The State: Friend or Foe?

Demonstrators wearing Yellow Vests (Gilets jaunes) walk past the Arc de Triomphe (Arc of Triumph) in Paris on November 17, 2018
(Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP) / ALTERNATIVE CROP

What brings protestors to state monuments and state capitals? The feeling that they have been done wrong by the state. Was this inevitable? Of course, every state can’t possibly follow through on all the promises its politicians make, ever. There will come a time when the people have had enough of this parasite activity.

The state itself is not being questioned here, just the state’s actions (over time sparked by recent actions as in this case, a gas tax). I question the state because it actually always comes up short on their end of the deal. I think Jesus would agree, when He could have received justice, He got the cross. He knew that would happen, however, it is something we should ALL know, that the state can mean DEATH!

From The Burning Platform, in an ongoing dialog with Doug Casey reflecting on the 1st amendment to the US Constitution that has in it a fourth provision stating the right of assembly:

I’m opposed the very existence of the State. I’m opposed to it on moral grounds, because its essence is coercion. I’m opposed to it on economic grounds, because it’s more a threat to everyone’s property than a guardian of it. On practical grounds, since it’s necessarily inefficient in doing what it’s supposed to do, and does everything it’s not supposed to do. On aesthetic grounds, since it inevitably draws the worst kind of people to its employment. On evidential grounds, since its main products are wars, taxes, regulations, inflation, pogroms, and the like…

… I’ll just say that it speaks poorly of the average person, that he not only thinks the State is necessary, but enthusiastically supports it. And a constitution—whatever its positive aspects—enshrines and legitimizes the idea of the State.

I favor individuals cooperating as individuals, not as cogs in the State’s machine.

Doug Casey – Transcript from Interview with “JB” on The Burning Platform

I contend that while the US police forces, under direction of the federal government in times of crises (“insurrection”) may put up with peaceful assembly that does not destroy property (especially the destruction of state property in their eyes), in time they will remove this right (we still have the natural right, just that the government will not protect us to have this right) as they have done with all the others.

In the future, if the economy gets as bad as I expect, there will be serious riots—which are always a danger when the hoi polloi assemble. There are now means of crowd control much more effective than tear gas. There are beam weapons that, when directed at you, make your skin feel it’s on fire, and will absolutely make you run away and hide. Directional sonic weapons that will make you cover your ears, and run away. Ultra-slippery chemicals that make it impossible to walk. And of course they have means of identifying people in crowds, both with facial recognition and gait recognition. It may not be against the law to assemble, but the “authorities”—if they choose to– can certainly make it unpleasant.

Doug Casey Transcipt in Interview with “JB” on The Burning Platform

Beyond this, there is the whole marginalization scheme that technology has afforded centralized government in measuring individual’s adherence to state policy and narratives and thereby giving them a score that reflects on what a good citizen they are. This then plays a role in what interest rate you might be eligible for or IF government benefits are due you, or not.

There’s no question that the Chinese Social credit system will be adopted in the U.S. You can tell by the way people cherish their Experian and credit scores, even now. Although you’ll theoretically have a right to protest and gather, you could put yourself at risk by doing so. Freedom of Assembly is on its way to becoming a dead letter, if only because of technology.

Doug Casey Transcipt in Interview with “JB” on The Burning Platform

So what is there to know about the recent efforts in France toward making a case that their government has gone to far or failed to uphold their part of the “social contract”? For a more global view of these events in context I will refer to two sources (that I do not always agree with), Eric Margolis via Lew Rockwell and Moon of Alabama:

The storm that is hitting France came out of what looked like a clear blue sky.  The angry demonstrators, known as ‘gilets jaunes’ (yellow jackets), for the warning vests all motorists must keep in their cars, inundated Paris last weekend in peaceful  protests over the government’s planned increases in fuel prices, which were already among Europe’s highest.
As too often in France, violent vandals known as ‘the breakers,’ infiltrated the demonstrators and sought to put the most beautiful parts of Paris to the sack.  I watched with horror as the magnificent Arc de Triomphe, France’s premier war memorial, was befouled by spray-can graffiti.  The majestic Champs Élysée was ravaged by hoodlums, who smashed showroom windows, burned cars, looted luxury stores and set scores of fires.

Paris Under Siege By Eric S. Margolis

As is often the case, a movement, peaceful at first, gets hijacked by those with no principles. This is the hardest way to get government to retract and to do the right things as usually the revolution gets you something worse than what you already had. France’s history has proved this before! (Us in the US should know this as well, for how many of us would willingly go back to the British Empire’s tax rate of 3% that was effective in the American Colonies before the Revolutionary War?)

In a France24 report from a small town in the country side shows extraordinary solidarity between the people. Police passing through an occupied toll road entry sign the protesters petition, other pass by and gift food to the middle-aged protestors.
One woman makes an good point. Yes, the violence as seen in Paris last weekend was not nice. But only after last weeks protest went violent were the yellow vests really noted by the media and by the otherwise tone deaf politicians.

Moon of Alabama

It is too bad that the politicians are not close enough to kick in the butt when they misbehave and squander tax revenue for their pet projects and also enter into alignments with other countries that the people do not always appreciated (i.e. EU) This is the very fact that makes me think secession into smaller republics, states, city-states is the peaceful way forward. Having to use violence against private and public property carries its own negative long term unintended consequences.

From Mint Press, who I use to get a more unbiased view (at least not a US Empire centric MSM view) of world events:

The Yellow Vests held their first demonstrations on Saturday, November 17, on the Champs-Elysées in Paris. It was totally unlike the usual trade union demonstrations, well organized to march down the boulevard between the Place de la République and the Place de la Bastille, or the other way around, carrying banners and listening to speeches from leaders at the end. The Gilets Jaunes just came, with no organization, no leaders to tell them where to go or to harangue the crowd. They were just there, in the yellow vests, angry and ready to explain their anger to any sympathetic listener.
Briefly, the message was this: we can’t make ends meet. The cost of living keeps going up, and our incomes keep going down. We just can’t take it any more. The government must stop, think and change course.

Mint Press By Diana Johnstone

This is the “sound” of tax slaves that are at the end of their rope. 50% plus income taxes in addition to all the other taxes in place or proposed makes for a life for those on the margins a very tough go with no hope for the future!

There were young women who were working seven days a week and despaired of having enough money to feed and clothe their children. People were angry but ready to explain very clearly the economic issues. Colette, age 83, doesn’t own a car, but explained to whoever would listen that the steep raise of gasoline prices would also hurt people who don’t drive, by affecting prices of food and other necessities. She had done the calculations and figured it would cost a retired person 80 euros per month.

Mint Press By Diana Johnstone

The very real failure of socialism is on display here as it has been in Venezuela for several years, the state in the long run will never live up to its propanganda of utopia!

A significant and recurring complaint concerned the matter of health care. France has long had the best public health program in the world, but this is being steadily undermined to meet the primary need of capital: profit. In the past few years, there has been a growing government campaign to encourage, and finally to oblige people to subscribe to a “mutuelle”, that is, a private health insurance, ostensibly to fill “the gaps” not covered by France’s universal health coverage. The “gaps” can be the 15% that is not covered for ordinary illnesses (grave illnesses are covered 100%), or for medicines taken off the “covered” list, or for dental work, among other things. The “gaps” to fill keep expanding, along with the cost of subscribing to the mutuelle. In reality, this program, sold to the public as modernizing improvement, is a gradual move toward privatization of health care. It is a sneaky method of opening the whole field of public health to international financial capital investment. This gambit has not fooled ordinary people and is high on the list of complaints by the Gilets Jaunes.

Mint Press By Diana Johnstone

In the end, the state is a parasite, and efforts however novel (i.e. US Constitution), will fail time and again in this broken world.

Putting your trust in the state is madness IF you research it long enough. Do not forget history, even if the state indoctrinates you to.

‘Democracy, the God that Failed’ is an epic book by Hans-Herman Hoppe that suggests that a monarchy is better than democracy [which is better than socialism, marxism and communism, but are all collectives in nature].. at least with a king, they want to give their heirs a better kingdom .. but as 1 Samuel 8 shows, even God says there are some significant drawbacks to having a king:

“.. Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king.He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day. ” – 1 Samuel 8:10-18 

SF1 in an e-mail sent out this past week

So if God’s view is that even monarchy is never ideal, what is?

More on that next time! Stay tuned.

-SF1

1868: When You Think You Have Been Taught All You Need to Know: Andrew Johnson – Impeached But Not Convicted

Impeachment proceedings in the US Senate 1868

Back in the day, when the newspaper would list all those convicted in the local courts, you (and I) probably developed a bias towards that person. Especially if you knew of the crime and all what was written in the paper you (and I) felt we knew the whole story and if we ever met that person on the street, there probably would have been no meeting of the eyes.

However, if you knew that person, the person’s character and past history and things did not seem to line up, you might have had doubts, but in the end if the courts (i.e. State) did their job, they must have been guilty as charged.

But, if you had been “there”, witnessed the “crime”, maybe that is when the court’s performance might have been suspect. We hear all the time these days, quietly, how convictions from decades ago are overturned due to DNA testing or false positives on hair samples, etc.

Also, if one has just been accused of a “crime” and has to go through the very public fight for justice, there is a blemish on their record in our eyes that their character is flawed and that they can’t be trusted.

All this to say, when you compare the reputation of Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson in the State’s textbooks, it is the comparison of “good” and “bad” respectively.  Right there is a hint that something might not be right, because if the State’s narrative suggests Andrew Johnson is indeed bad, and that the State is known to lie, well then, why don’t we research Andrew Johnson himself and determine who he really might be, since we weren’t there and we don’t personally know him.

From the Abbeville Institute comes a sort but informative overview of Andrew’s life, from humble beginnings to his days as the president of the United States right as the War of Northern Aggression (Civil War) concluded and how the general government should treat the states that left (according to them) or wanted to leave (according to Lincoln and his supporters).

Andrew Johnson was born into poverty in rural North Carolina. His father died after saving some town locals from drowning and left the family to fend for themselves in a two-room shack. A young Andrew began working as a tailor’s apprentice and developed an appreciation for the laboring class early on. Johnson was poorly educated and learned how to write from his wife, while he was still working as a tailor.

Michael Martin – Abbeville Institute “Lessons in Conservatism from Andrew Johnson”

OK, so he was not like Lincoln, born in a log cabin, but he did have very humble beginnings. A self-made man whose passions led him into politics, but NOT as a politician, oh no, his idols were statesmen!

Johnson admired true statesmen, hated politicians, and was most conservative when it came to government spending. He would debate anything that required the expenditure of public funds, having introduced bills to reduce Congressional salaries and even opposed proposals like the Smithsonian Institute because he thought it would be an unjust burden on the treasury.

Michael Martin – Abbeville Institute “Lessons in Conservatism from Andrew Johnson”

Johnson also had “ownership” in how the country’s revenue was spent. Undoubtedly, his time as a politician especially during the war years showed him how easily that money could be squandered by all those bureaucrats that had no “skin in the game”.

When Johnson faced Reconstruction, he was initially welcomed by Radical Republicans that wanted to punish the South. However, Johnson’s plan differed from Lincoln’s only slightly, favored leniency, and virtually ignored the freed slaves. This put him at odds with the radical plan for the South to be run by a bayonet, carpetbag government. Most narratives portray Johnson as a Southern racist who wanted to deny equality to newly freed slaves. Johnson, however, had stated years before that he supported emancipation and was mostly opposed to the outrageous spending habits of Congress.

Michael Martin – Abbeville Institute “Lessons in Conservatism from Andrew Johnson”

We see here that in summary, Johnson’s philosophical views differed from his political opponents in the House and Senate of the US Government. That was all it took for impeachment to take place. When Johnson tried to follow the letter of the law, the Constitution, and keep from squandering the people’s money, he was brought up on trumped (no pun intended) charges.

On the issue of the Freedmen’s Bureau, for example, Johnson vetoed a bill to make it permanent and then three days later gave a speech where he charged Congress with seeking to destroy the fundamental principles of the Constitution. His exact words were that “There is an attempt to concentrate the power of the Government in the hands of a few, and thereby bring about a consolidation, which is equally dangerous and objectionable with separation.”

Michael Martin – Abbeville Institute “Lessons in Conservatism from Andrew Johnson”

In my mind, the previous president (Lincoln) paid so little attention to the US Constitution that the Congress felt that it was to be a free for all! The former president in fact, never validated the fact that the 11 states that left the union actually did so, because as a lawyer he knew he could use post-Constitution laws to justify “putting down a general rebellion / insurrection” for all his war efforts in the south. The spouse (in his mind, actually 11 spouses) that left needed to be beat back into the home. Now that the spouse was back in the home, the Congress wanted to abuse her even more and Johnson said NO!

In his veto of the Freedmen’s Bureau bill, Johnson explained that opposed it because he was against a military government of the South, against the unlimited distribution of funds to former slaves and their families, and against taking land away from Southerners. In Johnson’s mind, the defeated Southern states were part of the Union and did not need further punishing, and he broke down how virtually every part of the Freedmen’s Bureau bill was incompatible with the Constitution. His main focus was on government spending and the fact that the Constitution was not designed to guarantee any type of special privileges, just basic rights.

Michael Martin – Abbeville Institute “Lessons in Conservatism from Andrew Johnson”

The Radical Republicans indeed wanted a dependency class in the south and the newly freed blacks was to be that class and it remained that way until 1877 in the military districts that were formed to further suck the life out of this abused spouse yet again.

This is effectively what the Northern Union / US Government did to the south. Recovery in this region would take a century economically however, psychologically, it’s culture has never been the same.

Andrew Johnson can be shown as about the only Unionist who cared, and so he was targeted and marginalized in all the US History books published these days.

Four million slaves were emancipated and given an equal chance and fair start to make their own support-to work and produce; and having worked and produced, to have their own property and apply it to their own support. But the Freedmen’s Bureau comes and says we must take charge of these 4,000,000 slaves. The bureau comes along and proposes, at an expense of a fraction less than $12,000,000 a year, to take charge of these slaves. You had already expended $3,000,000,000 to set them free and give them a fair opportunity to take care of themselves -then these gentlemen, who are such great friends of the people, tell us they must be taxed $12,000,000 to sustain the Freedmen’s Bureau.

Andrew Johnson 1866 in Cleveland, OH

So the slavery of 4 million souls in 1865 transferred into the tax slavery of 350 souls in 2018 as the cancer of centralized government continues to suck the life out of all who remain, and there are no Andrew Johnsons allowed to enter politics and gain any political power again.

“Johnson, in fact, continually upheld his oath of office, making him one of the best presidents in American history.”

Brion McClanahan

-SF1

Windows10 to LinuxMint19: Transition (1ofX): What is DRM?

Sample Kindle Web Reader View

So the journey continues from the world of Windows10 on a newer laptop with all the random unannounced reboots, CPU fan spinning so fast I think the PC will meltdown to LinuxMint19 on a ten year old laptop.

In the past week I have adjusted from MS Office Powerpoint ($$$) or ($$) [if your employed in a corporation that uses MS Office so you can get a copy at a reduced expense]  to LibreOffice Impress ($0 – but donations are appreciated). The Linux OS standard web browser, Firefox, is easy to import bookmarks, etc. External hard drives get automounted when the USB is connected. The wireless HP OfficeJet Printer is seen and available after every boot-up. Things were going well, or so I thought.

Then enter Amazon and its Kindle Fire and all the “protection” known in the publishing world as DRM (Digital Rights Management). I was ready just to use the Amazon Kindle Web Reader shown at the top of this post since there is no Linux app from Amazon to read your books on your PC like they have for Windows. It was at this point the DRM issue became very apparent since I was interested in saving a copy of my library on this Linux laptop. I am guessing for years I have been in denial about this DRM reality but the author of the tool DeDRM says it best from his web page:

The problem here is that America’s copyright lawyers figured out how to change the rules of ownership. When you buy a paperback book, its content belongs to the author, but the physical book belongs to you. You can loan it to someone, trade it, sell it, or just keep it and reread it as many times as you want. But when you “buy” a Kindle book, you’re renting temporary authorization from Amazon to store the book on up to 6 Amazon-approved devices.

Geoff Stratton
eBook Management Software – Calibre

Enter the program for any OS called Calibre. With this application I can install a plugin from Geoff Stratton and enter the 16 digit license from my Kindle Fire and I can bring my Kindle book collection over to my Linux PC and remove the DRM with Geoff’s plugin so my own copy does NOT require a certified Amazon product to display the book. This is essential for many reasons that Geoff explains below:

This arrangement is bad for customers, for a number of reasons:
1) Any Kindle book that you “own” can disappear at any time, because of technological failure, change of license, or simple human error.
2) If Amazon ever abandons their Kindle business, all your Kindle books could vanish in a flash. Wait, though, isn’t Amazon too big to disappear? Maybe. But Kodak, Enron, General Motors, Sears, and the Smith-Corona typewriter company were once “too big to fail” American institutions too.
3) DRM interferes with legal uses of copyrighted text, like satire, reuse in teaching materials, and citation in reviews or academic papers. As a one-time IT guy at a public university, I frequently battled with DRM-ed written and recorded materials that instructors or researchers wanted to excerpt. The worst offender here is DVD region encoding.
4) DRM-ed Kindle books are incompatible with non-Amazon book readers and software. Sure, Amazon software is supported on most platforms now, but what about a decade from now? How many people still have the equipment to read a floppy disk, VHS tape, phonograph record, or audio cassette? A lot of music, art, and writing gets lost every time our storage technology changes to a different format, whether you’re talking about reel-to-reel tapes or clay tablets. If it’s important to you, make as many different copies of it as you can stand.

So strictly for personal use .. I downloaded “calibre” for my LinuxMint PC:

Linux command line quick installation of apps
Installation complete – “just add water” it is that easy

Then it is just a matter of following the directions to take the DeDRM plugin from Geoff’s site and configure Calibre to “know” your Kindle Fire.

Well, it has yet to work out that easily. All of a sudden my Fire does not want to play with my Linux PC and that seems a little coincidental to all of a sudden have an issue. I found two Calibre “dot” files on my Kindle and I think this might be a way that Amazon blocks this kind of activity.

So for now, I will read my Kindle books via the web reader and will have to get back to y’all about this DRM stuff.

Stay tuned.

-SF1

BTW: To add to my day, WordPress decided to update the software used to edit/publish blogs, so that has been yet another learning curve for this #60-something

12DEC1780: Halfway Swamp – a Long Time since the Snow Campaign

Marion’s Militia catches the British taking new recruits towards North Carolina

What prompted Marion and his men to leave Snows Island was two fold. First, word came that a patriot force found two brothers of the Loyalist militia leader Major John Harrison at home ill with smallpox and the patriots murder them in their beds. This action upsets Marion greatly as he desires a revolution that does not stoop to the tactics used by the British Empire. Second, Marion gets Intel that Lt. Col. Samuel Tynes has escaped and so Lt. Col. Peter Horry is sent towards the High Hills of the Santee in a chase. In the mean time Marion and his men ride to Indiantown which he knows will spark Intel back to the British that the “Fox” is out and about.

The British escapee Tynes makes his way to British HQ at Camden fairly shaken along with a small group of his men and decides he has had enough of the war and resigns. This is the psychological effect that Marion’s guerilla force had on the larger British/Loyalist forces that worked in the rebel’s favor.

This month of December 1780 marked a five year anniversary of one of the first actions in South Carolina in the drive to separate from the British Empire. In December 1775, Col. Richardson and his men had been busy in upcountry regions removing Loyalist leadership so that state forces could focus on the areas of the colony that were more aligned to Tory/British leadership, the area below the fall line and the tidewater regions of South Carolina. Toward the end of this late 1775 campaign, the troops faced an intense winter storm that lasted 30 hours or more and dumped over 20 inches of snow in areas of northern South Carolina and neighboring North Carolina. Does this sound familiar? Is this part of a re-enactment?

09DEC2018 Winter Storm Snow Estimates for South Carolina, North Caroline and Virginia

For Marion and his men, it had been quite a seesaw of emotions over the course of these five years. By summer 1776 it appeared after the British were repulsed at Charlestown that they would leave the southern colonies alone. This lasted until early 1780 when the British sought to roll-up through the southern colonies gaining loyalist men as they went to join British General Clinton in the north and squash this rebellion. Based on the success of their militia in the fall of 1780 I can only imagine that these men has a spark of excitement in their minds as they seemed to actually be able to slow the British advance into North Carolina. The next month would be critical to build on past success and continue to hamper British ops.

On 11DEC1780, more Intel arrives for Marion that alerts him to the British Commandant of Charlestown’s effort to send 200 new recruits to Cornwallis who is inside South Carolina at his winter headquarters at Winnsboro west of Camden. As Marion leaves Indiantown and approaches Nelson’s Ferry his band of freedom fighters swells to 700. A combination of his success and the fact that the harvest is about done allows Marion the opportunity to change things up a bit as how he has the numerical edge.

About 20 miles above the ferry at the Santee River, at the Halfway Swamp, (which is just a mile from Richardson’s plantation where Marion had almost walked into a trap just a month before) he overtakes the Maj. Robert McLeroth, his 64th Regiment of Foot who are escorting the recruits of the 7 th Regiment to Winnsboro. The very reason for the escort was that Cornwallis did not trust these 200 fresh recruits alone out there with the fox on the loose! Marion’s mounted troops made quick work of the British pickets as McLeroth had no cavalry.

[Author’s note: I had the privilege of visiting this site with Captain1776 and Malibu last month. While the road near the swamp had been closed for a while, and we could not get exactly to the site of this battle, it seems that the current swamp has not changed much from 238 years ago as it still is a cypress filled quagmire.]

Marker for Halfway Swamp near the Santee / Lake Marion

At this point, Marion was in control of the battlefield. McLeroth sent a message under a flag of truce protesting the shooting of the pickets. Marion’s reply was that the British practice of burning houses was more egregious adding that if the British persisted in the latter that he would continue the former. McLeroth also challenged Marion to come out in the open field and fight like a man.

Marion offered a counter proposal in that each side would pick their 20 best marksmen do this combo duel to decide this battle. This tradition dates back to biblical times! It was agreed that this would happen to the south of a prominent oak tree as the men lined up 100 yards from each other. Marion appointed Maj. John Vanderhorst to lead the patriot team but it seems that Vanderhorst asked Capt. Witherspoon at what range should they choose for firing the opening round of buckshot and Witherspoon said 50 yards. Vanderhorst admitted that he was not good judging distances and asked that Witherspoon tap him on the shoulder when they should commence firing.

As the men got closer, it was the British who fled the field back to the main body of their force. Marion’s men let out a cheer. Once again, psychological edge is a major factor.

It seems by this time it was about nightfall and each force went to their evening campfires. McLeroth actually was able to out fox the fox as he setup camp and kept the campfires lit while he and his men slipped away to Singleton’s Mill 15 miles north. However, the price paid by McLeroth was having to leave supply wagons and heavy baggage that the patriots used for re-supplying themselves.

Marion, once aware of the British slipping away sent Maj. John James in pursuit but he encounters British reinforcements of 50 mounted cavalry and 80 more infantry and even something more threatening than that, the Singleton family had smallpox. Jame’s men got off one round before leaving the property and returned to Marion who decided not to engage the enemy at this time. At least he delayed this force of recruits on their way to Winnsboro. These recuits would remember this encounter (psyche) and it would play a role in the battle of Cowpens about a month later.

December 1780 still has some more action packed in it so stay tuned!

-SF1


Old Dog, New Tricks and #60: Keeping Up With Technology

There comes a point when old dogs have to decide the right timing to learn new tricks. Since I am #60, that can make the transition a little more formidable. For me this is offset by my personality that actually likes fresh starts, a different wind and having to adjust the sails:

Any reader of my blog is well aware of some of the personal computer / operating systems adventures I have been through. My latest experiences have indeed cause me to adjust those sails and be prepared to evaluate what is gained and what might be lost.

The Windows OS to Linux OS transition is interesting, but since I am pretty familiar with Linux OS and its predecessor UNIX, I have a head start on most people.  My own work history allowed me to attend Silicon Graphics System Administrator (IRIX) training in Mountain View, CA back in the early 1990s. I must have already had experience with UNIX before this because I vividly remember DURING lab, remote logging on to the other workstations in the lab and causing sounds or icons to pop-up and then disappear. It took the instructor only 30 minutes to discover the source of these pranks.

My introduction to Linux (RedHat RHEL 4.0) took place in the mid 2000s as I was responsible to roll out over two dozen Linux PCs in a laboratory environment. It was an awesome challenge and one where good documentation was essential should I ever have to replicate that feat. I had a detailed 16 page document that articulated the step-by-step process.

While that fleet of Linux PCs is now down to the last two, there have been times in the past 5+ years where I used Linux Mint OS to extend the life of a Windows laptop. My first experiment with this was with a 2004 Dell laptop that had Windows XP on it. I used a USB stick to place the well documented Linux kernel and files on it so the laptop could be tested on how it ran Linux before installing the Linux Mint OS on the HDD (from scratch). This worked well and I continued to use that old laptop for years after I could have IF I had stuck it out with Windows.

This fall/winter, this “old dog” is going to transfer my personal use of laptops completely over to Linux Mint 19.0. I believe that this OS had matured and is ready for “prime-time”. The default build comes with LibreOffice which allows one to work with Microsoft office formats and easily allows an external drive to connect to bring over all the files from the old Windows PC. Firefox is also standard which makes web surfing pretty seamless. The PC also picked up right away my wireless HP OfficeJet printer/scanner all-in-one device.

I also use Thunderbird e-mail client (on both the Win10 and Linux laptops) for my various e-mail accounts, and the only thing not yet ready seems to be the ProtonMail bridge for encrypted e-mail communications using a Linux PC for my ProtonMail e-mail account. It seems this is in the beta stage and can be had if I contact ProtonMail via an e-mail link for directions. I can still use Firefox (and my Smartphone) to access my ProtonMail account.

I guess this ended up being more Geek-speak than I anticipated, but I thought I would let y’all in to the path I am walking as far as technology goes and will update you along the way in case other find this path intriguing.

Stay tuned!

-SF1