[Buddha-l] Is this guy an, er, budding bodhisattva of IT?

[Richard Hayes]

On Wednesday 25 April 2007 20:44, jkirk wrote:
>
> Anyone tried Unbuntu? Does it really work?

I have been using Linux since 1998 and Ubuntu since last summer. Ubuntu, which 
is based on Debian but is much easier to install and maintain, is in my view 
by far the best distribution of Linux, and Linux is the best operating system 
in the entire Sahaloka. (I can't speak of the Pure Lands, but I'm fairly 
confident Amitabha is an Ubuntu buddha.) Ubuntu has excellent documentation 
and an excellent array of utiltiies that makes updating it and maintaining it 
easy; one no longer has to be a geek to use Linux. Linux has an open-source 
counterpart of just about every program that runs on Windows. With a bit of 
work you can even run many Windows programs under Linux by using a Windows 
emulation system called Wine (which allegedly stands for Windows is not 
everything).  

You can get Ubuntu by downloading it from their website or by ordering a free 
DVD, which the Ubuntu elves will mail to you for free. It costs absolutely 
nothing to try it out. the DVD is set up so that you can run Ubuntu live 
(right off the DVD) without committing yourself to installing it. This allows 
you to work with it and get a feel for it before taking the plunge. If you do 
decide to install it, you can set your computer up as a dual boot system. 
This means when you boot up, the boot loader asks you whether you want to run 
Linux or Windows. If you are feeling masochistic, you can choose Windows. If 
you just want everything to work without crashing, you'll choose Linux. I ran 
a dual boot computer for about two years but eventually noticed I was never 
booting up Windows any more, so I finally just deleted the damn thing. It 
felt as liberating as the day I decided to become a vegan. The difference is, 
I stuck with Linux and gave up veganism after about six months.

Now that you have decided to switch to Ubuntu Linux, the website is 
www.ubuntulinux.org . Standard Ubuntu comes with the Gnome desktop 
environment, which has all kinds of bells and whistles. I personally prefer 
KDE to Gnome; you can get Ubuntu with KDE at www.kubuntu.org/. Alternatively, 
you can get Ubuntu with the light and efficient Xfce desktop environment 
(recommended for smaller and older computers, because it has a smaller 
footprint) from www.xubuntu.org. If you have a capacious computer and like 
variety, of course, you can set Ubuntu up with up to a dozen desktop 
environments and just choose the one that fits your mood. If you work it 
right, you can spend so much time tweaking all your desktop environments that 
you never use your computer to do any real work.

In this year's prestigious Bodhisattva Idol competitions, Ubuntu's founder, 
Mark Shuttleworth, is rumored to be a leading candidate. Bill Gates dropped 
out of the bodhisattva race about twenty-five years ago, although his 
generous charitable contributions in recent years may well put him back in 
the running. Last I heard, Dick Cheney was lagging behind in the race to be 
recognized as most congenial Bodhisattva of the 21st Century.

-- 
Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico