Pardon My Ubuntu

Recently I wrote about how I had been present at the birth of the internet, when Windows 3.11 was hot and Xerox's TabWorks was still a challenger in the PC GUI wars.  At the top of the page, I dropped the U-bomb (Ubuntu) and several readers were quick to drop a line asking what I was talking about.  Apologies.  I too often assume that everyone is as geeky as I am.  At their request, I am going to talk about Ubuntu, and something related called the Tor Network.  Note: these two links are to the official sites and the downloads are guaranteed to be clean and secure.

Some background.  Back in the Dark Ages, most software was free and written by geeks sitting in their basements coming up with cool apps to do specific jobs (pun intended).

Along comes an evil corporate overlord named Bill Gates, who more or less stole the idea for Windows from Apple (who had licensed it from Xerox), then proceeded to vacuum up a bunch of freeware, modify it slightly, copyright it, and sell it to an unsuspecting general public.  This included DOS, which was the foundation of Windows until the XP version.  Suffice to say court battles flew and Microsoft had to make changes to avoid looking and feeling like Apple.

Just for grins, the desktop on my Win8.1 machine is customized to look and feel just like a Mac.

Zoom ahead.

The "freeware for humanity" part of the hacking world never died, and in fact it is growing rapidly now because of all the government and corporate back-doors on everything these days.  One doesn't need to have something to hide in order to want to deny the use of their personal information for someone else's profit.  You want to sell my data?  Pay me!

Sometime back, maybe 12 years or so, a new OS showed up called Ubuntu.  At first, it was very basic and kind of clunky, but it had two advantages: 1) it was private and secure, and 2) it took food out of Bill Greed's mouth.  That it was free for all was a big bonus, as well.

This past week, Ubuntu released version 16.04, which is it's most feature-packed and secure version yet.  One of the strongest "selling" points is that there are literally thousands of people worldwide working on the open-source code, sealing up holes and polishing the surface.  Anyone that tries to insert malicious back doors will see them slammed shut in short order by several hundred other folks.

Ubuntu is based on Linux, which is an operating kernel much like the WinXP kernel or the OSX kernel.  It's just a way of addressing all the hardware in a computer and routing information through it in the most rapid and lossless manner as possible.  The new version offers both x64 and x86 versions.  One major disadvantage of Windows has always been that it loads all kinds of drivers at startup, unlike Mac and Linux, which slows the machine down significantly since the paging files in RAM are constantly in flux. While this may not irritate the average user, someone doing audio/video editing or CAD will lose quite a bit of speed.  For the average user, kernel issues show up in things like copying files between internal and external storage.

Where Ubuntu really shines is privacy and security.  The new Ubuntu defaults to full privacy mode, though you can select to send usage reports and other data useful to developers.  However, no one will collect you personal information or enter your machine without you express knowledge and permission.

This has been a major issue with Win10.  The default settings in Win10 send all sorts of private usage information to Microsoft on a regular basis.  Also, Win10 uses a distributed distribution model, much like torrents, to deliver all those free copies of the OS to other users, meaning it is sucking up your bandwidth without notifying you.  If you are on a metered line, or use a lot of bandwidth to deliver content, you will pull your hair out trying to figure out why your connection is so slow.

As with anything new, there is always a learning curve, and with Ubuntu in the past, this was pretty steep, especially if you were migrating from Windows.  If you use Android frequently, you will have a definite advantage, as the layout and settings feel very familiar.  The basic Ubuntu package comes ready to use and automatically sets itself for most typical devices and accessories.  The interface is clean and if you like to piddle with things, there are hours of clicking and downloading add-ons to create the experience you want.

Finally, there are piles of freeware and donationware available for Ubuntu.  The office productivity suites are capable and can handle all popular file types - in or out.  The VLC is a great media player with lots of touch-screen features.  There's a lossless media type called FLAC that is an audiophiles' dream format, since it doesn't compress data.  Video editing suites, browsers and all the other major apps that you want and need are easily installed and a great many are free.  There are work-arounds, as well, that allow you to run Windows apps in Ubuntu.

There are three options for loading Ubuntu.  One is a test set-up that runs the system off of a CD/DVD.  This wont give you full functionality and it will be a bit clunky, but you can get your feet wet before jumping in.  The second option is to create a dual-boot system.  If you feel comfortable doing a little poking and prodding, you can set up a Windows system to give you a special screen at start-up where you can choose to launch Ubuntu or Windows.  Many folks go this route and often use Windows as a shell within Ubuntu.  Finally, you can completely replace the Windows OS with Ubuntu.  If you are going this route, be sure to backup your data because it will perform a deep format on your hard drive.

I have several computers that I use for different things.  I have one dedicated to Win8.1 (I refuse to use Win10), another dedicated to Ubuntu, and a third that has Win7 and Ubuntu in dual-boot mode.  In my experience, the 64-bit dedicated Ubuntu machine delivers what 64-bit always promised: lighting fast, no hangs and plenty of fun tinkering with the system.

Regardless of what operating system you use, I highly recommend the Tor Network for those who prefer privacy.  The Onion Router network is a global group of volunteer (unlike Win10 users) who allow folks to bounce through their servers and pop out with their IP addresses blocked and no way to get attacked by the vicious bastards who ought to be shot for writing viruses, evil Java code and malware.  You are at least three bounces away from your actual location, so no one can collect personal data about you or what you are doing.

It's also a great way to get around censorship.  Many countries now block content that they don't like or don't want you to access.  Using TOR, you can select servers in friendly and free nations to pop out and access whatever you want.  An example here in Indonesia is that the government blocks the word "breast."  If you want information on Breast Cancer, you can't get it because of censorship.  TOR solves that problem in less than 30 minutes.

If you use a VPN, this is pretty much the same thing, only free.  The linked article recommends VPN for enhanced security and protection, but a well-set up TOR browser does virtually the same thing.

TOR also offers access to the notorious Dark Web.  Think of this as a series of gopher tunnels in Caddyshack, with hundreds of alternative websites that aren't cataloged by the Google/Bing crowd.  The sites are denoted by the extension .onion, and include every know perversion, drugs, stolen identities, hitmen, etc., but also some cool chat sites and discussion boards, and so much more.  The experience is somewhat similar to the boat ride in Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  There are plenty of guides to get you off and running.

If you have a true traveler's spirit and seek out experiences that most folks will never have, then this is for you.  I do not vouch for anything in the Dark Web.  You are on your own, but if you get adept at it, you will be able to find out what's in your neighbor's smart fridge or what they are watching on Netflix.  An abject lesson in web privacy and security.

Thanks to the readers who asked for this information and I hope this helps you expand your computing acumen.  I am a person who highly values my privacy, not because I am hiding something, but because I don't like mega-corporations selling my data for profit and not sharing with me.  Just as I won't wear clothing or use items with logos on them, I won't freely give up my personal data without a fight.

And I especially hate when those mega-corps use my own data against me as a target of their omnipresent advertising.  To them I say, "Pay or go away."

Playing Houdini At Home

Part of the reason I never worry too much about so-called "internet kill switches" and "government censorship of the net" is that hackers are a wily lot.

For one thing, there is no single switch that turns off the net.  It is a fabulously complex distributed network that would require the entire global power grid to fail in order to "turn it off".  There are, however, a limited number of backbones into and out of any given country.  They include fiber, cable and satellite T-3 pipes that enter, hit distributors, and then the data packets get distributed to wherever it is they are going.  It is quite possible for governments to sit on and control those ports.  They can filter and futz with the data streams all day long, making sure you only get what they want you to get, or at the very least, make detailed notes on what you are receiving.

Governments assume you are stupid because they do everything in their power to keep you that way.  That's why we here on the Far Side say that the 21st century form of government is "on, over and inside the people," rather than "of, by and for."  It's just a bit of mucking around with prepositions, really.

One other point before continuing.  In the Far Side lexicon, the words "government" and "corporation" are synonyms.  Thus, "law" and "policy" are equivalent, as well.  To carry this a bit further, "taxpayer" and "employee" are also the same.  Applying fractal geometry, corporations are but smaller, identical forms of the larger government form, from the micro to the macro scale.

Anyway, a great number of governments/corporations filter what their subjects/employees can see.  Only approved information from approved sources are allowed through the pipes, whether you are at your desk or at home.  Oh sure, the pipes are usually controlled by companies, but since companies must file with government for permission/license to operate and gain 'legal' status, they are nothing more than branches of government.

Here's were hackers step in.  Hackers are the 21st century equivalent of revolutionary freedom fighters.  To the government/corporate Boards of Directors (BoD), these people are 'terrorists' because they bypass and undermine the imposed system of controls.  Hackers view information as neither good nor bad, simply bits and bytes to be accessed or not.  Obviously, the more a gov/corp doesn't want you to see something, the more interesting it is, which can be both a danger and a weapon to the BoD.

Information can be dangerous to the BoD because it turns off the mental control mechanisms that they spend decades installing through 'schools'.  However, it can also be a weapon because the BoD can declare something off-limits, thus enticing employees to take a look using the Forbidden Fruit Theory of behavior modification.  It's a two-edged sword that requires a great amount of discernment on the part of renegade employees.

So all of this ranting brings us at long last to the point.  Please keep the cheering to a minimum.

Pirate Bay has released their version of the Firefox browser.  Called the PirateBrowser, it uses the Tor system to circumvent blocks and censorship.  Basically, Pirate Bay assembled some off-the-shelf add-ons with the Firefox browser to create a pret-a-porter app that runs circles around censors.

The Onion Router (TOR) system was developed by the US Navy to trade information secretly.  Think of it as a network of gopher tunnels all through the internet by which folks can trade info packets without being visible to above-ground viewers.  The technology got out into the wild sometime back and its used by gov/corps and us real people all the time now.

Harry Houdini had a remarkable trick.  He would have a literal, physical brick wall built on stage.  Of course, a heavy floor cover was needed so as not to damage the stage floor.  Houdini would raise a small curtain and *POOF*, he'd appear to pass through solid matter.  What the audience didn't see was the trap door opening under the heavy floor covering, allowing just enough slack for a limber fellow to weasel under the wall.  That's TOR.

So this is all fun and cool, but what does it have to do with this article?  Glad you asked.

The genie is out of the bottle.  The internet has matured far beyond anything the gov/corps could have imagined or wanted.  Whatever obstacles they throw up, someone finds a hole.  If they kill the Big Pipes, folks set up Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks.  Thousands of people, like us Far Siders, have built massive libraries of information as a bulwark against it disappearing.  And the old "conspiracy theorist" label has worn thin, now that folks have seen so many of them proven correct.

This situation has led meatpuppets like John Kerry (SecState USCorp) to remark, "[T]this little thing called the Internet ... makes it much harder to govern."  First off, notice the use of the pejorative 'little thing,' as if his shiny white ass is far superior to the puny hordes out here in reality.  Second, you should have automatically replaced in your mind the term 'govern' with 'command and control'.

At any rate, we Far Siders are busy assessing the new PirateFox, since porn sites and words like Essex and sextant and sexagenarian and breast self-exam are banned in Indonesia because the members of Parliament spend all their time surfing screw films instead of doing their jobs.  I mean, good Lord!  If the BoD can't control themselves, we slimy, morally inferior little employees sure can't.  (Note that we are allowed, at any age, to surf all the violence, horror and beheadings we want - just no loving and kissing!)

So there you have it - a new subversive toy to play with in your spare time because we here on the Far Side are always at the forefront of employee rights!

Just a side note: we recently started uploading Radio Far Side to YouTube, since they gave us permission to offer things longer than 10 minutes.  As a result, EMI started banning RFS "in certain countries" because we use one minute of Wall of Voodoo's four-minute long song "Mexican Radio" in the opening titles.  As a consequence, the two (so far) videos that have met this resistance are the two most popular.  I guess banning them makes people all the more curious.  Hahahahahaha!  (that's a maniacal laugh kind of like Dr. Frankenstein when the Creature's hand starts twitching)

You may recall that EMI were the asinine bastards who tried to make it illegal to listen to your radio in your car with your windows open because a song they represent may get played and heard by folks casually passing by.  Sounds like EMI has too many lawyers, too much money and too little to do - outside of jacking money from the poor musicians who are fooled into listing with them.

So quitcherbitchin' and start yer twitchin'!