Role Call - wave your flags, toot your horn, whatever....who are you ?

[MazeRat7]

Just tell us what you do, how you do it, etc... Seems like an initial inventory of our collective skill sets would be a good ice breaker in the getting to know each other domain.

Maze Rat is a veteran software developer (now called an architect in corporate speak). I built my first computer in '81 based on a Motorola 6000 processor. My first personal computer was a PDP-11/73 that I had to wire for 220 in my house. I cut my teeth on Unix (BSD) and VAX/VMS in '84. K&R was my first programming book and Ingress was my first relational database.

My introduction to Linux was a Slackware distribution in '96 and I was a contributor to the LVC (Linux Virtual Cluster) open source project in 2000.

Today, I work for a really large computer company designing applications to help them dominate the world of PC's. Those applications are mostly J2EE, but I still have the opportunity to play with apache, perl, c, and a host of other tools I consider to be best of breed.

Oh did I mention I also do penetration testing for our corp netwotk... now thats fun...

Guess what I use as my main tool....yup.. a laptop running Linux *grin.

Ok, your turn...

MZr7

[qnr]

1. Hi MazeRat7, sounds like you've had fun

I'll get back with something later.

[Ellen Forradalom]

2. Perl hacker here

Learned BASIC at 15 in the late 70s, was introduced to personal computing with the Kaypro (also known as Darth Vader's Lunch Box) in 1984, helped my mother with her computer consultancy throughout the eighties (surgery on computers on the dinner table, fixing up files with a hex editor, writing batch-file menus, installing software for customers, etc.)

Decided to go to college in the subject in 1992. Started out programming in C, branched out to C++ and Perl, now my favorite programming language. Learned Java, find it verbose, don't like it much. Been a Unix user since 1992 too.

Got into Web programming in 1998. Worked for Playboy.com for three years. Held a few other programming jobs since, all Perl-based.

Right now I'm helping a publishing company dissect a large Perl system they inherited when they bought out another company.

My area of competence is Unix, web development, and data munging using Perl and regular expressions.

Oh, and editor: vi.

[Fleurs du Mal]

3. developer/admin

I'm a software engineer, mostly Java and perl these days, and a unix admin (Solaris, Linux, FreeBSD.)

[lpbk2713]

4. Retired telco data tech.

Installed and maintained data circuits, frame relays etc. Also worked on E911 systems.

[qnr]

5. No professional experience at all

Except when I worked for the University of Maine and maintained their URSUS, Mariner, and Maine databases systems.

I started with computers back in 1979, with an Atari 400 and progressed over the years through most of their machines (no Atari PCs, Transputer Workstations, or Falcons though). Also some Amigas. Lots of experience with other platforms too, through user groups and whatnot. I've actually never owned a DOS/Windows based, or Mac system in all this time (well, I lie - I've gotten them, but Windows was gone within 30 minutes -- plus, I have a laptop that has XP, but my wife uses that, not me).

I became interested in Linux and BSD in the early 90's - I actually installed Debian and NetBSD on my Atari TT using floppies.

I was a shareware developer for the 8-bit Atari machines, and the Atari ST line in the 80's. I did most of my work in Modula-2. Still my preferred languages: Ada, Oberon and Modula-2 -- also bash, since I'm a developer for Source Mage GNU/Linux, and the whole system is done in bash.

There's more, but it's even more boring than this :)

[hyphenate]

6. Who--me?

By some standards, I would be called a "newbie" by most long time computer peeps. I got my first computer in 1988--it was an Epson Equity 1+, with a (wow) 16Mhz processor and a "big" whopping 30MB hard drive! I also paid $2600 at the time for it. Yikes--that computer wouldn't even be adequate for a 5 year old anymore!

I overcame fear of crashing my computer the day I installed my own modem. (A 100 baud) because I wouldn't pay $100 for the installation of it. Been down a rocky road (still am, sometimes!) many times, but I definitely advocate making mistakes, because you learn from them. Nothing so tragic as the person who has used the CD drive for a coffee cup holder, though! I think my first really "grave" error was to "defrag" the hard drive while I was in MS Word--it was a DOS program back in 1989--and messed up the hard drive completely. Had to reformat, and restore everything.

I know hardware from taking my own and other friends' apart, used to know how to settle IRQ conflicts, and actually knew a lot about the setup of a DOS system. Then Windows was born, and all my DOS experience flew out the window!

I only bought one other full system after my Equity--it was a 386 system. From there, it's been a constant overhaul instead--buying components and peripherals without the whole shebang.

I am, on the other hand, pretty much a software kinda person. I know a wide variety of different programs, from most of the MS stuff, to most of the Adobe line, to graphics, to almost anything used in any kind of an "office" setting. In addition, I was surfing the web before 80% of the current online people even knew what the internet was. First up, was Compuserve in 1988, which grew rapidly expensive. Back then you paid by the hour, and it wasn't even a graphical interface. I was a frequent visitor to many BBS, back when a dialup was excruciatingly slow. Got into shareware, freeware and other fun stuff back then, too, and shortly became a download-aholic. From there, joined Prodigy in 1990, AOL in 1993, and made major strides after that.

I've usually been the point person when I'm working, helping people with their puters instead of having them waste the time of the IS dept. too frequently with common questions and troubleshooting. I've been a web designer, webmaster, writer, and much more for quite some time.

Right now, my biggest problem is my hard drive, which is driving me insane--in August, I installed a 160GB Maxtor and it was fine interfacing with my older 30GB HD, until a couple of days ago, when it stopped being recognized by the puter. I booted fine to '98, which is still the OS on the 30GB, but I want my large drive working! So even with all my working and experience, there is sometimes something which mystifies me, and I can go crazy trying to figure it out.

[TrogL]

7. UNIX Systems Administrator

I run a big farm of UNIX servers mostly delivering ORACLE.

In order to keep it running, I do a certain amount of development on the side. Unfortunately that's under a different name than I'm known here so I can't reveal what.

I got my start in computing taking a high school course on "data processing" in 1972. Most of the course was on obsolete stuff like "one write forms" but we did look at FORTRAN...on paper. We did not have access to computers.

In grade 12 (Ontario, Canada) I built a binary-to-decimal converter out of perfboard, a model train transformer (totally unsuited to the project 'cause it was AC) and hand-wired relays made out of telephone wire and nails. It never worked right, it had to be reset by hand and included a 40-page tech manual. The teacher said "I'm giving you an A because I have no idea what you're talking about". (He said the same about the following year's project, four blurry photographs and 35 pages of calculus. He even questioned if it was physics.)

My first computer was a homebrew make out of a Z80, a UART, 555 timer, some I/O chips, 2K of RAM, some cards cannibalized out of a Honeywell mainframe, a ROM made up of diodes soldered to a matrix, a wire-wrapped card cage and an oscilliscope. It successfully multiplied 2*4 then the power supply blew and wiped out everything.

Eventually I worked on early micros eg. the Sol20. I was working for Radio Shack the day the original TRS-80 showed up. My boss told me to take it home and make it work. I showed up next day with a working inventory system and advertising scroller. He hid in his office and cried.

I got hired by my present firm to write code, but that sorta morphed into PC-helpdesk, which sorta morphed into network analyst, then a brief stint at VMS which was scrapped in favour of UNIX and I've never looked back (except in horror).

[eataTREE]

8. Linux SA.

I'm a contractor for a Very Big Company in their research department. Mostly, I maintain a compute cluster and some very overburdened NFS fileservers. Pretty much everything I touch is Linux, although I deal with a little AIX as well.

My first 'computer' was a dumb terminial which printed output onto a roll of thermal paper. It had audio couplings in the back; you would phone up the host system then stick the phone handset into the back of the terminal. My Dad got me an account on the Amdahl mainframe at the local University; it ran Michigan Terminal System. I was four. I was given an Apple II+ the next year.

I've been using Linux since 1994. It was, I believe, a Slackware distribution which shipped with the brand-new kernel 2.0.0.

[short bus president]

9. I'm yer typical end-user with no expertise in anything computerish

I contribute nothing, and I ask very little in return. ;-)

[alfredo]

10. End user, Mac freak. Went to Linux when urged by some

Apple insiders during the dark days before Jobs turned Apple around. there were two reasons for this suggestion. The first was resist MS. If they killed Apple, we would move to Linux rather than surrender. The second was they knew the future direction of the Mac OS, and wanted users to be familiar with the UNIX way of doing things.

I do a bit of shell scripting, but I rather do graphics and online political agitation.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

11. Just your average geek here. I met Bob Dobbs once.

First exposure to computers was in the late 60's where my school had something called Computer Aided Instruction... punch cards and white/green printout paper. That was fun.

My first PC I built in 76, the good old Altair... but it never worked quite right. Bought an Osborne1 ("The Sewing Machine") in 79, I think, delved into Apple ]
The Dark Ages of MS use. All the DOSes, All the Windoze.

Until 1990 when I leared that UNIX had not died years before, started playing and still am.

Currently within my typing reach is a G4 iMac with OS X (LOVE IT!) my family's computer the Compaq something with XP, My home-made linux box with Debian and KDE, and a PowerPC 8600 with which I hate to part, but don't know what to do with OS 8.6 or so.

Currently trying to resurrect a HD from my Dell laptop so I can install Debian on it, but it looks hopeless right now.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

12. Maybe Yellow Dog Linux works on the PowerPC 8600?

Just guessing, have never tried a PPC Linux. http://www.yellowdoglinux.com

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

15. Looks like, maybe so.... thanks for the link

I am giving it a shot.

[gold_bug]

13. hobbyist programmer.

My latest obsession is GNUstep.

My first computer was an Atari 800, then I got a TRS-80 Coco. Then I stopped goofing around with computers and didn't get back into programming until a few years ago when the internet drew me back in.

[bemildred]

14. Computer jack of all trades and fire-fighter.

Mainly developer, but have done system and network admin on a
variety of platforms and heterogenous networks, project and technical
lead, tech. writing, customer liason, etc. etc. MSCS. Many
application areas, PDP, VAX, various unices, various M$ OSes.
Currently into network programming and security issues, sims and
models, crypto. Currently on sabbatical leave from computers,
most of the time.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

16. Old, Old Roadie.

Started out with 2 Commodore SX-64s. After that, owned many Amigas, including a 3000+ that was given to me by Dave Haynie. Became something of a "Ameager Personalitee", as if that amounts to a hill of Rabbit Shit. Finally read the handwriting on the wall and made the move to Linux. Learned just enough about Windows along the way to have a Windows Educator once tell me that I know more than him about some aspects of it. Go figger. I have lots of happy Windows customers that never get spyware or viruii. I can lock them bitches down.

Repair computers, Build Xoops(http://www.xoops.org) websites, build computers,SOHO networking. I fix old ones and turn them into Smoothwall boxen or install Linux and give them to less-fortunate people who need them. That part I love to do. The look on their faces is better than sex. Give aways, these days, tend to have Yoper on them. Yoper runs pretty damn good on PIIs.

I am very aggressive about making all of the computers I build dual-boot, with Mandrakelinux the Linux installation. I have quite a number of machines in the hands of users that are dual-boot with Mandrakelinux.

Just call me Johnny Linuxseed. ;-)

[2sheds]

17. Sysadmin

Hm, well, I've been around computers for a long, long time, but never planned to become a "computer person" at all, much less a sysadmin. It just sorta happened. I work in a small group supporting a couple hundred computer scientists and mathematicians. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to completely divorce myself of Windows because I have to support it.

Umm... the stuff I do doesn't sound very interesting -- often I recompile stuff 88 zillion times until it works.

[SKKY]

18. Computer Network Defense for the DOD...

My OS of choice: Suse 9.2 (But I can live with Fedora)
My "tools" of choice: Webmin, Snort, and Ethereal
What scares me most: Microsoft and Netcat
What I need to learn: A Programming Language
A Tool every administrator should use: Nessus
My Mantra for 2005: "Defense in Depth, Defense in Breadth"