Practical-Linux

This is my first post, so bear with me for a few lines.  As an experienced network/computer guy, I have seen the good and bad of computing, in both the private and business sectors.  Computers are here to stay.  I like computers, but,  sometimes they get in the way of getting the real work completed, or they get in the way of human relationships, and so on.  You get the idea. 
Practical-Linux is my way of helping you past the eye candy and innumerable add-ons, to get the job done in a "tell it like it is" style. 

I started out on Bill Gates DOS back in 1990-1991.  I graduated to Windows 2.x, 3.x, 95, 98, and so on.  I taught NT Server 3.x at one of the local colleges for a while.  I attended a few Novell classes in the early 1990's when Novell 2.x came on 5 1/4" floppy disks.  I progressed to Novell 3.x and later 4.x. 
In the mid 1990's, I became aware of MS Access 2.0.  It was a great new idea back then.  I actually could call Redmond and talk to an Access design team member.  Paradox, Dbase, Access, SQL, etc were the database jargon of the day, and still are in some instances. 

In 1999, a customer handed me a floppy disk and said I needed to take a look at it.  It was a copy of Linux.  I loaded it and had to manually configure everything.  "Back to the basics" was my first thought.  I liked the raw feel of Linux.  I stayed with it and eventually converted 100% to Linux. 

Presently, I work at a University and support about 40 users, and 4-5 servers.  Most of it Linux.  A handfull of XP and Win7 machines thrown in for grins.  We run TCPIP, FTP, NFS, SSH, and a few other things.  All basic stuff that works very well when configured correctly.  All of the users run GUI desktops, productivity suite software, and so on.  

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Linus Torvalds, and others changed the way our world thinks, works, and plays.  So, that being said, I am here to have fun and help you make Linux decisions a little easier.
Let's have fun.
Jim