Christopher Whittum

63 points
Christopher Whittum
United States

I am an educator at a local middle school, and have an M. Ed. in Instructional Technology. I am a huge proponent of open source technology, especially in regards to education. I published a book on integrating open source technology into education called Energize Education through Open Source: Using Open Source Technology to Enhance Learning. I enjoy working with computers both in terms of software and hardware. I am a part-time Web developer, using GIMP and Blluefish Editor religiously. My other hobbies include weight training, working outside, and model rocketry (yes, I use OpenRocket). I live on a small family farm with several dogs, cats, chickens and 2 miniature horses. I am also a proponent of animal rights..

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Thanks for the reminder that open source is not necessarily more secure than proprietary technologies and that such securities require constant maintenance. Thanks even more for sharing your first Linux learning experience. As you stated, regarding my comment above, very cool. What a fantastic way to learn Linux and your instructor clearly made a positive impact on you. Thanks again for writing this article.

Great article. Reminded me of my own journey with Linux. I first used Linux in November 1997 as part of a class "Intro to Current Operating Systems" (we also looked at Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98 and Novell Netwear. My instructor made no secret of the fact that he preferred Linux (I think it was Red Hat 5 and it was running FVWM95 with xroach running by default) over the proprietary alternatives due to its price, stability and security. This stuck with me. In 2002, I succeeded in loading Red Hat 7.3 onto my computer. With Red Hat 9.0, I emigrated to Slackware as I wanted to try something different. In 2009, I emigrated to Ubuntu and am now using Xubuntu. I love the packaging system, the security, the stability and open source in general.