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Dear Curtis,
Excellent thinking again Curtis. I stand in awe of your energy.
Thank you for you comments and insight. A few personal comments regarding my "energy" related to this and Linux. As you have stated, AT&T had been on the cusp of dominating a market wherein many of the innovations and technologies we take for granted, and some make a living from would not be here - at least in the form they are today. If not for the actions of IBM, as you suggest, and the subsequent breakup of Ma Bell then who knows. Now, looking at the landscape of today I view M$ in much the same light. How many technologies and innovations has M$ squash, killed, or bastardized that would have led to perhaps things unimagined? So, lets be honest here. M$ has done some great things. The proclamation of Mr. Gates to essentially put a desktop (M$ desktop) in every home and make computers accessible and usable by any one has for the most part been realized. But at what cost? Linux is as I have always envisioned computing to be. Insofar as all those talented people that "I" admire being able to work at their crafts in a relatively unfettered way. Bring technologies to the common individual and furthering the innovations that have yet to be wrought or even dreamed of. It is this reason that I have such a passion about this. Linux has come a very long way in such a short time. However, it can be argued, that it's still in its' very early stages. There are no real secrets in Linux. I is truly open at its' core. Anyone that wants to use or contribute may do so as long as they don't get greedy and selfish. It is much along the lines of science. I was trained in the sciences and one of the prime paradigms is that no real progress can be gain in a vacuum. As researchers discover and test new information is released and the body of knowledge is ever expanding. Just think about what is common place today and then picture the mind set of some 50 years or more ago as to what they would have dreamed was possible! I contend that Linux and OSS offers much to society in much the same manner. On a more personal note. I have been an clinical health care practitioner for about 2 years. I find it to be less satisfying than I had hoped, most due to the amount of beauracracy and just the shortage of human resources that leads to early burnout. I have decided to change careers and focus on information technologies and computers. In doing so I think it is encumbant that I establish relationships in and contribute to this field whenever possible. This too is part of my passion for Linux, OSS, and computer technologies. I do not know just what niche I will find for myself in this field. Perhaps as a coder, or a admin, perhaps and an analyst - I don't know. What I do know is this. Linux shows no signs of going away, regardless of the riff-raff that may from time to time pollute it with their wishes to control or circumvent its' direction or development. So, it's not so much a question of energy. It's the end result of a passion. One that I am both content with and unashamed of. To put it plainly.... THIS STUFF KICK ASS! Forgive my indulgence. Curtis. :) P.S. If some of the words are misspelled, forgive this. Some things Kmail's spell checker does not have references to. :-( -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.2-rc1-SuSE (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE+73YGiqnGhdjCOJsRAq7wAJ9eQCq6V1gEcIBs3JNriYDCIM7nEgCeLIdC isL/6PeZqAdPRm1HTzQVCTY= =tXgH -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----