**** nomad
How do you have a portable computing environment?

Approach 1: Run a screen session on a server somewhere.

Approach 2: Carry around a laptop.

Approach 3: Carry around a usb and boot off it.

Our first approach fails when you have no internet, or are stuck
behind a Mr-Internets-Are-Serious-Business grade firewall that makes
the Great Firewall Of China look like a gentle compromiser.

The second approach is pretty good. You have your environment with you, 
and you aren't dependant on an internet connection. There are downsides.
sometimes laptops can be annoying. They are often heavy to walk around
with. The ergonomics are terrible, and fixing them slowly erodes the 
advantages.

Now, I am trialling the third approach. I've installed debian to a
USB drive, and I'm going to try using that. It's worked well enough for
the last few hours. Time will tell whether it's workable or not. 

I think most people go with Approach 0, and just use Facebook, Google
Apps, or whatever web cloud based solutions are trendy. It's a very
easy solution, with very little friction. I have heard the siren call,
but I resist, knowing how ultimately harmful it is.