Comment Computers (Score 1) 214
I've been programming and using computers for about 20 years now. I started on the Pet at school with a casette drive and 8k of RAM.
I still remember the wonder I felt when I saw a floppy drive and realized just how much of an incredible step up it was from the floppy.
My first steps were in BASIC, and then assembly. There was something wonderfully mechanical about computers then. The feeling that you're actually working on a *machine*.
My first computer was a C64, and I spent a lot of time playing with the various features of the computer, experimenting with the primitive graphics and sound.
Then I got an Amiga and learned about operating systems, structured programming and C.
Now I'm a rabid Linux fan, use C++, C, Perl, HTML, SGML etc etc.
Somewhere from the C64 to this point, I found that computers have somehow lost that magical mechanicalness. I no-longer really feel like I'm working with a machine. On the PET, Apple ][ and C64, when you wanted to display something, you just went ahead and poked it to the display. You had complete control of the machine.
Now, you have to ask permission for things. Play nice. Cooperate with other systems. Jump through many hoops just to get a simple program written.
Don't get me wrong - I love my computer, and I love Linux. I've just lost that magic feeling, and now it feels like any other hobby.
It's nice to read an article from someone re-experiencing that magic. Kind of like showing a visitor around your city: You get to see it again through their eyes.
It bothers me to see people here coming down on the guy for his first steps with Linux. Maybe he's not a "Hacker" in the kernel sense. But as long as you're dicking around with the system, you're Hacking. Remember that classically, Hacking was just farting around exploring. And that's precisely what he's doing.
I like the fact that Jon Katz, a Mac user, can start exploring Linux and have fun doing it.
Keep on Truckin', Jon!
I still remember the wonder I felt when I saw a floppy drive and realized just how much of an incredible step up it was from the floppy.
My first steps were in BASIC, and then assembly. There was something wonderfully mechanical about computers then. The feeling that you're actually working on a *machine*.
My first computer was a C64, and I spent a lot of time playing with the various features of the computer, experimenting with the primitive graphics and sound.
Then I got an Amiga and learned about operating systems, structured programming and C.
Now I'm a rabid Linux fan, use C++, C, Perl, HTML, SGML etc etc.
Somewhere from the C64 to this point, I found that computers have somehow lost that magical mechanicalness. I no-longer really feel like I'm working with a machine. On the PET, Apple ][ and C64, when you wanted to display something, you just went ahead and poked it to the display. You had complete control of the machine.
Now, you have to ask permission for things. Play nice. Cooperate with other systems. Jump through many hoops just to get a simple program written.
Don't get me wrong - I love my computer, and I love Linux. I've just lost that magic feeling, and now it feels like any other hobby.
It's nice to read an article from someone re-experiencing that magic. Kind of like showing a visitor around your city: You get to see it again through their eyes.
It bothers me to see people here coming down on the guy for his first steps with Linux. Maybe he's not a "Hacker" in the kernel sense. But as long as you're dicking around with the system, you're Hacking. Remember that classically, Hacking was just farting around exploring. And that's precisely what he's doing.
I like the fact that Jon Katz, a Mac user, can start exploring Linux and have fun doing it.
Keep on Truckin', Jon!
