Is the Gentoo population aging or getting younger?

Section_8 · l33t Joined: 22 May 2004 Posts: 627

I certainly qualify as old.

My first programming course in Fortran, on a Burroughs B6700, using punch cards. My first real assembler hacking was Z-80 assembler on a TRS-80.

aCOSwt · Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 8:44 am Post subject:

Navar · Guru Joined: 20 Aug 2012 Posts: 355 Location: usa

Navar · Guru Joined: 20 Aug 2012 Posts: 355 Location: usa

d2_racing · Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2013 12:05 pm Post subject:

I would say the users are probably ageing for sure.

All the kids that I know are sticky with Apple.

They don't like Windows 8 and they don't want even try Linux, it's too hard. The only stuff that they might use is an Android phone and it's border line.

depontius · Advocate Joined: 05 May 2004 Posts: 3522

Hypnos · Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2013 1:16 pm Post subject:

People talk a lot of crap about "Millennials" and how they are more entitled and lazy than ever before.

IMHO, while cultures may wax and wane, in any context the aware and hardworking people come out on top.
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KLarsen · n00b Joined: 30 Dec 2005 Posts: 61 Location: Spain

I don't think I fit the stereotype too well - I'm about 30, don't have any professional background in computers, but have been running Gentoo for about 8 years now. Everything I've learned about Linux I've learned from this forum or the internet in general. I've no wish to change to Ubuntu, Windows, iOS or anything else. Sure, Gentoo might make me pull out my hair once in a while when it doesn't cooperate, but I actually prefer it that way; it's definitely better than being presented with a ready-made OS that you have no idea what is doing under the hood.
I only wish I could contribute something to Gentoo or Linux in general, but my lack of knowledge in programming etc. makes it difficult. At least I can keep bugging my friends to try Linux (though without luck!).

steveL · Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 7:54 am Post subject:

bwaldow · Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 10:20 am Post subject:

Some of the answers are catalogs of old technologies, so...

I exhausted the Math textbook while in High School, so they sent me to Shop, which had a Wang 720C Programmable Calculator - display was 2 banks of 10 or 12 characters of Nixie tubes for X & Y registers, but it also had an IBM Selectric Typewriter that could plot at 100DPI! It also used proprietary punch cards or binary switch banks for code input - I used both at times (hanging chads, anyone?). I coded it to play SpaceWar (output was slow, though, and the players had to take turns inputting their moves).

FORTRAN on a Nova via batch punch cards.

APL & BASIC at a summer camp at a University on the SERDAC network via TTY printers with no video display. APL was input using digraphs (two character codes) to replace the special symbols. In class our instructors had glass displays though, as I remember watching the display when they encountered the code we put in to crash the system.

I did nothing with computers at University, but listened to others talk about their exploits on the ARPAnet.

My father bought me an Atari 400. I maxed out the RAM (48K) and wrote a 2 pass macro assembler for it and coded 3D animations (page-flipping - it was too slow to move anything but sprites in real time).

A Taiwanese IBM-XT clone with 640K & DOS and a Hercules (clone) card and a Green Screen and AutoCAD and I started coding LISP (AutoLISP, anyway). Then a 386sx-16 and actual animations. I don't recall if I had a 300 baud modem, but I recall using the 1200 & 2400 baud ones.

Then SLS Linux. Then SuSE, Red Hat, Debian, early Ubuntu, then Gentoo.

Now I split between Stella (CentOS re-mix), Xubuntu, and Gentoo.

I'm curious about Slackware, but I am more familiar with handling Gentoo for working out problems. The devil you know... (or at least are acquainted with).

Cheers,
Bret

jpc22 · Apprentice Joined: 29 Jan 2012 Posts: 195

I'm 20 started using gentoo about 1.5 years ago and joined the forum last year.

I tried linux mint for about 3 months and i tried installing hardened gentoo. The learning curve was not easy, but once i tasted gentoo ,i could not go back to xp or mint.

I like thinkering with things like selinux and full disk encryption.
I really like the flexibility of gentoo, as i can use whatever combination of apps that fits me.

I think you cannot break gentoo, you can only get headaches when you start messing with stuff above you current knowledge level or do a stupid mistake like uninstalling udev...

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 7:53 pm Post subject:

jpc22,

Not wanting to start a flamewar but

vaxbrat · l33t Joined: 05 Oct 2005 Posts: 731 Location: DC Burbs

So my username probably clues me in as an old fart....

First computer was an HP2000 that was probably one of the first computers used by a high school in the DC area (mid 70's)
Second computer was as PDP 11 (but PDPBrat never even considered) and was gateway drug to Vaxen. Had a smattering of other weirdo's, Varian anyone? First actual computer I ever bought for myself was an Osbourne Exec shortly after osbo went bankrupt. Second actual computer was an Amiga 1000. Didn't actually break down and buy a clone until 486 days and even then I ignored intel and went with an AMD 486 DX2-80.

BTW what is this EBCDIC anyway? We ASCII guys on mini's were farting in your general direction way back when on our IBM 029's :-)

Hypnos · Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 3:15 am Post subject:

It's a shame that OpenVMS and CDE were not GPL'd 10 years ago; better late than never for CDE at least.
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andjeng · n00b Joined: 05 Dec 2012 Posts: 9 Location: Indonesia

i know gentoo user from indonesia who was 13 years old. he frequently asking for help about configuring stuff.
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Duncan Mac Leod · Guru Joined: 02 May 2004 Posts: 314 Location: Germany

Working with computers for 32 years now, so I am one of the Old Ones

...

But I work with Gentoo since 2004 (10 years).

Navar · Guru Joined: 20 Aug 2012 Posts: 355 Location: usa

szatox · Advocate Joined: 27 Aug 2013 Posts: 3477

I'm 24. I've been poking around for ages, moved to linux as my system-of-choice-for-everyday-use nearly 10 years ago and around 3 years ago when I moved to gentoo was when the real fun began. To keep up with my history I should move to LFS within a few months :lol:

but so far gentoo has been good enough for me. I guess I'll stay here unless something really bad happens.

krinn · Watchman Joined: 02 May 2003 Posts: 7470

When i start using Gentoo the handbook clearly state : "By using Gentoo, times will get reverse and when time pass you will get younger. Make sure to not use portage too much or you will be so young that you will be no more enough tall to climb on your chair".

Someone has lie to me?

nlsa8z6zoz7lyih3ap · Guru Joined: 25 Sep 2007 Posts: 388 Location: Canada

John R. Graham · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 2:35 pm Post subject:

Small, world; me, too. (The getting older part, not the 70 part.)

- John
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khayyam · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:27 pm Post subject:

One day someone will look apon the dorian_gray.eclass and see that flesh for what it is ... eeeewww.

Oh ... me too.

best ... khay

Atmmac · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 8:22 pm Post subject:

Gentoo was actually the first system I used back in 2006. My roommate in college was a huge fan. I couldn't wrap my head around it in the beginning and really enjoyed debian. Now you cant even get me to use any other distro on my desktop. As for my company equipment though its been all rhel.
I am 27 which i guess isn't that young anymore.

ak47gen · n00b Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 43

Millennials generation here! The reason for my generation for being a bunch of entitled careless babies is because we never had to fight for what we earn. The groundwork was already laid out. We don’t care about writing assembly or C since it is pointless. We don’t care about audio quality because our Dr. Beats are cooler. It just comes down to our generation doesn’t care about tinkering or engineering. Thus I would assume your population of most gentoo user are not Millennials. This mentality is slowly changing with mainstream wanting to promote STEM. We have an upraise of Maker/Hacker Spaces, Software boot camps, and various famous people in the news for having tech companies.