Links

• a+ certification
• amd cpu
• amiga 2000
• build your own PC
• dec pdp-8
• find a computer a home
• GNU GPL
• home computing articles
• linux advocacy
• linux professional institute
• microsoft sucks
• open source
• tcl/tk programming
• vectorlinux
• vlug

My Computing Interests

Since 1968 I have been interested in computing - not enough to study computer science or be a true geek but the technology fascinates me nonetheless. In over 39 years I have used and programmed everything from mainframes to microcontrollers.

Articles

In my spare time I have written some computing articles for home computer users, which I pass along to my clients if they are interested. I thought I might try to get them published some day, but have not spent any energy doing so. Of course I am biased, but I believe there are some good pointers in these articles for safer, faster and easier home computing for everyone. They are downloadable as one single small .pdf file (see link at left).

Current Toys

At present my main computer toy contains an AMD Athlon XP2500 CPU overclocked to XP3200, Abit NF7-S motherboard, Abit Siluro nVidia FX-5600DT video card, Audigy 2 sound card, 1 GB of Kingston HyperX PC3500 memory and a 120GB hard disk with 8MB of cache. It's a screamer, especially more so as it runs the Linux operating system. Downstairs in my electronics lab I have my test machine which I built 2 years ago: AMD Athlon XP2500Mobile CPU overclocked to 3400, Asus A7N8X motherboard, nVidia RIVA TNT2 video card, 80GB plus 40GB hard disks, running multi-boot (a number of Linux distributions on different hard disk partitions).

Find A Computer A Home

In 1994 Mr. Les Fairweather, a senior citizen, started a small charity in Victoria BC to donate used computers to those people who would not normally be able to afford their own computer: the disabled, homebound, unemployed, students, job seekers, single mothers. Thanks to the current efforts of Jim Butler (who now heads up our little non-profit, unregistered charity) and yours truly, over 175 Victorians each year are given a computer to empower them to find a job, stay in contact with the world and learn how to use a computer.

"FACAH" receives donations of used computers, monitors, printers and parts from a number of governmental organizations, businesses and individuals. We recycle, refurbish and upgrade these computers and install all the necessary software such that our clients are then able to do all the usual computing tasks they require. We set the machines up in their homes and spend about 30 minutes showing them the basics. We have also produced our own Linux distribution, based upon VectorLinux. It is a very satisfying volunteer job - especially if you're a bit of a techo like me.

Linux and Open Source

An incredible revolution is brewing around the world which hopefully will soon topple the dominance of the largest monopoly on the world: Microsoft. It may seem incredible but thousands of international developers and programmers often work for nothing but the glory to produce wonderful, free, open source software. The General Public License under which most open source software is released gives complete freedom to the individual by providing the source code. Any derivative work must also be released under the GPL. This means incredibly rapid software development and bug fixes. The entire powerful Linux operating system was and is still being improved upon in this manner. Many governmental organizations and businesses are switching to Linux desktops and many servers already run Linux. Over 70% of the world's web pages are served to you via the Apache open source web server software. In my humble opinion, if you want a safe, fast, inexpensive computing future then please do yourself a favour and ditch all Microsoft products and start using Linux and Open Source software instead.

Machines I have loved...

In 1968 I was fortunate enough to attend Cartier McGee-Louis St. Laurent Junior-Senior High Schools in Edmonton, newly constructed and with large amounts of surplus Alberta Government oil revenues we were the proud owners of a DEC PDP-8 computer, on which I learned to program Tic-Tac-Toe! Since then I have always used computers and since 1984 always had some sort of computer at home. My first home computer was an Oki Electronics CP/M machine, secondly an Amiga 2000 and then an IBM PC clone. In 2003 I switched to the Linux operating system from Microsoft Windows when I built my own computer. Since then have rebuilt over 100 personal computers for a charity.

Resume

Although not a computer scientist I enjoy tinkering with computers, programming them and building them. I have attained some qualifications: a Programming in C++ Certificate from the University of Liverpool, Professional A+ Certified Computer Technician qualification and recently the Linux Systems Administrator Certificate from the Linux Professional Institute. I also enjoy programming in the wonderful scripting languages Python and Tcl/Tk.

Vector Linux

There are many varieties (distributions) of Linux. How does one choose? Well it depends what you want out of Linux. If you would just like to give Linux a try without having to install it to your hard disk then get yourself a Live Linux CD such as Knoppix and boot from your CDROM. This will show you immediately how terrific and powerful Linux is. If you are a beginner and are keen to make the switch from MS Windows XP then I recommend using either Ubuntu, Mandriva or OpenSUSE. If you already have some experience with Linux and want one of the fastest Linux distributions on the planet then I highly recommend VectorLinux. It is based upon Slackware Linux but has been optimized even further. The beauty of VectorLinux is that even though it is very easy and fast to install and has its own simplified GUI for systems administration you can still easily delve into the power of Linux and be on a continuous learning curve. Also, the Vector Linux forum is a friendly small group of aficionados who are keen to help newcomers.