Linux, Mac OSX and the vagaries of Technology

Well, yesterday we made progress on the great Linux saga. Dad finally got the network up and updated the OS to Debian 3.0 (I think). Linux is pretty cool and I like hacking around in it, but it is taking a lot of time to figure out. Plus, I feel that I spend entirely too much time with technology and not enough time with something else more.....creative. Like the song in Napoleon Dynamite, I do love technology, but I am tired of figuring it out. It always feels like working, not play or relaxing anymore.

We went over to Nana Simister's last night to install her wireless. I did not bring my laptop to configure the repeaters and so we have to go back Thursday. **sigh** Frankly, I wish they would just spring for their own DSL and not share Lisa's. It would make my life a whole lot simpler! Less time configuring yet another computer system. I even spent an evening last week fixing my ex-boss, Jeff Unruh's computer.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love these people and would do anything for them. It is a service that I can perform. Some of us work in food kitchens or mow widow's lawns. I service computers for free for non-geeks. Really though, playing with the technology is fun most of the time. I just need a break from it. It has become a 24x7 job both at home and work. I was reading a bulletin board the other day and one guy who was a Linux SysAdmin (administers computers all day) said that he didn't want to come home and administer computers all night. Hence he had Macs at home. Mac and Linux are cousins (Mac uses the Darwin kernel for you geeks out there) so he was comfortable with the system. The tools and GUI (graphical user interface) really make the management simple. So now I am on the lookout for tools to help finish the setup and then administer the new Linux server. Then I have to start designing the web site. See what I mean about never-ending? If the Linux system does not work out, Mac Mini, here I come!

However, I feel the pressure from the spirit to get this website up for the family history. Mom has made some real jumps with Nana Simister's family, going back at least two more generations (maybe 3) and the Hull family (my grandmother's) wants to compile a new book on the family to supplement Robert Rigby Hull's book (aka, the Blue Book) using the web site. This will make it a living document online that anyone can download. I just have to figure out how to do it. Maybe set it up as a blog, I don't know. The spirit of Elijah grabs us all according to our talents, so I am stuck behind a keyboard and screen for the forseable future. I will be golfing or some other less technical pusuit soon. Ya gotta catch a break sometime!!