I had the privilege of contributing several articles to the Ubuntu 8.10 edition of Linux Identity magazine, along with one I co-wrote with a friend, Ryan Troy (aka ubuntu-geek in the Ubuntu Forums). I even got to write the editorial at the beginning of the issue.

Now, with a little bit of fear and no small amount of intimidation, owing to how incredibly much I respect so many of you in the overall Linux and FOSS developer and Ubuntu communities, I am letting you all know about the issue while I hope I got all of my facts and details correct in the articles.

An infinite number of mathematicians walks into a bar. The first one orders a beer. The second one orders half a beer. The third one orders a quarter of a beer. It continues that way until the bartender interrupts to say, “You are all a bunch of idiots,” and pours two beers.

My wife is a mathematician. This made me laugh. Your mileage may vary. I stole the joke from here.

Do you ever ask yourself questions like “Why?” and “What if?”

Do you enjoy reading and discovering diverse viewpoints, especially those to which you have not been exposed?

I do. Often. I love to explore options, delve into ideas, and pursue opportunities, if only in my mind.

What I discover when I do this is that there are perspectives and thoughts beyond those which I have previously known. These things stretch me. They enable me to better understand what others think and feel. They provide for me an opportunity to go beyond what I already know and hopefully better myself, my methods for doing things, and perhaps my world.

How many people are actually like this?

I’m not sure, but it seems to me that people who want to be aware of things outside of their personal circle of the known are quite rare. I wish that were not the case, but I’m convinced that it is. In other words, I am either wonderfully unique or exceptionally weird, depending on your personal perspective.

Most of the time we as a human species will listen to friends or radio talk shows, read newspapers and web sites, and watch television programs which reinforce the opinions we already have. Rarely will we endure, much less consider the opinions of “those others” with whom we disagree.

People who are willing to do so are scoffed as being “so open minded their brains leaked out” or as people who “think instead of act.” I disagree. I think people who are willing to listen to and truly consider viewpoints with which they may not agree are healthy. They certainly tend to make better decisions, decisions which benefit a wider set of people in more ways, and they usually show great deference and respect to others, which in and of itself is a rare gift.

What got me thinking about this today was a web page I stumbled across with an article by Steven Dutch from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in which he asks the question Why is there Anti-Intellectualism? and explores a possibile answer that I find both plausible and kind of sad. I hope you read it, it’s worth the time and effort, because he says things I haven’t heard elsewhere, at least not in the same way.

The bottom line is that we tend to default to an attitude of “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” coupled with an innate distrust of what we do not know or understand, with a bit of “I need an answer that I understand” mixed in. We are not good with ambiguity, with not knowing, and listening to or seeking out ideas we have never had before involves getting past that discomfort and learning to be comfortable with not completely understanding something while exploring the options.

In this series, we have had the privilege of including a number of adults. In today’s installment, we are highlighting one of our younger forum members. Nathan Grubb (forum username: nathangrubb) is also a comparatively new Linux user, having joined the fun just over a year ago. He has a blog that you are invited to check out, and included a couple of screenshots with his interview, in which you will discover he uses wmii, which I have inserted below.

1. Tell as much as you’re willing about your “real” life — name, age, gender, location, family, religion, profession, education, hobbies, etc.

Well, to start out - my name is Nathan Grubb, I am a 15 year old male residing in eastern Washington state (Chewelah, Washington to be specific). I live with my 2 parents and I have 1 sibling. I am a freshman in high school, some of my hobbies include Linux, computers, reading, writing, and badminton.

2. When and how did you become interested in computers? in Linux? in Ubuntu?

I’ve been interested in computers since I was about 7, though back then it was mostly in gaming. My mother used to repair computers, which is likely the reason I became interested (and fluent) in them. I first became intrigued by Linux around July 20th, 2007. It was nice that I could check my email without worry of malware. The first Linux distribution I used was Damn Small Linux, Originally I wanted to download Ubuntu, but I was turned off by the 700 MB download size, which was quite a pain on 256 KiB/s ADSL.

Yeah, it’s blank.

3. When did you become involved in the forums? What’s your role there?

I joined the Ubuntu Forums on August 4th, 2007. At first I was primarily asking support questions, though I was quite interested in the cafe and cafe games for a couple of months. I haven’t given as much Linux support as some members on the forums. Though, if you want to count it as support, I help out at forum feedback and help.

4. Are you an Ubuntu member? If so, how do you contribute? If not, do you plan on becoming one?

I am not currently a Ubuntu member, and I do not have an interest in pursuing membership unless others urge me to. I do not believe I have contributed anything significant to Ubuntu.

5. What distros do you regularly use? What software? What’s your favorite application? Your least favorite?

As of now my distro of choice is Ubuntu. I’d be using Arch if I wasn’t having problems with Kernel panics and segfaults. I use 4 applications on a regular basis: Opera, Konversation, Gajim, and Pidgin. Of the 4, I have to say my favourite is Opera. My least favourite application would have to be gnome-terminal or Evolution. I’ve never actually gotten into using Evolution and have no use for it. I find Gnome-terminal to be slow.

With some apps open.

6. What’s your fondest memory from the forums, or from Ubuntu overall? What’s your worst?

I’d have to say my fondest memory from the forums is the “Finish the story thread” in Cafe games. It is what originally convinced me to stay for the long hall, and I met some of my best (internet) friends through that thread. I’d have to say my worst memory from Ubuntu Forums happened when I narrowly avoided an infraction, though that was within my first month of membership, I believe.

7. What luck have you had introducing new computer users to Ubuntu?

Besides introducing my younger sister to Ubuntu - none, really. I’ve been asked about it twice before, though each time I failed to introduce it onto said person’s desktop. I don’t feel a need to introduce others, though, unless they ask. I’d be a hypocrite if I started imposing on people.

8. What would you like to see happen with Linux in the future? with Ubuntu?

It’d be great if more manufacters made Linux drivers and/or supported Linux. Though I doubt it will happen, I’d approve if Ubuntu changed their release cycle to once every 8 months - it’d give 2 more months of bug testing, stability excersise, etc.

9. If there was one thing you could tell all new Ubuntu users, what would it be?

Linux is not all it’s cut out to be. If you can locate a Local LUG (Linux Users group), please do. Linux is much more pleasant to use for beginners when it is pre-setup for them by experts, as is Windows.

1. Make a list of the top 10 ways to amuse a geek.

10. Use binary.

found on Reddit.

Okay, Jono, I’ll play along. I will say that the first book I picked up was in Arabic, so I put it back down. This was the second book in the pile.

Here is how the game is played, followed by my entry.

• Grab the nearest book.
• Open it to page 56.
• Find the fifth sentence.
• Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
• Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

“When this happens–when liberty is cited in the defense of a company’s decision to dump toxins in our rivers, or when our collective interest is in building an upscale new mall is used to justify the destruction of somebody’s home–we depend on the strength of our countervailing values to temper our judgment and hold such excesses in check.” -The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama.

The previous theme had served this site well for a long time, and I was feeling the need for something more colorful. Smashing magazine had this new theme, Notepad Chaos, available for free, and I like it. So, here we are.

Thanks to the folks at Smashing for sharing.

I am hopeful that the world is changing. Whether it is or not, it is obvious that American, and I believe much of the world society is. The days of “us” versus “them” are diminishing as communication becomes faster and easier and we all start to realize that we have more similarities than we have differences.

Those who seem to understand this best are the youngest among us, especially those under thirty or so, although that is not an absolute boundary by any means.

Those who seem to fear this most are generally those with the most to lose; those in power, those who are older and more established in their perceptions of others.

I have a message for a few different groups, segments of society who have intentionally labeled themselves based on what they think, believe, espouse, and so on.

It is time to stop accusing those who are different than you of being evil, malicious, unpatriotic, etc. You will not win people to your positions by doing so, but rather you will alienate those who disagree with you, turning them from merely indifferent to actively against you. Speak your mind, but do so calmly and respectfully without using extremist language or hateful tones. That is your best chance to be heard.

Politicians: it is time for you to stop being reactionary, divisive, and extreme in your tone. I find it telling that the generally accepted belief that the best speeches given in the political primaries and general election by losing candidates in the USA were also the most gracious and conciliatory in tone; that of Hillary Clinton and John McCain as they conceded defeat to a candidate who was consistently gracious, stable, and non-accusing in his tone and discussions of other candidates. Both Democrats and Republicans are guilty of this behavior, as well as members of other political parties. Stop it. Your adversary does not wish the destruction of the country you love, rather he or she wishes to see it prosper just as you do. You disagree on how that may best be accomplished, but neither of you has anything but the best of intentions and wishes. Start believing that about each other, and start talking to one another.

Religious adherents: it is time for you to focus on living your beliefs in the clearest and most consistent of ways and to stop trying to force others to follow them by force. It is definitely okay to discuss what you think or believe and allow it to influence your decisions in life and even dictate your involvement in society, including politics. It is not okay for you to demand that others believe what you believe solely because you think it is right. It is okay to begin a dialogue and calmly and lovingly (or at least kindly) give your reasoning and foundation for believing as you do, in the hopes that others will agree once they come to understand. This is true whether you are a Christian, a Muslim, a Hindu, or a follower of any other religion. If your intent is truly the betterment of yourself, your fellow human, your society, and your world, then start acting like it by treating one another better than you treat one another now.

Finally, for goodness’ sake, will you all please stop with the extremist rhetoric?

“Candidate X wants to eat your children, steal your house, or enslave the population” are utterly foolish arguments. So are, “Religion Y teaches everyone should hate others who believe differently” and “All members of religious groups other than mine want to rule the world through violence, oppression, and have at heart a plot to steal the souls of all who live.” While some sects in nearly every religion and philosophy have extremists, my experience has been that most people have come to their faith in an honest attempt to become the best people they can be, they want to live in peace, raise their kids, work and feed their families, and be left alone. Those who are looking for something better will look first to those of their friends offering a better life example, not to those who offer the most scary, apocalyptic vision of what will happen if you don’t follow their way.

I will not bow to the threat of a bomb. I will not cower before dire predictions of catastrophe. I won’t do it politically. I won’t do it in my choice of religion. I won’t force others to endure such extremism from me. I will offer a better way, with respect, or I will keep silent and let others be.

While I have a definite preference for the outcome of the election, not just for the presidential position, but also for many of the other roles and propositions as well, I ultimately want to see those who have the privilige to vote exercising that privilege.

So, if you haven’t yet (I have), please go vote!

I share the perspective of each of these writers and enjoyed these blog posts they made. They do discuss politics, and the second one has some religious discussion as well, so if you aren’t interested or are offended by that sort of thing, feel free to ignore them.

The first is one that many of my tech-world friends have likely read as it is from Linus Torvalds personal blog. http://torvalds-family.blogspot.com/2008/11/black-and-white.html In this post, he discusses his discomfort with one issue political activism, a discomfort that I share.

The second is from a Christian author who describes his journey from being a Reagan supporter (yes, I am that old too) to supporting Obama, in spite of opposition from some of his historical ties. I could have written this post after changing only a few details, like the specific Christian denomination I grew up in. http://donmilleris.com/2008/11/03/from-reagan-to-obama-a-brief-political-history/ In the post, he describes the well-intentioned, but obvious (in retrospect) lies and misinformation he heard, was taught, and that is/was prevalent in that realm.