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Welcome!
Welcome to Hank's Digital Domain, my own little plot of digital real estate. Here you will find a lot of material pertaining to my two main obsessions: Linux and computers. You will also find tutorials and How To's relating to Linux, especially Debian and Mint, as well as computing. Finally, if you have any interest in Linux or computers, I suggest you check out my links section, as I constantly update it with links that I find useful.
As a general warning, all information on this site is correct to the best of my knowledge, and works on my own computers and radios. Use this information at your own risk. I am not responsible for any problems or loss of data due to the use of anything acquired from this site. I always recommend backing up any important data before making any system modifications or configurations. Now, come on in and have some fun.
DOS: n., A small annoying boot virus that causes random spontaneous system crashes, usually just before saving a massive project. Easily cured by Linux. See also MS-DOS, IBM-DOS, DR-DOS.
Linux
I love Linux. Matter of fact, I love Linux a lot. Aside from it being free, I love having complete control over the operating system. If I decide I want to delete the kernel, then I can; of course only once. Some of the other reasons I love linux are:
- Licensing Freedom: Want one copy, download one copy. Want 50 copies, download one and spread it around; all without the fear of the Software Business Alliance.
- Full command line: You can administer a Linux machine 100% from the command line if you know what you are doing. Try that with any other operating system.
- Centralized application installation/updates: With a package manager, you have a single location to go to for almost all of your applications and all patches/updates.
- Multilayered run levels: Linux will boot into whatever environment you choose. If you prefer to use the command line, Linux will boot into the command line (run level 3). If you prefer the gui, then Linux will automatically boot into it (run level 5). However, if you screw up your gui, then Linux will automatically boot into the command line, and you have every tool available to fix your problem. This has saved me numerous times.
- Modular design: The modular design of Linux makes it a much more efficient and stable operating system. In most cases, if I break one module, the other modules are unaffected and keep running while I fix the broken one. It also allows me to shut down sections of the os while the rest keep running.
To learn more, go to my Linux page Here.
MSDOS didn't get as bad as it is overnight -- it took over ten years of careful development
Computing
I got my first computer in 1983. It was a Radio Shack Coco II. It had 16k of RAM, and a tape deck for storage. I felt like I was the king of the world. I bought a book on Color Basic, and the rest is history. Not long afterwards, I bought my first modem. It was a 300 baud Hayes modem. Most of my friends had 110 baud modems, so 300 baud was blistering fast. My how times have chaged. By the end of the Coco life, I had added 2 5 1/4" drives, a voice synthesizer, and many games and programs, some of which I wrote.
My next jump in computers was a Tandy TRS-80 Model 3. This was one of my favorite computers, even today. When it was way past it's useful life, I turned it into a dedicated Amateur Radio terminal with an AEA PK-232 modem. I finally retired it in 1998, and still miss it today.
Today all of my computers are home built except my laptops. I have two Debian Servers; one is running VMWare with 3 virtual servers: a MythUbuntu server, a file and printer server, and a Windows 2008 Server used for training. The other Debian server is soon to be an Apache Web server and a mail server. I also have an IPCop firewall in front of it all.
To learn more and see my computer tutorials, go to my Computer page Here.