Back to Republic (can we really get away from Windows)

Kettle Falls, WA to Republic, WA

(Linux investigation, some genealogy research and I wax the motorhome!)

October 1 - October 14, 2016

The day we got back to Gold Mountain RV Park we sat down with Dave to see his Linux PC in action.  We were surprised to find it looked very similar to Windows (or Windblows as Dave calls it) aswell as to some of the features on a Mac.  It comes loaded with a FREE office type program which includes a word processor, a spreadsheet and a presentation development program.  It's also comes loaded with Firefox for internet access, along with lots of other useful programs.  We also learned that Laura's current laptop (a Dell) could probably be converted to a Linux system unless something unexpected happened.  He was less sure about my laptop (a Toshiba) since they often make some internal changes that might muck up the conversion.

Dave also told us about System76.com, a website where you can order Linux based PCs.  We checked it out and found the prices to be very reasonable. By then I knew I depended on too many Windows based programs (in particular all the programs I use for genealogy) to even think about converting. Laura was a different story. Since I do all her inputting, she really didn't need the Legacy software although it would be a plus if we could get it to run under Linux.  What to do, what to do?  Since I feel I spend a lot of time trying to help Laura with her laptop, we decided to buy a new Linux based laptop from System76 for Laura and to have Dave try and convert her old laptop to the Linux operating system.

We ordered the laptop then we waited for it to arrive.  Meanwhile I backed up Laura's old laptop so Dave could convert it to the Linux operating system.  I also worked on inputting some of the historical materials I'd already found on my ancestors into my Legacy program.

At some point I looked out and noted that the weather was perfect to do a job I'd been wanting to get done since we moved into the motorhome.  It needed to be waxed - no small task.  I decided to seize the moment.  Although the motorhome has never looked so beautiful, my arms and shoulders will never be quite the same again! What a job!  I managed to get about 2/3's of it complete before some rain blew in and sent me back inside to continue inputting my genealogical research.

When it was convenient, Dave took Laura's laptop and converted it to Linux while I watched.  All went smoothly and we now had her old laptop to play on.  I tried loading a Windows emulation program on it but something went wrong somewhere and we couldn't determine if it had actually loaded.  Next I tried to load Crossover, a software that purports to run Windows apps and games on Mac and Linux operating systems.  Dave had suggested trying it to see if Legacy would work.  That went well but the problems I had loading the emulation program caused the whole system to go sideways.  Ever patient, Dave erased everything and reloaded Linux.  By now the new laptop had arrived. Dave got it all set up for us and Laura started using it, finding it very easy to adapt to.

By now we had been in Republic for two weeks and we felt we needed to get moving again as the weather was getting colder and colder.  We wanted to stick to our original plan of being in the North in the summer and the South in the winter.