Stop. Before I lose your interest just yet, I'm not under the narcissistic impression that any of what I have to say will matter to anyone. I'm also not deep (or shallow) enough to pretend this is some selfless endeavor akin to fasting or whatever Cat Stevens does now. I'm fully aware of the selfish nature in these things and the assumption attached that reads in bold DO YOU LIKE WHAT I HAVE TO SAY? I wrestled with all of that internally as well as someone could whose experience in philosophy is best marked by a single lecture in existentialism near a keg at a graduation party or something like that.
Unfortunately my fears forced the tap-out. So here I am, sort of wondering if anybody cares but not upset if you don't. Therapy's expensive and I can pretend millions of people love my ideas for free. Thank you all in advance for loving my ideas.
Right, so, the little about me that matters for the sake of this endeavor... I'm just between 20 and 30. I write code. I tan well. I eat well. I play video games. I know the laws of Azeroth and I have favorite decks in Magic: The Gathering but I don't talk about any of it on dates. I enjoy most sports and I'd like to think my music taste is sophisticated. I love Linux and open-source technologies to the best of my abilities.
And here's where my fear dwells. I don't expect my generation to know the inner workings of Sendmail, PHP, C++, or even in 2012 how to seriously navigate a proper Linux CLI. Nerds wouldn't get to go out to eat every now and then if that were the case (I like oysters). Do I expect people my age regardless of hobby or profession to know the date of Linus Torvalds' birthday? Of course not, but he does, and you have just over a month to find something nice.
My fear is that people my age are unknowingly wasting money, time and effort on systems they could essentially be completely customizing themselves.
Friends and peers alike have told me that maybe these hypothetical, unaware victims just don't care. I beg to differ. I think if our generation was at least educated by our own geeks, we'd all start to come around. I'll try my best to offend as few as possible. Warning, generalizations and stereotypes ahead.
Would the Brooklyn hipster, likely strapped for cash, willingly choose a $2000 amalgamation of parts in a brushed steel frame if they knew without a doubt they could get the same performance for 40% of the cost? Especially if they didn't need any true brand name software? Some, maybe. The majority? I simply refuse to believe that. The fruit of the loom is not referring to the shape of the label, name of the brand or Michael Jordan. If anything the sense of people joining together to create, share and enhance with the motive alone oftentimes being the work itself captures more of that stereotype. If I was going to be called that kind of hipster, I'd live. I'm not big on coffee or performance art. Thanks, though.
To clarify going forward: I don't have some warped pseudo anti-establishment view of our markets or this world. I champion the ability to do as we please and sell what we want. I also don't think monetarily cheap technologies are always without quality. There are certain things we can forget that would immediately aid in our appreciation of these technologies. These "cheap" resources and tools have the potential to help the city planner, city worker and city dweller.
So, the posts to come in the days ahead will be about resources I think anyone can use and from which they may benefit. I'll try my best to frame it in a way we can all understand and discuss.
It won't take much effort on your part. You don't even have to acknowledge you read this or even exist. Like I said, I wrestled with whether or not I'd go through with this. I'm going to try.
Maybe you will, too.
- MG
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| Tux, the Linux mascot. |
