We home schooled both of our kids for some period of time - the oldest until he was a 4th grader, and the youngest, until she was a 2nd grader. We did not do it for religious or "clingy" reasons - we did it because where we initially lived had very poor schools, with issues of gang activity and violence.
Our oldest was the youngest in his class when he was first placed in public school. And then was skipped yet ahead another grade. This was due not only to his academic standing, but his maturity. Likewise, we had the opportunity to allow the same with our daughter, but did not. Why? Most of our sons friends were in the grade above him, and most of our daughters friends were in the grade she entered into.
Both are friendly, warm . . . normal. Our son was awarded a full-ride to our region's flagship University and is doing well. He is slightly nerdy (he received a 36 on his ACT), but is also into sports - loves racquetball. Our daughter has a 4.0+, runs cross country, and is considering Harvey Mudd for her post-high school education. She is into science and math.
BUT - and here is the big caveat . . . both my wife and I have teaching degrees, with my wife having a Master's in Education. We are also very technologically proficient . . . and active in science.
The outcome of our kids, I don't believe, was vastly impacted by the home schooling . . . they entered public school at a relatively young age. I think basic parenting is the main skill needed . . . 90% of societies issues are due to bad parenting at some level.
45 here. Same advice. If this was 1998 or 1999 - sure, follow your bliss. Not in 2011. Like another poster, I defected to academia as support of a university department. The folks here are swell, albeit unaware of the real world, the work is light, and I get paid. Dream job - no. But it is far better than being a docker wearing idiota with an electronic leash.
One thing you did not mention is if you have a family. If you are just some geek living in your mother's basement, you obviously have more latitude to follow your dreams. If you have dependents, root your ass to what you have and be thankful you have income.
Python is scripting. FORTRAN is programming. MPI is vastly more supported by FORTRAN than any other language - grow MPI support for C++ or Object C, and then FORTRAN can go away.
I was in nearly exactly your shoes. Fourteen years of IT work for some very large and reputable companies. Obviously near a large city.
I started my own company to do IT consulting, moved to a farm in a very rural state, worked from home and used the consulting fees and products I sell to buy a farm. I have been transitioning out of IT over the past five years, and am down to about three years before I can sell the company I started, throw every damn computer I own away, and farm (vegetables and beekeeping) full time.
I have a wife and kids, also, and it was key for us to move away from the big city early . . . so my kids had a sane childhood.
It's drastic, but I love every day I wake up. I find it harder and harder to sit in front of the keyboard instead of being outside.
In fact, this is one of the odd days I actually look at slashdot . . . I have weened myself from most on-line rags already.
All you "kids" never lived in the fear of the reality of nuclear waste. It not only lasts longer than you do - it lasts longer than what is currenty recorded history. Having watched one parent die from cancer brought on by the best chemistry our puny brains can muster - I strongly feel that anyone that considers nuclear energy is "clean" is on the contextual level of belief as "the check is in the mail" or "I won't cum in your mouth." Any advocate that promotes nuclear energy is genocidal - to our future. The argument that the future will "solve the problems we create" is incredibly naive and narcissistic. I'll take global warming long before nuclear waste - the planet will heal faster after the "cause" has become extinct.
Point well taken. And I'm impressed your reading this thread. I obviously don't know the whole story, but I don't find the RedHat 5.2 manual on par with most O'Reilly books. And I agree that the RedHat model is a good one to follow - but it shouldn't be the only "allowable" path for commerical ventures.
The key difference in documentation is the ability for a Jon Katz to pick up the book and learn from it - with as little frustration as possible. As one of the anonymous cowards pointed out, current free (GPL or simply freeware) documentation _generally_ suffers from poor quality. It's the nature of hackers. We love to code, but dislike documenting because it slows us down.
If one novice, however, picks up an O'Reilly book, reads it, and becomes interested in FSF/OSS because of it, to me, it's worth it. Tim O'Reilly and RMS may have a beef with each other (so why was Stallman excluded from the "summit"?), I don't think it should get in the way of FSF/OSS progress. Folks don't like Gates because his product is poor. The same cannot be said about O'Reilly. And they're books. Not programs.
Thanks for responding, though, as it serves to make me think about this.
I suppose Bob Young (Redhat) is Hitler. I thought this is how OSS/FSF was supposed to work - documentation and support would put food in our mouths. Isn't Tim just supplying much needed documentation. ESR may have written some good articles, but a documentor he is not. Nor are most of the FSF/OSS crowd. I find such comments destructive and counterproductive. If Bruce did say that O'Reilly was a parasite, why did ESR feel the need to publicize it. If you are all looking to these folks for leadership, I can see why "Revenge of the Nerds" was so funny to the mainstream.
Slashdot Mirror
We home schooled both of our kids for some period of time - the oldest until he was a 4th grader, and the youngest, until she was a 2nd grader. We did not do it for religious or "clingy" reasons - we did it because where we initially lived had very poor schools, with issues of gang activity and violence.
Our oldest was the youngest in his class when he was first placed in public school. And then was skipped yet ahead another grade. This was due not only to his academic standing, but his maturity. Likewise, we had the opportunity to allow the same with our daughter, but did not. Why? Most of our sons friends were in the grade above him, and most of our daughters friends were in the grade she entered into.
Both are friendly, warm . . . normal. Our son was awarded a full-ride to our region's flagship University and is doing well. He is slightly nerdy (he received a 36 on his ACT), but is also into sports - loves racquetball. Our daughter has a 4.0+, runs cross country, and is considering Harvey Mudd for her post-high school education. She is into science and math.
BUT - and here is the big caveat . . . both my wife and I have teaching degrees, with my wife having a Master's in Education. We are also very technologically proficient . . . and active in science.
The outcome of our kids, I don't believe, was vastly impacted by the home schooling . . . they entered public school at a relatively young age. I think basic parenting is the main skill needed . . . 90% of societies issues are due to bad parenting at some level.
45 here. Same advice. If this was 1998 or 1999 - sure, follow your bliss. Not in 2011. Like another poster, I defected to academia as support of a university department. The folks here are swell, albeit unaware of the real world, the work is light, and I get paid. Dream job - no. But it is far better than being a docker wearing idiota with an electronic leash.
One thing you did not mention is if you have a family. If you are just some geek living in your mother's basement, you obviously have more latitude to follow your dreams. If you have dependents, root your ass to what you have and be thankful you have income.
Python is scripting. FORTRAN is programming. MPI is vastly more supported by FORTRAN than any other language - grow MPI support for C++ or Object C, and then FORTRAN can go away.
I was in nearly exactly your shoes. Fourteen years of IT work for some very large and reputable companies. Obviously near a large city.
I started my own company to do IT consulting, moved to a farm in a very rural state, worked from home and used the consulting fees and products I sell to buy a farm. I have been transitioning out of IT over the past five years, and am down to about three years before I can sell the company I started, throw every damn computer I own away, and farm (vegetables and beekeeping) full time.
I have a wife and kids, also, and it was key for us to move away from the big city early . . . so my kids had a sane childhood.
It's drastic, but I love every day I wake up. I find it harder and harder to sit in front of the keyboard instead of being outside.
In fact, this is one of the odd days I actually look at slashdot . . . I have weened myself from most on-line rags already.
Happy in pig-crap.
Two "white" mans hands shaking . . . come-on, get a clue. Find something neutral or don't show anything at all, you white-male-centric-racist.
Lucid. Accurate. Unfortunately, plainly too logical to be acceptable by most that read /.
Thanks for writing what I was thinking - you are spot on with your assessment.
Also . . . I loaded Gutsy . . . and the first thing that occurred was that motif was broke. That, to me, is no better than the RH 6.1 incursion.
All you "kids" never lived in the fear of the reality of nuclear waste. It not only lasts longer than you do - it lasts longer than what is currenty recorded history. Having watched one parent die from cancer brought on by the best chemistry our puny brains can muster - I strongly feel that anyone that considers nuclear energy is "clean" is on the contextual level of belief as "the check is in the mail" or "I won't cum in your mouth." Any advocate that promotes nuclear energy is genocidal - to our future. The argument that the future will "solve the problems we create" is incredibly naive and narcissistic. I'll take global warming long before nuclear waste - the planet will heal faster after the "cause" has become extinct.
Point well taken. And I'm impressed your reading this thread. I obviously don't know the whole story, but I don't find the RedHat 5.2 manual on par with most O'Reilly books. And I agree that the RedHat model is a good one to follow - but it shouldn't be the only "allowable" path for commerical ventures.
The key difference in documentation is the ability for a Jon Katz to pick up the book and learn from it - with as little frustration as possible. As one of the anonymous cowards pointed out, current free (GPL or simply freeware) documentation _generally_ suffers from poor quality. It's the nature of hackers. We love to code, but dislike documenting because it slows us down.
If one novice, however, picks up an O'Reilly book, reads it, and becomes interested in FSF/OSS because of it, to me, it's worth it. Tim O'Reilly and RMS may have a beef with each other (so why was Stallman excluded from the "summit"?), I don't think it should get in the way of FSF/OSS progress. Folks don't like Gates because his product is poor. The same cannot be said about O'Reilly. And they're books. Not programs.
Thanks for responding, though, as it serves to make me think about this.
Stonie
I suppose Bob Young (Redhat) is Hitler. I thought this is how OSS/FSF was supposed to work - documentation and support would put food in our mouths. Isn't Tim just supplying much needed documentation. ESR may have written some good articles, but a documentor he is not. Nor are most of the FSF/OSS crowd. I find such comments destructive and counterproductive. If Bruce did say that O'Reilly was a parasite, why did ESR feel the need to publicize it. If you are all looking to these folks for leadership, I can see why "Revenge of the Nerds" was so funny to the mainstream.