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Well now... I know what I need to be mindful of in the world of software in the event of a zombie apocalypse. :P
Hehe...I'd rather have a good supply of shells and reloading supplies, maybe
a couple of shotguns, along with a high caliber semi-auto myself...lots quicker
for head shots than calling them up on the computer over an internet that
may not be accessible. Just sayin'...
Oh, and a good electric generator with a ham radio! In case there are other
pockets of zombie hunters!
a couple of shotguns, along with a high caliber semi-auto myself...lots quicker
for head shots than calling them up on the computer over an internet that
may not be accessible. Just sayin'...
Oh, and a good electric generator with a ham radio! In case there are other
pockets of zombie hunters!
as it blows the heck out of everything that comes near without approval.
Or, at the least, has failed to watch the multitude of movies released since 1968 (Night of the Living Dead's launch on the general public) or read the host of zombie-inspired novels & short stories written over the last few decades.
And in these, we see the following constantly repeated:
-- no new food shipments, so you increasingly struggle to scrounge enough food to keep going
-- freshwater, in particular uncontaminated water, becomes hard to come by as infrastructure breaks down
-- spare parts become increasingly difficult to find for all machines; due to their inherently higher level of complexity, the ability to maintain computer hardware will be even worse than maintaining "simpler" machines like vehicles
-- most importantly, though, aside from areas served by nuclear power plants and/or hydroelectric dams (or possibly those relatively few solar- or wind-powered facilities), most electricity-generating plants are not fully-automated facilities that can continue running for years without human intervention -- and even those aren't "fully automated", because someone still has to maintain the turbines that actually generate the electricity. The workers are going to be more concerned with getting themselves & their families to safety than keeping the lights on...not without either fortifying the plants so that they can keep their families there, or depending on armed guards to protect them to & from the facility.
And that's the big problem right there: without power, & without the onsite techs needed to maintain the equipment, the Internet will go down. Maybe not overnight, maybe not even for weeks or months...but no power = no way to turn on your PC or recharge your "non-traditional" PC, let alone have power for the local cell towers/network routers to maintain the Internet connection. And that's not considering the effects weather will have. Two years ago, the East Coast saw major issues with Internet outages due to the severe winter storms... a situation they're facing again right now with Hurricane Sandy. Yet that's with them being able to call on additional repair personnel from unaffected areas to repair the damage they faced. But in a zombie apocalypse, the linemen are going to be worried more about getting themselves & their families to safety than making sure the local hub that was taken out by a falling tree limb (or worse, hit by someone who tried to avoid multiple zombies) gets back online so that you can post to your blog about your "zombie experiences". If there's no Internet or power for your PC, it won't matter whether it's "open-source powered" or "Evil Corporation powered".
And in these, we see the following constantly repeated:
-- no new food shipments, so you increasingly struggle to scrounge enough food to keep going
-- freshwater, in particular uncontaminated water, becomes hard to come by as infrastructure breaks down
-- spare parts become increasingly difficult to find for all machines; due to their inherently higher level of complexity, the ability to maintain computer hardware will be even worse than maintaining "simpler" machines like vehicles
-- most importantly, though, aside from areas served by nuclear power plants and/or hydroelectric dams (or possibly those relatively few solar- or wind-powered facilities), most electricity-generating plants are not fully-automated facilities that can continue running for years without human intervention -- and even those aren't "fully automated", because someone still has to maintain the turbines that actually generate the electricity. The workers are going to be more concerned with getting themselves & their families to safety than keeping the lights on...not without either fortifying the plants so that they can keep their families there, or depending on armed guards to protect them to & from the facility.
And that's the big problem right there: without power, & without the onsite techs needed to maintain the equipment, the Internet will go down. Maybe not overnight, maybe not even for weeks or months...but no power = no way to turn on your PC or recharge your "non-traditional" PC, let alone have power for the local cell towers/network routers to maintain the Internet connection. And that's not considering the effects weather will have. Two years ago, the East Coast saw major issues with Internet outages due to the severe winter storms... a situation they're facing again right now with Hurricane Sandy. Yet that's with them being able to call on additional repair personnel from unaffected areas to repair the damage they faced. But in a zombie apocalypse, the linemen are going to be worried more about getting themselves & their families to safety than making sure the local hub that was taken out by a falling tree limb (or worse, hit by someone who tried to avoid multiple zombies) gets back online so that you can post to your blog about your "zombie experiences". If there's no Internet or power for your PC, it won't matter whether it's "open-source powered" or "Evil Corporation powered".
was that in a post-apocalyptic world, electricity will probably be limited and reserved for needs that are more survival-critical than computers. Cooling food, running medical equipment, and maintaining communications would top my list. General purpose and business computing will be out the door.
There is only one real use for any computing device that I could justify the luxury of generating electricity for. That is knowledge preservation, and there are far more reliable, low tech, time tested methods for doing that. The only real benefit of the computer form factor, and I would be using a tablet or at most a laptop, would be the sheer volume of reference material you can store one any modern computing device. Pair a tablet with a sizable number of SD cards and/or USB sticks and a portable solar charging unit and you can set yourself up quite comfortably once you find a safe place to settle down and farm sufficient food to survive long term.
Otherwise there will be no internet as people will be far more concerned with survival than keeping power and telecom systems up and running so most of the paranoia induced arguments for open source to oppose evil corporate influences become invalid.
Otherwise there will be no internet as people will be far more concerned with survival than keeping power and telecom systems up and running so most of the paranoia induced arguments for open source to oppose evil corporate influences become invalid.
Jack had me at #7. Indisputable. WGA will *not* survive the apocalypse. After all of our debates, he finally found an inarguable way to establish that Linux is in fact superior to Windows... at least, after the zombie hordes attack. I can admit when I'm beat.
Check and mate, Mr. Wallen. Well played.
Check and mate, Mr. Wallen. Well played.
The apocalypse is supposed to be difficult, full of unnecessary hardship and joyless. What better operating system to keep the mood than Linux? Like bread and butter...
*zing*.
*zing*.
#7 is of course the best argument for Linux and open source after the apocalypse. Of course you are really screwed if your distro doesn't have all the drivers for your PC
Great article, the embedded computer that currently runs the property defense system here is backed up by battery power and solar recharge technology. You see, it doesn't have to be a "pc" to be a computer!!!
There are embedded systems out there running a lot of neat things for society that they are not even aware of!!!
So, 3 cheers for open source!!!
p.s. keep all your drivers backed up!!!!
There are embedded systems out there running a lot of neat things for society that they are not even aware of!!!
So, 3 cheers for open source!!!
p.s. keep all your drivers backed up!!!!
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