I was pleased to see a technical article in the Feb. 20 Journal Star, regarding the PC versus Mac commercials being shown on TV.

But alas, PC (Windows XP and Vista) and Macintosh OS X are not the only operating systems running in the world today.

There was no mention of the clear open source favorite called Linux, developed by a then student Linus Torvalds in the early 1990s.

Linux is a UNIX-like operating system that is far more powerful than anything currently offered by PC or Mac. In fact, it is said that almost all of the Internet runs on servers running Linux.

Yes, you can even run Linux on your desktop, and with a plug-in called Beryl, one has some most amazing 3D graphics unlike anything that PC or Mac can offer at this time.

Linux also runs on the same systems that PC and Mac run, and you can load Linux on either system with no problems. In fact, a Linux box setup by default is more secure than that of PC or Mac.

That said, however, there are a few tweaks to tighten up security even more, but as I said, by default, a Linux box is far more secure than either a PC or Mac system upon initial install.

The best part of Linux is that it is free for the downloading. Perhaps the next tech article will be more in depth and not ignore a popular alternative used by geeks all over the world.

Dave A. Ellis, Lincoln

A mother-friendly system

I liked Jeffrey L. Sanley’s recent letter, and I also want to thank our mother-biased court system and our mother-biased Legislature for almost creating another dead-beat dad.

I just recently lost an attempt to get custody of my daughter. I will spare you most of the details except to say that a professional and experienced custody evaluator who is highly regarded and has a Ph.D. in psychology said I should have custody. I don’t have it in me to walk away from my daughter or my responsibilities, but after this experience I can easily see why a lot of men might or do.

My attorney told me from the beginning that the judge we had was mother friendly, and now I believe it. The judges must be impartial and objective at the very least and to have even one attorney say that the judge is biased is disturbing.

Several years ago Health and Human Services in conjunction with the Nebraska Fatherhood Initiative did a study about why aren’t fathers more involved and/or why do we have so many so-called dead-beat dads.

The response was in my opinion overwhelming: Remove the barriers to us being a dad. Barriers like too little parenting time, exorbitant amounts of child support, not enforcing parenting time as ordered, not ordering joint custody, allowing the custodial parent to move away, etc. I have yet to see any changes in our laws to reflect the outcome of this study.

I do, however, want to applaud Sens. Mike Flood and Carol Hudkins for introducing LB554, LB47 and LB76 this session. These bills if they become law might help alleviate some of the existing bias in our system.

Douglas J. Dudley, Lincoln

LB32 the right thing to do

LB32, a bill to provide tax-free textbook purchases for college students in Nebraska, recently was introduced in the state Legislature. It has provisions that increase the availability of higher education, while subsequently increasing support of local businesses by keeping textbook purchases within the state.

As a graduate of Lincoln Southeast High School, I chose to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln because of its diversity, accessibility, affordability and endless possibilities.

I am in my senior year at the university, and I find the cost of education a constant struggle for myself and my peers. As tuition continues to increase, I feel that LB32 would make education more affordable, by allowing textbooks to be tax-free.

Economically disadvantaged students are disproportionately affected by the increasing costs of a college education, including the increasing costs of textbooks. LB32 would effectively decrease the costs of required textbooks, and therefore lessen the burden for all students.

LB32 is the right thing to do for students and for the state of Nebraska.

Laine Norton, Lincoln

Long live Rosemond

Regarding the letter in the Feb. 21 Lincoln Journal Star critical of parenting columnist John Rosemond:

Baloney! Rosemond makes more sense than 98 percent of what I read in the papers.

I was one of five siblings raised the old-fashioned way. None of us have been convicted of a crime.

My wife and I, now 75, raised four kids the old-fashioned way, and none of them were ever labeled delinquent. All have had a college education.

We have 21 grandchildren, all raised the old-fashioned way; two in graduate school, two in college, all on merit scholarships, none ever labeled as delinquent, and none ever have had occasion to be abused by “child protective services.”

I say, “Long live Rosemond!”

Ralph A. Ewert, Lincoln

Protect the citizens

I thought I was well versed on the sex offender registry laws until this week. Guess what? My address is listed on the Web site as having a Level 3 offender residing with me.

After a thorough search of my home to make sure they didn’t know something I didn’t, I called the tip line provided on the Web site. Public beware. The response I was given was that until a full investigation can be done they will not remove this information.

My questioning then was why didn’t you investigate before you violated my rights. That of course is not policy. I live within viewing distance to a school. I asked about that. Once again, not something they handle.

So apparently a sex offender can pick any address they want to register to and the person actually living there cannot do anything about it.

Yes, the man is my child’s father and has been in my home, but that does not mean that he lives here. The man lives in a different city that of course is unaware of his presence because no one did their job and verified that the information provided by him was correct.

I am left dealing with his burden and it is affecting myself and my children. The only response I get is “we are just civilian employees. We will get a message to the sergeant, perhaps you can ask him to register to his current address.” Obviously if he was willing to do that he wouldn’t have registered in an entirely different city than where he lives.

The most frustrating part in all of this is that even after the information is removed nothing will go out to all those notified originally saying oops, we messed up and he never lived here.

In addition, from what I am gathering the man won’t even be held accountable for knowingly giving false information. Great way to protect the citizens.

Jennifer E. Lucas, Lincoln

Remember tradition

I was saddened when I heard the Proud Chief of the University of Illinois was retired.

I felt he was a proud symbol of the Plains Indians and a good reminder to us all.

I go back home to Illinois to the Noble Chowder — renewing friendships, celebrating high school reunions. My great-grandfather’s family members reunite there to meet new members and review the past so it will not be forgotten. Traditions, even languages, should not be forgotten.

Norene Nettleton, Lincoln