Back when I started college (2001), I remember a world where tech was, well, ‘fun’. I was a die-hard free software guy willing to put up with far-to-much in the interests of ‘tweaking’ my computer. Running Linux was like drive a custom made hot-rod. I knew every piece of the system and was happy to tweak it all day long. I followed slashdot, freshment, linux games, and laughed out loud while reading userfriendly.
Perhaps today I’m simply waxing nostalgic, but damn if I don’t miss those days. I’m not sure where the old ‘hacker’ ethos has gone too, but now that I’ve had some time to settle into a professional career, and gain some semblance of free-time… Well, damned if I didn’t look and it just feels missing.
I noticed over the years as some sites closed their doors (linuxgames.com) or renamed and then became read-only (freshmeat.net). Out of habit, I’ve still kept tabs on slashdot. Over the years though, it’s gone from featuring front-page articles about postgresql and Ipv6 on FreeBSD, to a front-page dominated by highly political click-bait trash.
This site used to have a fairly amazing google page-rank for multiple subjects, at least before I let it get snatched by a domain crasher and go fallow for years. I hope there are others out there that enjoy hacking in some community somewhere – I’m looking.