For many years have I using both Windows and Linux systems. Most of my systems at home have been dual-boot systems with both operating systems. With my latest computer I decided to try Windows Subsystem for Linux.
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Enabling VM features on a computer is a BIOS feature, so do to it you have to interrupt the startup with the Escape or some other key, depending on the machine. My HP EliteDesk uses the Escape key, but the boot started so fast that my 70 year old fingers could not hit that key fast enough to prevent Windows from starting. A web search suggest that I use the Windows power settings to disable the “quick boot” and actually do a full shutdown and restart rather than a simple reboot. This worked and I could click Escape in time and get to the BIOS settings. After a little searching I found the VM setting (Every BIOS is different) and turned it on. I also added a 5-second delay to the boot settings to make the next time easier.
Confession: I got through a 41 year career in IT, mostly in banking and government, without ever compiling or running a COBOL program. I recently saw A very short introduction to COBOL, which describes how to install COBOL on a Mac and how to compile and run a very simple COBOL program. So I tried this on Ubuntu Linux 20.04.
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From the TCLUG mailing list.
Generally I am quite happy with Ubuntu Linux, but there are some annoyances. One is that the official Ubuntu repositories are not keeping up with the major releases from Mozilla (why?). I was running Firefox 3.6.20 on this box using Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) while Mozilla is now at Firefox 6.0. Fortunately the fix is very simple:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install firefox
So I am now running 6.0. Since I have added the repository I should now be able to stay current without any special effort.
More than two years ago I took an introductory class on the Oracle database management system. Oracle is used in my organization, but not nearly as much as SQL Server, which is where I had been spending almost all my time. My supervisor was an experienced Oracle DBA and handled such tasks as came up. However, she just left, to take a job in the private sector. I have inherited the role of Oracle DBA. She gave me a lot of information before she left, but there was only so much she could cover in the available time. So I have a lot to figure out on my own. Oracle is very different.
Oracle here at work runs on Linux (Red Hat and Suse). All the time I have spent working on Linux at home will now pay off. The Linux support team hers is small (three people), but very good. I am looking forward to working with them.
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 
