Since this is my first post, I thought that I’d just write a bit about what I’m doing here on Linux.com and Linux at all.
My first experience with Linux came several years ago, when I was still very naive about computers and thought Windows was the best thing since the computer itself. I found Red Hat 7, got it downloaded, and installed it on an old box. I was actually pretty decent with it. Then, I forgot the root password, and half-formatted the drive while trying to install Debian in all its 22-disc glory. (I would later format another drive trying to install Debian, as well.)
Later, I switched over from Windows – partially due to my frustration with its slowness – to Mac. (My dad is still a Mac fan to this day.) I loved it, and it was on Mac that I got my first real experience with Python for Real Programming. (Another computer – this one a Power Mac – nearly succumbed to my Debian disk formatting during this period, but fortunately it wouldn’t read the discs.) Just for fun, I decided to set up a Web server on a ten-year-old computer I would later call Adelie. I installed a distribution on it called “Ubuntu Server,” and due to my Mac experience with the command line, had little trouble configuring it.
A month or two later, I built a kick-awesome desktop tower named Rockhopper. Dual-core processor, 1760M of RAM, and 500GB disk. Based on my previous experiences with the Ubuntu Server, I decided to dual boot Windows XP Pro and the standard Ubuntu desktop. I ended up using Ubuntu full-time, and recently purged XP from the computer to reclaim the full 500GB.
Eventually, I traded out GNOME for Xfce, installed Ubuntu on a laptop too, and set up GoboLinux on some random box. (I never realized how long compiling from source can really take.) In fact, one of the things I love about Linux is how changable everything is.
Linux.com seems like a really good idea to me. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to share my expertise beyond the Ubuntu forums, and write some interesting blog articles. It’s getting late where I live, so I’ll finish for tonight, but I’ll probably try and do something on here tomorrow.
