“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.”
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.” – Proverbs 12:15 NASB
The Bible is very clear, a fool thinks that only his way is the right way. Nobody else can be right. Only my opinion on the matter is correct.
First I want to make something clear from the start. Just because someone disagrees with you does not make them a fool. Everyone has a right to their own opinions. If someone has an honest opinion that is different from mine, that is ok.
What makes someone a Biblically-defined fool is when they want to have an opinion (that they usually try to pass off as a fact when there is no evidence), and they do not want you to have an opinion yourself. They just want to talk, interrupt you, not consider other ideas, etc.
Well I had this experience a while back with someone. Basically there was information posted online that people were debating whether it was true or not.
Well this person thought since he had found other information on the Internet that contradicted the first set of information that was given, the first set of information had to be false, since his trusted sources said otherwise.
My argument was that he could not actually know if the information he gathered was in fact true since there was no way to verify that the information he found was accurate, even though I never said that he was wrong.
Well that did not go over well with him. He just argued and argued (while laughing at me and never really had any argument that I could tell), until he just dropped himself from the debate and did not want to talk anymore. Basically his attitude was…agree with me, or we are not going to talk anymore. I did my best to be civil and polite with him.
When I thought about it later, I realized that I had been arguing with a fool. He did not care who was actually right (which since neither of us could prove what we were saying, it was just our own opinions), and he didn’t want me to have an opinion of my own.
The Bible talks about people who will laugh at you making statements about something as being a fool. “If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.” – Proverbs 29:9 ESV
Posted in Christian, Society
Difference Between Residential and Business Internet
You may not have realized it, but Internet Service Providers (ISPs) usually offer both residential and business Internet plans for customers. For the typical Internet user, residential plans should suffice. However, for business people, server enthusiasts (people who like running their own Internet servers), film makers, and people who download a lot (ie. Netflix or YouTube), a business plan would be more appealing.
I am going to give you typical benefits of both residential and business ISP plans. Please note that these are just generalities. Your ISP may differ with the way they run their business.
Residential Internet Plans – Benefits
- You usually get faster download and upload speeds for a lower price than a business plan.
- Save money with lower prices.
- With faster Internet speeds, technically more household members can be using the Internet at once before a major slowdown happens (not always true though).
Business Internet Plans – Benefits
- Should be allowed to run your own Internet server (self-hosting, when done in the right conditions, is better than paying someone else to host your websites Think: Who would value your website data more…the web-hosting company…or you?).
- Should not have any bandwidth limit per month (great for running servers and watching many online videos; don’t have to worry about going over some bandwidth limit per month and possibly getting disconnected!).
- Should get faster/better technical service when you have trouble.
- Should get free repair work done on your line (if it is not too extensive).
- Should be allowed to purchase a static IP address (a MUST if you want to host your own e-mail server or DNS server!).
- Should be allowed to run a VPN between two or more networks (you might be allowed to do one or more VPN(s) on a residential Internet plan, but I have never tried).
Summary
Basically if you want just cheap and fast, a residential Internet plan should do fine for you.
However, if you are running a business (offline or online), want to host your own server, want a static IP, and/or want a very high (or no) bandwidth limit per month, a business Internet plan should be want you want.
Posted in Internet and Servers
Response to 10 Reasons Why You Should Switch To Linux From Windows XP
This blog post is a response to the article posted here: http://itsfoss.com/reasons-switch-linux-windows-xp/. I mean no disrespect to the author of this article with my replies.
My responses are in black and direct quotes from the article are in red.
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1. It’s free
Microsoft will force you to upgrade to Windows 8.1 which mean you’ll have to spend around $120 just for the OS.
Linux OS on the other hand is completely free. If you choose to switch to Linux, you save at least hundred bucks. Sounds good enough a reason, ain’t it?
Technically Microsoft is not forcing anyone to upgrade their OS. People can still use Windows XP if they choose to, but it is recommended to upgrade to a supported OS now.
Remember not every OS is going to be supported forever. There will come a time when an OS will be end-of-life.
Also, Linux is not really free to anyone. It still takes time and money to develop it (why do you think Linux organizations ask for donations?).
Plus, if most average computer users switch to Linux, how would the openness of Linux really be a benefit to them, since a lot of them would not know how to program and probably will not want to ever learn?
2. More Secure, no need of any antivirus
In Windows you cannot live without an antivirus. Even with an antivirus product, your system is continuously at risk of catching virus. If you had a premium antivirus, it would keep on alerting you of a possible threat detection.
In Linux you don’t need an antivirus. Virus and malware are alien to Linux world. Linux is known for its security features. Switching to Linux will save you some more as you won’t have to buy an antivirus.
With all due respect, this reason is really silly and gives people a false sense of security. The idea that Linux does not get viruses is a myth. Windows may have more malware, but that does not mean that Windows is guaranteed to get a virus, nor is Windows necessarily easier to infect.
If you open e-mail attachments from people you do not know, run programs without scanning them first, setting insecure root password on your computer, no amount of Windows or Linux can help you there! 
Linux can get viruses just like Windows (http://scalibq.wordpress.com/2013/08/11/hand-of-thief-commercial-linux-malware-kit/).
Remember since most of the world uses Windows, the hackers are going to target the most used OS (Windows). If it were the other way around, Linux would have the same problem, and worse, so many people would be feeling secure “because they use Linux” (a false sense of security), that they start to think they cannot get hacked. That is a dangerous road to go down.
3. Compatible with lower end hardware
A good reason why you have been running Windows XP for such a long time could be hardware constraints. Upgrading to Windows 7 or 8 requires at least 1GB of RAM. Running Windows 7/8 on the minimum configuration will be a real painful experience as it will be extremely slow and almost unusable. And if your system configuration doesn’t meet the minimum criteria you will have no option other than buying a new PC.
Welcome to Linux world. There is a Linux OS for everyone. Most of the Linux OS does not require a heavyweight computer system. But even if your system is one of those of late 90′s or early 2000′s, there are plenty of extreme lightweight Linux distributions. In other words, hardware is no constraint for Linux OS.
Really to do anything effective on Windows XP – other than check e-mail and browse the web – you really need 1 GB of RAM. I can run Windows 7 on a slow netbook (about 4-5 years old) decently. It has 2 GB of RAM.
True, Linux can work well on older computer systems. However I would argue that if somebody was going to do serious work with their computer system, they would already have a fast system, and not be using a 1999 desktop.
4. Ease of use
The one misconception about Linux is that it is “geeks only” and one needs to be computer genius and command line ninja to use Linux. No, it is not true. It is not late 90′s where Linux was a complicated operating system. These days desktop Linux OSes run out of the box, have GUI tools and have all the functionality that you look for in Windows.
True, Linux has become much more user-friendly than it was 10 years ago. However, Linux is still not yet as user-friendly as Windows or MacOS X.
Things in Linux are not uniform and organized (e.g., 50+ Linux distributions available to the public who has no idea of which one to choose, graphics support on Linux is bad when compared to Windows, etc.)
5. Drivers included
As a Windows user, you must have struggled with drivers. Finding the correct driver for your system was a difficult task. I remember, I had several drivers folder in my external backup disk as I did not want to waste time looking for the audio, video or wireless drivers. But with Linux, most of these drivers are supported directly by the Linux kernel. Which means its more like plug and play for Linux, no struggling with drivers, largely.
Not really. All my current desktop hardware works out of the box on Windows 8.1. Windows and Linux are almost the same in regard to “plug and play”.
6. It’s sexy and I know it
When it comes to looks, desktop Linux rules over Windows. Be it Unity, Cinnamon, Gnome 3, KDE or even low end desktop environments like Xfce or Lxde, they are much more good looking than the Windows desktop. So if you think Linux desktop to be a plain boring and dull looking, you are definitely wrong. Best of all, you can choose a desktop flavor according to your choice.
Actually from using a little bit of GNOME, KDE, and Xfce, I really do like Windows’ interface much better (Windows 98’s interface I would prefer over one of these) Of course, that is just my opinion.
7. Software repository
Most of the desktop Linux OS have their own ‘app store’ or ‘software repository’. You can look for any kind of application, libraries at one single place without the need of Googling all over the internet for it. Moreover, the software thus installed will be safe, compatible with your OS and will be getting automatic updates.
The software repositories will not necessarily have all the software that you need. Also, what if you installed something via RPM or DEB manually or compiled a piece of software from its source? How would you get the package manager to automatically update the manually installed software, assuming the software didn’t update itself?
8. Better updating process
Windows updates are real pain. First Windows will notify that you have system updates. When you install them, it will be configured at shutdown time at a pace that even a tortoise can beat. You will be told to “preparing to configure Windows, do not shutdown your system” and the wait is eternal. And that’s not the end. At the next boot, it will again be configuring the updates. Moreover, the software and applications installed in Windows provide their updates separately. Remember Java, Adobe or iTunes updates pop up?
Updates in Linux is a like a cool breeze. You will be regularly notified that updates are available. And these updates include not just system and security updates but available updates for different applications installed. Unlike Windows, you won’t have to wait at shutdown or start time. Updating in desktop Linux is a matter of one click.
Updating Windows is not hard. Windows does not have updates “every single day”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patch_Tuesday).
Also, a typical Linux install, which has a kernel update, will need to be rebooted anyway.
Switch from Windows to Linux just to save a reboot or two every month, is not worth it in my opinion.
Switching to a different operating system is similar to moving to another house. You don’t just “move”. You have a ton of planning, packing, etc. that goes into moving.
If you move to a different operating system just because you do not want to reboot once a month, then in my opinion you are wasting your time.
9. Gaming on Linux
One of the major constraint one face while switching to Linux is gaming. While Linux had some native games, thanks to Steam, it has now a wide range of games available. GOG.com will also be bringing around 100 games by the year end. Apart from these, we always have PlayOnLinux, which lets you play ‘Windows only’ games on Linux.
Any serious gamer would either use Windows or a game console. All my friends use Windows and/or game consoles. Linux just is not a good OS to build games for (many distributions doing their own thing, video support is not on par with Windows, no native DirectX support, etc.)
10. Community support
Probably the best thing about Linux is the Linux community. You will never feel alone in Linux world. Apart from numerous Linux how-to blogs, just drop by any forum for any kind of problem you are facing with your system, someone will always try to help you out. Such is the support of Linux community.
In my experience, a lot of Linux users feel elite and superior about using Linux. There is nothing wrong with liking (or disliking) an OS, but please do not exaggerate “facts” about Linux just to get people to switch to an OS that has no real support outside of a few companies and community boards that someone may or may not get help on.
I think that if the Linux community came together and built on one distribution, did not come across as elite, and made Linux user-friendly (just like Windows and MacOS X does), people (and companies) will take Linux much more seriously than they do now.
Think these 10 reasons are good enough for you to switch to Linux from Windows? If yes then you might be wondering which Linux OS is best for you. In a previous article I had written about best Linux OS to replace Windows XP, you may take a look at it.
I hope this post makes your decision of switching to Linux easier. Time to ditch Windows and embrace the freedom has come. Welcome to Linux.
Linux is only ‘freedom’ to people who know how to modify it and use it (e.g., computer programmers). If you are a casual computer user, Linux would not really give you any more freedom than Windows would.
Posted in Computers, Internet and Servers, Operating Systems