The Free Evangelist

First, I should tell you I am technologically retarded.  Okay, well maybe not that bad, but I have a way with technology which makes it want to stop working.  I've broken my dishwasher, toaster oven,  watches, cell phones, and computers just by touching them or sometimes by being in the room.  In short, I either need something that is REALLY well made or someone around me who can fix something that is less than stellar to keep it working if I'm going to be using it.  This is one of the reasons why Christian and I work so well together.  I break things, he fixes them.  I mention this because it's important to know about him.  He is very interested in all things involved in tech.  That means he rooted his phone.  But most importantly, he uses all open-source software.  He put open source software on the laptop I'm using to write this entry. He actually tries to convert people to open source as much as possible. You could say, he's an evangelist for open source, more specifically, Ubuntu.

My husband came home from work as he usually does for lunch.  He had just fixed a laptop for one of his co-workers and was telling me about the conversation they had.  Normally he would charge 40$ or more per hour to fix a tech issue.  This time, he made a deal with the guy.  He would fix it for free if he could install Ubuntu as the OS. The guy's main concern was being able to run iTunes along with internet and word processing.  Christian basically told him point blank that Ubuntu is the operating system for people.  He could sell this thing, if it was for sale.

See the cool thing about open source software is that it is both philosophically and literally free.  Yes, you don't have to pay for it.  That is definitely a plus for our wallets.  But when it comes to open source, it's not just about money.  It's about the code.  The code is free.  It is open, without any market interference except for the simplest of influences - what people want, they build and then share with the masses.  That makes open source software more stable and just better written than anything you would buy because people build the software for the love of building it.  It means fewer security holes (unless you have really special skills like some people I know) and its virtually virus free (viruses are written for Windows... hmm... interesting...which has numerous security holes). 

Needless to say, the guy at the shop didn't really care about the philosophical intellectual freedom of his new operating system.  He just cared that when he turned it on it worked, and iTunes was operating in all its glory.  When it did, several other guys at the shop saw the ease of Ubuntu and mentioned they were having trouble with their computers.  More potential converts. Sweet. :-)