I have been a Microsoft Windows user for many years and I find Microsoft’s flasgship OS to be very appealing. It has thousands of hardwares supported and a multitude of applications available to meet whatever a computer user’s need is. I’ve used it to create business cards, invitations, posters, newsletters, websites, applications, and thousands of documents ever since I started using it back in 1995. I was only using Windows 3.11 by the time. Then came Windows 95, then 98, then ME, then 2000, then Windows XP. I admit, all of them were great tools for business and personal work.
However, there was one big problem - I never spent a single cent in acquiring all this OS versions and its accompanying applications like Microsoft Office (oh yes, I’ve used all versions of MS-Office too). In other words, I was using pirated software. The worst part here is that I am a Christian and almost every Sunday, I lead the Praise & Worship (or choir as some would say) in church. I also handle Bible Studies and if given the opportunity, would even speak on the pulpit on Midweek and Sunday Services. Oh yes, I was such an active Christian.
Early this year, while I was praying for my ministry, the Holy Spirit raised a very distinct conviction in my heart. As you may have already guessed, it’s the issue of using pirated CDs - VCDs, DVDs, Audio CDs, and Software CDs. The conviction was so great that I immediately went into action. At this point, I was so determined to take them all out. All these years I knew it was illegal but I played blind and deaf. I kept on justifying my mistakes by saying, “Licensed CDs is so unbelievably expensive,” and “I’m using it for God’s greater glory” and yet, the urge remained. So now was the time. God won’t allow another day to pass by without me surrendering to His will.
I had a choice, buy licensed versions of all the software I am using which easily totalled to around US$630.00! Imagine that! That would be enough money to buy me two more computers and one astronomical telescope to support my hobby. So I settled for the second choice - find an alternative way of doing things.
I started out by looking for all the pirated VCDs and Audio CDs I have. It was easy to throw them away. I smashed them and threw them in the garbage. What a relief. My wife agreed with me about this matter and it was easy to explain it to my two daughters who loved watching cartoons on these pirated CDs. Next came the harder part - pirated software. My work is mostly computer based - website development, encoding, layouting, and the like. I need to find an alternative and here comes Linux to the rescue.
I liked the idea of Linux being free. Also, most Linux-based softwares are also free. Wow! A free way of doing things! Also, it won’t be illegal to burn them on CD or borrow them from a friend. I’ve heard about it and I seemed to like the idea way back then. But now is different, I will be using it myself.
Late May 2004 was the start of a new computing world for me. Everything will be different. Everything will be clean. Everything will be flawless - or so I thought. I quickly borrowed a set of Redhat 9 installer CDs from my friend Benj Arriola. I was determined to give it a try. I have a 40GB harddrive which was divided in 4 equal partitions so I had no problem with partitioning. I decided to install Redhat 9 on one of the partitions and leave Windows XP on another. Initially, I had a dual boot system as I didn’t delete WinXP yet - just in case things go wrong. Installation was great and since I am viewing Linux from a poweruser perspective, it was easy for me to understand the basics. The Redhat 9 installation CDs even came with OpenOffice (MS Office Counterpart) and Evolution (MS Outlook Counterpart). So far so good.
Next, I searched the internet for a good alternative to Macromedia Homesite. Tell you the truth, I was disappointed as I found nothing to come even close to Homesite when it comes to functionality and ease of use. I tried Bluefish but it seems to crash often so I resorted back to good old text editor. In Linux, I have a bunch to choose from - vi, emacs, gedit, etc - so it’s not a problem. Then there is Gimp, a wonderful replacement for Photoshop. Again, so far so good. By the way, at this point, I was still doing all the internet stuff in Windows XP.
Then came the problems. My Canon BJC-255SP won’t work. My modem won’t work (It was a Conexant modem). My Intel Pocket PC Camera won’t work too! Ahhhhhhhh. I booted on WinXP and searched the net for answers. The printer problem was easily fixed by updating CUPS (the Linux print manager) and the modem was fixed by downloading a demo driver from Linuxant.ORG. But my camera - no good. It ain’t supported by the well known Linux GPhoto but I can live with that. So I downloaded what needs to be downloaded and switched back to Linux, installed the stuff, and all went fine - except of course for the camera.
Since the Linuxant demo modem driver was only running at 28.8kbps, I decided to get a DSL connection. DSL installation on Linux was very easy. I then found a fix for my camera - a JAVA program to download pictures from my camera. Thanks to David Morgan for the cool JAVA program and for all his help in making it work on my PC. All things are going well again.
Now that I’m on DSL, I found the chance to download Redhat’s Fedora Core 2 Linux distribution. I now have it installed on my PC and Windows XP and all pirated software on my PC is gone. All pirated software CDs have now been smashed and thrown. The final frontier on cleaning my house from all pirated CDs has been conquered.
So what’s my point? Why go through all the trouble when I can simply use pirated software (knowing I can’t afford to buy licensed ones)? Simple. As Christians, it is our duty to radiate the holiness and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Let us not trample on the wounds of Christ by stealing music, movies, and software. Yes, just in case you don’t know, buying and/or using pirated CDs is theft.
I challenge you - all you who profess to be Christians - take the step and do the right thing. My decision was not easy to make. The problems I went through in migrating my PC from Windows to Linux is not chicken-feed. But if Christ went through all the sorrow and pain just to save me, then I will do the same to glorify Him in my life. So brothers and sisters, either you buy licensed copies or do what I have done.
Thanks to all the Linux guys, to its author, and most of all to THE MOST HIGH GOD for leading me to digital righteousness.
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