Just some appreciation

[abstractviolence]

Dear GNU/Linux community,

I have no idea what led to my decision to switch to Linux two days ago. Was I insane? How would it benefit me? I'm a 3D modeller/animator, not a programmer--Windows has everything I need to get the job done. And why even attempt to associate with those elitist pricks anyway?

I can't answer any of these questions. And yes, I would've been just fine settling back on the ol' trusty couch (Windows), not having a bunch of new stuff to learn just so I could continue to work toward my true aspirations in graphics. Why make my own job harder? What's the point? Masochistic much?

Well, I've got one thing to say about masochism: thank GOD for it. Thank GOD for that bug inside of our subconsciouses that makes some of us do utterly pointless, impractical, self-defeating things. Because two days in, learning Linux is already proving to be one of the best things I've ever done for myself.

I neither expected learning Linux to be this difficult, nor this much fun. I'm feeling the ample rewards of having to exercise my brain in order to get things done--as I want them done. Many of my misconceptions, and consequent woes, about how a computer works are vanishing before my eyes...just as a natural side effect of operating Linux! I understand now why Windows users tend to find the thought of learning Linux so daunting: Windows casts you out, away from the thing that's doing the thinking, further reinforcing the false idea that a computer is some dissonant, uninterpretably abstract object the more you use it; on the other hand, Linux draws you in, becomes your friend, and even introduces you to someone else: your system. Linux shows you that computers were made by humans, for humans! (If I had heard someone else make the previous claim two days ago, I would literally have died laughing.)

(And as a disclaimer, I am not responsible for any deaths resulting from this post.)

The real challenge is in letting yourself know your computer--letting it empower you as it was meant to, and letting it be empowered by you in return. This should never have been a challenge in the first place--but then along came the monopolies on proprietary software, using the obvious strategy: make things easy for people. That was the unfortunate day when people and computers started drifting further and further apart with time.

I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammals and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky.

-Richard Brautigan, from "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace"

I believe that there are truly great, and truly ambitious, intentions at the heart of the GUN/Linux project, and I want to thank everyone who keeps it alive for nothing but a moral reward to themselves in return. Because of you, I feel substantially more empowered than I have in the past--and it's only been two days! Imagine what I'll be doing six months from now! Now stop bugging me. I have learning to do.
[sudo] password for jmorgan: Damnit I said stop!
Sorry, try again.
[sudo] password for jmorgan: PLEASE TERMINATE YOURSELF.
Sorry. try again.

-Yours truly
James Morgan (a.k.a. Mark Eminger)

[jayd512]

And why even attempt to associate with those elitist pricks anyway?

Because we are just that cool!

Welcome to LinuxForums!
I hope you keep having fun with it, and enjoy your time here.

[MikeTbob]

Quote Originally Posted by abstractviolence View Post
And why even attempt to associate with those elitist pricks anyway?

Because we are just that cool!

Welcome to LinuxForums!

I hope you keep having fun with it, and enjoy your time here.

And we have Cookies too.
@abstractviolence, Welcome to the forum, it's posts like your that make my week. You can count on converting a few people who read this thread even though they won't register and tell you themselves. Glad you like what you see so far, I'm sure you'll find plenty more to "Learn".

[nujinini]

Because we are just that cool!

Welcome to LinuxForums!
I hope you keep having fun with it, and enjoy your time here.

Yes! I knew it! I'm a cool prick!

[MikeTbob]

Yes! I knew it! I'm a cool prick!

LOL don't say that out loud in public, you'll get some funny looks.

[zenwalker]

It's a good thing that you are on an island, nujinini ! LOL

(Myself, I spent it in the mountains as far away from towns and cities as I could get)

[MASONTX]

Welcome to the forums, and good luck with your learning.

[hazel]

I'm not sure that I care for your moniker but you've hit the nail on the head: Linux puts the fun back into computing. It takes us back to the glory days when teenage boys spent hours writing Basic programs for the ZX81. Now, IT classes in school are all about learning how to use MS Office and the children are bored stiff. They hate the subject.

For old fogies like me who are paranoid in our distrust of computers, Linux offers a system that you can understand and therefore trust. I never felt safe with Windows, not just because of all the malware, but because I had no idea how the system worked. With Linux, I even understand how the gui works!

And of course as you learn more, you become able to answer questions in the forum and give someone else the helping hand that someone once gave you. There are few things in life more satisfying.

[Roxoff]

It takes us back to the glory days when teenage boys spent hours writing Basic programs for the ZX81.

Aye, it was amazing what you could do in 1K. Or more if you didn't mind writing your program then watch it disappear when the ram-pack wobbled...

[MASONTX]

Aye, it was amazing what you could do in 1K. Or more if you didn't mind writing your program then watch it disappear when the ram-pack wobbled...

That's why it paid to have the optional cassette drive to save your programs to tape.