Microsoft free: The journey begins
Earlier this year I received a couple of old PC's when a local company upgraded hardware. The boxes in question were outdated, with what we now consider to be VERY slow processors (ancient 300mhz pentiums). It was either take these two old systems home for spare parts, or allow them to be trashed (hopefully, recycled but probably just dropped in a land-fill.) I decided to give them a new home.
As I received them, they both had some software on them, called an “Operating System” or “OS” for short. This OS was from a company called Microsoft and the name and version was “Windows 98-SE”. That's just corporate jargon for a Xerox knockoff that was released back in 1998. The “SE” stands for “second edition” and is mostly bug-fixes for the original version.
Part of the reason that these machines needed to be replaced with faster, dare I say “Beefier” computers is that OS. The OS wasn't that great to begin with. I've worked with Windows-98 systems that couldn't run one day without locking-up and requiring a restart (called a “re-boot” in computer lingo). That company, Microsoft, has come out with improved versions of “Windows”, but each one requires more resources (memory, disk space, processor-speed, etc) and each new version is supposed to be purchased anew. These two computers I received were both replaced with new machines and new copies of the latest “Windows” so I probably was within my rights to keep the copy of Windows-98 that was on them, but then again, maybe not. The licenses are complex and I'm not really sure that would be legal. So, as an experiment, I erased the hard-disk and installed a DIFFERENT operating system. One modeled after the venerable old Unix operating system, but brought up-to-date, completely written from scratch and called “Linux”. To be precise, “GNU/Linux”. The GNU part is a joke by a mad genius named Richard Stallman, who has been a visionary in the realm of software. It stands for “Gnu's Not Unix” and since “Gnu” is part of the definition, it just continues on and on. The Linux part pays homage to a man named Linus who started the process of re-inventing Unix in a free and open manner. Some say his great contribution was the way he structured the development process. Instead of hiring hundreds of programmers to write this system, he setup a framework where others could FREELY contribute to the effort. Everyone could use it. Everyone could make it better and do with it anything they pleased (except claim that they invented it an prevent others from enjoying the fruits of the labor).
And so, I installed Linux.
This may sound confusing, but there are many different “distributions” of Linux. Called “Distros” or simply “flavors” these versions are all Linux in the same way that Dobermans and Shih-Tzus are both dogs. Different distros have different strengths and goals. I tried several and my first criteria was simply, “Will it run?” I tried Redhat, Mandrake, Knoppix and finally Debian.
Redhat is pretty famous. They started a business supporting Linux (did I forget to mention that Linux is FREE?) They make their money (and lot's of it) by providing assistance to businesses and more than a few individuals who don't want to learn about computers, they just want reliable software and they're more than willing to mail a check to get it. Redhat couldn't figure out how to install on my little IBM Aptivas. Next!
Mandrake is known for it's ease of installation. Maybe for others, but like Redhat, it couldn't figure out the Aptiva. Next!
Knoppix. I had read some generally favorable reviews, so I downloaded the cd (they're not currently distributing now) and gave it a spin. Just like the others, it would begin the installation and then get hung-up with the video card. I was starting to think that IBM had done something very bad and that was why none of these flavors would install. Oh, well, it's an experiment. I'll give it another try. How about Debian? They're known for being “hard-core”. A real “programmer's distro.” Elegant, powerful, utterly safe and reliable but requiring some effort and not gladly suffering fools. Sounds right for me!
Joy! Debian had no trouble at all. It installed the base system and presented me with a clunky-looking menu of options that made my head spin. I later learned that the text menu was that way on purpose. Debian runs on the widest range of computers. Everything from my old Aptivas and much, much older stuff, right up to massive “big iron” mainframes. The menu I was slogging through was designed to allow ME the complete control of what my OS would include. It was a bit daunting, even for someone with many years of experience. After all, what is the impact of “emulating RTC?” or of “Block Dev IDE?” Yikes! Fortunately, Debian is also known as an OS that a chicken could install. If you just keep pecking at the “ENTER” key, the defaults are probably good enough to get you up and running!
And so it was. The first of the two Aptiva's were up. I named this one “Pippin” (after the hobbit, Peregrin Took) and planned to make the other one “Merry” (Meriadoc Brandybuck).
Pippin ran, day and night, for 200 days. My battery-backup was enough to see him through the occasional brown-out and power-glitch, but not the extended outages that we suffered when the Fires of 2003 swept Southern California. Oh well, what can you do? He's back now, these 27 days, and ready for more.
That's right, TWO HUNDRED DAYS without rebooting. 200-days and nights. Oh, he hasn't been idle for one second. Pippin runs my database server and one of the “house” webservers where I program and play. But when I'm not active, Pippin tirelessly scans data from SETI (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence). That “lowly” 300mhz processor has analyzed scores of data packets from the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico looking for signals. (no aliens, yet). But, like his namesake, he just keeps pushing on.
Meanwhile, my main workstation (a 1200mhz windows system) locks up every few days, usually at the most inopportune times. I have all this “commercial” software that I've paid thousands of dollars for. I can't make a living without it, right? Still, when I connect to Pippin and the little cow says....
_____________
< Up 200 days >
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\ ^__^
\ (oo)\_______
(__)\ )\/\
||----w |
|| ||
I begin to wonder...