A boring story about fate and linux

18 Jun, 2024

How fate works.

A little background.

Before I got into computers, I was living in Seattle. Windows 95 had just come out. I read in the newspaper (analog) that there were something like 12k millionaires working on the Microsoft campus due to stock options.

That blew my mind.

The fallout of that was how quickly that kind of wealth changes a place. There were other factors of course, grunge rock being one of them, but to me at the time, the real culprit of what messed up the working class city of Seattle was Microsoft’s success.

Right around that same time, I’d heard about this internet and was fascinated by it.

I worked the door at a downtown bar. And at this job, I became familiar with various shady characters that came and went.

One of them was a guy named Booster Joe.

Booster Joe hopped cars. Hopping cars means checking to see if the parked car was unlocked, and if it was unlocked, hop in, go through it quickly and grab any valuables, and then hop out and move on.

Normally he would swing by the bar with those huge books with music CDs. No cases, just the discs and try to sell them to customers or staff.

CD’s at the time were very expensive, but that’s another story for another time.

At any rate, the same day I decided I wanted to get a computer so I could get on the internet, Booster Joe shows up with a laptop he pulled out of a car…..

I had no idea what to do with it. Fortunately I knew a guy that tinkered with computers. So I took it over to him and see if he could help me.

He asked me what I wanted a computer for. I told him for the internet. He told me that the laptop wouldn’t work, but he’d trade me an older desktop for the laptop and I could use that to get on the internet.

So I made the trade. It was a terrible trade and there is a lot more to this story, but let’s get back to how fate works.

So I have a computer.

“So how do I get on the internet?” I asked the guy

“You have to buy Microsoft”

“F that” I told him. “You mean I have to have a computer and pay for software?’

“Yes”

“Is there another way?” I asked

“Yes. You can try using Linux. It’s free”

Long story short. I did try it because I wasn’t going to give Microsoft a single penny.

And again, fate had it that the modem in that desktop was a US Robotics modem. The only one at the time that worked with Linux without any problems.

I learned Linux to get access to the internet. A new world opened for me and I began my career journey.

Another story for another time.