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My First 10 Years With Linux

My First 10 Years With Linux

Postby rippinchikkin » Fri Oct 13, 2006 9:41 pm

<img src="http://parcom.pro-networks.org/PROneT-News/Linux/News/6.jpg" align="right" alt="My first 10 years with Linux">My first 10 years with Linux
October 13, 2006 (08:01 PM GMT)
By Joe Barr

I have now officially entered my second decade using Linux and free/open source software in a meaningful way. I began dabbling with Linux as early as 1995, but in June of 1996, I began using it for real when I created my first Web site. Today, my Linux desktop takes care of all my personal computing needs, both at work and at play. Here's one man's story of how he and Linux matured together.

The mid-'90s were tough years for me, financially at least. I lost my home to foreclosure in 1995, and moved into a single-wide trailer in a mobile home park in South Austin. Along with my home, I lost my BBS, The Red Wheelbarrow, because I could no longer afford the extra phone line it required. That was a big deal for me, because I was trying to make a go of it as a writer instead of a programmer, and the BBS gave me a place to express myself.

I was also publishing a newsletter, Papa Joe's Dweebspeak Primer, and selling it by subscription and at local book and PC stores around Austin. Not everyone laughed at me, riding around town in my little red pickup truck with "The Dweebspeak Primer" written large on both sides, delivering each new edition and picking up remainders once a month. But most people I knew, even my friends, at least smiled at the madness of it all. I don't blame them.

I finally got a break in my employment status in 1996, when I landed a gig as a COBOL contractor with the state. Prior to that, I had been working as a temporary clerk/typist at a different state agency, making just a bit more than minimum wage. It was at one of the local stores that I heard about a small ISP in Austin that was offering ISDN access to the Internet at a reasonable rate.

<img src="http://www.pro-networks.org/forum/images/smiles/source.jpg"> Linux.com
<img src="http://www.pro-networks.org/forum/images/smiles/view.jpg" border="0"> <a href="http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid=06/10/09/1814208" target="_blank"> complete article</a>
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