On Tue, Oct 21, 2003 at 07:47:58AM -0400, Eric Livingston wrote: > I'm curious regarding the penetration of linux as a comprehensive > solution for all computing tasks in a normal day. i.e. what percentage > of Linux users are 100% linux, or even 100% Gentoo for that matter.
Well, I'll chime in with my story, in case anyone is interested. I started using Linux back in '95 or '96, when I was in high school. At the time I ran a bulletin board system (aka "BBS", does anyone remember those?). Therein lied a need for a decent multi-tasking system (run the BBS but also do work/play at the same time). I first used DESQview under MS DOS 6.22, then DESQview/X (under same DOS). Those were okay, but I wanted more... So I tried Windows 3.11. Ha! That "OS" definately did not have any usable multitasking capabilities. I finally heard about Linux, and installed Slackware. I believe the Linux kernel version was in the 2.0.36 range or so at the time (I could be mistaken). Anyway, BBSes were going out of style in favor of the Internet, so the BBS hobby got replaced by the "playing in Linux" hobby. Until my sophomore year of college, I dual-booted Windows 95 and Linux. I basically kept Windows around until I could do everything I needed under Linux. Away went Windows! I also switched to Debian about the same time. Since ditching Windows, I've also picked up OpenBSD. I use OpenBSD for my firewall/gateway/NAT box. The main reason for OpenBSD is that I find their firewall (pf) much easier to setup than Linux iptables... plus that security reputation is awfully attractive. Just last week I switched to Gentoo (although the live Debian install is still available; I'm just keeping it around for config files and such). At work, unfortunately, I have to use Windows 2000. There's certainly too much beauracracy for me to even *try* get Linux on my system. Not to mention I do development exclusively for Windows customers. I think I could get by with OpenOffice.org for the most part, but my group works with a handful of MS Access databases, complete with forms and VB script and all that. Damn vendor lock-in. Every now and then I think about looking for a job where I could actually do Linux development. :) Matt -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list
