No real content here... I just wanted to share this with people who would
understand.

Almost a year ago, I first approached the KCLug because I needed a webserver
for our internal Intranet at work. Over time, I learned enough to be really
dangerous, but, eventually, I got an old Win95 box to run RedHat 7.3, I got
the FrontPage Server Extensions installed and - presto! - I was a webmaster.

I've learned a lot since then, am still dangerous, and am currently
embroiled in trying to get my old Mac clone at home to serve PostNuke.

But, that's not what I'm bragging about. What I am bragging about is this:

Yesterday morning, our IT Guy, whose office is next to mine, joked that he's
like our Intranet to have a Message Board (like the one he uses at
theForce.net) so that we could play all those silly webboard games that
people play online. He was kidding, and we certainly don't need a Message
Board for our 20 technophobic employees, but the gauntlet had been tossed
down (and I had some free time).

So, I assessed the services running on our Linux box, downloaded the newest
version of MySQL and installed it, downloaded the newest version of php,
made and installed it, then made the necessary changes to my httpd.conf,
restarted Apache and downloaded and installed phpBB. Then I restarted
Apache, crossed my fingers and...

IT WORKED!

Flawlessly. The first time. Just like it's supposed to. And I didn't have to
get help from anyone. Sure, I did send a short email to the list regarding
how a missing MySQL Admin password, but I found the answer on my own before
anyone responded, remember?

So, it seems that the past year of LUG'ging has paid off. What have I
learned?

 - It really is learnable.
 - The sheer volume of linuxdocs makes the RTFM Philosophy almost laughable.
It's far, far better to try, fail, search, think, fail again, then find just
the right answer.
 - Open Source rules.
 - People who write Open Source rule.
 - People who use Open Source rule.
 - I really can do it.
 - Few things feel better than banging your head against the wall to solve a
problem that you made for yourself to begin with.

Now, I am not - by any stretch of the imagination - a Linux Guy. I don't
even have access to a Linux workstation, and I've never even installed a GUI
on any system I've built. That said, my WinPC at work runs OpenOffice.org
and Mozilla and the only reason I still use Outlook for e-mail is because
the rules say I have to.

I can't describe how good it felt to know that I got MySQL and php to run
properly and interact with each other and Apache, all on my own. But, then,
I don't need to describe the feeling, because you've all felt it, too. And,
truth be told, I didn't do it on my own... I did it with your help.

So, thanks. To all of you. Especially Hal, who helped shlep my first system
into a meeting then spent two hours trying (unsuccessfully) to install a
distro on it. But, really, thanks to the LUGList. It represents the finest
of what a tool like an online community can offer.

I didn't mean for this to become my Manifesto or anything... I've run on too
long. Anyway, aint' I cool?  :D

-SD