Freedom the Buddhist Perspective
Four
freedoms elegantly expressed by former US President F.D.Roosvelt are
the freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from
want and freedom from fear. These freedoms are abused to a variable
degree worldwide.
What is the reason for this trend?
Is it an important question?
The
fear factor (both physical and psychological) is utilized to gain
undesirable motives. The psychological fear is the deadliest of all. It
seems that from terrorist to teachers (fear of examination) to all
beings (in day to day life husbands and wives) are using fear as a
method of conduct. The politicians are no exception to this general
phenomenon and the use of this lethal weapon by doctors in the form of
lightening strikes is unpardonable professionally. The use of this
methodology to gain undesirable objectives both locally and globally
seems to be the norm whether it is President Bush or Prime Minister
Blair. There is mass scale intolerance and the fear factor (the first of
the triple of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) is operative in economic,
political and social spheres.
If one look at the history of
mankind the starting point of faith and religion is the fear the man had
perceived for the suffering and the unknown. In latter years of history
when religion was challenged by the heretics and pagans the church
itself used the fear factor for its own subsistence. Ever since the fear
factor had spread to all the fields including economic. It has become a
vehicle to perpetuate endless cycle of misery and violence on mankind.
The
leaders are conveniently forgetting the other issues from which the
poverty originates. Multinational companies are exploiting the third
world to the tune of billions of dollars and the dual approach of carrot
(Aid) and the FUD (fear) seem to me are the two basic elements in
operation worldwide.
Why the social scientists of the west and east are silent on these issues?
It is inexplicable?
The
abuse of these freedoms, whether by state controlled media or private
media with vested interests (freedom of speech and expression), the
willful desecration of religions (freedom of worship), increase of
poverty (freedom from want) in the world including the West and the
spread of terrorism worldwide (freedom from fear) have engulfed us
dangerously.
One has to ponder and ask the vital question what is the price for freedom and what is the meaning of liberty?
Poor
man in the street does not understand all the jargon. He will never be
freed from poverty as long as the corporate mind set makes the profits
the target vision. Without sharing the wealth of information with the
competitors to improve the quality and availability at an affordable
price the gap between the rich and poor are widening. Free market
philosophy is not for liberating the masses. They are there to increase
the profits. The belief that profits would filter to the masses is a
myth. There is no community involvement as seen in the Linux community.
Linux community feels that they are liberated from the corporate giants.
Until and unless we are free from both local and foreign corporate
giants who are all hell bent on making profits an exercise, the monopoly
a bounden right, the freedom of choice is an illusion.
Only the
minority will have the freedom to enjoy and exploit. The corporate mind
set should change to community mind set with community involvement.
There is a limit that the free market philosophy can stretch but beyond
that point there are diminishing returns. Like in the Linux community
somewhat similar orientation has to take place in the business community
in Sri-Lanka and worldwide for the true meaning of freedom to be
enjoyed by everybody. Freedom should not be exclusive to a particular
class, creed, race, religion or descent. It should be of universal
nature that enhances the cooperation rather than segregation. Selfish
gains but no devotion to the need of the poor as preached by all the
religions is not relevant to the corporate mind set. Wholesome benefits
of the many technical advances of the last century want accrue to all
unless the trends of the last century in economic fields are reversed.
Freedom that costs is not meaningful whether it in social, economic or human.
What then is the Buddhist perspective of freedom?
In
Buddhist perspective there are three main hindrances to freedom. The
greed, hate and ignorance are the root causes that tie the mankind in
bondage to evil. The three positive aspects are generosity, compassion
and wisdom.
Wisdom
The wisdom is evidently lacking as far
as the pollution of the planet earth is concerned. The pollution of the
water resources especially the ocean where the first life began its long
evolutionary journey is beyond imagination. It has become dumping
ground for industrial waste including surreptitious dumping of nuclear
waste. The exploitation of the non renewable resources goes unabated as
if the resources are unlimited. Long term vision is lacking and short
term economic growth is the norm whether they are capitalistic countries
or socialist countries.
Greed
The generosity (sharing of
wealth) has a fundamental thrust in Buddhist way of thinking. Buddhist
way of life does not exclude trade but it is toned with sustainable
income instead of expansive earning. Sustainable economy without going
for limitless free market policy is the need of the moment and should be
the theme for the current century. Unless we overcome greed with
generosity the ever expansive nature of the economic activity cannot be
arrested whether it is in the East or West. The generosity should be of
global nature and the rich countries while keeping their economic
activities sustainable in their own scope, they should allow the
exchange of excess wealth to help the poor countries. This is very
important in sphere of education. Bringing the global village equitable
in the capacity to acquire knowledge base, if not economic base is of
vital important. The field of education has become a money spinner
globally.
The education is wealth.
The gift of Dhamma is the best gift of all.
In other terms the gift of knowledge is the best gift of all.
Looking
around the number of private educational institutions coming up in
Sri-Lanka the gift of knowledge seemed to be alien to us. The World Bank
and IMF seem to believe that the knowledge is an economic activity. I
am in no way a believer that the government giving free books (often
outdated by a quarter century) would uplift the system of education. In
fact it is detrimental on the long run as shown in Sri-Lanka. I would in
fact promote authors outside the closed education system writing the
school books. But these books should compete with the international
publications. For writers of high quality to emerge in Sri-Lanka the
free books scheme should be phased out except some standard books. India
is noted for the advances they have made in this field. But what I am
advocating is that these books should be priced at an affordable prices
and the Education Department should buy them from the publishers and
distribute them freely to students. An alternative is for the business
community in the locality to buy them and donate them to the schools of
their choice and grant them tax concessions to promote the business
ventures. Furthermore, they should promote the system of education in
such a way that their labour force is trained in the schools in the
locality and a certain number of school leavers are absorbed into their
industries. This way their economic activity can be expanded and
community involvement is actively encouraged. We have to come out of the
rigid and monotonous system that we have inherited. Innovative schemes
can be planned and implemented. If need arises where local expertise are
not available foreign participation should be actively encouraged. JICA
is an institute which has this experience in the universities (the
university is the dead end structure of our education system) and
diverting their resources to Secondary Education would yield better
results overall. The rebuilding of schools of tsunami devastated land
and making a new working model would be a project the new rulers should
venture into. We are not lacking in ideas but our politicians are more
obsessed with grabbing the power and they are surrounded by mediocre
experts.
There are many ways of toning our greed but I have only
chosen education as a model which I consider needs rejuvenating with new
ideas but not experimentation or privatization. What ever said and done
what ever achievements we have made in the last century were because of
our Buddhist attitudes in education. Of course the Swabhasa panacea was
the biggest blunder of the last century. It is not possible to kill a
mother tongue by introducing working languages (English and Computer)
and the contrary is shown in India, our closest neighbour. However the
print, electronic and TV channels are doing the destruction to our
mother tongue /s (Tamil included) on daily basis.
Hate
The
greed and competitiveness breed hate. It is quite evident with the
election propaganda live. Even though the street violent is absent to a
significant degree the breeding ground is vested with the TV channels.
The advertisements are disgrace to our intellectual voter who is
economically poor but not spiritually. Only after the election we can
have a proper assessment of the impact they have made in the minds of
the confused voter. My belief is that it would not. I am a believer that
our voters are not stupid. We have inherited the hate for over two
decades and the LTTE is the beneficiary.
When we learn to behave?
The number of animals killed for various reasons is another expression of hate.
Ignorance
Ignorance
is the biggest evil. Dhamma apart our ignorance of sustainability is
evident if we only look at the loss of forest reserve and with it the
biodiversity. Ignorance of the economic principles governing a small
island nation of ours is evident by its lack. We open our big mouths to
support the rich nations who are sending the spoils of the last season
when the current harvest is on. Come Christmas we may be eating the
foods that were destined for animal food in the West packaged with the
expiry date changed cunningly. The other major ignorance is our food
habits. The changing from a healthy vegetarian diet to a western diet
which the westerners are dropping by each day with the advance of the
current medical knowledge is the manifestation of our poor health
education (coupled with greed).
Unless we overcome greed
(generosity), hate (compassion) and ignorance (wisdom) the meaning of
the technical evolution in the last century would not be as meaningful
as it would be in the current century. A Buddhist country like ours
should emulate these virtues. Economic principles should be toned not by
merely stating a Dharmista Society. The worst of our modern history
followed after the open economy and Dharmista Society. When history is
rewritten this anomaly would be pointed out without grace. It has to be
rectified now, not a century later.
In Buddhist perspective the
freedom we aspire is the freedom from greed, hate and ignorance. Path to
freedom is laid on the virtues of Metta (compassion), Karuna
(kindness), Muditha (sympathetic joy) and Upeksa (equanimity).
Saturday, December 20, 2025
Freedom
FUD-Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt
Meaning of Freedom
Reproduction which is very OLD but relevant to this Day
The dangling of the carrot is the proverbial statement for an offering that is apparently “feasible but not tenable”, that is presented to hoodwink the unsuspecting masses.
Now the operative word is the FUD, a shorthand for Fear, Uncertainty and the Doubt.
FUD the triple of Fear, Uncertainty and the Doubt that is created in the minds of masses by corporate giants and is utilized to sideline the competitors.
Good example is the operation of Microsoft against the competitive Linux distributions. When Linux was emerging as an operating system the FUD was amply utilized to distance the would be computer enthusiast and lure him / her to Microsoft Windows.
But being intellectuals most of the Linux enthusiast overcame this by sheer courage and community spirits. Linux was very flexible and now quite unintentionally FUD is working against its originator. Community spirit prevailed in the Linux community and the Free Software Foundation laid the foundation in overcoming FUD syndrome. The spirit of Free Software Foundation / Linux is the gift of original software to the Internet Community.
As long as the authorship (not ownership) is quoted any modification could be done to the original copy to improve it and remove bugs. However the improved version has to be re-released back to the pool for further development by the community.
It is called the copy left and not copy right.
So the natural evolution of the software takes leaps and bounds within a short space of time for the betterment of the masses.
Much of this principle is very much close to the Buddhist principle of “Dhamma Dhana” but with a difference. What is given away is recycled with added improvement in quality and it is given away for another cycle like the “Sansara” cycle never ending.
One need not improve “The Dhamma” but only have to understand its underlying principles and spread the message of goodwill.
It is interesting to note that a Buddhist monk who had appeared in a court to protect his Pirith cassette, he had been marketing.
Is the “Sabbha Dhanam Dhamma Dhanam Jinathi” spirit of Buddhism being betrayed?
This monk should read the evolution of Linux Community and the General Public License that came with the Free Software Foundation. This Buddhist monk does not understand that the Gift of Dhamma is the supreme gift and it should not be commercialized. A blank CD / cassette is only Rs.25 / 50 and anybody who is selling a Pirith CD / cassette for more than Rs.50 is vandalizing these principles.
If Buddha is alive today I wonder what he would utter.
Would be an another occasion for “Udana Whakya” similar to “Sabbha Dhanam Linux Dhanam Jinathi” and would have a little smile at the corner of his mouth. There would be few more verses added illustrating the illusion of freedom and liberty of the mind filled with lust, hate and delusion.
Are we truly free and liberated?
It is something worth pondering.
All Sri-Lankans whatever the creed may be, believe that they are prisoners of their own conscience.
Sinhalese believe that they have to be free from interference by Tamils.
Tamils believe they are persecuted by the majority.
Are the Tamils free from persecution by their masters?.
The Muslims, believe they have to be free from indulgence from both Tamils and Sinhalese.
Million dollar question is, could the piece mongers (foreign ambassadors of dubious credentials) allay the FUD syndrome?
They in fact created it.
We are in this vicious cycle of suspicion, the LTTE and party in power and party aspiring to come into power are spreading the FUD syndrome viciously to its maximum zenith (peak).
What is needed is to have FUD syndrome at its nadir (depths).
The international community spreads the FUD syndrome to help the propagation of their corporate agenda with dangling the proverbial carrot.
What is happening in the political field in Sri-Lanka is the insensible manifestation of FUD syndrome.
At a philosophical level what Socrates said to an aggressive follower who would stretch his arm for a punch is relevant even today.
“Your freedom ends where my nose begins”.
The international community should realize that they are very close to every one's nose.
It is nice to recapture what Nazurudeen stated about his failure to marry.
It is said that he had been to all the countries looking for a girl he liked.
Ultimately he found one but the girl who matched his interests was also looking for man whom she wanted but alas for him / her that man was not Nazurudeen.
We have being looking for a suitable match maker for Sri-Lankan bride. Now we are left with a whole harem of foreign ambassadorial girls (donating their vices).
At what price we do not know?
This is where one has to ponder and ask the vital question what is the price for freedom and what is the meaning of liberty?
Poor man on the street does not understand the jargon he will never be freed from his poverty.
As long as there is corporate mind set in making profits without sharing the wealth of information with its competitors to improve the quality and availability at an affordable price the gap between the rich and poor would widen.
Free market philosophy is not for liberating the masses.
They are there to increase the profits.
The belief that profits would filter to the masses is a grand myth.
There is no community involvement as seen in the Linux community. Linux community feels that they are liberated from the corporate giants. Until and unless we are free from both local and foreign corporate giants who are hell bent on making profits and exercise their monopoly, the freedom of choice is an illusion to the majority.
Only the minority will have the freedom to enjoy and exploit.
This corporate mind set should change to community mind set and community involvement.
There is a limit that the free market philosophy can stretch but beyond that point there are diminishing returns.
Like in the Linux community somewhat similar orientation has to take place in the business community in Sri-Lanka and worldwide for the true meaning of freedom to be enjoyed by all.
Not a privileged and selected minority.
Freedom that costs is meaningless.
Selfish gains but no devotion as is preached by all the religions is not relevant to the corporate mind set.
Microsoft agents doing a few community projects (to lure a few deprived clients in the periphery) without shedding their corporate mentality is of little benefit to the masses.
A wholesome benefits want accrue.
If we do not think in radical terms and initiate changes now, there going to be massive uprising, hitherto unknown in the past. Some of the manifestations in the world today are a sign of this frustration building.
Not only with the poor but in the middle class too.
The middle class gave stability but it is fast disappearing.
With the wide use of the Internet, we would hear of more and more of evolving crisis.
People would like to see the credibility in their leaders which is sadly lacking in the world because of corporate giants pulling their strings behind their leaders.
They determine policy not the larger masses.
The masses would ask what is the meaning of this freedom?
That is the starting point of the crisis of this century.
Leaders have to be groomed with social values and ideals and not individual profiles and party profiles. Leaders should not be trained only to run the corporate giants. Leaders should be trained to lead the community they live.
Emulating western values only, going to be, not enough and begging bowl mentality should give way to equal partners in international dealing whether the country is big or small.
Some of the eastern values of sharing and caring should take precedence over profits. Then only one can call the citizens of sovereign nations are free and liberated.
United Nations will fail in their duty, if they have only Human Right Charter for cosmetic exercises. In that case the amount money that is spent on UNO could be better utilized for some other ventures.
They should rewrite these Charters.
Profit beyond certain acceptable levels should be prohibited or a certain level of compulsion to do community research both eco-friendly and community-friendly should be encouraged.
What is the big idea of having a few rich people and million and millions of poor souls?
How can a man like Tyson a champion one day and then a pauper the next day (in his twilight years)?
It is not acceptable in USA and for that matter any other country in this world.
Where is the social security?
England had a very well organized social security system and in another 50 years time it is going to be all private pensions?
These questions that are raised in the West and are equally relevant to us. The people who raise these voices have no industrial or corporate muscle.
Party politics seem to have ruined the entire world.
Most of the party leaders worldwide are gullible liars and some of them are of course pathological in nature.
Can we trust these leaders?
This is what is emerging in the West.
The covert political mechanisms are firmly embedded and established, in the current system, only the corrupt and rich can rise to the top.
So, talking about freedom whether it is in the West or East is futile to the average man on the street. They just get the kick out of kicking a party out of power to get another miserable party into power and languish till the next opportunity to make the same mistake again.
In reality, it is a Gamble or a Casino?
One day cricket was much more interesting until this Casino bug bit it in full.
At the end of the day, all the so called democratic exercises are futile and the freedom of choice, a bad dream and a nightmare, just as well, to be forgotten by the majority at stake.
The liberation that the average man is looking for in economic and social fields is not achieved. Goals are set but never achieved due to lack of penetrating insight and vision.
What is done is patchy and ad hoc. We are blindly going through the cycle of events till events take control of our freedom.
Are we truly liberated?
The answer is firm, No.
Freedom
Four freedoms elegantly expressed by former US President F.D.Roosevelt have given way to FUD factor.
The last factor the fear (from both physical and psychological) is utilized to gain undesirable motives.
The psychological fear is the deadliest of all and our doctors are using this to the detriment of the profession (both public and private).
Microsoft is a Cancer one have to Live and Die
Microsoft is a Cancer one have to Live and Die
In Early 2000 I made a Free Article called FUD.
This laptop cannot be booted by a Linux Image on USB stick due to Microsoft’s hold on its BIOS.
When, I purchased, it had Windows without any software.
On my frequent sojourns abroad, I accidentally found it in Mustafa Centre in Singapore. I purchased it damn cheap, without knowing it had an issue with its Boot Menu. Additionally it had the figure of 8 virus which inserts itself at many entry points without an input. I now know how to negotiate this irritating inconvenience.
In my usual careless attitude on holidays, I did not have the inborn sense to test it before purchasing.
Of course, the sales person would not volunteer the defects he or she is privy of.
Beware if one purchases a "Marked Down" gadget even in Singapore.
Coming to Microsoft, it tries to own the hardware I have already fully paid for.
This laptop with Microsoft Interference is the very reason, I migrated to Linux for good.
Nowadays, I use Puppy Linux to test but before that Knoppix.
After a while, Windows Installation was erased with TRUE OS which is defunct now.
I used the TRUE OS CD to connect to the Internet, thereby bypassing the use of USB Slot to boot the laptop.
Microsoft owns the device by secret alliance with the O.E.M guys.
One has to be smart to bypass the Microsoft Hegemony.
I paid for the hardware and Microsoft cannot own it after the point of purchase.
What I do with the hardware is entirely my business.
This laptop is working fine with Endless OS installed.
In the first instance, I used Russian Astra Linux to erase any trace of Microsoft and Endless OS came to my sphere of activity much later.
Astra Linux had only a limited application bundle and I could not install even Abiword my favourite word processor.
I gave up Russian Linux for good on that issue alone.
By the way, Russians have moved away from MATE desktop and using Gnome in ALT Linux.
Microsoft Hegemony
Microsoft Hegemony
Microsoft Hegemony and my First Laptop
This Laptop could not be booted by a USB stick due to Microsoft’s hold on its BIOS. It also has a BIOS Virus, I call it figure of 8 virus.
Figure 8 repeating itself in an endless chain.
The Chinese guys in Singapore rather Indian Mustafa guys cheated me.
"Rarely
seen without a bustling crowd of customers, Mustafa Centre is set in
the Little India district. A cult favourite in the Singaporean shopping
scene, it’s the best place to go if you’re after a bargain or enjoy
shopping late into the twilight hours. Mustafa may not be as fancy as
some of Singapore’s other malls, but it has a great range of items, and
good prices to match. Here, you’ll get a bargain on just about
everything, from clothes, perfume, souvenirs, electronics, makeup,
confectionery and even food and groceries. "
It had Windows without any software.
On my frequent sojourns abroad, I accidentally found it in Mustafa Centre in Singapore.
I purchased it for a cheap price, without knowing it had an issue on its Boot Menu.
Additionally it had the figure of 8 virus which inserts itself at text level and at many entry points.
I now know how to negotiate this inconvenience and this laptop probably was the very reason, I migrated to Linux for good.
I
did not have the proper sense to test it before purchasing and beware
if, one purchases a "marked down" gadget even in Singapore.
After a while, Windows Installation was erased with TRUE OS which is defunct now using the the TRUE OS Boot CD to connect to the Internet thereby, bypassing the use of USB Slot as a boot device which Microsoft owns by secret alliance with the O.E.M guys.
One has to be smart to bypass the Microsoft Hegemony.
I paid for the hardware and Microsoft cannot own it after the point of purchase!
This laptop is working fine with Endless OS installed.
I updated it few days ago.
It has all my archived Linux images.
It is very slow.
I have no intention of looking for a DDR4 RAM.
It has two slots.
If the DDR4 fails, which is unlikely with Linux installed, I am going to dish it out and by a Mini Computer for less than 300 dollars.
Friday, December 19, 2025
My Learning Curve of Debian 6 to Current 9.9.0
Saturday, May 4, 2019
My Learning Curve of Debian 6 to Current 9.9.0 was not smooth but with lot of hiccoughs but it was worth all the same.
I am writing this while waiting for Debian to be installed on a laptop.
I erased the Windows for good (laptop) but it did not allow me to mount a Linux distributions.
Sinister and a sadistic ploy and the ESP boot partition is filled with a batch of Microsoft Secretive BIG Virus Package (figure of 8 virus)..
Even Debian could not bypass this strategic ploy.
But I found a way.
It is Open Solaris in TrueOS that ruthlessly eliminated the ESP partition from ROOT to the RUMP of the partition table and let me use TrueOS. (TrueOS is defunct now)
The TrueOS is for developers' item and I found a way to delete its TANK partition and install Debian. Since TANK partition cannot be resized, I had to devise my own solution without coexisting with the TrueOS.
Come 64 bits I changed to Peppermint (coming from UK is useless) and Debian.
I erased all my paid Window’s versions for good.
I now use Debian exclusively without any problem.
Even managed to make a USB stick for installation on a laptop.
When I have time I play with Elementary OS, PinguyOS, Peppermint OS, Elive, Emmabantus and a few more.
Sorry guys and girls (developers) other than Debian.
Keep up the good work.
Thank YOU.
My Grouse with Microsoft Windows
Even though, I do not use Window at all, the catalyst for my migration to Linux was none other than Microsoft Monopoly.
My First Computer to Intel's NUC
My basic NUC with WiFi and Bluetooth is cute.
I cannot lift it BUT it's RAM is only 4MB.
This may be the first research work done on a computer (earlier it was done on paper and a typewriter) in my Faculty.
For my research work I used Windows 95 and Office.
They all are in working order except the dot max printer (which I threw, to the junk yard) and they are filling my bedroom.
This piece is about my entry into Linux distributions.
Since my paper out put of Microsoft Office was bad was bad I used Sun Solaris OpenOffice 1 for my research work. It removed all the Microsoft Macros and I got the paper layout of my research thesis in A4 papers amounting to about 180 pages.
Then I did some research and found Debian, Suse, Mandriva, XandrOS and Redhat Boot CDs and booted them on a 10 GB hard disk.
I never looked back on Microsoft again after my research work was accepted by the University.
I revived the computer and stuck a 80 GB hard disk and I would try to install Debian on it today (only one CD) and others need at least 3 CDs for installation.
Windows had about 40 odd floppies.
In my NUC, I have Mint (Ubuntu replacement), Debian, Emmabantus and Ubuntu installed and they are running smoothly on 18 Watts out put and without noise.
What a turn around in my life with Linux.
Why I hate Microsoft and Bill Gate
Windows
is a shoddy operating system and resource hungry where my first
computer with 2 MB RAM could not handle Win 95 but I used Debian 6 with
over 6CDs could do a better job then.
Later I migrated to Redhat since there were many books written from Redhat 7 onward.
Then of course, Caldera, Debian and Mandriva and still later Knoppix took me to New Heights in Linux.
About Mr. Bill Gate I have nothing personal to say and his divorce probably is good for both.
Hanging onto a breaking relationship is nerve racking to any human being.
I hope both do some productive work on their own volition.
My grouse with him is his ploy with manufacturers to insinuate OEM
hardware with BOGUS UEFI-MEFI (it was named Unified Framework but I used M
for Microsoft here for his personal use) or framework interface was an
atrocious business plan to stifle Linux users.
I do not have to take permission from Bill Gate to use open source
Linux in my laptop initially installed with Microsoft Windows.
It does not let me use legacy BIOS and still have a UEFI script
hidden in the memory or within the hardware architecture of the OEM
portion.
Simple method to overcome this ploy is to stick a SD of at least 32 GB and install the boot loader there.
UEFI won't let you use legacy GRUB to boot multiple Linux distributions.
I have now tried Linux ESP partition to bypass UEFI blocking mechanism.
If OEM guys says no boot medium even after having installed a Linux.distribution, this is what you have to do.
1. Download BSD TRUE OS DVD, Debian DVD 1 and Genome Partition (GPT) iso CD.
2. Install TRUE OS and it virtually takes over the Disk Drive of your laptop.
3. Unfortunately it does not let you boot any other distribution.
4. Boot GPT partition disk.
Delete the tank partition of BSD leaving only the ESP partition which the TRUE OS had created.
Then.partition the disk.with Ex4 or Btrfs partitions.
5. Mount Debian DVD and install.
You.have the option of using the unused part of the hard disk but
remember to.mount ESP partition (but do not format the ESP lest
partition.details are erased).
There is a very simple solution, if the Microsoft Media is not bootable.
1. Buy a mounted SATA disk and attach it to the Laptop.
One terabyte is cheap now.
I sometime go.to.Singapore and do my usual shopping and see offers for
about a week and by all.the stuff one third the price in Ceylon.
Now Coronavirus has put a stop to it.
Coming back to the external SATA disk one partitions it, they way one likes it.
Ultimately install a Linux distribution to boot from.while attached to the laptop.
The GRUB boot loader will detect the distributions unbootable from the laptop and boot them via the external disk.
One can use a SD card or USB but installing a distribution in a
tightly packed USB is slow and may break down in the middle of the
installation.
That problem one does not encounter with a one terabyte external disk.
I have used my innovative methods to erase OEM blocking ploy with BSD and then to install Debian thereafter.
Unfortunately even Ubuntu gives up and succumb to UEFI ploy and it destroyed my booting options.
Only BSD does erase everything and install ESP partition.
Not even Debian can handle it.
Lyx, LaTeX, Neovim and Notepaqq
Both Fedora and SuSe are Cheating the Newbies
Selecting a Desktop, is it a Big ASK?
Selecting a Desktop, is it a Big ASK?
I am not talking about Compiz, Wayland and Tiling Window Managers. They are not at all my interests.
Yes selecting is a desktop may be a big ask, due to many reasons.
Desktop is a Desktop and there is nothing more in it.
It has no applications and can be compared to a dress one wears. A dress one can wear as one pleases but Desktop is Fixed one cannot change but its front end appearance.
There is a caveat here, each desktop by default has a bundle of applications that goes with it except one big application, LibreOffice which everybody try to bundle.
I prefer desktops that does not bundle LibreOffice.
REBORN OS
On that specification, I really like REBORN OS and its Gnome Desktop.
It is minimal and out of 18.5GB /root partition it leaves me 10GB to add any application I need and 4 in particular.
VLC does to take much space but number of plug in are staggering
Audacity has almost every audio format.
GIMP is fantastic for photo editing.
Blender and blender takes the most space up to 1GB in total.
LibreOffice is a low priority for me since I use AbiWord for my book writing for ages, in fact from Microsoft Windows era.
Let me finish with Reborn OS, I installed all of the above and a few more and like Kdenlive and KODI and I have 2.5GB left of my root partition. This is because i have also used big /var and /opt partitions.
Desktops
I have been using Gnome of Debian for ages and I have had no problems at all and i stick with it.
Out of the lot below i only like Cutefish.
I have Plasma Desktop for comparison but rarely use it. The simple reason it takes a lot of time booting.
I want the start up brisk with line of text telling me what is going on behind before booting. Only Debian Gnome does it.
Gnome distribution is out and it has no Synaptic package manager.
The most beautiful KDE Desktop belongs to ARCH based BlueStar Linux and I have it installed in my NUC.
KDE desktop guys are still struggling and it is still RAW package stage and one cannot install it.
I found a ARCH based KDE desktop which was sleek like Trinity Desktop but it ruined by hard disk including EFI partition.
It is called KaOS.
Please do not use it.
1. Plasma desktop consumed about 500MB.
2. Cutefish which I really like consumed 300MB
3. Cosmic desktop about 500MB
4. KODI about 100 to 200MB
5. Kdenlive may be 500MB or more on top of Dolphin.
6. Cinnamon only about 50MB since it is built on top of Gnome
I did not try Budgie and MATE
7. DeepIn from China was a pain.
8. Anduino which is Microsoft emulation of course from China and I hate the most.
Thursday, December 18, 2025
Installing KaOS
Second War British Flying Officer and Rebirth
Second War British Flying Officer and Rebirth
My strong Love for Elephants and Space Crafts is a direct result of my previous life's flying expeditions mostly reconnaissance.
I was almost a flying doctor in New Zealand.
Ceylon History Belongs to 4 Buddhas of 20,000 Years
Ceylon History Belongs to 4 Buddhas of 20,000 Years
Yes, Ceylon History Belongs to 4 Buddhas of 20,000 Years and the fifth is to be born in the future.
Yet, the British wanted hide this truth.
Rest of the history is prehistory and we have the evidence dating back to 30,000 which belongs to Balangoda man.
1. Kakusandah
2. Konagama
3. Kasshapa
4. Gotama
5. Maithire to be born in the future
We have Hela Akuru dating back to 20,000 years and our history is closely linked to this alphabet.
We have Stone Edits or SelLipi dating back to 20,000 years of the past.
Not a few but thousands of them.
1. Paranvithana
2. Daraniyagala
3. Ellawala Medanada
Who distort of archeology for private gains at the behest of of the British and Indians want to take Buddhas to India.
Please give us evidence.
Jayarathna Pathiraarchchi without any help exposing these facts with thousands of Stone Edits or SelIipi.
Our Anura guy who is an Indian stooge does not have the guts to face the daring facts.
Down with him the Mother Lanka.
Lemuria from Wikipedia
Lemuria from Wikipedia
The hypothesis was proposed as an explanation for the presence of lemur fossils on Madagascar and the Indian subcontinent but not in continental Africa or the Middle East.
Occultist and founder of theosophy Helena Blavatsky, during the latter part of the 19th century, placed Lemuria in the system of her mystical religious doctrine, claiming that this continent was the homeland of the human ancestors, whom she called Lemurians.
Theories about Lemuria became untenable when, in the 1960s, the scientific community accepted Alfred Wegener's theory of continental drift, presented in 1912, but the idea lived on in the popular imagination, especially in relation to the Theosophist tradition.
Lemuria was hypothesized as a land bridge, now sunken, which would account for certain discontinuities in biogeography.
Chola Destruction of Anuradhapura
Chola destruction of Anuradhapura
Animal Mutilation
Crop Circles
She has investigated and documented the complex crop formation phenomenon in England, the U.S., and Canada.
Alien Abductions and Government Cover-ups:
Her work includes exploring testimonies of human abduction and speculating that the U.S. government may be involved with alien beings in a cover-up.
Documentary Production:
Howe has produced documentaries and is known for the Earthfiles website, where she shares findings and interviews individuals with evidence and experience related to these phenomena.
Awards and Recognition:
She was honored with the Lucius Farish Foundation Award for her contributions to UFO research and productions in 2013.
Books
Earthfiles
Visit the Earthfiles.com website to access her ongoing investigations, interviews, and podcasts.
Documentaries
Her work is featured in the History channel's series Ancient Aliens, with an episode dedicated to her career titled "The Linda Moulton Howe Files
Heckel
Helena Blavatsky
Mythical homeland of 7 races of Humanity.
Continental Drift
Sircorn
Supercontinents
Pangaea 300 million years ago.
Antarctica is the remnant of lost continent.
Gondwana 500 million years ago.
The hypothesis was proposed as an explanation for the presence of lemur fossils on Madagascar and the Indian subcontinent but not in continental Africa or the Middle East.
Occultist and founder of theosophy Helena Blavatsky, during the latter part of the 19th century, placed Lemuria in the system of her mystical religious doctrine, claiming that this continent was the homeland of the human ancestors, whom she called Lemurians.
Theories about Lemuria became untenable when, in the 1960s, the scientific community accepted Alfred Wegener's theory of continental drift, presented in 1912, but the idea lived on in the popular imagination, especially in relation to the Theosophist tradition.
Lemuria was hypothesized as a land bridge, now sunken, which would account for certain discontinuities in biogeography.