Surviving Paid Softwares

When I was about eleven years old, my father bought me my first computer. It was a Pentium II processor, running Windows 98. All I did with my computer is play Roadrash Demo Version  all day long. Computer weren't very common on those days. In some case even crippled to today's iPad. Still, the computer cost Tk. 70,000; a staggering amount. Today however, with the same amount of money, you can buy total 4 Desktop PC of better processing power. Still, with that enormous amount of computing power, your activities are mainly limited to simple word processing and games. The point I'm trying to make is, enventough, through technological advancement, we are able to buy hardwares at cheap rate, we cannot unleash its power fully because we simply do not have the ability to buy all the softwares. As a result we spend hours searching, downloading and installing pirated softwares, hoping we will get our work done in time.

As computer becomes an everyday household item, software firms started developing application which make out life far more easier. At the begging some of those softwares were free, but now you have to pay for everyone of the softwares you use on Windows or Mac. Softwares now-a-days come with anti-theft protection so that you cannot keep using it once your trial period is over. We are so dependent on technology now, we do not have any other way than to pay for the handy applications we use everywhere.

Fortunately for us, one man saw this coming and he had started a revolution in Computer software development industry long before even the Windows Operating System came into existence. Richard Stallman, the man behind the free software movement, had foreseen the future of software developement and founded the GNU project.

Whether you are an Engineering student or a Business student, you have to use a computer for your studies. You need to search the internet or run a simulation program to synthesize your project outcomes. Just imagine what would have happened if you had to pay money to do all your regular work like sending email or even updating your Facebook status. Believe it or not, in every essential computing platform now uses open source alternative for efficient and reliable outputs. If you still don't believe me than ask yourself, which browser do you use everyday to browse the net. If you use anything other than IE, you are using an open source software.

The most successful open source software project is undoubtedly Ubuntu. Actually it is an operating system. You might be familiar with Windows 98 or XP. Well, they are operating system on which the other software run on. The philosophy behind Ubuntu (founded by Mark Shuttleworth) is to build a community based operating system which continuously make efforts to make life even simpler. When you are using Ubuntu and other open source alternative softwares, not once you have to bothered about your serial key or getting a timely update of your copy of software. Softwares are stacked into several packages, so when you are an Electrical Engineer and willing to give open source a try, you simply select a package or set of packages to installed and the softwares will be ready and waiting for you. You do not have to tolerate the pain of sitting in front of your computer for long hours while the softwares install. If you feel that the open source softwares programmers are doing a great job, you can  take five minutes and donate a little money. They will leave you a thank you note but they will never nag you to buy a software upgrade that costs even more than the original price of the software.

If you use pirated softwares like most other person in Bangladesh, you very well know the hassle  of getting a simple thing done. Even if you are going to install a media player to listen to songs you need to go through series of strict process. First you need to get a cracked version of the software you intend to use. Second, you need to know the exact steps you need to do to get the software installed. Finally, after 7 -8 steps you might have got the software installed. Furthermore, you will have to deal with malicious computer viruses as you have downloaded illigal copy of a software.

If you are wondering how open source softwares can help, here are few bullet points why you should switch to an open source platform sometime in future,

1. Majority of the open source software comes free of cost and those who do have a price tag on them are really cheap compared to their rivals.

2. Each piece of software is designed, developed, maintained, patched, updated by numerous community members, ensuring your security and satisfaction.

3. Open source softwares do not carry virus with them. Even you manage a deadly virus from some place else, the virus will be dead itself!

4. If you do not like a part of a software or want to enhance it, you are free to do so and distribute it as long as you remain grateful to the original programmers.


I would like to finish this long post with one big example to why you should support open source. Wikipedia.org currently ranks as the 6th most viewed website in the world. It is the greatest and the largest store house of knowledge and its for everyone for free. The concept of this site is a branch of Open Source movement.

So support Open Source, because freedom matters.

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for those of you who are interested in humanitarian works, check this one out.
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P.S. I do not represent/belong/own/participate/employee/hired by caregivervillage.

A Heart of Stone

Its the night of 'Qadr'.............well according to the accepted opinion at least. As usual I've been to the Mosque 'n as usual the Imam prayed for the betterment and forgiveness of the Muslim community. Nope, nothing was unusual. People crying, chanting, praying (and in some cases shouting) around me was nothing out of World, been experiencing such events since my childhood. The only thing different was my heart (scientifically speaking, ''My Mentality, Feelings, Psychology etc etc).



I've been brought up in an isolated and controlled environment (Sorry folks, been reading chemistry recently. Can't help it). So, I've been extremely religious, if not pious and a well behaved boy (people say so). In every religious occasion, I took preparation in advance to observe it in appropriate manner. I prayed even after mid-night. Tonight however, I witnessed a different Maisun (for the note, that's my name). I was untouched, unmoved and unaffected by all the emotions around me. Recently I've found myself reluctant to religious practices. Believe it or not, I was always the one to sit in the second row (I never considered myself worthy of the first row and besides, a 'picci' among several 'murubbis' wouldn't look good). Such change is surprising, even for me! Gradually I'm losing my faith in religion and particularly 'People'. That can't be good. I better not go into details but I'm quite sure that I'm becoming evil. I'm becoming something which I'm not, a machine.



So what are the causes? Have I become evil and heartless because I've experienced too much hardship? No, that can't be it. Although I've experienced many aspects of life doesn't mean I've seen it all. I'm pretty sure I've yet to experience real world. Besides, there are a lot of people out there who have survived a far worse cases and still they are OK, I'm sure of it. So is it my internal clash of 'Emotion' and 'Logic'? There are some actions which you need to take, displaying selfless act, under the influence of emotion, simply because you are human. Again, there are some actions which you need to take, being selfish, simply because you need to survive. Recently, I've become obsessed with surviving. I've doing things which I never did before. Is it the changing world or have I been dazzled by the luxury of other people around me or because of the transition from 'Do nothing boy' to 'Do it all boy' or simply because I'm lost. Don't know the answer yet.

On the way to become an Engineer.

First i would like to apologize to those people who accidentally stumble upon my blog in hope to find some useful tips on surviving. i write this blog to have a web document of my own life which could be shared with a people like you. although i must admit I've plan to publish a collection of "Bear grylls" stuff.

On with the worthless documentation....

today was my first day at college as an undergraduate student. I've got to note down today's event before i forget. i planned to start at 0630 hrs but i was running a little late. so i picked the faster mode of transportation, auto-rickshaw. surprisingly it took me only 15 minutes from Mohammadpur to Mohakhali. then i waited til 0800 hrs to find out that my class will be held in another building. my class was at 0800 hrs, i (we) waited till 0900 hrs to find out that the schedule has already been changed. i headed to dco office for the notice. confirming the change of schedule i headed back to my home. then i had to go back again to attend ENG 091. all went well. I'm tired. that's all for now.

old problems, new thoughts, same outcome.

last July when my results came out, it made my life miserable. after six months it hasn't changed much. since i was not eligible for BUET i prepared for IUT. after that i prepared myself for MIST. the results were the same, i was not eligible. then it was just a matter of time i had admit myself in any private engineering college. my father chose BRACU. than he changed his mind, AUST. later i was told that AIUB promises a better future. now I'm in a fix. what to do? I've already got myself registered for several courses at BRACU. classes start on Sunday 16th. now what to do? i still have time to cancel my registration but i don't think I'll be allowed to attend classes at aiub this semester even somehow i manage to admit myself in it.damn man, life's tough.

ubuntu

I've been thinking to migrate to Ubuntu for a long time now. previously i did switch to Ubuntu 8.04 LTS. but it did not work out. my modem wasn't compatible to it. so i was forced to change back to windows. since i upgraded to broadband INTERNET last July it was only a matter of time i installed Linux/Ubuntu. it took me two tries to install Ubuntu. now that i had done it I'm having issues to find everything i need. it was said to me and i also believed that Ubuntu has a lot to offer but the truth is, you need to have a lot of experience to set everything in motion.now i have to go through all the guides to learn to use my computer once again.