I remember it was the year 2000. I just can’t recall the month.
I used the Windows 2000 operating system, so it should probably be March or later.
My internet was accessed through a 33.6k US Robotics modem adapter, dialing a regular phone line. It was slow, but patience seemed to be a virtue most cultivated at that time. And without a doubt the complexity of the Web was much smaller.
A local cable company had just launched its new internet by cable service. I signed it as soon as it was available at my address. Couldn’t wait: faster “always on” connection, without ever worrying about the phone bill again.
The cable came through the window and found a splitter, which multiplexed the signal for the TV and cable modem (a very expensive one, paid separately).
But for the magic to work, it was necessary to buy a network adapter, since at that time it was not common for motherboards to come with an integrated one (or at least not the motherboards I could afford to buy). An RJ45 cord came out of the cable modem and was plugged directly into the input of the PC’s standalone network adapter.
I don’t recall the manufacturer/model of the network adapter I purchased. But one thing I remember very well: there was no way to make it work on Windows 2000. The driver was there. Apparently all supported. This was very frustrating.
However, I had heard good things about a Linux distribution called Red Hat, which at the time had not yet been exclusively directed to the corporate market. The download had taken four or five days, using the dawns to pay the equivalent of just one phone pulse.
That Linux was already installed on my pc in dual boot. I confess that I had never been very interested in using it. Even because games resided in Windows.
The penguin was there just to kill one curiosity or another during a couple of tests.
I remember exactly the feeling… “Is this environment worth studying?”. “Will it ever have a future?”. “Will it be as functional as Windows?”.
In possession of that fast and dysfunctional internet connection, I restarted the PC on that Red Hat Linux distro. Certainly another failure to collect.
What was my surprise that the network adapter was recognized immediately and after a brief “user and password” setting at some specific “/etc” file I was already enjoying my new speed limit in the Matrix.
I think it is needless to say that from that moment on, I restarted each time less in Windows. It had become an island. An island separated from the vast ocean that the internet provided.
Sometimes it’s healthy to remember.
It is now clear why I am here.
