Open Source Faith

Most of the folks reading this blog use a Windows computer. It only stands to reason as Windows is the number one selling operating system in the world. Way back when Gates and company created the most successful operating system in the world by making a one-size-fits-all product and making it fairly simple to use.

The problem is that we don’t live in a world where one size fits all. Many of the tings that I may want in a computer are not the same things that an engineer at NASA may want in a computer. We each have different needs and desires.

A whole industry has been built around Windows. Folks try to tweak Windows to suit their needs and then end up messing something up. They then have to call in people who are trained (probably at great expense) in the guts and inner workings of Windows to fix what they messed up. These folks comprise an elite group of folks who can charge exorbitant fees for the use of their knowledge, even though they really don’t have any different knowledge than a person can get at the local bookstore.

Now some of these elitists have realized the security weaknesses of Windows and went rogue writing the various worms, trojans and viruses that scare most people into spending more money buying some anti-virus software that was written by other elitists who didn’t go rogue.

And the circle goes ever on and on. Rippling out until it reaches the vast oceans of money they crave and others really can’t afford to part with. Money is the whole game for these folks.

(Please note that I have a few friends who are professional Windows geeks. I don’t fault them for doing what they do. If I had the knowledge I’d probably do the very same thing. I am aiming at a point. )

The first computer I ever owned was an Apple. I enjoyed the Apple even though it was outdated by the time that I got it. Since that time I have had computers running every version of Windows that they have come out with since 95. I have had problems with everyone of them. For me Windows simply doesn’t work. I don’t know why. Some people have some weird magnetic force field around them that makes wristwatches die. Maybe I have this kind of thing for Microsoft products.

Now Apple products are more ridiculously priced than Microsoft products and I really can’t afford to buy them. I landed on Linux a handful of years ago. Yep, I’m a Linux geek.

Now Linux really is a pain to use most of the time, especially when you think in Windows and can’t really remember all those command line commands that you’re supposed to use. I really wouldn’t recommend for the average user. It is different than what you’re used to using. I like to tinker and Linux puts the fun back into computing for me.

Linux was developed by and for people who felt that computing should be free and open. When you begin using a Linux distro you find thousands of people out there willing to help you with eveything from how to install it to how to write programs for it. Software moves freely from one part of the world to another and it is free to use and modify and repackage and move on to the next set of folks. Most of this is free from copyright restraints and free as in free beer.

Linux and software libre are slow making a dent in the computer market as these thousands of people have created a stable, low-cost, non-greedy and easy to modify and use operating system for your computer.

As this is a “religious” blog I do have a spiritual point to make of all this:

1. Have you ever read the copyright notice in your Bible? Is it right to restrict the word of God? Jesus said in Matthew 10:8 Freely you received, so freely give.
2. How much money have you spent this year to support Christian artists, authors and musicians? Could that money have been better spent showing the love of God to those in darkness?
3. One learns Linux by doing. Are you learning your faith by doing or do you just read books and sit in Sunday School classes?
4. Linux spreads by being open and honest. How open are you? Are you open to new ideas and programs? Are you open enough to share your faith?
5. Linux users are excited. Does God excite you?