – working with another person to get the feel of how the moves are used in fighting, also done in slow motion. I’ve gotten more strength and balance as a result of the classes but I’ve got to admit I’m pretty slow at catching on to the more subtle aspects of the technique. Fortunately, Sifu Chung is a very patient teacher.

Migrations and Ruminations on a Gloomy Fall Day

From my third floor office I look eastward across flat, brown fields to a horizon of trees, broken by a few distant houses. It’s late afternoon and as the overcast sky slowly fades, hundreds of Canada geese fly past my window, some in large flocks, some in smaller groups of six or eight and a few solo. They stop off briefly in the now barren fields or on the pond next door, then rise again, wheeling as the flock coalesces and heads off to wherever it is they go.

Methodist Eggrolls

What is it about Methodists that seems to compel them to make eggrolls? Picture several dozen retired church members, some wearing bucket hats with the stitched slogan “Holy Roller”, intently chopping veggies and pork, rolling the mixed ingredients into delicate wrappers and deep frying it all in the church kitchen.

Bear hit by car in Midland County

Yesterday’s edition of the Midland Daily Fishwrapper had this headline: “Bear Hit by Car in Midland County” – it was just a teenage bear and no one seems to be thinking of the poor bear. Although there are rural areas in the county, we don’t tend to think of it as “wild” or the sort of place inhabited by such beasts.

New web site for East Coast Paddlers

I’ve just finished putting up the new site (http://eastcoastpaddlers.com) for the East Coast Paddlers, a group of kayakers in the Saginaw-Midland-Bay City area of mid-Michigan. Not so much a club as a loose association of similarly-minded individuals who like to kayak. We are quite active and open to new members.

Friends Start Libraries in Africa

I recently heard from Kirt Bromley, a friend I used to play bluegrass music with in Ohio. He and his wife, Hilda, have been traveling to Ghana, West Africa, to visit her relatives for some years and they feel that God has called them to build libraries in the rural villages there. For several years now they have collected books while they are at their home in Akron, then packed the books into a shipping container and traveled to Ghana to build libraries and train the librarians. So far they have helped the local people start 34 new libraries and have brought thousands of books to that impoverished area.