| Just Joined!
Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: UK, Norfolk
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| Journey of a n00b
It was a year of a great adventure,* music was excellent,* film was better and Valve,* the gods of games development had just released the second and long awaited release of the Half-Life series* (Half Life* 2*).* And there was me,* a twenty-something British army technotard with delusions of geekhood sitting on top of a mountain in a godforsaken part of the world with nothing to do except Google stuff and play games when I wasn't having to fix a broken radio or* five.*
Along with the myriad of idiots i had to deal with daily, there was a rather odd guy up on the hill with me by the name of Steve.* Now Steve was a nice guy,* a bit weird but nice enough,* however he confused me.* He sat all day at his computer looking at command prompts.* One day,* I ask what he's doing,* or more specifically,* what the hell he was using.* "What this,* oh this is a Linux server*" he's says to himself,* almost coming across as all knowing and a little condescending.* What the hell is Linux*? Windows...yes,* Mac...of course,* but Linux,* where did this come from*? So he sits me down and starts talking about how cool Linux is,* what it can do,* the kind of people that use it and so on.
I'm amazed,* no wait,* I'm astounded.* How is it that during my whole life in front of a computer that i had never come across something so versatile and dynamic*? I had to know more,* I NEEDED to know more.* Steve spends the next few hours talking me through the wonders of Linux in more depth.* He tells me about Linus and the first incarnation of Linux,* how it started to spread through the web like wildfire,* how it's completely free.* He told me about open source,* how i could go into anything i wanted and change whatever i felt like* (if i understood it of course*),* how Linux is community driven and how it gets better with every new user,* how people contribute new ideas all the time making it better and better.* I have to have this...
So he hands me a CD and starts me on my path.* This particular Distro was Mandrake* 10.something* (I don't really remember which one*).* He donated a spare hard drive so i could dual boot from the BIOS and sent me on my way.* I was so excited,* this could be what i had been looking for,* a system that did what I wanted it to do,* not just what was considered* 'proper*' by Microsoft.
So there was me,* sitting in front of my PC,* watching the installation process with anticipation comparable to a adolescent boy seeing his first pair of perfect breasts during a game of truth or dare.* But no...* twas not to be.* As the installation finished and the system rebooted i found out something that made me very sad,* for as i looked upon the console and typed in the command that should have elevated my computer to the heights beyond mere Windows users,* i discovered one of the main reasons why this was not in popular use.
'error*; video drivers not found-incompatible blah blah blah something or other.......*'
I was devastated.* So i spoke to Steve and he said that i obviously had to download the drivers for my graphics card so i could use the X environment.* Download...install...from where*?!?! HOW*?!?! I cant even get the damn thing to work how am i...no wait i don't care...screw it*!
And so i left it alone,* the hard drive he so graciously gave me was returned and a week later i was on my way home with a bitter taste in my mouth,* thinking it was all a lie and he was just trying to jerk me around with something that sounded good but was all a crock* .* Bugger it,* ill go back to Windows,* playing my games and doing what I'm told cos there's obviously nothing i can do that will change anything.*
Enter another mate of mine called Phil,* this guy was a old school geek.* Now Phil sat behind me in the office i was working in a the time,* and one day during our random conversations we had the subject of Linux came up.* Obviously i sat there slating it,* calling the thing every name under the sun and making it clear i was less than impressed.* Out comes another CD,* this time Fedora Core* 64.* After a day of badgering he finally gets me to agree to try it,* saying that I'll have more luck with this one.* Here I go again,* sat in front of my PC,* watching the installation process,* but with much less excitement,* looking on the dull side,* and just hoping it doesn't royally screw my system over.
But wait...no it can't be,* its asking me to create a user account.* Hang on it's asking me to log in......SUCCESS*!!! I look on in awe as i behold the first Linux desktop environment that I managed to install and sat there for about* 5* mins just looking at the difference,* the orientation of it to how Windows was,* how clean it felt,* how...sod it how god damn PRETTY it was*!
Now what do i do*? Being the eager beaver i started looking around,* found the usual pre installed kiddie games,* Mine Sweeper clone,* the SameGame,* and a couple of others.* Internet connects fine,* didn't need to install my router,* that's not bad,* in fact rather impressed now.* So for the next hour i went through every option and menu i could find,* with no real clue to what i was looking for,* just exploring.* And for that hour it felt good,* until i was hit with the realisation that there was nothing here.* I had no media player for my CD's and MP3*'s,* it wouldn't play any of my DVD's and none of my games would install.* There was no office stuff on it,* nothing to say to me* 'Oi*!! Look at me I do this better*!!'.* Stung again.* once more i had built myself up and been burned by it again.* i told Phil that i had a few issues with my PC and couldn't install it,* didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him it was all for nothing.
On I went for the next few years,* I left the army,* say at home for a while till my University course started then trudged through the first moth or so till i started to hang around with Danny.
Let me tell you about Danny,* I love this guy,* in a totally manly kind of way you understand.* Danny solved my Linux problem.* How*? He say there and SHOWED me what to do.* Sorry I'm skipping ahead here.* Now Danny and I used to sit in the common room in Uni talking about random stuff while pretending to look at course notes.* Then one day I notice that he has a* 3D desktop,* with fire,* and rain and snow and HANG ON A MINUTE*!! What the hell is that*?!? "Oh this*? This is Linux...*" Ok,* now I'm just mad.* I've shot myself in the foot a couple of times due to being lazy,* i accept this,* and now I'm missing out something really special.* So i convince him to get the install discs out of his bag and sit with me while we reformat my laptop.* This time around I'm being handed Mandriva* 2007.* after several teething problems,* a few driver issues and some hardcore kicking the damn thing to get it to do what we want...
It works.
No really,* it works.
And I understand it for the first time.* He sat me down,* he told me about the file system,* what each folder was for,* how the update system works,* how to install new programs,* how to download those damn drivers that would elude me in the days to come,* how to play my DVD's and MP3*'s,* how to find new things to use and experiment with and how to get in contact with the Linux community itself.* He sat and explained all i needed to know to get me off my ass and learn.*
I finally get it.*
A few months later,* after a lot of trial and error and a good load of reformatting again and again,* my Desktop is Linux,* with a windows install I use only for certain games* (kinda like a games console really,* cos that's all its good for now*) and both my girlfriends Laptop and my one are running Linux.* I'm a happy Linux user,* and can say honestly from the heart,* I could not go back to using anything else full time.*
My journey from total retard,* through idiot to a true open source advocate and Linux zealot was heart breaking and totally worth it.
I feel good about the future and what ever happens,* I'm got to pass the message on...
So here is the message:
Ask questions, look around, read the documentation, read the articles, join forums and get involved. There are hundreds of people out there just waiting for a new user to come along and say 'hey what's this and how does it work?' Those of us in the Linux community WANT to tell you these things, there is no secret, no hidden truth to it, and that's the beauty. All anyone that wants to learn needs to do is be willing to learn, that's all.
Stuart D
(BPX-Dev)
Linux Lover |
I think the asterisks are for emphasis...
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