David Both is an Open Source Software and GNU/Linux advocate, trainer, writer, and speaker. He has been working with Linux and Open Source Software since 1996 and with computers since 1969. He is a strong proponent of and evangelist for the "Linux Philosophy for System Administrators."
He has written articles for magazines including, Linux Magazine, Linux Journal, and OS/2 Magazine back when there was such a thing. He currently writes prolifically for OpenSource.com. He particularly enjoys learning new things while researching his books and articles, building his own computers, and helping his grandchildren build their computers. He has found some interesting
and unusual ways of problem solving, including sitting on one computer on which he was working.
David has published five books with Apress. Four solo works, “The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins,” August 2018, and a three volume self-study training course, “Using and Administering Linux — From Zero to SysAdmin,” released in December, 2019. He has also written one book with co-author Cyndi Bulka, "Linux for Small Business Owners" that was released in 2022.
David currently lives in Raleigh, NC, with his amazing and supportive wife, Alice.
He can be reached via email at LinuxGeek46@both.org or on Mastodon at @LinuxGeek46@linuxrocks.online.
Authored Comments
Love this! I already knew about cowsay, but this provides even more fun. I have already played with this for an hour and I know I will spend more time doing this today than writing my next book. I am looking forward to your next Linux toys.
I voted for "Other." The primary reason is that I have been experienced almost all of the stupid moves in the list. There have only been about three times when a recruiter called me out of the blue and within 15 seconds was able to convince me to talk to them. That is my $MaxTimeLimit before I just hang up or delete the email. I reach that limit sooner if they get basic facts wrong that they could have gotten from my CV like what my skills really are and that no number of degrees will produce the skills I actually do have.
I did make the mistake of responding to one otherwise decent recruiter despite the fact that the job description contained the word "rockstar." That job was a disaster that had already happened.
Another thing I hate is the ageism. I am now aged out of any job market and am much happier writing for Opensource.com and books about Linux. But when I did encounter this it was usually in the form of a quick brush-off early in the interview and some lame excuse about running late or other nonsense like "overqualified."
Most places I actually ended up interviewing at never really had any decent method for verifying the information I put in my CV about my skills. They mostly had to go on the assumption that I was not lying or at least embellishing. It is a bad sign when the only person that interviews you for a job knows little or nothing about the technical aspects of the job you will be doing and does not invite anyone on their staff who actually does to participate in the interview.
I could go on, but I won't.