折腾十年linux后的真情告白
下面是一篇在archlinux论坛上看到的帖，在这博客上我从来没有全文摘抄过别的文章，更别说几乎没人会耐心看下去的英文了，不过这篇文章颇有意味，感兴趣的话，看了再说。
原文：http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=81868
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So, not that many of you would care, but this month I have a rather odd anniversary: it was 10 years ago that I laid eyes on my first Linux ditribution, and it was the thing that “started it all” for me. I was in the 9th grade, still using Windows, but I had access to a Redhat box, and I loved it. I remember playing Sokoban a lot on it, and I seem to remember Netscape. I also remember BitchX, but that was years after.
Any man would consider this a happy occasion, but I do not. Why? Because apart from some stuff that you learn as you go on, stuff that you need to learn in order to maintain your system in working condition, apart from that I feel like I’ve learned nothing. It’s not Linux’s fault, but my own, simply because I’ve spent years making sure that my box looks ” bitchin’ “, and spent alot less time actually learning what I was supposed to in the first place.
So, what do I have after 10 years?
I suck at firewall-ing, I’m certaintly more pro-efficient with Ubuntu’s Firestarter frontend, or even with ZoneAlarm on Windows, than I am with, let’s say, PF. I’m ashamed to say that I’ve always chosen the easy path: no open ports on my main box, rather than learning how to configure a secure machine.
I can make Gnome look 10 times better than Vista, but I don’t think I’ve spent more than 10 minutes inside GConf. I have used ALL mainstream aswell as less known window managers, and learned how to configure them all. All this just to be back at my first love (used Kde/Gnome before): Ratpoison!
I have made atleast 1000 different font configurations, just to fall back to Monospace which I simply love (apart from the damn # beeing italic and the @ beeing horizontally squashed instead of a nice round shape!).
I have edited so many different xinitrc’s and xorg.conf’s that I could print an alternative Bible in 8 point font.
I have probably written so many Xdefaults color schemes that could easily fill an alternative New Testament in the forementioned Bible.
I have changed so many wallpapers that I could cover my city in A4 paper if I were to print them.
I have switched/reinstalled distros so many times that I could make a whole happy relationship out of the spare time I wasted.
I have read and written the word “theme” so many times that I could probably do a `find /` and i’ll still get less characters.
And last but not least, this was not only a waste of time, but a waste of good health. I spent time in a hospital because of the lost nights, junk food and the freaking tons of Cola drinks.
Do I feel sad about these past years? Yes and no. Yes because I wasted them instead of learning, and no because I love *NIX and I don’t see myself leaving “the scene” in the near future. All I need to do is stop doing useless stuff, and I beg of you to consider doing the same.
Don’t sit for hours infront of your computer setting useless stuff up, like conky bars, window manager configs and the likes. All you have to gain from this is a few thanks and a few “WOW!’s” in the Screenshot’s section. That’s all! You may be as ignorant as to say that you do that because “you like a nice looking box”, but Linux is all about the learning. Leave the configuring as your last “TODO”, or as a first only if you intend to leave it like that, because you could end up like me, with nothing to show for after 10 years. Out of experience I can say that no matter how much work you put into a theme/style/setup, you will always find something in someone else’s setup that you like, and start setting stuff up again. This never ends!
I’m not that idiotic as to think that you are ALL like me, maybe some of you actually do learn stuff and don’t just set stuff up, but the rest, take my advice, and use `man` as often as you can.
What I have learned is programming. I started programming in the 4th grade on a Spectrum clone, but I started doing “hardcore” programming like..6 years ago. I’m only a medium sized coder, simply because, as with Linux, I’ve wasted time learning a lot of different programming languages instead of concentrating on one, then moving on. That’s all that I (kinda) have to show for. Why “kinda”? Because none of my codes look “professional”. Sure, they work, but they lack in the efficiency/optimisation department (have a look at BareWM…lolage on me!)
I don’t exactly expect any replies, this was my way of “releasing the load”, but feel free to say anything you like, be it advice or sharing your own experiences.
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作者说自己的悲哀在于尝试而非学习，并劝诫其他人也不要做无谓的尝试，将配置作为最后要做的事，而将更多的精力花在学习上。
这有些像《别闹了，费曼先生》里当费曼担任计算中心主任时，他的一个同事就患有“电脑症”：总尝试着让电脑实现更多的事，诸如算对数表等等（那时还是用卡片的那种电脑），陷于此而废寝忘食，搞的电脑都没法正常运行。
电脑是工具，工具所能实现的功能无穷无尽，工具是人器官的延伸，将工具能实现的功能误认为是自我的能力因而造成的错觉，应该是上面现象的原因所在。
使用工具的能力与工具的能力是有必要分开的，并非为使用工具而使用工具，而是为创造价值而不得不使用更有效的工具。
《2001太空漫游》里人类因能够使用工具而走出了进化中关键的一步，却在太空漫游里受制于工具，人始终没有与工具溶为一体，而最终是以原始的面貌回归宇宙。工具既是力量的来源，却同时也是力量幻象的来源。
珍惜生命，不折腾。
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