Adventures in Terminal: A Beginner's Journey Through Linux

While I am not personally a programmer, I have had a deep and abiding love for all things Linux since I was a kid and my mom built a custom computer for my brother and I to play with, that was a dual boot with Windows and Linux (I can't remember the exact distro she installed). Without internet or a TV, that computer was our world. The games on the Linux side were only half the fun. We would follow our mom's instruction book and navigate through installation and troubleshooting in terminal with a certain degree of glee. The code was like a conversation, and learning to speak with our computer was thrilling. 

Sadly, when we grew out of that computer and graduated to computers with internet (oh the glories of the modern age) we left Linux behind.

Through school and my early twenties I was always a fan of open source software and the creative, vibrant communities of hackers and developers I stumbled across in various corners of the internet. I went through my own teenage hacker phase (it didn't last long, as my real interests were mathematics, physics, and writing). 

But it wasn't until January of this year that I really took a step back and questioned my trained and educated dependence on Windows.

When my Windows 8 laptop began to suffer a serious decline, to the point where I could no longer do my consulting work (and I didn't have the money for a replacement), I was forced to consider less conventional solutions. The thought of attempting to wipe and install a new OS was terrifying -- I hadn't attempted anything more technically savvy than running task manager since I was 16. 

I decided to take the leap, partition my hard drive, compress Windows as much as possible, and dual boot Ubuntu. 

After a week of madly researching and learning as much as I could, I went for it. Three days later I had what felt like a brand new laptop.  Much to my (rather ecstatic) surprise, all of the open source software I had grown to love and use daily in my work was originally designed for Ubuntu! All those years I had been using the hobbled versions adapted for Windows -- now I was flying along, relishing the smooth operation and responsiveness of my favorite programs in their native environment. 

That was only the beginning. In February I bought a Mac mini (OS X Sierra) and dual booted Ubuntu on it as well. I wanted my Mac mini setup to be mobile so I dove headfirst into the world of Linux drivers -- successfully setting up my USB-powered portable monitor (I'll admit it took me two weeks of relentless frustrated face palming). Additional fun ensued when I decided to install the Tor Browser Bundle and install and start exploring I2p. 

In spite of the lovely user-friendly GUI that Ubuntu is well known for, I found myself drawn again and again to do as much as could through Terminal. Recalling that childlike glee at "talking" to my computer to accomplish whatever needed to be done. 

So that is what I will devote this series "Adventures in Terminal" to. Join me in my journey as I rediscover my love of all things Linux through projects great and small. 

Part I (coming soon) will be on GitHub Pages.