Reading saves your world.
by David Brickner
O'Reilly Media, 2005
Paperback (and CD), 341 pages, $ 24.95
ISBN: 0-596-00754-X
Reviewed by Michael Pastore
Years before computers ignited the Information Revolution, Marshall McCluhan warned: "All media exist to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values."
And yet one wonders if Media should shoulder all the blame. Is it possible that the true fault lies with technology and media in the wrong hands? ... Satish Kumar writes: "I am not against technology. But I am against megatechnology. Technology for profit is a wrong use of technology."
What would technology not for profit look like? ...It would be the Free Culture Movement, a worldwide collaborative endeavor that is happening right now. "Free Culture" is a melange of projects that began with Richard Stallman, and now includes advocates such as Michael Hart, Linus Torvalds, Gilberto Gil, Brewster Kahle, John Perry Barlow, Eric Eldred, Lawrence Lessig. This movement promotes four ideas: information and software should be free; collaboration is essential; power should not be centralized in big corporations; and technologies must be understood in terms of how they impact all facets of human life.
At least one aspect of the Free Culture Movement -- open source software -- is thriving. Sourceforge.net coordinates 100,000 open-source projects and the more than one million registered users that are developing these. Firefox browser has been downloaded more than 50 million times this year. Linux is challenging Microsoft Windows, and whole nations (Spain, China, Brazil) are leaning toward the Linux thing.
But in practical terms, changing your computer's operating can be more trouble than changing your spouse. My old computer, with its four gigabyte hard drive and laughable RAM-memory, is too small to run most major versions of Linux effectively. My current computer contains too much essential information to risk the technical equivalent of brain surgery: partitioning the hard drive. So how can we easily test the Linux Operating System to find out if it's worth making the change?
David Brickner has a great idea, and it's all included in his new book Test Driving Linux. The book comes with a CD which, after inserting into your CD-drive, brings up the Linux operating system. Your Windows OS, your software, your data files -- nothing here will be changed. When you've finished testing Linux, you remove the CD, then reboot your computer as usual. Like the aftermath of a vacation in the Greek Islands, you may not be so happy with the lackluster Windows Operating System when you return to the grey everyday.
This CD-Linux gives you far more than an operating system: you get a cornucopia of software that can do everything your Windows software can do. Instead of Internet Explorer, you'll browse the web with Konqueror, Firefox, or Opera. Instead of Word or WordPerfect, you'll use Open Office to create documents, fiddle with spreadsheets, make PowerPoint-like presentations, and draw. You can manage your finances with a program called GnuCash; watch videos and listen to music with Totem; and manage your appointments with an attractive calendar called KOrganizer. Instead of manipulating images with the 689-dollar brand-name editor, you can do it all with the absolutely free graphics program named "the Gimp."
Other free programs give you the tools handle email, play games, make web pages, design magazine layouts, create PDF files,send instant messages and burn CDs. And the enclosed Linux-CD provides yet another useful benefit. If a virus or worm ever wrecks your computer so badly that you can't boot into Windows, you might be able to use the book's CD -- and the Linux file manager -- to boot your computer, and then access and save your essential Windows-made files.
To save any work or settings that you've made when test-driving Linux, you will need a USB memory key -- a.k.a, a flash drive, a key drive, or a vault drive. Otherwise, you need nothing, except Time, to make the great Linux experiment. The book's explanations are concise and clear. I was impressed with the software -- with each one of the included applications. Like Firefox, these applications are easy to use, are filled with handy features, are secure and stable, and work at least as well as their Windows counterparts.
The book concludes with descriptions of many of the major Linux distributions. For the undecided prospective users, Brickner recommends Mandrake and the open circulation version of Xandros. Also included are resources for learning more: books, magazines, websites, and how to find a Linux user group in your area.
Try Linux: you'll like it. And with David Brickner's Test Driving Linux on the front seat beside you, you'll be guided by an expert navigator as you enjoy the ride.
—Michael Pastore
About the Author
Michael Pastore is the Editorial Director of BookLovers Review and Zorba Press. Currently he is writing his fourth novel, and working to establish the Youthtopia Institute and Youthtopia website, devoted to children, creativity and the arts, humanized technology, and a sustainable world.
BookLovers Review is Copyright © 2005 by Michael Pastore. Copyrights to the reviews are owned by the individual reviewers.
