WHAT "GOIN' COMMANDO" IS ALL ABOUT

This is the story of how I've grown to resent my dependence on Microsoft, Apple, and a handful of other companies who dominate the overall personal computing scene, including the Internet. What irks me most is the whole question of licensing and paying for products, namely because there's a promise of support and reliability. Instead, we find numerous problems and very poor technical support for the money we pay. In the end, I believe these companies are playing on the average user's lack of confidence and the myth that sticking with "standard" operating systems and software is safer and more advantageous.

So what does "Goin' Commando" mean? Isn't that something about not wearing underwear from the TV show Friends? Well, sort of. Of course, a commando is an operative that works outside of the standard framework of a military organization. This blog has nothing to do with commandos or special forces in any way. It's also not about whether I've chosen to wear undergarments. For me, "Goin' Commando" is about working outside of the established structures set up by the companies listed above. In short, we don't need Microsoft in order to run our computers. We don't need Adobe to make pretty images or PDF files. We don't need Macs to have user-friendly interfaces that make us feel all warm and fuzzy about our computing experiences. And we don't need Apple to give us nifty MP3 players and software to manage our music, video, and podcasts.

Furthermore, there are so many Web 2.0 applications for creating and consuming blogs, podcasts, wikis, discussion forums, Web pages, Web sites, video sites, social networking, social bookmarking, email, news, RSS feeds, and a whole bunch more. There's no need for expensive operating systems and office packages in addition to the other specialized software to do these things. In fact, the major companies don't really deal with much of the above, though I'm sure they're currently angling to get a piece of that pie. Didn't somebody just buy FaceBook? That's what I'm talking about.

There are plenty of alternatives out there for everything from operating systems to document creation to entertainment. This is what "Goin' Commando" is all about. It's about ridding myself of the illusion of the safety net created by the big computing companies. It's about venturing into the world of open-source software and Web 2.0 applications. It's about connecting to the user communities that produce and use all of these products. And it's about giving back to the larger computing community, even if it's allowing others to learn from my mistakes.

Now, on with the blog ...