I remember using my first computer. It had DOS running on a 486DX 66MHz processor. All I ever did with that computer, however, is make a set of blocks resembling a human, but was supposed to be a gorilla, throw an exploding banana to another, both of them standing over a bigger set of blocks resembling buildings. It's not just about angles and power of the throw, but you also have to factor in winds. That's how I got started with computers. From the time I had my first computer to my senior year in high school, the only software I knew was Microsoft, Windows in particular. I thought Microsoft was the only software used by everyone. I never thought about how big the universe was. Of course, I have heard of Apple Computers before, but never actually seeing one made me think it was just a myth. But I thought a computer with a fruit for a name would be cool to own someday. During my early years in college, I heard of this new software that could rival Windows. And again, never actually seeing one in action just made me shrug it off as just a rumor. Little did I know that it would open a whole new world to me one day. And that day was the first time I saw X Windows running GNOME, although I didn't know what it was called then. This was when I attended a seminar on Linux System Administration. From that seminar, I learned how tedious it is maintaining a server. I had to unlearn a lot of Windows commands, which was not really easy for me since I have been a Windows baby for the longest time. With practice, I became adept at using the command line. What really hooked me into using Linux was the amount of interaction I made with the computer, and of course the GUI. I had more control on what I want the computer to do compared to when using Windows. Windows just blabbers on with whatever default startup programs were running. On Linux, I can customize anything and everything. But of course, an ample amount of programming knowledge was needed to *actually* customize everything. I started with the GUI, customizing something that would please my eyes. The desktop, after all, should be eye candy. From changing icons and customizing logos to designing wallpapers and choosing the best screensaver, I did everything I could do with the GUI. Finding where they are in the first place took a little time, but with everything having sufficient documentation, it wasn't hard to find. I learned how valuable it is to "read the fucking manual." My next victim was the kernel. I wouldn't really mess around with the kernel, knowing that if I did fuck up, it's going to be one heck of a mess to clean up, meaning a reformat would be inevitable. And that I would have to reconfigure the GUI all over again. But what the heck, right? You only live once, as they say. So I researched a lot in compiling my own kernel, and along the way, I learned what my system's limitations are, what it can and can't do, and I also learned what I wanted run from the start (so it boots up a heck of a lot faster) and which programs would be run on demand. This is where Linux really shines. The kernel is modular, meaning that it can run everything at once from boot up time, or simply load the necessary drivers and then load the other drivers as needed. Not unlike Windows where you have no choice but to run everything all at once during boot up that it takes forever to finish. So after a lot of reading fucking manuals, and a lot of trials and errors, I compiled my own kernel from source. In less than 500 kilobytes. I deviated from Red Hat, feeling it a bit having too much GUI, and was using Slackware, as it offers a lot of opportunities at looking at the code. It's not that I don't like GUIs and all, it's just that looking at code makes me feel more, er, intimate, with the software. It talks to me. Don't ask. Anyway, being able to look at code and play with it made me appreciate Open Source and its benefits. I am able to learn from a lot of people doing a lot of things with code and I can play with their code, with them, in a manner of speaking. Not in a horny manner, so to speak. The same goes with my experience with WordPress, what with the themes and plugins I developed and released in the hopes of doing something good for somebody else. BUT, just to clarify something here. Open Source is not always free software. Neither is free software always open source. The difference between the two are the licenses. Problems arise when people try to lead a community without having everyone in the community agree that they need a leader. It has to be unanimous so that everyone will be united. It's like trying to organize the blogosphere. Someone will eventually ask, "who died and made you king?" Live and let live. That's all I can say about it. This coming from someone with no intention of making money from anything open source. However, when you start talking about making money with Open Source software, that's an entirely different story. In my opinion, developers share their knowledge through their code. Their code is theirs, but not theirs alone. It is also ours, yours and mine. A lot of users may not know this, heck, they may not even care, but when developers share their code, it's like lending their offspring to the world. And if that offspring was edited, updated, changed in any way, it's not theirs alone anymore, but it ALSO belongs to whoever edited, updated, and changed it. That's the beauty of Open Source. Anything that is open is continuously improved, fostered by everyone who contributed to its growth. And anyone who tries to claim open source software as their own and make it proprietary will have to face a lot of angry parents, and that wouldn't be good.