I was amazed at the number of emails I received last week after introducing Ubuntu 7.10 (www.ubuntu.com).  Check last week’s column for the details but basically Ubuntu is a free computer operating system that comes with a lot of other free software that makes it an extremely usable computer right after it is installed.

I received several good questions with regard to Ubuntu (Ubuntu.com) and Open Office (OpenOffice.org) during the week.

Several of you were wondering how Ubuntu runs off of a disk without being installed on a computer.  One person said, “Windows sure won’t do that!”  You are right.  Microsoft Windows won’t do that, but Ubuntu isn’t Windows. 

I don’t know how it does it but it does and it performs very well.  It runs fully from the CD (no, not a DVD).  All of the programs that you may install may be tested entirely on the CD.  This includes the browser, all of the games and the full version of Open Office, just to name a few.  If you decide not in install Ubuntu on your computer, nothing is changed or edited on your computer.  You just remove the disk and restart your computer and it will work exactly like it did before your test.

The reader comment that generated the most controversy was about Open Office.  I stated that Open Office, “compares very favorably to Microsoft Office”.  Some of you wanted to know if it was exactly like MS Office.  OK, read the quote again.  It isn’t exactly like it but compares very favorably, meaning pretty close. 

Open Office has a word processor (like Word), a spreadsheet application (similar to Excel), a presentation package (yes like PowerPoint), a database (Access) and even a couple of others.  Although they all look good, the MS Word and Excel lookalikes are very, very similar.  The others are not quite as good as the Microsoft originals but for the price they are great.

And now the biggest question I received.  If I create an Open Office document, will I be able to open, edit and save it with the real Microsoft application?  Absolutely yes!  You can save all of the Open Office derivatives as their Microsoft “twin” and use them in either product.  So yes, Michael, if you have MS Office at work and bring a document home to edit in Open Office you will be able to take it back to work and complete it the next day.

One last thought.  If you just want Open Office without installing Ubuntu on your computer just download it from the site and use it.  It is just about that easy.  And remember…free.

October 18, 2007, a brand of Linux was released which is called, “Ubuntu” (version 7.10, www.ubuntu.com).  Now for many of you this immediately generates two major questions.  The first is, “What is Linux?”  The follow up to that is, “What is Ubuntu, some African word?”

I will answer them in that order.  Linux is a computer operating system.  It was created, as a hobby, by a young college student named Linus Torvalds while attending the University of Helsinki in Finland in 1991.  The operating system that you are most likely acquainted with is Microsoft Windows XP or Vista.  Windows XP is found on the majority of computers today.  Linux is found on…well, not many.

Regarding the word Ubuntu, you were correct.   It is a Zulu word meaning “humanity towards others”.  It is (in the computer sense of the word) an operating system based off of Linux.  It differs from Linux in that it is more user-friendly.  This means that it has a nice user interface (looks good), is easy to use and closely resembles Microsoft Windows.

Oh, one very significant thing I forgot to mention.  Linux and more importantly, Ubuntu are free.  Yes, absolutely no cost.  Ubuntu also comes with many other free items that you must pay significantly for with other systems.  Ubuntu is sponsored by Mark Shuttleworth, a South African billionaire.

When you install Ubuntu you also get the Firefox browser, a quite useful email program named, “Evolution” It works quite well and has a lot of games for free.  Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention you get Open Office (OpenOffice.org) which is also free.  Open Office, in my opinion, compares very favorably to Microsoft Office (office.Microsoft.com).  That was hard for me to say as I am a staunch supporter of Microsoft but this just works – for free.

This week I took the plunge and installed the latest version of Ubuntu on an old notebook computer.  It isn’t just a little old.  This one would barely run Windows XP when it was new.  With Ubuntu it is running like an active young puppy.  Ubuntu doesn’t need all the power of the newer Windows machines.  If you have an older computer and aren’t totally tied to the MS systems you may want to try Ubuntu before you toss it out.   You will be surprised.  Once you download it and burn it to a CD (or order a CD) you can run it on your computer without installing it.  That way you can see if you like it before it is installed.   

This column was written and emailed to the DNR all using Ubuntu and did I mention it is free?

I get questions quite often about programs hijacking files so they open with the wrong program.  I get it so often that when Ivan S. emailed me about this several weeks ago I thought I should revisit it here. 

Ivan said that in the past all of his .jpg files opened in Internet Explorer and now the open in Microsoft Word.  By-the-way, JPG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the faction that developed that particular photographic digital format.  Photographs taken digitally are most often in the JPG (or JPEG) format.

His problem is when he double clicks a JPG file he wants them to open in Internet Explorer, which they did until just recently.  I asked if he just recently installed or upgraded Microsoft Office.  He explained that he had recently installed the newest version of Office.  Not to get off topic here, but MS Office 2007 is excellent although it will take a little getting used to.

What happened? It used to work the way he was comfortable with and now it doesn’t.

Well, programs, like some people we know, like to be in control.  When you install some programs they associate themselves with different file formats or hijack those files to only open with them. 

For instance, when he installed the Office software it apparently set itself up as the default program that opens JPG files and most likely GIF files too (Graphic Interchange Format, another graphic format).  Before that the honor had been given to Internet Explorer. 

Here is the easiest way to correct or change file associations so that your hijacked files will open in the program in which you want them to open, rather than where the programmers would like them to open.

Find one of the file types anywhere on your computer.  Hover over the offending file and right click. 

Scroll down to “Open with” and from the list click on “Choose Program…”.  In the next window find the program you want to start opening this type of file and click it to select it.  (Internet Explorer in Ivan’s case.) 

This next step is very important!  Don’t forget to click the checkbox labeled, “Always use the selected program to open this kind of file.”  If you forget that part it will only open the way you want it to this one time.  Finally, click OK and it will open in the correct program.

Now it will continue to open how you want it to – until the next sneaky program takes control back.

I received several emails from readers about geocaching from the previous column.  Some were from participants and some were wanting more information about starting.  I heard from the reader who brought the Geocoin from Alaska to Grand Caverns Park about which I wrote.

So kick back, relax and listen to my first geocaching adventures.

My in-laws came to visit on the weekend.  We were all going to the “32nd Annual Fall Mountain Heritage Arts & Crafts Festival”, Harpers Ferry, WV.  Well for those of you who know me, you also know that I can’t really enjoy craft shows for more than 15-20 minutes.  I talked them into letting me go with them to the fairgrounds and then running off on my own to find some caches for the day. 

I had loaded several sites into my GPS for that area.  It was neat to find out when we got to “Sam Michael’s Park” that there were three caches hidden there.  The first which was rated “3.5″ (1=easy to 5=hardest) I found after about 45 minutes.  It was great!  The cache was hidden in a heavily wooded area under a large stone.  It was a two quart plastic container.  It had some trinkets inside but I didn’t care – the challenge was met when I found it!

I couldn’t get to the other two at the park as I wasn’t clothed to negotiate the head tall briars, stickers and brambles that were there.  So I quit there and moved on.  Next, I went into the woods behind a large subdivision. 

This hunt was good until I was under a heavy canopy of trees which blocked the satellite signal to my GPS device.  All I knew was that I was within 25 feet of the cache.  I never did find it but I did almost loose my lunch.  A very large sounding Doberman appeared, then quit suddenly about two feet away on the other side of a fence.  The fence looked way to small to contain him for long so I left…quickly… the cache forgotten.

The last one was in the same neighborhood.  I was searching around a large water tower.  The coordinates were about 200 feet from where I was, but I was bumping up against another fence, sans dog.  I stood on an old log to look over the edge of the fence to the woods behind it, saw nothing and left; stumped again.  As I left I saw two teenaged boys looking at me and talking.  I figured that maybe they had hidden the cache and were talking about how I overlooked it. 

Well it was now time to grab a snack so I went to a sandwich shop about 3 blocks from the water tower.  When I came out a really large guy came over to me with fists in the cocked position wanting to know what I was doing looking around his house.  I had to muster up a bunch of courage as he looked like a weight lifter and had 15 years on me.  All I had was a pencil, paper and my GPS.

I told him I wasn’t looking at his house.  He proceeded to explain that he saw me looking over his fence and wanted a good reason why and quick!   I told him that he must live next to the water tower which he acknowledged.  Well, against all geocaching rules I had to tell a muggle what I was doing.  After examining my GPS and paperwork he believed me.  He left with a warning that he didn’t want to see me in his neighborhood ever again.

I left – what a day…and yes I will be doing it again, just not around “his” water tower.