In reply to:
it's almost addictive... you're always checking for the latest kernel patches/developments... any new versions of databases, programming tools, etc... and just finding ways to tweak the performance of what you have...
Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. I'm already annoyed because I'm running the slink dist. of Debian (the current stable) and it's old. All of the cool software I find needs upgraded versions of the base packages. Meantime the next debian dist. is in the debugging stage and should be released very soon... but I have to wait for that before I can install any of the software I want. (Or I could download and install the not-quite-ready dist. and just chance it, but I don't dare and anyway I am on a 56K modem... it would take the rest of my life to download.) So that's just frustrating. (And that, btw, is how I came to unknowingly install an updated version of libc6 and squash my whole system.)
The proxy and firewall thing sounds like a whole heck of a lot of fun *sigh* but I'm going to have to miss out on the hootinanny because I'm on a standalone dialout system... although I'm already thinking I ought to run Linux on a separate physical machine and network them so I can run Linux and Win at the same time [see "addictive" comment above] which still wouldn't require a proxy server or a firewall. []/w3timages/icons/frown.gif[/] Maybe someday I'll get to do that too, if I'm a very good girl and eat all my lima beans. []/w3timages/icons/wink.gif[/]
But I do feel like I'm learning a lot, or at least getting a much clearer perspective on what a computer does behind the curtains. I'm drugged on sinus meds right now so I can't explain what I mean in English []/w3timages/icons/crazy.gif[/] but it puts Windows into a different perspective as well. I did used to use DOS back in that day, but that was nowhere near as good a learning tool.
I'm still in no danger of becoming a command-line person, though. I like my icons and colors and pretty pictures, and when I use the command line I prefer to do it in a terminal window that I can minimize and that has a scroll bar.
Phoenix
