Linux First Birthday

January 9th, 2007

[This post was intended for January 7, 2007. But due to certain circumstances, it was posted late...]

Today, I’m celebrating my first every birthday in the Linux world. It was exactly (or rather, very approximately) one year ago that I installed Linux on this very computer. This day will be immortalized in this post from my older blog. (Since I have my own space now, I’ll be “immortalizing” that post in it’s own place here).

Ok, I finally did it! Actually, I did it last week, but I’m only writing up on it now. I’ve installed the Linux OS (Operating System) on my (ahem) new 80GB Hard Disk. I finally found/have an Operating System that is totally and legally mine, no strings attached. Something not pirated, something not bought. Something NOT Micro$oft Windows. Ok, so what’s this all about? Though not necessary, I feel the need to jot down my justifications for the sudden switch. Btw, I’m typing this on my Kubuntu Linux OS. ^_^

Reading that post again brings back old memories: the amount of research that I had done before making a decision whether to use Linux or BSD, or which distro to use; the anxiety of partitioning the hard drive; the feeling of excitement as the newly installed system boots up. A month of research and planning, a few hours of formatting and installing, a few minutes of booting, and I’m in my brand new, shiny Kubuntu. Ah, those were the days!

Everything went buy quite swiftly. By June, I was starting to hang out in forums trying to help other users as much as I could. By August, I got hooked into IRC again, but with a nobler purpose this time: giving voluntary (read: free) IRC support. By October, I began lurking in developer IRC channels, trying to get a preview of the development landscape, getting to know the people behind the software. By December, I wrote my first guide which was accepted and included in an official documentation and my first (very simple) patch. By January of this year, I was given an op (IRC operator) status. Yes, it was a truly action-packed first Linux year for me.

Looking back at my reasons and way of thinking, based on that post, I realized how much my knowledge and understanding of Linux has evolved. Though, I can’t say that I know enough to be able to rub elbows with the high and might developers. Neither can I say that I have had enough experience in Linux to be called a “guru”. But still, I can proudly say that I’ve passed the level of noob-hood.

How did I celebrate my Linux birthday? Well, I had some special and crazy plans, but the weekend was taken over by a KDE Konqueror Bug Weekend. I had plans for myself, but isn’t it better to celebrate your birthday by doing something good for the community? So bug hunting and triaging it was. Anyway, I could still have my post birthday celebration. It involves something I’ve been contemplating on for weeks now. And it’s quite crazy and unpredictable. It will be quite a leap of faith, as I have no one to guide my hand this time. I’ll write about it once I’m done. And as always, I document my activities.

What do I have planned for my 2nd Linux year? Let’s just say that I have even more action-packed stuff planned. I’ve never looked to a new year with this much anticipation and excitement. Stay tuned!

4 Responses to “Linux First Birthday”

  1. mangz74 Says:

    happy birthday..may party ba? di ka man lang nang invite…dude you need the invite module…

  2. Jucato Says:

    Saka na ang invite module pag meron ng Drupal. Bwahahah!
    /me blows candles on the cake.

  3. Jucato’s Data Core » Archives » Glancing back at '07 Says:

    [...] it… I did nothing special to celebrate it, not even something like a bug triaging session of last year. Although last week I did manage to switch my Source Mage system from stable to the test grimoire [...]

  4. The Linux Index » Juan Carlos Torres: Glancing back at ‘07 Says:

    [...] it… I did nothing special to celebrate it, not even something like a bug triaging session of last year. Although last week I did manage to switch my Source Mage system from stable to the test grimoire [...]

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