repositories for the rest of us: What I learned today*

2007/05/29: What I learned today*

*with apologies to Nicole Engard and her excellent blog

When I try to teach myself something new, it generally takes (a) much longer than I anticipated and (b)I end up learning a few more things than I intended. My experience today was another example of this.

I'm tying up final threads at my soon-to-be FPOW. One of the tasks on my to-do list is to wipe the hard drive on my laptop. Cool! I thinks to myself. It's a perfect opportunity to make use of some of my newly acquired techbootcamp knowledge.

When we started going through basic *nix, our fearless instructor told us about Knoppix. For those of you not in the know, Knoppix is a Linux distribution which can run live from CD/DVD/thumb drive. Knoppix has a utility called "shred" which does a good job with wiping. I figured I'd go with Knoppix/shred over something like dban because I could continue using the laptop after the wipe by running the OS from the DVD drive. So I moseyed on over to the Knoppix download page and started my grand adventure.

I learned a thing or two. First, I figured out that bit Torrent is a faster download than a regular old mirror site. Well no duh! says you. But, like Dean Hendrix discovered during his recent analysis of librarian use of peer-2-peer networks**, I've been like most other librarians -- hopelessly slow with the uptake.

Then I realized that I needed to perform check sum verification on the things I download, especially with something as powerful as an operating system. So I had to download MD5summer (.md5 being a check sum file type)and actually do a check sum comparison between my downloaded files and the originals. I've known about check sums in a theoretical sense for ages, due to my interest in digital preservation and authenticity. I'd just never actually used them.

Finally, I had to poke around in the BIOS to get my laptop to prioritize the DVD drive when looking for an operating system from which to boot.

When all was said and done (about 4 hours later), I had learned Bit Torrent, MD5summer, revisited a computer BIOS for the first time since the age of DOS, installed a plug in so Windows Explorer could burn a .iso file as an image, and burned a verified copy of Knoppix to DVD.

It.still.didn't.work.

I suspect I screwed up something with the check sum verification and that my DVD is corrupted. Whatever. I've spent too much time on this little adventure. I'll use something simpler and just hand over the laptop after the wipe. It's not worth the effort to get a Knoppix DVD when I'm only using the equipment for another day.

It is frustrating to spend time doing something which should be incredibly simple if you know what the heck you're doing (download OS to DVD, boot laptop from DVD, wipe). I do consider learning the additional programs and reviewing BIOS to be time well spent. The thing is to actually remember that learning can be a slow-going and frustrating process without a guaranteed result. This is a good lesson to remember as we move forward with techbootcamp.

When the more technically inclined teach us newbies, they can toss off statements like, "oh, just download Knoppix and boot your laptop from there" without thinking about the prior knowledge required or the necessary computing environment. I'm reminded to consider these factors when I do any type of training. I'll also remember to schedule more time for these types of things.

**see Hendrix, Dean. "Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Knowledge, Use, and Attitudes of Academic Librarians." portal: Libraries and the Academy, 7(2) April 2007.
Muse subscribers can view the article here: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/portal_libraries_and_the_academy/v007/7.2hendrix.html

Labels: knoppix, techbootcamp, what i did today