Will Obama save money on government computers?

A news story from the BBC broke today describing Obama’s invitation to Sun Microsystem’s CEO, Scott McNealy. Obama asked McNealy to present a report on the benefits of Open Source software. Already many national and state government entities in the United States and many over-seas governments successfully use Linux and other Open Source software. What do you think? Should the United States government go on a...

What is Open Source?

Open Source software began soon after computers became main stream in offices and then homes. In a nut shell, Open Source refers to software developed under a set standard of rules that developers agree upon to make the software freely available, no penalties for copying or sharing the programs (in fact, it is encouraged to share the software), the source code (programming) must be made available to anyone, and the software...

Get a new computer for almost free

If you would like or might even need a new computer, but aren’t crazy about spending $500-1500 in our current financial environment, consider upgrading your computer for free. Yes, I said free. The only investment you will incur is some time. “How”, you ask? By upgrading your computer’s operating system to one of the many Linux options. As many of you know, I started dabbling and learning more about...

Linux growing rapidly

I never thought I would write about or like Linux as much as I do. If you search HelpMeRick.com for Linux or Ubuntu, you will get a plethora of information. Today, I received an email from Bill in Kentucky, who is an avid listener of our web show. He sent me links to stories of major organizations from all over the world describing the exodus from Windows to Linux. Cost is definitely a factor, but the functionality, safety...

Ubuntu client update

Today, I helped my customer who I installed Ubuntu for almost four months ago. “It has been working great so far”, he informed me. We mainly worked on fine tuning some aspects of the desktop and panels (Ubuntu toolbars). He also wanted to use a calendar, but didn’t know how to approach the included Evolution program which is similar to Microsoft Outlook. However, as I pointed out last summer during my...

Introduction to Ubuntu Linux – September 200...

I have written much about Ubuntu over the past six months, but today was my first public presentation of this fantastic operating system. Because it is different, many computer users tend to look upon it with eyes of confusion, but after discussing the possibilities and the opportunities with Ubuntu, those confused eyes turn to eyes of intrigue. Getting people to think about an alternative to Windows and computing as we...

Open Office 2.0 — FREE Alternative to Micros...

In today's meetings, we downloaded, installed, and worked with Open Office. The FREE altnernative to Microsoft Office. To read why the software is free, read this information from their web site . OpenOffice programs are completely compatible with Microsoft Office programs and allows you to read, edit, and create Office documents without owning the Microsoft Office suite. Here is a list of the programs and their functions...

OpenOffice – Revisited

I wanted to give a quick update on a product that we started talking about on the show about four years ago. It's called OpenOffice . OpenOffice is considered an open source project which means that no one entity owns it (although Sun Microsystems pushed it hard in the early going), and anyone can use it for free. OpenOffice, as the name implies, is a productivity software. It contains a Microsoft Office compatible word...