The Switch to Linux

I have made the switch to Linux for some time now, however I have only fully switched all my computers to Ubuntu Linux a couple weeks ago. I recently purchased a Laptop that had Windows 7 preloaded (a practice I think shoves mediocrity down the consumers' throats).

Figured I'd give Windows 7 a go out of sympathy, worked out O.K. for a while but one simple issue was bugging me, I kept picking up viruses on all my Flash Drives and even the digital camera had it on that flash drive, they didn't do much apparent damage (or so I thought) but were a bit nagging. I noticed a couple days later after using the Windows 7 Machine to update a few sites I did that whenever I tried visiting the pages of two or more of these sites on the net, they were blocked by Firefox for Badware. Further checks revealed that they in fact had malicious code in the header that was apparently put there by some form of malware on the computer. I immediately installed Ubuntu on the laptop after removing the bits of malicious code from my sites. I also noticed prior to the complete Ubuntu transition that the Yahoo address I used for my messenger was sending SPAM to people in the address book including my other email addresses, I checked the Yahoo login history which showed me that there were logins to my account being carried out in Belarus - a place I only know was part of the Soviet Union, made tractors and who's capital is Minsk and seems to be a quite boring place, there were also logins in Argentina. Surprising - no! Most if not all my Windows friends are sending me email with various one line messages containing links, these I noticed came from those who weren't as cautious as I am with my email usage, if malware can obtain your login information, imagine what other snippets of info they can collect about you.

This has put me in a situation that is more of a challenge and will require far more effort on my part. I have to programme in Linux - cool and ultra exciting! I also am using languages that are platform-independent for the most part. PHP and Python and for C and C++ I will focus in the Linux aspects of these languages. Whether I like it or not commercialism seems to always trump common-sense and as a result there will always be the Windows people out there who know no better. As a result we have to cater to their needs also. So, proficiency in Windows, Linux and Mac programming is a trait that all programmers should have.

Tutorial and Progress

I figured (out of frustration) that my previous approach was a bit like flogging a dead horse, so I decided to pick two tutorials and stick to them. Here they are below:
1. Learn CPP for C++
2. CProgramming.com for C
3. PHP Projects I come up with myself

I'll be following these tutorials step by step each day (Monday To Friday) an I will post my progress each day. The programmes and examples will also be put on this blog for you to follow. I'd like to know what your thoughts are.

Over a Year

Over a year since my last post (that's bad, I know). I promised to keep you posted on my progress. It has been very challenging to keep up with home schooling myself in computer programming. Since my last year's post, I have put the Python learning on hold for now and moved into PHP, C and C++. I chose to go that route as PHP is useful in my Web Development and I was given a site to development. I also have a dream of one day developing embedded systems and writing an operating system of my own C is a very fitting language for such an undertaking. I acknowledge that there is somewhat of a steep learning curve as it relates to C and C++ but the versatility of the two is undeniable. So, with a little knowledge in Python and Javascript, I've jumped into C and C++!

Python

Python is a really great language to start with, anyone out there who was pondering which language to start with, then I guess you can ponder no more.

I suggest Python because it quite simple and very kind on beginner. It doesn't necessarily include all the stuff that you would find in C and C++ that make these and other languages so difficult to learn. I would recommend it to anyone and below (today is your lucky day) are a couple links to where you can start learning
1. MIT Open Courseware - the best place to start, its a course that gives you access to all the class-related stuff in MIT's Introduction to Programming Course

2. Python - Official Website - duh!

I'll add more links as I go along.

PHP MySQL and Javascript

I figured well, since I already have a quasi-solid foundation in XHTML/HTML 5 and CSS then the natural options to continue with would be Javascript and PHP and MySQL. I will be using books and online web tutorials for the two. I also think the video tutorials available at lynda.com are good. I have also signed up at wikiversity for their Web Development and Software Development courses available. Guess what, youtube is also a good place to get ok tutorials.

Web Design

I noticed that I have somewhat of a grasp of working my way around Media Styling especially for the Web. What I love especially is the use of The GIMP and Adobe Photoshop for web layout. All the sites I've done use any of the software listed below, which I truly love and highly recommend if you want to take up Web Design and Computer programming:
1. Notepad++ which happens to be my favorite by far
2. Adobe Phostoshop
3. The GIMP - my default design program
4. and Adobe's Dreamweaver

All the above programs are very good and are "must haves" if you are going into the world of Web Design.

XHTML, HTML 5 and CSS

I have since starting this blog taught myself HTML/XHTML and CSS, I know quite a few computer programming fundamentalists do not consider XHTML/HTML a programming language in the strictest sense of Computer Programming. I believe however that it does teach you some principles that will prove essential to Computer Programming and Software Development. I have a few websites up that I have designed myself and integrated basic PHP, some of which can be found here you can maybe have a look and let me know what you think of these templates. I try to design more as I have the time and upload them at that location. If you like any of the templates you can contact me (kamron@cmit.com.jm), I will be happy to allow you to use a template or two for free providing a few conditions that I will determine - nothing too restrictive or prohibitive. However if you would prefer the unconditonal use of these templates then you would have to pay for it but guess what, it won't be anything too expensive. The most I will charge for any of my templates will be from US$10.00 and US$60.00 the most.