Hand in Hand with Linux and the Feisty Fawn

The big step was taken! Let me lay my cards on the table, I am not in any way a techno geek…yes, I occasionally aspire to be one but if this was an RPG game like Oblivion or Baldur’s Gate, then I would be a dual class character – barbarian/cleric or mage – but as this is real life, I am more of a dual class Jock/Techno Geek…but my experience points, skill and attribute points on the geek side are dismally low…but you get the point! So, onward we stumble!
I purchased, from the wonderful Barnes & Noble, a book by Rickford Grant, called “Ubuntu for Non – Geeks 2nd Edition”. The book came with the Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) distribution disc. I read the book through several times and the more I read, the more confident I felt about trying out the Ubuntu Linux version. I had given a lot of thought over the past two years to migrating to Linux but I never had the courage or confidence to try it until now (yes this is all part of my self - enrichment program while working on the slave galleys), the real seller for me was that the disc had the option whereby you could run Ubuntu off the hard drive or off the CD. So, that was the route that I took, I placed the CD in my trusty Gateway note book and booted up Linux Ubuntu from the CD. This was the best because I was able to straight away see the GNOME, fiddle with the layout, run through various applications and other little titbits that were on offer. After restarting into Windows mode, everything was working correctly and nothing appeared to have vanished while I was having a brief affair with Linux.
And so, from dangling my toes at the river’s edge, I decided to go the next logical step and that was to install Ubuntu on a partitioned drive. I made backup copies of everything, especially my pictures, software can always be replaced but pictures can never be replaced. From here I placed the Ubuntu CD into the drive and re-started in Linux mode and I learnt my first lesson…don’t try and install software right after you have come off nightshift and always read the installing instructions in the accompanying book thoroughly. Okay…read the instructions again, word for word and rebooted the system again…this time around, getting to the installation process was the easiest thing. The hardest thing for me was the partitioning drive section, why? Well, I have had a previous traumatic experience with disk partitioning and ended up losing 80 Gigs of mp3s. So with great trepidation and prayers, I partitioned the drive accordingly and after been told that everything is fine and dandy, continued with the installation…cue 20 minutes later…Ubuntu is installed and working!!
And my poor Windows side is still working and everything is still where I left it. Yes, I am still attached to Windows, especially Office 2007, but for now, Windows is basically my safety net in case I screw up Ubuntu royally. But they say Ubuntu is idiot proof…let’s put it to the test.

Broadening the mind at sea?

And so we have set off across the great blue Atlantic to make our way to Europe. Yes, I did not write yesterday as I have started night shifts.

But today, in an ongoing vague attempt to improve myself and to keep my mind functioning in this mind numbing industry that they call the cruise line industry, I have decided to upgrade(?) my laptop to a linux operating system. I have decided to use the Ubuntu distribution as it seems simpler to install and use. I am a wannabe geek but I just lack the patience or is it possibly the intellect? Well, lets leave that question up to the philosphers. Anyhow, for those who are vaguely interested, I will keep you updated on my happy adventures into Linux land.

The great thing about sailing to Europe is that our whole clientele changes. The majority of our guests are elderly, educated and a lot more sophisticated than the general Caribean visiting mob we get. Unfortunately, the casino takes a big hit , because not everyone is here to gamble. The Europeans, in general, do not gamble as much as the Americans. So we are in for a quiet crossing and at some stage in our sea voyage we will lose transmission of Fox News Network!! What a glorious day that will be!