A LINUX State of Mind
- by Thomas Caldwell -
It had been a long, long time since I had been to a Tokyo PC (TPC) user group meeting. MS-DOS was still the law of the land back then. The term "windows" referred to things that washed-up Japanese businessmen spent their days gazing out of, and the Microsoft product by the same name was still nothing more than a twinkle in the eye of Bill Gates.
As personal computers have become easier to use, the need for user groups has waned. Still, groups like TPC have continued on. They are a valuable source of information to computer users who cannot get answers from the software companies they buy from, despite the massive revenues the companies earn each year. The night I attended, Linux - the UNIX-like operating system - was the topic of discussion, attracting much interest. Two officers with the Tokyo Linux Users Group (http://tlug.linux.or.jp) were on hand to spread the gospel to the masses, and more people than usual attended the meeting. The Linux users present - including myself - were pulled aside and bombarded with questions by others wondering how this can be done or how that can be accomplished, all with an operating system that theoretically costs nothing. There was a feeling of excitement present at that TPC meeting that I thought had disappeared forever from the computing scene. But users who once felt in control of the small, beige boxes that sat on their desks have felt less so in the past decade and they want that sense of personal empowerment back. For many, Linux is the answer. Evidence continues to build that people are growing tired with the direction in which both the hardware and the software side of the PC industry has been heading over the past several years. Things get more complicated as they get simple, more expensive as they get cheap. Before one learns all the commands in a given software release, another one comes out. I completely eliminated Microsoft products from all the machines I own less than a year ago, and many readers have been e-mailing me for Linux advice. Much of the correspondence has the air of secret letters sent by members of an underground political movement, with words chosen by those in fear of their lives, uncomfortable with themselves for thinking the unthinkable and challenging the status quo. I still classify myself as a newbee to Linux. There is SO MUCH to learn and, if you learn and write for a living, so little time. Still, I think I have learned enough to pass on some details about the right attitude to have if you are to break free of somebody else's billion dollar money machine. 1. The Ability to be in Control Microsoft Windows and the Apple Macintosh have done a terrific job in shielding us all from the reality of computers and the real dangers and complications of the Internet. In the same way that many in Third World countries are divided into the HAVES and HAVE NOTS, the computer world is being divided into the KNOWS and KNOW NOTS. People are meant to be in control of their own computer just like they are meant to be in control of their own lives. If the limit of your technical ability is plugging something in, then don't bother with Linux. If you are keen on controlling your own destiny, read on. 2. The Ability to Learn In spite all the hype put out by Linux distributors, the operating system is never going to be as simple and easy to use as the Mac or Windows. Indeed, such a thing would be a contradiction. Linux users do not want things to be easy, they want things to be reliable. And like any high-quality piece of architecture, time and effort are involved. If you like to spend time learning a set of skills that will set you apart from your peers, enabling you to build something really impressive, Linux might be for you. 3. The Ability to Read In order to get anywhere with Linux, the user has to have the ability to read the manual, the only difference being that there is no single manual for Linux. There is documentation - millions of pages of it - on the Internet, in books, or on CDs, and the ability to wade through this sea of technical knowledge is a true prerequisite for using Linux. If pull-down menus are the limit of your reading ability, it may be best that you continue sending tribute to Redmond and its vassal states. 4. The Ability to Socialize With the aid of computers and communication peripherals, it is far too easy to avoid contact with other humans. Yet it was not always this way. When DOS-powered PCs arrived on the market, people gathered together to teach each other how they worked. Hours of guesswork could be avoided over pizza and beer - for which TPCUG has become famous. Tips, tricks, and techniques were freely shared with the aim of helping all. Today, although much of the Q&A surrounding Linux is conducted via e-mail and newsgroups, the telephone and get-togethers are still very much a part of the scene. Going to meetings (like the events put on by TLUG) with other Linux users are part of the ritual. In short, if you don't want to deal face-to-face with other people and share your knowledge with them, it's best that you stay at home.
There is no telling where Linux will be heading over the next year or so. But this free operating system developed by a Scandinavian software engineer less than a decade ago has given renewed hope to the world of computers. What is important is not where you want to go today, it is where you want to go tomorrow.
Thomas Caldwell is a freelance journalist working and living in Tokyo. He can be reached at caldwell@gol.com.
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