Pendrive Linux, Textbooks and Gambling

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Pendrive Linux, Textbooks and Gambling
Even though I spent nearly 9 months investigating (could have been 3 months if our Telecoms provided us with Express Highway- at the rate of 3 distributions a day in 3 hours) Live CDs, my single interest was carrying a Flash Drive in my pocket not more than 4-8GB in size in my retirement. That is the only thing, I can afford in my retirement with the government expecting me to kick the bucket sooner than late, so that they can save money in their coffers.

How can a pensioner who spent over 40 years of serving the average masses could have his or her head above water with the cost of living showing an upward spiral?

I do not know.

My old professor in sick bed and he could not afford the expenses having served 40 years in service.

I used to bring him medicine from abroad and he could not afford a good English detective novel. That is the only thing he wanted me to bring from abroad. Thank god he is no more and suffering. 

He taught me a few lessons which I carry to this day.

Honesty, integrity and above all outspoken and confident in all what he did.

I hope he is in heaven for the way he changed my outlook, in life and matters of importance and self integrity.

So, Pendrive not a Laptop that I carry in my old age and to my grave and they should be sealed, for a century for historians to study our way of life, if human race could last that long.
Little over one year or so, I prepared number of Pendrives with various Linux distributions. Unfortunately, I cannot use then in the University since none of the computers can be booted from a Pendrive. They are pretty old and some of them we purchased just before the bomb blast at Katunayake.

We have not had an upgrade since then.

We could not afford to network the rooms and the cost was prohibitive.

What we did was to get some help from Lions Club and bought all the equipment for networking and trained a few university guys in networking and got the work done.

We only paid them over time and that was also stopped abruptly.

This is the way the University functions.

This job would have cost us over 2 millions.

I knew the price very well. 

Just before joining the University I was in private sector and we wired the entire hospital and we had to get some things from Singapore since our IT industry was not considered existing, then.

All the rooms were networked except my room.
You may wonder Why?
I was fed up.

I did my own network at home and my network was faster than one in the University. I climbed the roof and wired it myself.

Even now I cannot download a Linux distribution in the University even at night.

So why bother leave the University, if one wants to upgrade oneself.

That was what I did.

I left the University in my youth and I was earning my professor's salary on a weekend locum in London, England.

Unfortunately. things have not changed much for the younger generation.

Now that the Government has legalized betting it is imperative that the internet access should be fast and open to everybody.

I saw an Indian betting gentleman was inquiring from Indian Express whether online service is available, in Sri_Lanka.

Come Cricket World Cup, everybody will be betting except watching and enjoying cricket.

My impression is that this is going to be the Worst Cricket World Cup.

You wait and see.

Weather, grounds, umpiring and betting going to be diabolical.

Now that I was off the target a lot.

Not without reason.

Instead of me talking about Pendrive Linux please visit the home of Pendrive Linux and see it for yourself.

I have copied part of the page of introduction of their website below.

But my last comment is, if I am the Minister of Education, I will have a simgle distribution of Linux on a Pendrive with all the dictionaries and all the Textbooks copied. Then the children do not have to carry a gunny load of old outdated government text books on their back. Not worth reading with this fast changing and expanding universe of knowledge.

Copied from Pendrive Linux

Easily install your favorite Linux operating system on a flash drive or USB Key no larger than your thumb (Thumb Drive). 

Your Portable Linux operating system can then be taken with you, and run from any computer that can boot from the Pendrive device. 

Bring your entire operating system, desktop, applications, files, email, personal settings, favorites, games and more with you. 

It’s your own personal operating system you can carry in your pocket.

The Pendrivelinux focus is to provide simplified portable Linux flash drive installation tutorials and custom USB Linux installers, making is easy for anyone to install, boot, and run their favorite Linux from a flash drive!