CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Today I tried to install Ubuntu. Notthe wisest thing I've ever done.

Ok, let me give you some background. I'm STILL running good old XP, with themes turn off to enhance (more like enable) performance. I've used Windows 7 at my uncles house and have been wanting a new operating system since then, I think. Usually I don't act upon this desire but Ubuntu looked very impressive. (BTW is this what Jesus meant when He said that if something causes us to sin we should throw it out? I would hate to have to stop using my uncle's computer but obedience to Christ comes first.)
So, I first tried the Windows Installer. Didn't work---kept giving me an error message. Can't remember it, but I know at the title bar it said 'No Disk.' Then I tried to do the CD install. Got the program but the process kept canceling itself/giving me an error. Strange... Supernatural?
Then I tried installing it to my external hard drive. After what felt like hours of deleting my old backups and trying to move the Ubuntu stuff to it, I couldn't figure out how to boot it. I looked online---too much techno mumbo-jumbo for a programming barely-literate like me.

By now I was in tears. Then I had thought:Maybe I should be thankful for what I have? Now I know the Spirit gave me this thought. So, I prayed earnestly to God, more earnestly than ever before or when I was praising Him for Ubuntu, I think. I went and ate some dinner and felt much better. Now, I just feel content. Content with my slow, not-so-beautiful XP. I prayed for a storm to come so I wouldn't have the opportunity or the temptation to mess with Ubuntu again. Almost immediately I heard thunder.

I guess now I can truly say I have a 'Spirit-experience.' I guess God used Ubuntu in a different way than I planned to use it. I think I used glorifying God as an excuse when really I just wanted it for my own selfish purposes and didn't want to admit it. After all if something fails this much there must be some involvement from above.

Anyway the moral is, be thankful for what you have. (KJV) Hebrews 13:5 [Let your] conversation [be] without covetousness; [and be] content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Mewster, I really have no idea where you got the idea that wanting a new operating system was sinful. Wanting new things isn't sinful unless youre using them to sin or you place those things over God- neither of which you were doing. You were not being selfish, you were not being ungrateful. It is okay to like things that work better than what you have.

Did you check to see whether Ubuntu was compatible with your computer? It could just be that your computer is too out of date to use it, or something like that.

Also, those verses are being taken out of context.

Yeah. I think this was really idiotic of me looking back now but I deliberately chose another translation to make a point. DX

So wanting a new operating system wasn't covetousness? (PM me your answers I don't want the mods to attempt to hurt me through their computer screen)

I wanted Adobe Illustrator to accompany Photoshop. It's ok to want somethings. It depends how you look at it. I saw the software, saved my $$ and bought it. It's ok to want stuff without obsessing.

First of all, how can you covet something that's given freely to anyone who can get it, like Ubuntu is?

Second, well, I guess it's about perseverance. Just because you don't get something or something doesn't work the first time you try it out doesn't mean God's telling you to go somewhere else. In college, I had to retake a couple math classes that I needed for my major. If, when I found out I hadn't gotten a good enough grade to pass the class, or even every time I blew an assignment, I said "welp, guess God doesn't want me to do this major/college thing!" then I wouldn't be where I am today, with my degrees and the potential to serve God in ways I couldn't imagine. Besides, how do you know that God doesn't want you to try again and succeed the next time around? (This whole Ubuntu thing seems a bit trivial for that, but it's the spirit of the thing, y'know?)

(Putting a new OS on your computer isn't easy, especially if you don't know what you're doing. If that's really what you want to do, then ask for some help from someone who does, and don't give up just because it doesn't work the first time you try!)

Wow, given your willingness to just decide something isn't God's will because it didn't work out right the first time I'm glad you're not a doctor:

"Well, it appears your first bout of radiotherapy didn't get rid of the tumor. Looks like God wants you to die from your brain cancer. Have a nice day!"

or an auto mechanic:

"Well, I replaced your fuel pump but it's still spitting black smoke everywhere. There are a few other things that could probably be causing the problem, but since the first thing I did to fix it didn't solve the problem it looks like God just wants your car to suck."

or a chef:

"It seems the chicken came out really pink after I cooked it the first time. I suppose that means God wants everyone to get salmonella tonight!"

or a pilot:

"Hmm...seems the landing gear didn't deploy when I lightly touched the button. I suppose I could press on it harder to make sure it depressed all the way, but nah, I'm sure this just means God wants us to crash in a ball of fiery glory on the runway."

See how none of this makes any sense? Neither does your OS installation story. Did you make sure you had the disc made into a proper install disc, that seems to get a lot of people. You can't just dump the installer on a cd or dvd and blammo you're done, you have to make a bootable disc. Have you actually used Ubuntu yourself and know you like it? Why don't you try running a live cd first to make sure it's something you're willing to deal with. If you're having this much trouble just installing the OS I've got a feeling that the OS itself might be a bit too much for you.

Yes, XP is old, but perhaps if your computer has the specs it can run Win7, or maybe look into getting a new computer that already has Win7 loaded on it. I don't much care for Windows personally, but it works for most people and is certainly more simple than the majority of the Linux distros out there.