The Digital Dad

Warning: geek speak ahead

So I bought us a new computer. We’ve been without a home PC for some time now. It’s not been a terrible inconvenience. My company provides me with a laptop which I carry home daily, but many days Missy’s at home by herself without a PC. She needed something simple to cover internet and email, that’s about it. Bear in mind, in the Perry household, we don’t do any geekery simple.

So I’d been perusing our options for some time. The old coin purse stays kind of light for a family with a baby and a car payment, so cheap was the operative point. Tell that to any geek and he’ll give you a one-word response — Linux. While this is true, a free operating system able to run on older hardware can save you many a coin, I didn’t necessarily want our living room adorned with a 10 year old techno-turd I bought at a yard sale, no matter how cheap. And let’s not forget the fact that it’s a foreign entity to our household. Would the wife be able to adapt to a Linux-based operating system? Then along came ubuntu.

Quick geek lesson for those not in on the Linux: the word Linux describes the kernel, the core program of the operating system. Try to think of it as the engine in your car. Many different automobiles use the same engine. There is but one Linux, one engine. Distributions, however, there are many. Distributions, or distros, are often referred to as “flavors” of Linux. In the early years of Linux development, Red Hat and Mandrake were the top two names in Linux distributions. And neither was extraordinarily user-friendly. Years pass, and we see distros such as Debian, SuSE, and Gentoo. Getting closer, just not quite there yet. Enter ubuntu.

From an African word meaning “humanity to others,” ubuntu has taken the Linux community by storm. Its ease-of-use and lesser learning curve are setting it up to be the premiere “Switcher” distro. But therein lies the catch, at least for the Perry household. It’s still a switch.

We used to be a Mac household (Note: before it was cool!), to which my wife had shown no difficulty adjusting. Growing up “PC,” I was concerned for both our abilities to adjust to a new OS when I purchased our first iMac 3 years ago. It was a G4 running OS X 10.1, the “Soccerball” style of iMac. And to my surprise, my wife just sat down and used it. All she needed to know was how to open the internet browser and bang, she was off. Ah, the internet, the great equivocator. Everything’s the same on the internet, regardless of your operating system. And that’s the story of how, armed with an internet browser, we both began, bit by bit, to learn the ins and outs of this new Apple OS.

So the adjustment period isn’t so much of a concern. There’s still the clunky old hardware to look for. Ubuntu rides again. There is a PowerPC architecture version of ubuntu identical to its x86 version. What does this mean in non-nerd format? It means that I can pick up one of the cool older G3 iMacs from eBay for around fifty bucks (plus $hipping, ick), throw in the PPC version of ubuntu, and whammo! Geek chic on a budget.

So the next time the neighbors pop in for a visit and peep the iMac on the desk, I’ll be ready for the inevitable, “Oh, a Mac. You’re one of those people,” armed to quip, “Moreso. It runs Linux!“