Anyways, my blog is:

murraysaul.wordpress.com

My e-mail:

murray.saul@senecac.on.ca

If you find this information useful, please don’t hesitate to tell all your friends. There are many out there that want to make a difference – we can all make a difference if we work together as a community!

Oh, by the way… Welcome to Linux

Sincerely,
Murray Saul

Thanks. Is there any way for me to contact you if I have a Linux issue that I can’t find information for? Sometimes after hours of research I don’t know what to ask google anymore. And Forums are sometimes just a mess.

Here is a link to the Grub boot-loader.

http://zenit.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/Change_Boot_Menu_options_from_Grub_Bootloader

Hope that helps…

Murray Saul

I love fixing PC’s. I love it because I know it lol. Other than that, I also love to play a ton of computer games. So for that reason, I probably won’t get rid of my Windows installation. I also don’t have the time to learn new apps for Graphic Design (but so far, my friend is doing fine with his Linux alternatives).

Oh, and since you already dual boot, do you have any guides on how to dual boot Widows and Ubuntu together, but have Windows boot on default? Every time I install Ubuntu It always seems to be the default on Grub. I was able to do it on another family computer, but during installation of Ubuntu I had chosen not to install Grub. Now I forgot what I did to fix it.

Any help would be appreciated.

Here is a resource (wiki) for Ubuntu that I have created (hope it helps):

http://zenit.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/Ubuntu_Guide

This WIKI is still under construction (and will be for some time), but provides support for Ubuntu and open source applications BEYOND the out-of-the-box installation.

I wished that Ubuntu would have features like “Compiz Fusion management tool” and “Emerald Window Decoration Manager” included from default Ubuntu install… perhaps in future releases…

For example, using “Compiz Fusion” has effects that simply “blows Windows out of the water” (including Windows 7) and has been around for approx. 7-9 years! Also, by using “Emerald window decorator” the user can customize their window title bars to have a transparent look like Vista, etc…

As a professor, I can get Windows 7 and MS applications for free, but I STILL prefer Linux and open-source apps. As a teacher, I believe in open ACCESS and “levelling the playing field”, so open source is a good fit for me…

This is the power of open source collaboration and releasing every 6 months as opposed to Windows releasing every 3-4 years. Throwing money at an OS doesn’t necessarily make it better…

This concept was discussed in the book called “The Cathedral the Bazaar”. MicroSoft is like the steeple at the top of a church. Few developers at the top have the knowledge and experience and need time to “iron-out” the bugs from a “secret (closed) environment. Open source is different – it is like the spontaneous church bazaar, but many people participate in an open way – and it works. Thousands of eyes on project teams spot the bugs faster. Therefore, open source is simply a better software development model. This is where Windows will eventually fall behind Linux.

People complain that after nearly 18 years, Linux hasn’t made a dent. But this is not for profit folks! This was a thing developed by a university student that played around with an operating system (Unix like) to test out a 386 computer given to him for a present! These programmers are doing this for fun… and look how far it has come! Linux is considered to be the largest collaborative project in the world!

I have seen Linux continue to develop at an extreme rate. I hated installing Linux at the start, now it is simple and free. Make no mistake. Ubuntu WILL develop (quickly) to become so user-friendly (for example WUBI install), that it will be seamless to either use with Windows or change to Linux… I have no doubts about that…

By the way, MicroSoft recently announced that Canonical is considered competition (to a small degree) for Windows by 2013. If you did not know this, Canonical makes Ubuntu… This is quite amazing since MicroSoft (other than throwing support behind SuSE Linux) has never mentioned Linux as competition to their OS! The times (my friends) are a changin’. It is true MicroSoft Windows will always be, but I believe their lock on Operating Systems will greatly diminished over the next decade or two….

It is too bad that people don’t take the time to seriously research and properly configure an OS (like Ubuntu) before simply brushing it off. What is that saying? “A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing”? I tells me one of two things:

1. They haven’t taken the time to read online resources to *properly* setup and learn about the Linux Desktop environment. I know it takes time, but it worth it – it will even help to empower you in terms of Operating Systems…

or

2. They feel that their *economic livelihood* will be *threatened* by this alternative OS, and will obediently side with their OS.

I agree with you that you that people should be free to try out various operating systems (if so desired). I have a dual boot system with Linux and Windows (I like to at least experiment with new releases of Windows to keep current with student questions).

In the future, I will add Mac OSX to my list of operating systems. By the way, Mythtv is available for Macs as well in case you wanted to check it out…

Sincerely,
Murray Saul
Professor, School of Computer Studies
Seneca College
Toronto, Ontario
Canada

Even IT departments for large companies (eg. colleges or universites hate the “garden wall” approach, and benefit from open source solutions). If pioneers like Timothly Berners-Lee wanted to “cash-in” from Web technology instead of making it “open-source”, where would the web (or e-commerce) for the matter be? Linux has a solid reputation in the server market area, and for rapid and efficient software development (porting the end result to Windows).

Many open source apps are solid and many are maturing at a rapid rate. Mythtv application is a great example of this! There is nothing out there that touchs it, nothing, and it is free.

By the way, if Windows is so great, why should I have to purchase (on an annual basis) anti-virus software from a third party to protect myself from an operating system that I have had to buy? Shouldn’t that be the responsibility of the creators of that operating system? Things that make you say hmmmm…. Linux has free security patches – I don’t need to purchase antivirus software for Linux, and have never used antivirus for my Linux system.

The only critical weakness of Linux and open source software is the ability to advertise itself. I believe this will come in time… Linux is NOT communism – but commonsense… and you can’t keep a good concept down.

I asked a Unix guru back in the early 80s, “Why Unix? Isn’t that old, and isn’t MicroSoft Windows better?”. I now understand that the power is in Unix/Linux to constantly re-invent itself… and the open source principle be taken-over in a corporate “buy-out”.

I did use Windows in the 80s and 90s, but now use Linux, and absolutely love it. I love being able to set up thin client labs for organizations using LTSP (Linux Terminal Server Project) at extremely low cost (I just set up a lab worth approx $12,000 for $250 using donated equipment and using Edubuntu LTSP version). Linux has too much to offer and it is free (in many cases).

China and Russia are adapting to Linux. Russians are implementing Linux as the default OS for education and government operations. Russians aren’t stupid. They exceed in Math and Science and have for many years. Remember Sputnik? Many Chinese teachers are attending my Linux classes to learn to effectively teach Linux when they get back home. Smart. I fear North America is “missing the boat” on this one…

… You can’t keep a good OS down… time WILL prove this…

Murray Saul