At the beginning of the year, when we initially make some half hearted drunken new years resolutions, we often set our selves up for a fall. Thankfully, this year I didn't make any! and now I'm having my mid year personal review, I feel the better for it. “Fail to plan, plan to fail!” being the usual story of my life. But in these circumstances its actually worked in my favour. I've not set my self any real expectations / direction this year and so I haven't really failed to do anything. In fact I think I have achieved more this year than in previous years, especially when I think about the time I have frustratingly wasted with my previous PC set up.

So far I am proud to say, that I have moved from Windows to Ubuntu, managed to use only the applications that came with the OS and not had to purchase any additional software. I've got the whole family using the new system without a single grumble and persuaded others in my neighbourhood to change to Ubuntu. I have been called a geek yet have managed to maintain my personal appearance. All things I feel proud of.

I think I've come a long way from the wife of a geek, who used to ask good old hubby to fix all the bugs and problems encountered on my old system. He thinks my I.T. knowledge has greatly improved and that I now know how to fix all my own problems. The fact of the matter is that there are no problems. In the six months I've been using Ubuntu I have had ONE crash where I had to reboot my machine. My old system crashed practically everyday. Neither has there been a problem changing all my applications. If you know how to use a word processor, then any one will do. There's nothing that different about any of them, they all have roughly the same layout and the same functions. Even changing from Photoshop to the GIMP has been seamless enough, I am still able to save in the same old formats that I used to...and again, the layout and functions aren't all that different to what I used to use.

The children are cock-a-hoop with the many games like potato guy and four in a row. They can still access all their old favourite games at the bbc's cbeebies. Their hand eye coordination has come on leaps and bounds because of this and so has their general PC literacy. All this for free, I've not had to put my hand in my pocket once. Not once.

I have though, calmed down on the evangelical work. People were starting to avoid me and perform U turns in the street when they saw me coming. Fiends stopped answering their phone and hid behind twitching curtains. We have come to a mutual agreement that they stop moaning about their Windows systems and I will stop lecturing them on the pros of Linux. For those of you who read lasts months rants, I don't really phone F.A.S.T on poor PC users who cant afford to buy legitimate licences for their Windows operating system....but I do tell people about such an organisation!

I have even been called a geek.....but I haven't grown an out of season Christmas beard for a little robin red breast to nest in, and neither have I traded in any of my footwear for a pair of Black knee high goth boots (is that goth or Nu metal.....I cant tell the difference!) I still look exactly the same as I did last year. I did kind of go down hill a little though during the Easter Internet drought, when I had a fortnight without broadband whilst changing service providers. I lived in my pyjamas and pined loyally at my PC until one sunny morning I hit the refresh button on my web browser and it produced a mountain of unread Google mail for me to sort through. At no point though have I had an urge to dress all in black.

I think my Linux journey so far has been exciting and thought provoking, and definitely one I feel better for. I have learnt many lessons whilst on this path, not just about technology and operating systems but also of community, values, ethics and life. That wasn't exactly the tag line I read on the Ubuntu web site before I downloaded it, and may be it would be a bit of a hard marketing line to swallow. However, I do feel it to be true (even if it does sound a little cliché) and I have heard these sort of statements before from Linux users and open source advocates. I wouldn't really say that Linux has changed my life, but it has certainly made it a calmer and a less computer raged existence.

And so for the rest of the year I will amble on as I have done for the past six months with no purpose or direction to see where this crazy Linux path will take me next...

I have a real problem with pushy sales people. In fact, I hate them. I hate the way they assume that you are ready and perceptive to buying new products or services to replace the ones that you are perfectly happy with! “No thanks, I don't want double glazing, there's nothing wrong with my Windows. “ or “ NO, I don't want to get the exterior walls of my house painted in a fantabulous weather proof coating”. I find their techniques intrusive and inappropriate. I am the type of person who scours a local directory (web or book based) to find the best deal; and I do this when I am ready to part with my money and not in the middle of my evening tea or taking the children to bed.

I know what these companies are doing. I understand about brand recognition and repetitive marketing techniques. We live it every day. Every ones looking for world domination and aspires to make super normal profits on the goods that they sell. Labels are cool, big names are cool and it goes without saying that any thing from America is cool. So how, in a world that revolves around image, can we sell a product that doesn't tick any of those boxes.

I have failed miserably in converting people from Windows to Linux. I'm surrounded by people who really don't care about free as in freedom but do care about free as in beer......and guess what........they're already using free software. Their not contributing to Paul Allen’s 300-foot yacht that carries a 30-person crew, two helicopters, a swimming pool, a spa, a private cinema, six other surface boats (including a separate 54-foot racing yacht and two Hobie catamarans) and a submarine. Otherwise honest and law abiding citizens who wouldn't dream of not paying their TV licence are sharing and copying Microsoft products like there's no tomorrow. I find older people the worst culprits for this, probably has something to do with their war time rationed up bringing. A friend of a friends Gran recently said “Nobodys going to send me to jail for sharing, that's what we do where I come from. Back in my day.....” How exactly can one argue with an old lady without striking the fear of god into her and maybe bringing on a heart attack. Plus, they don't really care about bugs and errors, there's always someone in their family, street, social circle who doesn't mind helping them out with their computer niggles..... mainly because it keeps their wine rack full :-)

As you may or may not know – I have been re-born. I was once a disillusioned Windows user that has happily (and successfully) converted to Ubuntu, and I don't understand the reluctance for others to change. The majority of people I have tried to convert only use their PC for word processing and surfing. So what's all the fussing and fighting about. I fear the worst..... I think I might have turned into one of those really pushy sales people that I so passionately hate. I have been trying to sell to people who (bottom line) just aren't interested. So I have decided to change my tack.....and so far its worked a treat.

I have now managed to narrow my pros of Linux down to just five points. Obviously there are plenty more reasons, but these are the ones that seem to be the eye brow raising clinchers. Here's a list in reverse order of my selling points to convert friends, family, neighbours, colleagues (quite frankly any one) from Windows to my fave Ubuntu.

5. Viruses, Spyware, Trojans..... not a big problem.
4. Upgrades will always be free.
3. Allows you access to thousands of free programs. When mentioning this I remind the them that by default Windows lacks many things i.e. decent CD burner, anti-virus software, an image manipulation program, office software.
2. You are there to help them convert.

and at number one, after a lengthy ear bashing, this is the one that really gets them motivated.

1. I called FAST (yes that's the Federation Against Software Theft) a couple of hours ago, and I guess they must be on their way now to impound you PC ,thrash your behind and drag your sorry self off to the nearest cell. If your really lucky you may even get to see your name printed in the local paper in the 'Look Who's Been in Court' section.

I've resigned my self to the fact that I have become the very person I hate..... a low-down dirty scum-ball of a sales person who resorts to bribery and treachery to get what she wants. I don't think I'm going to win any personality contests this month, but maybe I'll be lucky enough to pick up the John Wesley trophy at he Linux User and Development Awards this year under the title of 'Hardcore Evangelist' !!!

I'm not religious in any way, its purely coincidental that I had to go without Internet for a fortnight during Lent - not exactly forty days I know! Actually I had to go without broadband, which may as well have meant no Internet. Believe me, Dial-up is Hell! On a bit of a raw deal with our old provider we decided to switch. Problem being our old guys didn't have a migration package and it took two whole nightmare weeks to set up the new one. You'd think it be easy to last two weeks without the Internet, but it seems I have a closer relationship with the web than I do with some of my friends. Its sad to say, but its such an entwined part of my daily life.

I gave up shopping in real life shops ages ago and have saved a fortune since doing it all on-line. I used to pop in to Tesco for a loaf of bread and come out with a trolley full of nice things that I could of done without. Greedy gluttonous purchases that more often than not would end up in the bin because of best before dates. Now I make a strict shopping list and order it all on line to be delivered at my convenience. Obviously my shopping bill was sky high during my 'fast'...but at least the kids were happy with the goodies in the cupboards that aren't usually there.
I didn't realise how reliant I had become on using the web as a research tool. I have a home full of books, that I used (past tense) to reference...but now just sit gathering dust. “What are peas made of Mammy?” said my daughter. Ordinarily I would have replied “lets find out on Mammy's computer”. The poor thing looked highly perplexed with my rather embarrassingly inaccurate confusion of Chlorophyll and Chloroform. I trip to the library revealed the truth.......and now we both know about plant cells and photosynthesis. My lap top is usually used as a portable world reference. It sits on a table downstairs and is constantly on, ready and waiting for the array of questions thrown at it by all members of the family from how to make paper aeroplanes to the recipe for fennel au gratin.
I recycled our Yellow pages and any other local directory we had during a mad cleaning and de-cluttering session at the beginning of the year. I never use them. In fact they usually get stored in a highly inappropriate place and just scream fire hazard at me. I always look up numbers on the web, and didn't realise (yet again) how often this is the case. I must have spent a small fortune on 118 numbers during that fortnight. Maybe I should pop along to the recycling centre and pick up a local directory, just in case we have a power cut. While I'm there Ill buy an A-Z because finding places is a nightmare without web access. The first thing I usually do when I have to visit a new place is get the directions from streetmap or some other map site. I found myself just wandering aimlessly through unfamiliar streets relying on passers by to point me in the right direction. I'm not sure, but this would probably work fine in other areas of the UK, but I live in the South Wales valleys where some young people find it highly amusing to point you in the opposite direction – just for a laugh..........Ooooooo those pesky kids!
One of the more serious and important uses of the web in our house is the paying of bills. Everything from paying crèche fees, shopping bills, TV licence and car tax is done on-line. Everyone seemed to be needing paying at the same time. I remember a time (vaguely) when I wouldn't leave the house without cash and a cheque book. OBSOLETE. I just cant remember the last time I used a personal cheque book. In fact I had to order one pretty quickly just to get the bills paid, the old fashion way. Although this does also have its advantages; your money stays in your account a little bit longer, and they have to wait a little bit longer (Hee, Hee)
I suppose one of the more surprising elements born from having no Internet is the total lack of distraction in my life. I have spent more time productively working, playing with the children, getting fresh air than I have in years, and my house is certainly cleaner/tidier now that it has been in a while, but I don't think there's any shame in saying that the Internet and what it is used for is such an important and useful tool in our lives that it has become a part of the fabric of communication....well at least, it has for me anyway. Thankfully every thing is back to normal now though and we have our broad band back. Although, I have taken to switching off my lap top for several hours a day to explore other avenues of research and time filling......and to save on electricity!

I'm used to a feeling of a sense smug satisfaction when I've slipped a couple of extra vegetables in a meal and the children haven't noticed. “Mmmm, this is delicious Mum. I love Spaghetti Bolognaise.” Little do they know they're actually eating mushrooms, peppers, garlic, onion and probably carrot (all of which they claim they dont like). Blend it all in with the tomatoes and the mince beef; voila....sneaky vegetables (hee, hee). We've now had Ubuntu on the laptop for over a month and the kids haven't even noticed. They're happily playing away on their usual Cbeebies website and haven't noticed a change other than discovering there are more games on the 'puter' than before.

This has made me contemplate how many people can I sneak this on to....successfully? The parents have to be next. My parents are from an era of getting married and having children young and so are still relatively young themselves. Old enough to be fairly stuck in their ways, but young enough that their fine motor skills and hand eye co-ordination are are at 90% peak. I'm sure I could get them to make the change.

I've noticed that there's a fair amount of parent / child competitive behaviour that takes place in families. The open source community should take advantage of these feelings to gain the market lead in the home Operating System. You can guarantee if the kids get into something, the parents will become involved as well. We may hate to admit it, but those of us with children end up knowing as well as any child information from what colour power ranger is the coolest, the names of the Teletubbies and the turtles, to who lives in what colour house on Balamory. Although I haven't quite worked out the full extent of the rules in YU-GI-OH, I believe that 'OS Top Trumps' would work fantastically in upping the general knowledge of kids and their respective parents across the UK. Categories and ratings of ease of installation, size of installation, configurability, default look, ease of use for GUI, range of packages, number of packages, security, cool film exposure etc...and of course there would also have to be a Japanese style cartoon to back this up, may be with a guest appearance from Linus himself ;-) This is could be the next school kid craze! (remember – you heard it here first, folks) Maybe we can slip a couple of those free educational packages on the system at the same time.

There are loads of great resources and suggestions at http://www.lugod.org/presentations/kidslinux/. With so many fantastic educational packages available, it beggars belief that our local 'cash strapped' comprehensive school spent a small fortune on kitting out a new IT lab in Microsoft products from head to toe. I now have a favourite question that I ask any person/business I come across who uses a computer. “What operating system do you use? and why did you choose it?”. So I thought I'd put this question forward to our local school to see what kind of response I'd get. I wasn't quite as impressed with the answer as I'd hoped. “We use Windows. Uh Dunno why, seems to be the standard really. We've got 180 computers, and Microsoft is what we know”. I wont name and shame our local school and the unenthusiastic teacher for fear of it being taken out on the children of friends and family who attend! This is a school just like thousands of others across the UK that are run on extremely tight budgets where you can guarantee you'll find flaky paint, antiquated heating systems, collapsed ceilings and appalling school dinners. But don't worry, because they've got a great Microsoft I.T lab!...lets just hope its not the room with the leaky collapsed ceiling!

We should take a leaf out of this schools book. Parkhill Junior School in Essex have built a most fantastic Internet resource facility. The school has been using a bank of recycled computers running open source applications since July last year. The computers, which are five year old Pentium II Viglen PCs are more than adequate for what they are being used for and the whole suite was fitted for less than £1K including fixtures and fittings (http://tinyurl.com/b6d2j). This is a school who also has to work within a tight budget...but they are being very sensible about what and where they spend the schools money. If this isn't a reason to get yourself along to your child's school PTA meeting, I don't know what is....and if you haven't got children, then I guess you can either just sit back and relax or adopt one and join in the grumble!