An introduction - Act One

[cysquatch]

Hello one and all! Sorry for the exclamation but I'm excited to find an actual Kubuntu forum. I've been using a linux-based desktop off and on for the last 9 years or so, starting with Slackware 8.1. Believe it or not with all that time I've been more or less a desktop user throughout. I dabble with scripting and programming here and there since I left desktop publishing a few years back, but these days I spend most of my time arguing in my own head where to go next.

I've settled back into a comfort zone again after giving KDE and honest go over the last couple weeks. Since 4.6 it's been very impressive! I'm hoping this will end my flip-flopping back and forth between operating systems and distributions (it's been going on for too long, years!) and let me get back to what I wish I had done about a decade ago. That being the study of webdev and programming.

It might sound strange (especially with switching TO linux again) but I'm trying to get back into front-end web development especially with HTML5 and CSS3 on the up and up. Coupling that with JQuery and my interests in Drupal and their Zen theme framework...well, I have a lot to dig into, not to mention my transitions to Inkscape and GIMP and everything else available. It's a lot to tackle, but working in an environment I am more comfortable in helps a lot in making it sound like a not too big hill to climb. I just see a lot of potential in those applications, especially Inkscape and the like for web dev.

Overall I'd probably be comfortable with a Mac for all of this, and I'm sure many would look at me as a loony for moving back to Linux-based software now at the supposed "dead of the desktop" but I think I'll learn more this way; more than just a suite of software. More about color theory, typography, artistic styles and things of that nature; things that kill the idea of industry standard software being the only means to an end.

In case you can't tell I don't work in digital graphics or marketing full time anymore. I started in 1993 and lost interest a couple years ago. Spec work led me to a dead end with an ad agency leaving me a bit jaded with the industry overall. I just didn't want to sell "revolutionary this and industry leading that" anymore and the Adobe/Mac environment got old. I felt like I might as well have been stamping cans for a living for all the interest I had left. Then I discovered the dynamic medium of front end development and the rest has been history.

So, for now I'm setting up a Drupal sandbox on my laptop. So far so good, no issues so far. But now comes the fun part...picking an IDE/Editor. Wow...lots of choices.

[GreyGeek]

Re: An introduction - Act One

The reports of the "death of the desktop" (or laptop) have been greatly exaggerated. It's market share may shrink in the future but, IMO, will remain the largest part of the computer environment. Corporate won't be switching to a smartphone or tablet for clerical interface anytime soon, and and employees usually follow the corporate lead for their own computer needs. If it runs at the office they want to run it at home. And, to be honest, there is little difference between a Windows 7 or a KDE 4.x look and feel, especially since corporate uses FireFox, Thunderbird and LibreOffice in many instances.

As far as HTML5 and CSS3 tools are concerned, you're the best choice of what is best. I would, however, stick with FOSS tools to minimize your license expenses and vendor lock-in.

[woodsmoke]

Re: An introduction - Act One

Hi cys and welcome to a very friendly and helpful forum!

woodsmoke

[SteveRiley]

Re: An introduction - Act One

employees usually follow the corporate lead for their own computer needs. If it runs at the office they want to run it at home

Maybe in the gentle rolling hills of Nebraska they do!

Consider:

• http://www.cio.com/article/689944/_Consumerization_of_IT_Taking_Its_Toll_on_IT_Manag ers
• http://www.cio.com/article/687931/Cloud_CIO_What_Consumerization_of_IT_Really_Means_ to_CIOs
• http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/brianmadden/archive/2011/06/02/the-consumerization-of-it-why-most-vendors-get-it-wrong-and-why-it-s-a-real-challenge-today-part-1.aspx

The security implications of the trend worry me greatly. But not enough to avoid participating in it myself!

Welcome, cysquatch! We're glad you're here.

[GreyGeek]

Re: An introduction - Act One

Err... when was the last time you were in NE?
We're still protesting the VietNam war... is it over yet?

I retired almost four years ago. My son is now the supervisor of the coding team I worked in. During the last few months I worked there they were consolidating the servers into one floor of a building closer to the capital building, under the state CIO. Only people authorized to access the LAN remotely can do so, and only with a laptop they are given at work, which has a VPN installed, with password, which is regularly changed, and which connects only with a specific server at work. No personal files, applications or photos are allowed on the laptop, and no files from the LAN can be stored on the laptop's HD. My son, who was the Oracle administrator there, uses it to access the oracle db remotely for maintenance, which he still does.

When I asked him if he has tried to access the LAN at work remotely with his 10" iPad he laughed and rolled his eyes. No chance of that.

[ardvark71]

Re: An introduction - Act One

Maybe in the gentle rolling hills of Nebraska they do!

What part did you go through? The part I remember (Interstate 80) was as flat as a pancake!

I once went north through Valentine and into South Dakota but I've forgotten what that looked like.

Regards...

[GreyGeek]

Re: An introduction - Act One

I80 mostly follows the Platte River basin, which means it is on the flattest land in the state, with some rare exceptions near Grand Island.

You go North and you are in the Sand Hills, which is gently rolling, grass covered sand dunes., and it covers the Northern one-third of the state East of Alliance, almost to Sioux City, on the North East corner of the state. On the East end of the state, East of Seward, you have GRH's also, right up to the Missouri River. On the North West corner of the state are a LOT of GRHs as the terrain climbs to over 4 thousand feet. Lots of bluffs, like at Scottsbluff. Lots of Elk and the occasional Mountain Lion or Bear. LOTS of Deer on both ends of the state and all along the Platte. Corn fed they are.

But, on I80, and 5 miles on either side, from a few miles West of Lincoln all the way to the Western boarder of the state, near Big Springs, a single glance tells you all you need to know. It's like visiting a McDonald, the same everywhere you go.

[SteveRiley]

Re: An introduction - Act One

Yay, so I wasn't completely full of it, indeed a portion of Nebraska does have gently rolling hills. I mean GRHs. LOL.

But that other part...huh. Well, I guess if you wanted to verify the straightness of your ruler, you could go there and hold it against and perpendicular to the ground. Any sunlight that peeks through would reveal flaws in said ruler.