[COLUG] a/s/l -- no, really.

[Warner Moore]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chris Clonch [mailto:chris at theclonchs.com] 
> Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 9:46 PM
> To: wmoore at 2co.com; Central OH Linux User Group
> Subject: Re: [COLUG] a/s/l -- no, really.
> 
> I'm a 2* something with a BS in Computer Information Systems 
> working for 
> a rather large telecommunications equipment manufacturer in 
> Columbus ;-) 

	Another secret..

<snip>
> Linux.  I pretty much grew up with computer starting with a 
> TI-80.

	First here was an 8088.

<snip>
> Shortly there after I found the local BBS scene, then 
> the long distance BBS scene.  I spent the following summer 
> working off 
> the phone bill...

	Remember Gamma Force BBS?

<snip>
> I didn't discover Linux until I began college.  At the advice 
> of several 
> class mates, I began with RedHat 5.2.  I also tried a few others 
> including Mandrake and Debian.  But it didn't catch on;  
> something about 
> it just didn't click. 

	I hate peoples' Linux advice.

> After graduating, my focus fell solely 
> on HP-UX 
> and Solaris. 

	HP-UX, ouch.  Solaris is about the only commercial Unix that's still
current that I wouldn't mind using.  BSD-I anyone?

> A few years later I tried picking back up RedHat, but 
> still didn't understand what was doing what.  Then I found Gentoo and 
> the hook was set.  Building the system by hand taught me what 
> I had been 
> seeking for some time. 

	There's something to be said for Slackware.  The problem with most
Linux distributions is that they skew too far from typical Unix
environments, which often develops bad habits and infantile understandings
of the interworkings of the system.

	Distributions, shrug.  In the end, it's still Linux.  You just might
have to get rid of a lot of scripts..

> I now run a dedicated headless gentoo box at 
> home acting as my server, dual-boot my main machine between 
> Gentoo and 
> WinXP (my wife ain't into computers), and several gentoo and Ubuntu 
> boxes at work. 

	Set her up a Windows VM.

> I am most proud of having a number of SPARC based Sun 
> SunBlade 100/150's running Gentoo flawlessly, which we use as 
> workstations.

	Nice.

> While my first impulse is to run Gentoo, I have recently been 
> trying to 
> stretch out a bit and try some of the other distro's on for size.   I 
> have grown quite fond of Xubuntu.  Here soon, I going to pick back up 
> RedHat, well Fedora anyways.

	I like the BSD style ports tree approach.  From what I've seen, I
don't like the distribution that much.  I don't get wild hairs to try
distributions anymore these days though.  IMHO, it's not worth the time.  If
you need to know, the learning curve is often short.

<snip>

Regards,

   Warner.