I realize perl can often (usually) be difficult to read
You know, I can't seem to get over this part. You're right on target when you say it's more common in a "base install", but I just can't get past how hard it is for me to read. I don't know, maybe I'm weird, but I gave up trying to use the stuff. I have been known to use php in cli mode instead, even though it may not be as ubiquitous as perl. I just started looking at Ruby, and so far I like it pretty good too.
Either way, when I see perl code I can't help but think about something a friend of mine told me once...he said perl code looked like he puked ASCII chunks in his terminal.
I've found that free anti-virus, like Avira and Avast, pretty good
I can second this whole-heartedly. I work in a computer shop, and I can personally testify that these two products catch more infections than anything Symantec, McAffee, or Trend Micro EVER came out with. I still recommend Malwarebytes Antimalware as a supplementary spyware scanner, but Avast and Avira are definitely my favorite for main protection.
I'm all for doing the right thing, too. Some people just have a hard time figuring out what that is. In my life I have bought 3-4 component dvd players. Right now, only 1 of them still works. That means I've paid the license fee for the dvd codec 3 or 4 times, and 2 or 3 of those license purchases are unused. So, I don't feel bad running xine/mplayer/ffmpeg with libdvdcss. I've paid my dues.
I think it comes down to this question: will I be anal enough to limit myself to what some company says is legal (in the deteriorating constitutionally-questionable legal system in my country [USA]) or do I just do what's ethical.
And of course, since I do it this way, I always have the full power of a proper shell right at my fingertips, which you don't have in an IDE, not even one that run on UNIX.
http://codingexperiments.com/images/gui_editors_review/kdevelop4.png
Oh, just one more reason for not using an IDE: it hides what actually goes on from the programmer. Take the build process - in an IDE you push a button and it sort of happens, but you are not really sure how, certainly not in any detail.
https://svn.forge.morfeo-project.org/svn/freeswmaster/trunk/japousa/ILS/kdevelop.png
We use steel because it's cheap, not because it's all that great. We can replace many steel parts with lighter ones that are just as strong or stronger.
...except many steel parts are being replaced by plastic or aluminum ones. Granted, aluminum is stronger than plastic, but sometimes it still isn't really strong enough. I'm no metallurgist, so I don't know about all the cool new alloys out there; but, I figure a lot of those alloys are probably too much more expensive to consider using in large amounts.
I will keep an open mind to signs of God in my life
I can't tell you how glad I am of this. I pray that God will show himself to you in your life in a way that will let you believe. Forever is a long time, and God wants you to be happy during it, but he won't force you.
This does not disprove the existence of "real God" as opposed to "God as uninstantiated but societally powerful concept", but it certainly renders the latter much more likely than the former, as an explanation for all the "God" artifacts and concern in human society.
Why is this "explanation" more likely than God actually existing? Is there something about this man's ideas that make them more possible than the existence of God, especially since we have a record of some of the things he has said and done involving man, aka, the Bible?
Sure, lots of people automatically discount the Bible because it's so old and doesn't confirm what they think, but what makes it less substantiated than other ancient texts that don't mention divine existence/intervention? In school, many history lessons are derived directly from these other ancient texts, and they are generally taken as truth.
Only through hard work and perseverance can one truly suffer.