Terrence Brasche, the headmaster at Crashwater Primary School is a good friend. Recently, he said that he was having problems with his computer crashing and wondered if I might be able to help him.
Now, it is important that you get the whole picture here. Terrence cannot simply call someone to come help him, nor can he have a technician come to the school...you see, Crashwater is a Macusi village situated on the northerly bank of the Rupununi River 15 or so miles downriver from Kwatamang Landing. During the dry season you can get there by walking some 3 hours, take an ox cart...that will take half an hour off your travel time, but pound the daylights out of your kidneys or you can "catch a drop" on a trusty Honda 125 for a hair raising 45 minute ride across the Hiowa savanna, take a boat across the river then walk a mile or so to the village center. During the rainy season, your trip is much easier...just catch a boat heading there and an hour or so later you are in Crashwater.
Now that you have arrived, you still have some challenges. You hope that the sun has shown for enough time to recharge the batteries that power the computer...hope that no one has been using the computer, discharging the batteries and that the fine job of Rupununi wiring will not short out and kill the computer entirely.
Today the Gods smile favorably on us...an easy ride in, the batteries are charged and the computer system is working fun...oops! it just crashed. "That's what it does all the time", exclaims Terrence. After numerous restarts, re-boots and realy bad words, it appears that there is something basically wrong with the system. I run every diagnostic check available...nothing works. Sooooooo...."Terrence, I'm going to suggest that we take Windows off and install Ubuntu". I tell him the risks, what he needs to do to back up, etc., etc. "OK, do it".
So, with a flick of a button, Crashwater left the world of Microsoft and Windows and joined the new world order of Linux and Ubuntu. I spoke with Terrence a few weeks later...everything was going fine.
