The Linux Half-Life

 

So, let me get this out of this way up front: I know I have titled this post "The Linux Half-Life" but the logo above is for Ubuntu, a flavor a Linux, and one of the most popular among those. See that? I've already demonstrated I understand the difference between the two. Why did I choose the Ubuntu logo? Well, for one reason, see below, but also, I was afraid if I just put up a picture of Tux, the mascot of Linux which is a penguin, I was afraid everyone would just be like "Aw, cute penguin!" and move on. Also, I like Ubuntu. I've used it, installed, I probably even ran it off a USB key and/or maybe used it compile the Linux kernel. Who knows, I can't remember it all. It certainly is the flavor of Linux I've used more than any other, and certainly the kind I like the most. What's it called? "Linux for beginners" or "Linux for humans"? Might as well be "Linux for dummies" but I don't mean that in a bad way.

Typically, hostels in South America offer one or multiple computers for their guests to use. You know, to do whatever, but let's hope it's not to watch porn. "There are people around!" "It's a free country!" "Whatever." The computers are generally POS's, but not always. They're keyboards, mice, towers (the actually computer itself, it's sometimes referred to as a tower, as I am doing so here), and monitors usually don't match. The monitor will be black and the tower will be white, or vice versa, or match, or whatever. It is quite apparent these arrangements have been cobbled together at the least expense. Which makes sense. It's a hostel. Hostels, by their nature, are cheap. That's the point. You're supposed to have a bed, a shower, maybe a breakfast, and possibly some directions around town. That's it. You're not entitled to a computer. It's a privelege, not a right.*

What I found peculiar, the reason for this post as it were, was the number of computers running Linux, specifically Ubuntu. Well, fair enough, I think maybe there was only two computers at the same hostel that maybe (I didn't check) were running Linux that wasn't Ubuntu. I didn't know that any "normal" people knew anything about Linux or Ubuntu, so to find it on computers at hostels in South America was surprising. But at the same turn, it wasn't. These computers were budget computers. Ubuntu, on the other hand, is free. Download, install, hope that Intel, AMD, and whomever else has made the proper drivers (more common with older hardware) for your hardware. And then never upgrade if it works, lest you risk breaking something and then force yourself to downgrade or wade through the aftermath and fix the error in your current Linux version. Your call.

Yes, I did find computers running Windows, such as XP or 7 (don't think I ran across anything other than these 2), and absolutely no Macs. Too expensive or a theft target, I'm sure. I did one time find a Linux distro (nerd-speak for distribution. A distribution, by the way, is the same thing as what I've called here a "flavor", or particular version of Linux) that had changed the desktop appearance to look like Windows. Ha! Wasn't fooling anyone, the PC was a POS. In one hostel where I find very nice computers, I saw a particularly creative solution for making sure people didn't use them too long (in place of badgering people with "Are you gonna be done soon?" in various languages): the hostel mounted the monitors to the wall and put the keyboard so high you could only stand. And of course they didn't put any chairs there. So you'd get tired of standing there pretty quickly. Get in, check your e-mail, Facebook, upload photos, etc, and get out of there. That was the idea.

Well, that's pretty much it. Linux is way more popular, i.e., it exists at all in South America, which was surprising and more or less clever. People trying to save money and Ubuntu doesn't offer a bad desktop experience. Good job, SA.

*By the way, I hate this phrase. It's overused in American politics. Shut up, already.

P.S. And just for fun, here's a couple images of Tux.