What is Digg?566 Comments
- leon40012, on 01/24/2008, -8/+238Wow geek squad is really up to date with the technical knowledge.
- Bicep, on 01/24/2008, -5/+179Linux distros in LiveCD version (i.e, Knoppix, GParted, DSL, etc.) are among the best(if not the best) methods to recover data from a failing/failing Windows OS, circumvent lost windows administrator passwords, circumvent "thumbprint" scanner protected Windows installations, repair MBRs, fix/recover/reallocate or resize partitions, delete "undeletable" files, test RAM, move files across the network, test hardware, image the hard drived, etc., etc., and on and on.
In my opinion, any Sys Admin / PC Repair Person that does not behold the power of Linux from a Computer Repair standpoint is amateur at best.
I mean BartPE is an awesome Windows based util for working with systems, but for that single util there are a myriad of different Linux distros that provide awesome tools to repair PCs. The g**k sq*d must invest a lot of money in PC Repair tools if they're not using Linux for certain jobs.
Checkout http://digg.com/software/List_of_21_Vital_but_Free ... for more tools
Oh and for that bit about Linux not having market share, this is hurting computer users everywhere (except maybe crackers that are making money by breaking into Windows systems) - if you use Linux - support it! Tell someone about it!! - Smwbigboss, on 01/24/2008, -5/+153You know...in the past, I have been loathe to cite movies or television as an example for real-life application.
In this case, it not only cannot be helped...there is no better vehicle to convey the point.
A point that can no longer be disputed or ignored.
I walked into a Best Buy the other day. We are seeking some price discounts on thumb drives...our K4K kids will need them soon and we need to purchase them in bulk. Just price shopping, but as always, my Linux Hat is on and I usually do not pass an opportunity to spread the word. Even to folks who have obviously heard of Linux or maybe have even tried it on occasion.
Like a member of the Geek Squad (obligatory *tm inserted to please our attorney.)
It did not raise a flicker within the eye of awareness. Not a word I said.
This "Computer professional"...this "Knower-Of-All-Things-Computer".
He did not have a clue. Not a clue.
I had no choice. I spent the next ten minutes educating him...telling him about the technology and the advantages of the GNU/Linux Operating System. His first response almost took my breath.
"That is not possible. Microsoft would not allow it."
Microsoft would not allow it. Move your mouse again to the link that starts this article and listen closely:
The Matrix is everywhere, it is all around us, even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your
window, or you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your
taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
But there is more to the dialog. Morpheus is asked by Neo: "What Truth"?
"That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage... born into a prison that you cannot
smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind."
A "Prison for your mind".
This guy...a kid by my standards...maybe 20; maybe less...he had never heard of Linux. If that is not bad enough, my concern was with his initial statement.
"Microsoft would not allow it".
"It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth."
In the movie, people sleeping in "The Matrix" were referred to as "copper tops".
In this application, I refer to people unaware of Linux as "Window Shades".
Some of you will think me a bit over-dramatic here...and I know who many of you are before you ever post a comment. My advice to you?
Go back to your game of Westnoth or your C compiler. Many of you are not worthy of the effort and your comments mocking this blog are fully anticipated. I am talking to the people that are as astounded by this as I am. Moreover, I am talking to the people who experienced that momentary churning of the stomach...the physical reaction often accompanying a jolt of fear.
There is much to be afraid of here.
I opened my briefcase and pulled out a disk and asked the guy if there was a computer available for a demonstration. We walked a few short steps to a Dell in the back of the store...in the stockroom. I booted the Ubuntu Ultimate 1.6 disk and stood back to watch his reaction. He watched the screen carefully as that first magical screen appeared. Before he had a chance to say anything I stepped to the mouse and keyboard.
"Now..." I said. Since we only have one monitor but we have multiple tasks to perform, how we about turn our one monitor into four."
I manipulated the keys and buttons to activate "the cube"
"OK...since you have your tax return working on this screen, but you need to open a word document on another, why not jump over to another screen and get that done.
I spun the cube to the next side.
He looked at me as if to say, "what the hell did you just do?"
"But wait...you have your document up but damn...you need to pull some data up from the internet and you do not want to lose your place in your document."
I twirled the cube one more time, but before he could say anything, I continued with the demonstration.
"You say you need more than 4 screens to do your work? Well then, is 16 enough for you?"
I deftly manipulated the gui to show 16 work spaces rather than the normal 4 we usually set up and I began spinning them to each side so he could see the speed and stability of doing so. I spun them faster and faster, dipping them occasionally so he could take note of the changing "sky caps".
I now know what "slack-jawed wonder" is.
He looked at me and then back to the monitor.
"and this is legal?"
I nodded my head.
"And Microsoft knows about this?"
I nodded again
"Stay right there...don't leave."
In less than two minutes, he had returned with two other employees of Best buy. While he was gone, I had pulled up some applications like Amarok and Rezound. When they were all three standing there, I continued the demonstration, repeating the "cube" at the request of the Geek Squad member. While doing so, "Goodfellas" played on mplayer on one screen while Judas Priests "You got another think comin'" played on another via Amarok. The sounds were distict and clear from each.
By then, four more employees returning from lunch via the back door had entered the demonstration. I spent an inordinate amount of time explaining how this is possible and how Microsoft had little to no choice in allowing this to happen. I also pointed them toward a recent article by Roy Schestowitz, which indicates just how far Microsoft is willing to go to combat the spread of free and open source software.
It is a concept that the entire group was unfamiliar. FOSS.
The operative term here is "was".
In all, 11 Best Buy employees gathered around the 20 minute demonstration. One was an Assistant Manager. All but one asked how to obtain a live cd and I was able to provide each one with a live cd. Some were Ultimate Ubuntu, others were Mint, some were Mepis. The 11th person held firm that this "Linux thing" could not possibly be legal.
There is a universal truth at play here . (link is screwy). "I can show you the door, but you are the one that has to walk through it." Morpheus
It is obvious that the majority of Linux Users do not know the power they house in their computers.
Another thing has become just as obvious in pounding on this keyboard over the past three years. The majority of those users simply do not care if another person learns that they have that freedom just for the asking. A small number of those actually fight the spread of this freedom. The simple truth of the matter lies in four little words.
They
Do
Not
Know
I have been asked many times why we started Komputers4Kids...what our motives are. It is not just to get computers to under-privileged kids...it is to make sure that the operating system on those computers is Linux.
It is to insure that perfectly good computers do not hit the bottom of a dumpster and foul our land and water.
It is to make sure that those who are without the wonder of reliable access to the internet have it.
I have started an enterprise to insure that Komputers4Kids will succeed. If you are curious about it, you can learn all there is to learn at www.fixedbylinux.com. We are HeliOS Solutions and our goal is to earn enough money to fund our efforts in K4K. Until we can get an adequate amount of advertising going, we are going to need some community support. It is my understanding that a combination article/interview is soon to be published about what we are doing with HeliOS Solutions.
Our goals are simple but pulling them off will need your assistance.
Sometime in the late spring or early summer, a huge project will take place, getting a small town or the majority of it to go "Microsoft free" for a period of time. Larry Cafiero, a long-time open source advocate and a newspaper editor for a paper on the Central California coast will be instrumental in making this happen. Knock em dead Larry. It may be a month or only for a week but regardless, we are going to attract large amounts of media attention in doing this. Media attention focusing on Linux. We will need your help.
Also, we are going to set up a "Roving Tux Lab." We will be loading 10 computers into our van and setting up 3 day labs in Libraries and some other local businesses that have pledged a place for us to do so. We are also providing support for others in other areas to do the same, should they wish to.
Look...we hold the key to free computing in the palms of our hands. Just how many people are willing to insert that key and turn it is another story, and one that has not been told yet.
It is a story that needs to be told...to millions.
We can start the story simply...
With one welcoming statement - jmgoody311, on 01/24/2008, -53/+169I hate to rain on this parade, but the guy who wrote this article sounds like a total douche. Just let them use whatever operating system they're using. Why must you constantly "educate" people? These people are doing fine without Linux. Just let them be. Also, those Matrix quotes sound like total bull in this context. God, I hate fanboys.
- bluedemon31, on 01/24/2008, -2/+105I love SQL errors that tell you TOO much informatino for when the website is back up
Access denied for user 'helios'@'localhost' (using password: NO) - coheedcollapse, on 01/24/2008, -9/+108The geek squad kid was quite misinformed but the writer seethes arrogance.
- deadbaby, on 01/24/2008, -8/+107Microsoft would not allow this story to be viewed.
- matthekc, on 01/24/2008, -3/+91"You have to understand that many people are not ready to be unplugged, and many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it."
A matrix quote for the one guy left an unbeliever.
Also I hope helios pointed out that a dual boot or virtualization setup can be the best choice for many people. - gigatwo, on 01/24/2008, -6/+91Somehow I don't ever feel the need to use 16 workspaces. 3 or 4 is enough for me.
Excellent article, but the fact that no one in there, especially those from the "Geek Squad", had heard of the penguin before, is sad. - xlneoMAXlx, on 01/24/2008, -5/+85Mirror: http://209.85.207.104/search?q=cache:84hA8W4MCJQJ: ...
- inactive, on 01/24/2008, -10/+74Article writer sounds like a dick actually.
- baalzebub, on 01/24/2008, -4/+63yup, i can believe it, GeekSquad is a joke of a tech admin & maintenance group...
i don't use the cube but i do like 6 workspaces with active desktop borders that wrap around... - scoot2006, on 01/24/2008, -16/+74Without MS, most of us wouldn't have jobs.
- Knucklecallus, on 01/24/2008, -13/+70Just in case your comment is dugg, I hope everyone realizes that the actual grammatically correct way to say what you would call 'your' in this situation is actually 'you're'.
- admiral101, on 01/24/2008, -13/+68Actually it does work out of the box. If you are going to bash something at least have real facts to back you up.
- wiifm69, on 01/24/2008, -12/+66Just in case your comment is dugg, I hope everyone realizes your stating the obvious
- monktallica, on 01/24/2008, -3/+57Newsflash: when you put retail employees through more than 10 seconds of crap they tune things out and begin to smile and nod.
"I twirled the cube one more time, but before he could say anything, I continued with the demonstration."
From the employees point of view: He began twirling the cube; he paused for a moment so I began to call 911 on my cell phone; I didn't want this matrix-quoting maniac to get away with his awesome display douche-baggery. Before I could even get the second '1' in, however, he continued on, and my feeble attempt to escape his demonstration, which had now reached the dangerous level of over 3,000 workspaces, was foiled. - inactive, on 01/24/2008, -4/+55sudo apt-get remove --purge Matrix Douchebaggary
- DearSergio, on 01/24/2008, -11/+62sudo apt-get brain
- inactive, on 01/24/2008, -2/+51I am telling you people. Geek squad hires absolutely anyone with any technical experience at all. Do you know how to check email?? You could be a Geek Squad agent. What kills me, though, is how millions and millions of people throw their money away with them every day. Most of the people who take their computers in are more qualified than your local Geek Squad punk. I personally know one guy who is severely retarded who is working on YOUR laptops RIGHT NOW at the main service center (Geek Squad City).
- rauz, on 01/24/2008, -5/+53Interesting story but the constant Matrix references were a bit too much. Nevertheless, gg.
- tman84, on 01/24/2008, -2/+49The blogger's mom's credit card wouldn't allow for the extra bandwidth
- sirhomer, on 01/24/2008, -14/+56This article would have been better without all the Matrix references.
This comic is a good summary of the article:
http://www.channel9.ca/9toons/public/images_upload ... - Entroper, on 01/24/2008, -0/+41This is what happens when you hire computer technicians based on their sales skills and assume you can teach them the technical stuff as they go along.
- AddictedToMosh, on 01/24/2008, -4/+37oh my god the guy actually wears a linux cap and carrys a live cd??? I mean how more of a geek do you get?
- ApokalypseNow, on 01/24/2008, -6/+37People in the IT industry are in the somewhat paradoxical position of trying to put themselves out of jobs - they fix problems so the business can function, but if there were no problems they'd be unemployed. Microsoft happily keeps providing us with stuff to fix and work around to keep us working.
- deetsnai, on 01/24/2008, -76/+105This sounds like some Linux boy fantasy. You Wowed them with 3d cubes OMG!
"Look everybody, the Matrix runs on Linux and I am Hugh Jackman in swordfish because I can play DVDs and listen to music at the same time!"
Oh wait, that doesn't work out of the box on Linux. Then the system crashes because the ATI card has crap drivers and you spun the cube too much. - asauterChicago, on 01/24/2008, -5/+33I call *****. Maybe 1 or 2 geek squad members haven't heard of Linux, but all 11? Also, he just happens to carry a Linux live CD around with him? Best Buy management let him go in the back room, load software they've (supposedly) never heard of (and thought was illegal) on their company computers? And the floor managers let all the GS members off the floor to watch his demonstration (when they should be helping customers, selling computers, etc)?? *****.
- inactive, on 01/24/2008, -14/+42Before color television, black and white suited the masses just fine.
- geekoid, on 01/24/2008, -2/+29> sudo apt-get install brain < you mean
- jdepp, on 01/24/2008, -9/+36Why does Microsoft allow linux to exist anyway? Couldn't they just refuse to sell Visual Basic to the people who develop it?
- brstilson, on 01/24/2008, -0/+27Geek Squad is the McDonald's of tech services. Anyone really worth their salt in the IT industry can get a better paying job. All that leaves is the sad excuses for "techies" to work in the retail market. They're only good for one sector: windows users that don't know ***** about computers. Anything other than setting up a router or print server is beyond Geek Squad's capabilities. The very best you could hope for from them is a real IT guy who is just down on his luck at the moment. Of course, that's about as likely as a world-class chef working in a fast food chain.
They're really not going for the enthusiast or professional markets to begin with. Businesses will hire real IT help, and enthusiasts can do most of the work themselves. So it's really no surprise you'll see this at Geek Squad. - inactive, on 01/24/2008, -22/+48Mac is almost as bad as Microsoft, in some ways they are worse for forcing users to do it "their way"
***** Apple - JMellissa, on 01/24/2008, -2/+28The worst thing I have found about most Geek Squad dorks is that when they don't know something (happens a lot more often than they'd like to admit), they make up some tech-sounding *****! I am an electronics engineer by trade and I've been a student of computing stuff for decades (still learning). There is plenty of stuff I still don't know or understand, but these guys (Gk Sd) should be ashamed of themselves! It doesn't even seem to occur to them that I see right through their veil of *****. They don't even care how much damage they cause monkeying around with customer's gear becasue they don't understand what they're doing.
Geek Squad: I nice idea, but (1) there's no money in it (2) the staff is mostly clueless
(2) is largely a result of (1). Those who CAN.... DO the rest are either (1) learning or (2) posers! - TheSabre, on 01/24/2008, -8/+33@rpayne: Actually, if he meant "your stating" he would have to follow it with a verb, as "your" is a possessive pronoun and "stating" is a noun. It would have to be "your stating is the obvious". Even then, it makes little sense as "statement" is the correct noun to use when referring to something that is stated.
- speedyrev, on 01/24/2008, -2/+27Because Geek Squad claims to know about computers. The story isn't just about MS vs Linux, it's about the incompetence of Geek Squad.
- shutz, on 01/24/2008, -5/+29But, a computer NEEDS Windows in order to run Linux!!!
/wrong discussion? - aliengoods, on 01/24/2008, -5/+29Um, yes it does. Or is your comment some strange new form of sarcasm I have yet to encounter?
- ngscheurich, on 01/24/2008, -2/+25Now was it necessary to (presumably) amp up the drama in that tale? If the reaction of the employees was portrayed accurately, they have less to fear from lack of global computer knowledge than from the fact that they behave like poorly-written fan fiction characters. I'm always one to champion Linux for many reasons—being able to listen to music and watch a movie at the same time is not one of them. I think it all started going downhill when he wrapped quotation marks around "the cube".
- cbeach, on 01/24/2008, -3/+26Can't help thinking this story sounds a little unlikely. If I went into a PC store and raved about some OS, I'd probably be ignored. I certainly wouldn't be allowed into a backroom to install the OS on one of their PCs to demonstrate to the whole of their staff.
Nice story but I'm not sure I believe it. - srg13, on 01/24/2008, -0/+23Playback of commercial (ie. CSS encrypted) DVDs is available out of the box in some distros... It's just that it's illegal in the US.
Not that my Windows computer can play DVDs out of the box though - it just tells me that "No mpeg2 decoder is installed" or something. I have to download third party software (VLC) to do this... - Nougat, on 01/24/2008, -3/+25Thanks for the post as well.
And wow is that guy a d-bag. - DeFex, on 01/24/2008, -0/+21We had a show about geek squad and other "pc repair" scammers who were brought to a house with a computer which had had one stick of RAM damaged.
Diagnosis ranged from, getting out a laptop and showing what they had on sale, copying all the files on the PC to their laptop right in front of the "customer", telling them they need to take their drive to data recovery place and pay $2000.and telling them they needed a new motherboard and CPU.
only Some Guy™ managed to diagnose it right away and only charged a bit of a premium for the new stick of ram. - bahamutxd, on 01/24/2008, -0/+21They charge an awful lot for their services. $129 to hook my PS3 to my network? $150 to program my remote? Anyone would gladly do the work for a quarter of the cost, (I'll run Adaware/Spysweeper and install Windows updates for less than $179) but some people get intimidated by technology. Price gouging at its finest.
- natenovs, on 01/24/2008, -1/+22....i thought i had a sad and boring life.....
- geekoid, on 01/24/2008, -3/+22YOU'RE!!! Not YOUR! I swear I'm going to create a new user called GrammarNAZI.
- inactive, on 01/24/2008, -12/+31Microsoft is lucky we still allow them to exist...(geeks that is)
- bawilson2, on 01/24/2008, -3/+21Having built a computer for the first time in the last month, I have installed both Windows XP and Ubuntu 7.10.
When I installed Windows I had to download drivers for the video card, sound card, and network adapter. Because the internet didn't work "out of the box", I had to have another computer to pull the drivers down with.
For Ubuntu I did have to enable restricted drivers but it found them for me and downloaded them, I just had to click "ok".
For me, Windows wasn't even usable out of the box. Ubuntu wins hands down on this one. - iLemon, on 01/24/2008, -8/+26I use to read blogs like this in disbelief. I thought the bloggers were just exaggerating for effect. Then you run into that confident copper top and wonder if your on hidden camera.
- broiledmeat, on 01/24/2008, -0/+17Geek Squad members usually do not know anything because they aren't actually required to know anything beyond basic hardware replacement. Whenever a squad member repairs a computer, they insert a custom diagnostics and repair CD. The CD will scan and repair most common Windows issues, scan for viruses, remove spyware, and diagnose hardware issues. Most of the guys I have met do have an interest in computers and gadgets, but beyond doing what that CD tells them to do, they aren't incredibly skilled. :[
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