Old farts and new Linux

[Jeff Ratliff]

On Mon, May 03, 2004 at 04:28:43PM -0400, Ron Goulard wrote:
> 
> And here I thought that at 36, I was an 'old fart' when it came to
> playing with computers. By the sounds of it, I'm still wet behind the
> ears :)
> 
> I've been doing this since my first computer, a TRS-80 model III
> (cassette tapes for storage, 48k of ram (that was the upgrade) and
> hexeditors were my favorite toys).  I was shown linux for the first time

I had my first real experience on a TRS-80 model III as well (in the 
school library). I used to sit and read "Popular Electronics" magazine
and dream of saving enough money to get a Sinclair ZX81 (2K memory and built
in BASIC!). 
  First real programming was in 8085 machine language on a single board
training computer. It had 24 LEDs for output, a hexadecimal keypad for 
input, and you entered opcodes in Octal!
  I remember that Christmas all I wanted was the book "Programming the 
Z80" from Radio Shack. I think it was $11 and more than I could afford. 
  After that, the standard stuff C-64, to DOS to OS/2, then eventually 
RedHat 5.2. I suppose there are worse ways to spend the formative years.