Linux Made Him Feel Dumb
February 3rd, 2010 by ComputerBob
About ten years ago, I became so disgusted with Windows’ opaque frailty that I started looking for an alternative. In 2002, I learned some of the main differences between Windows and Linux.
But back then — and on until November, 2005 — I was on a slow dial-up Internet connection that made it nearly impossible to download any of the free Linux distros.
Back then, my research had led me to decide that my first Linux distro was going to be a Mandrake Linux 7-CD boxed set that came with a 200-page users manual. I originally planned to order it directly from the Mandrake people, but when I discovered that my local Best Buy carried it, I bought it there instead.
But I was motivated and determined.
So I spent a couple of years ordering cheap CDs of popular, free Linux distros from online sellers.
Then I spent a few years using my uncle’s broadband Internet connection to download and try out many more Linux distros. And I hung out in Linux support forums, to learn as much as I could.
And I finally began using Linux full-time instead of Windows in July of 2006.
Especially during the first year of using it full-time, Linux provided me with plenty of D’oh! moments, where after spending several hours trying to solve one problem or another, I’d suddenly realize that my own stupidity or error had caused it.
In the educational field, we call those D’oh! moments “object lessons.”
Often, I discovered that I had made things worse by trying to solve a Linux problem with my old Windows mindset.
I think that’s kind of like trying to work on an old American car when you only have metric wrenches and sockets: Sometimes they work, but sometimes you end up stripping a bolt.
So use the right tool for the job.
Use a Linux mindset to solve a Linux problem.
And use a non-Linux mindset to solve a non-Linux problem.
That’s the same lesson in Linux Made Me Feel Dumb.
By the way, if you’re wondering which Linux distro is the best one to use, read this.
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