How Do You Access The Internet?

Submitted by David Trammel on Sun, 04/14/2019 - 12:38
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The Tenth Circle: Communication and Transportation

I've used Microsoft's Windows forever it seems, but as Microsoft seems to be headed towards "Windows as a Service" aka you pay a yearly fee to have your computer work, versus what it is now aka you buy the software and it works until your computer dies, I've been looking at changing my computer to a Linux system. Linux is an open source software, aka volunteer people develop it and put it out there for free.

I came across this article today:

The Linux desktop is in trouble

Which points out that those of us who access the Internet via a desktop or laptop, aren't where the money is anymore. Mint seems to be the best option for a Linux system.

I wondered how everyone here accesses the Internet?

Blueberry's picture

Blueberry

Sun, 04/14/2019 - 20:11

I have a list of places that I can order from using a phone or by the US Mail. Have lots of info on ext hard drives that I can access with several older computer that I do not use online at this time. Have saved Linux Mint to a back up drive. The modern grid and internet have a short use by date. Before WWII the US grid was not of one standard HZ. Looking at Beitmans info on radios from about 1920-1939 there were models made to run on 25-60 HZ. Part on New York City used 110 volt DC until like 1980. My current internet provider Windstream filed chapter 11 on Feb 25 and goes to court end of April. Collapse now and avoid the rush sounds like a plan!!

k9iua

Tue, 04/16/2019 - 08:27

Dale,
What OS one's computer runs and how one accesses the internet are two separate things.

For computers at home, I am all about Linux. I have several laptops and desktops on which I've loaded Xubuntu. I tried Mint years ago, but didn't like it. I've been happy with Xubuntu and its XCFE windowing interface for nearly a dozen years now (and before that a couple of other Linux distributions). But then I am a computer science major from my BA degree way back in the late 1970s/very early 1980s, although that has not been my work field directly since. I don't find this dire message about the Linux desktop dying as a concern, as there are plenty of servers running Linux, and the desktop is just one of those with a windows interface running on top, so Linux won't be disappearing any time soon.

As for accessing the internet, that is connectioned through the cable provider. While my wife and I both upgraded our mobile phones from flip phones to smartphones just this winter, and therefore have access to wireless data if we need it, we primarily use our cellphones still for talk and text only. But I like having access to wireless data if I need it in an emergency, particularly for accessing weather data and GPS maps when I am on the road. Most of my access to the internet therefore is through the above mentioned computers and a much older Android tablet at home, or at work through their mandated Windows computers.

Kevin Anderson

mountainmoma's picture

mountainmoma

Tue, 04/16/2019 - 14:51

Where I live, the only way to effectively get on the internet is thru the cable companies fiberoptic lines, and it is expensive at least I think so, around $50/month. Of course, most of that money is for the electricity it takes and their infrastructure, servers, repeaters etc.... having internet is something that takes alot of resources. I am using a very old broken laptop a MacBook that is 9 years old, and it is not going to make it to 10years ! For software, I use Firefox or Brave, and for a search engine I use Duck DuckGo. I do not use Microsoft or Google for software or off site data storage ( what they are euphamistically calling the cloud, that naming was a bit of marketing genius).

I live at the suburban/wildland interface. There is no cell phone service in my particular area, and ATT also has not upgraded this last 1 mile of copper to fiberoptic, which is just as well, so neither of those can be used to access the internet.

My youngest is about to have to upgrade/change her laptop due to University requirement, so I will take over her macbook over the summer, and so avoid the whole quandry of decisions since it is best to keep that existing computer in service than to replace

I do not generally use a cell phone over the years. I had an old Nokia I kept in the car for emergencies and evacuations so when evacuations happened I would drop by ATT and buy a new prepaid card, but, the new cell services now no longer support that older phone, which is too bad as it is a very well built phone that still works well, but is now useless. I bought an old Iphone from a neighbor for $20 a few months ago, and while it would certainly operate as a smart phone, I am not using that feature. I am using it prepaid, and right now buy about 1.5 hours of minutes per month for under $9. A few months ago, we had family stuff going on and I paid $15 for unlimited talk and text for the month. I can at anytime, go online and change what I want for this phone, I could add access to data if and when I want to, but I do not see the need. It of course will connect to the internet via wifi when I am at home or in other locations, which I sometimes use.