Tech – Random Ramblings

How to create a bootable Multi – OS USB Drive.

How to create a bootable USB stick with multiple OS

The good news is that once you have a bootable USB Stick, anybody will be able to use it without risking her/his computer , but the process of making the bootable disk itself is fraught with mine fields for the uninitiated.

STATUTORY WARNING

BEFORE YOU START TRYING OUT THE STEPS , PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT CREATING A BOOTABLE DISK REQUIRES BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF PARTITIONS IN A HARD DISK AND THE BOOT PROCESS ITSELF. BACK UP ALL DATA BEFORE STARTING . THE PROCESS IF ATTEMPTED WITHOUT A BASIC UNDERSTANDING CAN RESULT IN THE SYSTEM NOT BOOTING AT ALL OR EVEN HARD DISK GETTING WIPED OUT.

We know many things can go wrong with a computer, but unlike dumb machines , say a lawn mower, a computer has an extraordinary capability to do self-diagnosis . But to initiate that process the system has to boot itself .

So, assuming that the motherboard processor and RAM are okay, a system should be able to run from an optical drive or a USB drive . As a matter of fact the first computer I used was designed to be booted only through a floppy and there was no hard disk!

The idea is to make a bootable usb drive for the purpose of repairing a bootloader , do a back up of the hard disk or simply to do some productive work on the computer. A search on the web would point to a number of applications like YUMI and unetbootin. I would stick to multi-boot usb .

MultiBootUSB is a cross platform software written in python which allows you to install multiple live linux on a USB disk non destructively and option to uninstall distros.

Visit the official site

This is an advanced cross platform application that is installable in Linux or Windows. So, how do we go about it ?

Step 1 : Download the ISO image

Download the ISO image of the Operating System of your choice. For Microsoft products you’ll have to visit this site . There would be copyright issues and requirement for activation key . The real fun would be in exploring the options available in the universe of Open Source Software.

Since troubleshooting is the most likely purpose , Boot-repair disc would be a great place to start with .

https://sourceforge.net/projects/boot-repair-cd/

Though it is an avatar of ubuntu, it can be a great boon to windows users as well. The interface is intuitive and graphical and there would be absolutely no need for any command line job.

Step 2. Install Multiboot usb application

It is simple enough . Just follow this guide .

Step 3. Create a USB boot disk

- - Plug in a blank USB with a capacity of 8GB or above formatted in 32 FAT file system
  - Run Multibootusb program

Step 4 : Install Preferred OS

Select the USB drive . MS calls it G: or H: drive while linux calls it sdb1 or sdb2 etc

Select your the ISO image you have downloaded in step 1

Click on install distro after selecting the usb drive and the iso image.

You will be prompted to confirm that you would like to proceed with the installation

Click yes and your bootable USB disk will be ready in minutes.

This process may be repeated with additional ISO images to install any number of operating systems as long as there is space in the USB drive.

Step 5 : Reboot and bot through your USB Drive

Reboot the computer and choose usb drive as the first device in the booting sequence.

It can be done in two ways ..

- - Going to bootmenu . for Dell it is press F12 at the time of booting For other makes check out
  - Going to setup bios by pressing F2 aat the time of booting and changing the boot order

Once you manage to select usb drive as the preferred boot device you will get a boot menu as under

Select boot repair disk or any other operating system you want to boot from and that’s it. Your are done. you will be greeted by the screen below:-

Online Woes

These days major load of the postal department has been taken over by Courier services and E-Commerce and net banking. P & T has become just P . Telegram had gone redundant years back , but only recently has the Govt admitted to the fact and has closed down the service officially. Yet … Continue reading “Online Woes”

(We actually have these ancient style post boxes at Mhow till date. This is no snap from the History Book !!)

Having filed the ITR , I had to send it by Speed post (or just drop it into the Dinosaur’s mouth)

The Post office was virtually deserted, with one or no customer at any counter. The Queue at my counter with all of one customer just would not move for over 15 minutes. There was an old man at the post, peering into his screen with a frozen look of concern and concentration. I woke him up from his reverie to learn that the server was not working and that he was ‘trying’. I also learnt that there was no manual way to book the post. It was windows trouble shooting at its best with the slogan “Re-start ; Re-install; and Re-format”. Of these an operator of a client station could resort only to the first option and that’s what he had been doing for over half an hour. I went to the post master and She for her part upgraded the trouble shooting effort. She restarted the Server !

I decided to move over to the next counter to update my PPF account and to make a deposit. Again it was a similar scene with a lady staring at a monitor screen. It was a different server.

I asked her if I could access the account online. She gave a frustrated look, “server ki wajah se to delay ho raha hai” (She was working on the server and that’s why it was taking more time) .

Later I came too know that the problem was not with the server but with the ‘served’ . She just couldn’t decipher the contents of the page she had been served. After what seemed a long long time, an all knowing youngster came to help her. He said, that a transaction has to be done to see the statement! I was asked to deposit Rs 2000. It was OK with me as that’s what I had gone there for. Challan filled, money collected and data feeding started and then came the long wait again. For some reason, the lady started calling for the ‘expert’ again . The way she repeatedly invoked the name of “Ghanshyam “, even Krishna Parmatma would have come down from his heavenly abode, but there was no sign of this Ghanshyam. There was that tone of urgency in her voice , since a ‘time out ‘ would mean refilling all the details. The pleading tone did have some effect and the help arrived.

“Submit ” button daba doon (Shall I press the submit button) Oh, it was for this confirmation that she needed an “expert” ?

Permission obtained, data submitted , both were looking keenly at the response on the monitor. How I wish I had access to the screen they were staring at! Finally, Ghanshyam informed me with an absolutely sorry look ,” Minimum amount, the system would accept would be Rs 5400, as you have not deposited for over 3 years” . Fortunately , there was an ATM of a private bank nearby,and the correct amount was deposited and the transaction was committed on the server. I am sure that was the only transaction done by that lady for the day.

As I was leaving the Post office, I just happened to glance at the Speed Post Counter to see some activity on the printer. So, the 50th restart had worked ?! I asked him if he could try now. he said in a sing song voice “Khosish karenge….. . Ho jaata …….to …bahut achcha hoga” (I’ll try and if it works, fine) . After four envelopes, when my turn came , the system hanged again. He looked at me, amused yet accusingly ,declaring that the system hanged as soon as he had fed the data pertaing to my letter! Mea Culpa !! But he was kind enough to restart again and this time it worked !

Everyone was so nice and wanting to be so helpful yet were so helpless . Now that all transactions are online , there is no looking back. So, they have no other option but to look back and yell for “GhanShyam ” or whosoever could coax a server into action on that day .

Appy Times

These are times when it is difficult to find someone who is not keenly interacting with a smart phone, be it in a cafeteria or a classroom. Even people of my age, have become ‘touch-savvy’ , if not ‘tech-savvy’. Guys who have problem understanding whats an app, understand and use ‘WhatsApp’ … Continue reading “Appy Times”

There was the time when business men realized that a website had become an integral necessity in their business cards. Today , a business without an app is severely ‘handi-apped’ .

For our NDA(National Defence Academy) course reunion, I made a basic website and was brazing myself for a stampede of visitors vying to upload a deluge of articles, photographs and all kinds of memorabilia.

While our whatsApp group had an average of 150 posts a day along with all kinds of media, the website was like the NDA library, where none ventured unless forced to.

I wished I could make an app for smart-phones. A cursory browse on the net led me to Android Studio, a beta grade software for app development. Once I installed it on my system, one thing led to another and I surprised myself by creating an app in 15 days. In fact, I created two, one for the course reunion and one for this blog.

Here’s the link to download the app for this blog. (You have to ‘allow installation of apps from unknown sources’ by going to settings —-security.).

I just love the learning environment in the IT world today. The net is full of tutorials, Discussion forums, open source development software and most importantly people who love to share knowledge.

Appy times are here again. Anything is possible in IT and through IT.

Is Technology the new God ?

“Uparwala sab dekh raha hai” the saying is as old as the hills, but what’s new in the TV commercial is that ‘Uparwala’ here refers to ‘CP Plus’ CCTV. Earlier days, a child was told “God sees all, knows all, is all powerful and he knows what you are up to , anywhere, any time, … Continue reading “Is Technology the new God ?”

“Uparwala sab dekh raha hai”

the saying is as old as the hills, but what’s new in the TV commercial is that ‘Uparwala’ here refers to ‘CP Plus’ CCTV.

Earlier days, a child was told “God sees all, knows all, is all powerful and he knows what you are up to , anywhere, any time, so better behave…..” As one grew up either the conscience took over the role of God or one just concluded that as an adult one had only his boss or the policeman to watch out for.

Today, be it a child or an adult, we have Technology watching over everyone. The Omnipresent,omniscient, and omnipotent God is in the form of CCTVs, databases and drones armed with all kinds of sensors and weapon systems.You may receive a challan for overspeeding and you may not even be aware as to where and when you broke the speed limit. To compound the issue thee is no human face, call it cop, to negotiate or reason with. You may receive a demand note from IT dept for arrears of tax dues along with fine and you may be blissfully unaware of any tax evasion on your part; nor is there any other human being aware; it is just as “What God giveth, He taketh back”

With the kind of digital foot print you leave of every activity; details of your movements, telephone calls, money transactions, shopping habits are all saved in some server and some software is forever crunching the ‘big data’ to catch you with ‘hand in the cookie jar’.

So have we finally invented a God, as Voltaire had wished we should ? But so far we have seen this God acting as a policeman, faithfully enforcing man-made laws.

May be some day we have Technology used to locate a hungry child and direct a food-laden drone to feed her; providing the proverbial “manna from the heavens”. Till then , God is God and Technology is just Technology.

Pen Drives are Secure

Ever since the news of ‘Navy War room leaks‘ broke out in 2006 , pen-drive phobia reached such proportions that many senior officers would not touch a pen drive with a barge pole. Ironically use of CDs increased though they can be as much of security hazard as a pen drive. Had pen drives not … Continue reading “Pen Drives are Secure”

There are many myths related to pen drives, that they cause virus infection, security leaks and loss of data.

Let us do a reality check. Is a CD or DVD any more secure than a pen drive ? I can hear the users saying ” a pen drive is inherently insecure as it allows easy reading and writing ”

The biggest disservice done by developers of propriety software is to make the users believe that they were imbeciles and cannot be trusted to alter anything made by the Gods of Technology .

Your work environment should be customisable to the extent that if you want to open a window or close a window, whenever you want, the way you want, you should be able to do it. Everyone has the basic common sense to know when to open a window (not MS Windows) and by how much. So is it with a pen drive. If only a user is trusted to know how to partition, format and configure a pen drive, it is very very safe and secure.

People do not know much about pen drives. The other day, I had gone to the market to take a printout. As I plugged in my pen drive into a Windows machine, the file I wanted to print wouldn’t show up. I realised that the entire partition was invisible to Windows. When I explained the problem to the guy there, he sagely pronounced ” only hard drives have partitions and pen drives don’t ” It sounded absurd to me as I have always used pen drives with multiple partitions. To confirm, I went to the adjacent shop and tried another Machine. One windows machine is as dumb as another, and this time, a young boy, may be tenth pass (or tenth fail ?) gave an exasperated look and said,”Uncle, ek pen drive, ek hi partition (one pen drive, one partition”

Coming back to reality check, whenever I bought a pen drive, the first thing I did was to partition it and format it as per my requirement. It had a bootable partition (if required), a small secure partition with 128 bit encryption and a large general purpose data partition for data . This way, data is secure and if you want to protect the drive from virus attack, you can make it read only as well.

Why is every one not using it ? At the risk of sounding too condescending , I would say ‘ due to ignorance’. Manufacturers of pen drives and the dominant OS, M$ would want us to believe that you cannot customize a pen drive. The main threat is that the warranty would become Null and Void.

How to do it ? One word answer is “Linux”. I tried some googling on how to do it through M$. All solutions appear too complex and involved third party, propriety software.

‘Disks’ is a simple free utility which is part of ubuntu installation. Here’s a snap shot of my usb drive partions. I normally have a small secure portion and a large general purpose portion.

The reality is that 80 % of Computers have M$. So is it an advantage or a disadvantage to partition a disk ? I would say it is a definitly a step in the right direction for safety and security.

In a multi-partitioned disk, Windows sees just the first partition. So when using a M$ Machine I just have to have a very small first partition . What I have realised is that my pen drives are really safe from M$ virus. How can a virus attack when the entire partition is Invisible ? The real virus or the threat is the Windows Operating System, and blaming a pen drive is like shooting a messenger. Avoid M$ and you avoid Virus.

If only everyone uses Linux Machines and Linux partitioned Pen Drives, the Infotech world will be safer, much more secure and a lot more happier. Is the IT God listening ? Om Computaraya namaha ! Thathastu !

Genesis of an innovation

What sparks an innovation ? Does it always require a genius ? The other day, I while scrolling through an endless stream of facebook jokes, and I came across this. “ A lady (could have been a gentleman) complained at a computer shop, claiming that the new laptop computer she had bought would not carry … Continue reading “Genesis of an innovation”

What sparks an innovation ? Does it always require a genius ?

The other day, I while scrolling through an endless stream of facebook jokes, and I came across this.

“ A lady (could have been a gentleman) complained at a computer shop, claiming that the new laptop computer she had bought would not carry out even the basic functions. On enquiry she explained that she was not able to copy a file from her old laptop to the new one. When asked how exactly she proceeded to carry out this task, she explained,

“I right clicked on the file icon on the old laptop, unplugged the mouse, carefully took it to the new laptop and plugged it and did a right click paste”

The salesman fainted.

The joke was followed by typical facebook responses ; ‘haha’, ‘LOL’, ‘ROFL’ etc. Amidst all that what caught my attention was the comment “That’s an interesting idea, a mouse with a memory”.

It got me thinking.

People who were very comfortable using the command line interface designed the Graphical User Interface for the not so tech-savvy users to click their way through the digital world. Till today, many Unix/Linux users cannot understand how ‘ten clicks’ can be easier to do than a simple command on the terminal. The aim is to design a ‘user-friendly’ device.

Find out what an user is doing , and make your device work to such behaviour, and you have the ultimate user-friendly device.

Why can’t we have a mouse with a memory? After all we have an internet dongle with memory and storage space of its own? Make it a wireless mouse and it would be a ‘wow’ gadget. Point at a file, do a right –click copy , put it into your pocket and now you are ready to do a right-click paste – transfer to any other PC !

As for the cyber-security police , it would mean a terrible nightmare.

Coming back to the question what sparks an innovation, may be it does not need a spark of genius, even a spark of acute idiocy would do.

MIGRATION TO LINUX

MIGRATION TO LINUX An article originally I wrote for Indian Army.. INTRODUCTION 1. Today, we are in information age and we use many electronic devices to meet our information needs. The core component of any electronic device is its operating system. Though there are many types of devices used for computing, Computers have become synonymous … Continue reading “MIGRATION TO LINUX”

MIGRATION TO LINUX

An article originally I wrote for Indian Army..

INTRODUCTION

1. Today, we are in information age and we use many electronic devices to meet our information needs. The core component of any electronic device is its operating system. Though there are many types of devices used for computing, Computers have become synonymous with PCs and Operating System(OS) has become synonymous with Windows, at least in India. Even IT professionals feel that we have come too far down the road and now it is fait accompli to maintain the status quo ?

2. The question is, can we ever switch to a liberated world of Open Source Software (OSS) or are we condemned forever to a Digital World, controlled and manipulated by a few multinational software giants. OSS in general and Linux in particular offer great opportunities to individuals and organizations alike to make the Digital world far more friendlier, far more creative and definitely lighter on the wallet.

3. The scope of this paper is not restricted to just Army, but to any individual or organization dissatisfied with Propriety Software. Migration to Linux, is nothing but pure liberation. This paper addresses need for the migration, away from all propriety software, be it for exercising the right to choose or for attaining strategic self dependence.

AIM

4. The aim of the service paper is to evaluate the case for individuals and organizations to migrate to Linux from Microsoft Windows to meet all their computing requirements. The paper is divided in three parts as under:-

Part – I . Review of Operating Systems over the past three decades.
Part – II Why we need to migrate to Linux.
Part – III Seven Steps to Software Liberation.

PART – I : REVIEW OF OPERATING SYSTEMS

OVER THE PAST THREE DECADES.

A Historical Overview of Operating Systems

5. Though there are many operating systems, they can be broadly categorized into three basic families viz, Mac family including all shades of iOS , Microsoft family from MS Dos to Windows 10 and the Linux family that would include all flavours of Linux, like Red Hat, Inux Mint OS, Ubuntu and so on.When we come to the hand-held devices like phones and tablets, we have iOS, Android, and Windows as the market leaders. There is definitely a convergence taking place with availability of Ubuntu phones and android laptops.

6. Till the advent of Open Source Software, the IT fraternity was vertically divided into two schools of thought, the Mac way and the PC way. The Mac products believed in tight integration of hardware and software. Quality was of utmost importance and it was propriety all the way, be it the hardware or software or the formats used . Even the styling of icons mattered as the bitterly contested copyright case between Apple and Samsung showed. As for PC was concerned, IBM had freed the hardware part, resulting in mushrooming of IBM clones, while the marketing genius, that young Bill gates proved to be, kept a tight hold over the OS , which ironically he had bought for a pittance. QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) was bought from Tim Patterson, rechristened as MSDOS and loaded on an IBM PC. With a series of outright purchases and repackaging MS Office was born and today we have MS Windows and MS Office dominating the market in India.

7. End of cold war gave a big boost to Internet which led to extensive collaboration over the net. It was not just a software, but an entirely new philosophy was born. Programmers could download source codes for free. They were free to look into other programmers’ codes; they could make modifications and propagate their products as long as they too kept it free. It was called not copyright but copy-left. With that software got liberated from the clutches of multinationals. Today, you can buy a PC without any Software and load your own OS and applications.

Present Environment

8. Most people and organizations today go for a hardware software bundle and in India, most of the additional software is available for free due to non-implementation of laws on Intellectual property rights.

9. Of course there is a small percentage of users who scrupulously use licensed software and an even smaller percentage of users who are aware that there is enough resources available under open source and there is really no need buy any operating system or applications leave alone the compulsion to break any law of the land to procure one. This last category of users, to begin with were hard core geeks, but over a period of time even not so tech savvy users have also joined this fold. There are children who have grown up using open source software and don’t use any other unless forced to do so by their schools. If some users can benefit from OSS, then why not the whole world benefit.

PART – II WHY WE NEED TO MIGRATE TO LINUX.

Why Migrate to Linux

10. Some of the compelling reasons for switching to Linux are as follows:-

Freedom to Use .The software is completely free as in Mukt and completely free as in Muft.

Stability The OS is rock solid and absolutely stable. Of course there are beta versions, on the leading edge, available to all for download; and one needs to ensure that he uses only a stable version.

Choice of Applications. Entire set of productivity applications are available for Linux and there is really no need to go for an OS if only to load a specific application software.

Security Security is better in OSS as the source code is available for any one. So any organization wishing to make their computing environment absolutely secure does not need to look to Redmond for assistance but can do it in their own laboratories. It is in this context that our former President and an eminent scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam called up on Indians to use OSS.

Some Myths About Linux

11. There are many myths about Linux which we shall analyze one by one as follows:-

(a) Linux is not user friendly.There is not a single step in installation, configuration and use of the OS that does not have a user friendly, graphical User Interface in Ubuntu, Red Hat, Open Suse or Linux Mint.Of course there are provisions to get anything done through Command line Interface , which is only an added advantage and definitely not a disadvantage. A Class VIII student can comfortably install Ubuntu from an Installation CD or an USB Drive. Of course any child who can handle a mouse or a touch pad can use an Ubuntu machine.

(b) No applications are available for Linux. There are users of the view that it is okay to have Linux as OS, but for running specific applications, one needs Windows. This may have been correct about 10 years back. Today we have open source applications in every area of computing like Office Software, web browsing, IDE for Programming, graphics , video and audio editing, database management systems.

(c) Installation of applications is difficult. Nothing could be far from truth. While Software like MS office, Adobe Photo-shop, need registration and dedicated efforts to get regular updates, anyone using open source software like Ubuntu or Libre office gets regular updates automatically. It is easier as there is no need to guard against piracy issues. The repository system for installation or upgrading of software is akin to the istore of Apple devices or Google Play of Android phones. You just need to pick the applications and click ‘install’.

(d) Version compatibility Issues Ubuntu has the best organized system for storing of libraries. Canonical, the company supporting Ubuntu has dedicated servers to keep track of all the software and the compiler libraries used by these software applications. Ubuntu brings out a version every two years with Long term support. Then there are six monthly update versions of the OS. The security updates is on a daily basis.

Inter OS Interoperability is difficult. A Linux server can easily handle any Windows client, though the converse may not be true.

Lack Of Commercial Support In the past, businesses used the lack of commercial support as the main reason for staying with Windows. Red Hat, Novell and Canonical, the “big three” commercial Linux providers, have put this fear to rest. Each of these companies offers 24x7x365 support for your mission-critical applications and business services.

Lack of .Net Support Businesses that have standardized on Microsoft technology, specifically their .NET web technology, can rely on Linux for support of those same .NET applications. Novell owns and supports the Mono project that maintains .NET compatibility. One of the Mono project’s goals is to provide businesses the ability to make a choice and to resist vendor lock-in. Additionally, the Mono project offers Visual Studio plug-ins so that .NET developers can easily transfer Windows-based .NET applications without changing their familiar development tools. Why would Novell and others put forth the effort to create a .NET environment for Linux? For real .NET application stability, Linux is a better choice than Windows.

Organizations That Have Migrated Or In The Process Of Migrating To Linux

12. If Linux is so good why are people not using it ? The answer is that most computer users are not fully aware of the possibilities. Let us see some informed organizations that migrated from Windows to Linux :-

(a) The White house

(b) US Navy in the US Submarine Fleet

(d) Amazon Inc , USA

(e) City Govt of Munich (Germany)

(f) Kerala State Govt

(g) Tamilnadu State Govt

(h) IBM Inc

(j) Indian Navy

13. You can see the wide diversity in the type of organizations using Linux. The next question is, have any of these organizations reverted back to Windows ? There is no evidence of any such moves. Okay, has any organization that started a business with Linux and migrated to any other operating system. A cursory Google search draws a blank. Then why are more individuals not in Linux world ? At least as for as India is considered, the answer may be :-

(a) In India, very few users buy software, at least not for personal ownership. The day, people who use MS office are forced to pay for the software they use at home, Open office downloads will multiply. (This paper is written using Libre Office Version: 4.3.3.2.)

(b) So many applications are available, mostly pirated, and users have attained a certain degree of proficiency in these applications. There is a reluctance to learn any new applications available in the open source arena. How else can you explain anyone be using Internet Explorer ?

(c) Despite the progress made in the IT field, Internet penetration is very low. In India we have only 15 to 20 PCs per 100 and out of that only – only 1.1 use Internet broadband.Most users still load software through CDs and DVDs, pirated of course. Open source means global collaboration and Internet broadband is a pre- requisite. Any expenditure made by a Govt or any private organization or an individual in broadband connection is money well spent. It is an investment to break the shackle of propriety software and propriety education and will prove a great money saver in years to come.

PART – III SEVEN STEPS TO SOFTWARE LIBERATION.

How To Migrate

14. Here is a suggested model for an individual to switch over to Linux over a period of six months to one year. When individuals embrace Linux, it would be a smooth migration for an organization as IT products work on the principle of ‘Winner takes all’.

(a) Step 1 identify the applications you actually use under windows, leaving out the ones that have been preloaded free of cost by the vendor, but never used.

(b) Step 2 Identify the Linux equivalent of these applications.

(c) Step 3 Download windows versions of these applications. Some of them would be very familiar for example, Mozilla Firefox Browser.

A Table Showing These Applications

Application	Propriety application in Windows	Open Source Applicatin in LInux
Browser	Internet Explorer	Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Chromium, Ubuntu Browser.
Office Suite	MS Office (Word, excel and powerpoint)	Open Office or Libre Office (Writer, calc and Impress)
Email Client	MS Outlook	Evolution or Thunderbird
Graphics	Adobe Photoshop	GIMP
Video Player	Windows Media Player	Amarok, Rhythmbox,Yarock
Video editing	Movie maker	Open Shot Video Editor PiTV
Audio Editing	Adobe Audition	Audocity
Database	Oracle, Sybase	Mysql, Postgresql

(d) Step 4 Keep booting into the widows machine, but get used to open source applications like Mozilla Firefox browser, Libre office, GIMP, Kompozer, VLC Media Player, and so on. In case of any problem a simple search on the net for open source application for windows will give a huge choice of apps. As a rule anything available for Linux will be available for Windows , but not vice versa.

(e) Step 5 Use a bootable Linux CD, Ubuntu preferably, and try the OS, without actually installing. No change is made in the Operating System. This is one feature which is new to Windows users, who are used to formatting and re installation at the drop of a hat. There are also Packages available which can be installed under windows just as another software.

(f) Step 6 Once you get used to the Open Source Applications in windows environment, using the same in the native Linux environment can only be smoother.

(g) Step 7 Boot into Linux and work in Open Source Applications. Let Windows be available in the system , particularly to work on an odd document or graphic received from a colleague or from another organization, which requires a specific Windows application. One day, one finds that neither is there a need to boot into windows nor is it a peasant experience to do so , at times when you are forced to do so,.That is the time delete your windows partition and that would be Software Nirwana.

CONCLUSION

15. The Information age has seen so much development in three decades that has not happened in industrial age for three centuries and agricultural age for over three millenniums. Open Source Software has evolved to become a viable alternative to propriety software. The main reason why users have not switched over to Linux is that they are not aware of the developments that have taken place in the Open Source arena in the past decade. We need to spread that awareness, for the benefit of all users, individuals or organizations.

My E-Bookshelf

I have often wondered as to why is it that we see no icon on the desktop called ‘My Book-Shelf. ’when ‘My computer‘ is so universal. Is it because computers have replaced books ? Can they ever do that? In my own case, the very first computer, I owned was an AT286 Machine, which just … Continue reading “My E-Bookshelf”

I have often wondered as to why is it that we see no icon on the desktop called ‘My Book-Shelf. ’when ‘My computer‘ is so universal. Is it because computers have replaced books ? Can they ever do that?

In my own case, the very first computer, I owned was an AT286 Machine, which just displayed a DOS prompt. Even then, as I recall, I had one folder (called a directory , those days) where I kept such files which was for any kind of reference. Since Windows 3.1 days then I have always had an icon on my computer desktop, which took me to my digital resources like Dictionary, Railway Time table, CDA Hand Book , a few Tamil books etc. Today, I have a Linux Machine with the “Calibre’ meeting all my needs of ‘reading off the screen’, which includes some reference material, some fiction and some news feeds.

While it may be true that we do not need a book shelf in every office or home PC, a E-Bookshelf on every computer is not only necessary, but very much practicable. Today with the rising popularity of open source resources, we have a huge volume of rich contents in the public domain. To manage all these resources we have open source e-book management software applications like Calibre. All you have to do is to download an application, configure it and start surfing the net for resources of your interest. Mind you, not for a moment, am I suggesting piracy. There are any number of projects like Project Gutenberg which are involved in digitizing classical works. There are sites like it-ebooks.info which are giving away good E-books for free and they charge only for the print edition.

Even if one is not interested in classical poetry or for that matter any kind of serious literature, a book shelf is required even if it is purely for resources of utility nature, like CDA Hand Book, Railway Time Table, Dictionary, or may be ‘Golf made Easy’ .

I only wish, a ‘My Book-shelf ‘ Icon becomes a reality, at least in Schools and other Educational Institutions even if it is not as omnipresent as ‘My Computer’.

Booklet printing and The Spirit of Ubuntu

These days we tend to do more screen reading than traditional book reading. While it is okay to read blogs, news-feeds etc off the screen, certain materials like tutorials and how-tos need to be studied leisurely. Taking printout on A4 sheets is ok, but it is still not so convenient. To have a … Continue reading “Booklet printing and The Spirit of Ubuntu”

Taking printout on A4 sheets is ok, but it is still not so convenient. To have a good feel of reading, the material should be of book-size, with ample margin for binding and should be held open with a thumb or thumb and the little finger. I have always been loking for an app which can do booklet printing. The other day I found just that.

You can just right click on a file and generate a booklet in a size of your choice. what’s more , you save a lot of paper.

There are many apps which only a minuscule few may want, and big IT companies don’t care. An open source software enthusiast, who needs such a feature, looks around, to see if it is available. If not available he proceeds to develop one, alone or with other like minded people.

And once a facility is developed, the real fun is in freely sharing it with the whole world. That is the spirit of Ubuntu, a far cry from the software giants who toil hard to produce stuff people don’t need and toil harder to sell it to them at exorbitant prices.

A Reluctant Techie

My career , which was always on a ‘ conveyer belt’ gave very little room for any deliberate decisions ; from sainik school to NDA to army . One of the rare occasions when I was really required to make a choice was to choose between tech and non tech. The first time … Continue reading “A Reluctant Techie”

My career , which was always on a ‘ conveyer belt’ gave very little room for any deliberate decisions ; from sainik school to NDA to army .

One of the rare occasions when I was really required to make a choice was to choose between tech and non tech. The first time it happened was at NDA, and as a 16 year old, I opted for the technical stream. The classification test at NDA categorized me as ‘A’ the highest class in the technical group. I remember telling my DS , that I got A in all subjects, little realizing that, while it was the highest in Tech and English , it happened to be the lowest in Hindi; for whatever reason. So, I started my career in army with a triple ‘A’ .

Survival at first term had more to do with physical endurance than anything else, least of all studies. The common mode of locomotion was front rolling and the bicycles we were issued with were riding on us more often than we ever rode them. Under the circumstances, I came down rolling from ‘A’ to ‘C ‘ classification in the second term and passed out with a CGPA of 4, (a four point someone). The three years of ‘technical ‘studies was just a black hole to me . Try as I might , can’t remember a single thing I learnt in those three years in Sudan block and Science block. Whatever was learnt, good or bad was learnt outside these famous academic blocks.

Years later, I was sitting in front of my DS at IMA (who retired as a well known Army Commander), who was trying to push me towards a technical arm. The interview went something like this.

Why don’t you go for a technical arm ?

Sir, I prefer Infantry.

You were a techie at NDA weren’t you ?

Sir, NDA techie is not much of a techie.

Anyway, you have slogged more than others. (doing math is slogging while push ups was fun !)

……………………… ???!!!

Why not artillery ?

Sir, I prefer dealing with men to handling guns.

Consider artillery again.

NO sir it is infantry

GO TO HELL !

In one of his lectures the same DS had said, “why do you guys want to go for docile tps like hill tps , cross swords with Sikhs and Jats , they are the ones who win all competitions. (he was a jat sikh from Gorkhas)

Well, I opted for JATS.

The first ten years of my career, I stayed away from anything that had to do with maths or science. We used to have a technical orientation course before going to staff college. As the name suggests, it was meant for ‘pongos’ like us, as the future generals were expected to be tech savvy. No sir, don’t you stuff me with maths and science for whatever reason; I will, anytime put tactical issues above the technical ones; don’t I have some bespectacled geeks under command? Predictably, I got a C grade in the course.

Those were the days, XT Computers were just being introduced in offices. I went through the first year of my staff appointment blissfully ignorant of PCs. The turning point came when a GD sepoy, who was in-charge of the PC (well friends , we had just one XT PC in the whole Brigade Headquarters) informed all that the ‘files’ would not open and we had to do the VIP brochure , briefing etc all over again. The army cdr was visiting the next day. It was a long night of typing and proof reading and by the end of it, I had to know why the file wouldn’t open and had to ensure that such a crisis wouldn’t occur again.. Thus started the long road to my Education in the IT field. Subsequently, supersession helped; leading to a huge bonfire of all army pamphlets I had , (just to ensure security of info) and books on IT more than replaced the void in my bookshelves.

The world of Info Tech is a great field, ever changing, ever evolving, a field of huge depth and width, a digital ocean , yet always willing to reveal its secrets and treasures to anyone willing to learn, willing to dive deep into it. You don’t need a teacher, classrooms or universities; all you require is the hardware and the NET. If at all you need any guidance , there is abundant help from fellow-netizens. Where ever I was posted I created projects for myself, developing web sites, applications and so on.

Later I was posted to Infantry School as an instructor in the newly created IT Division. Suddenly, the shoe was on the other foot. I found myself as a techie among non-techies. A course mate of my mine, a signal officer not very tolerant to ignorance shared with me a conversation he had had at the bar . It went like this ..

…….. “Water here seems to be very hard, isn’t it ?”

Infantryman… “oh sure it is , even yesterday we had a hailstorm” and he was dead serious !

I could totally empathize, It is not easy to be out of sync in any environment.

Strange are the ways God and …. The Army.. years later I found myself , as an infantryman, teaching a tech subject to officers of the Corps of Signals. About that later …….