EricBelanger
Intro
Eric, aka Bilange, is now a totally converted Ubuntu user since March 2006. You may find him hanging around in #ubuntu-ca and #ubuntu-marketing amongst other channels.
Contact: MailTo(bilange@there.is.no.spam.hotmail.com)
Linux/OSS Background
Note: lots of chit-chatting in here. You can easily skip to the "Ubuntu Era" section if you don't feel like reading.
Early days
Since I like doing things the hard way, I first tried more-or-less succesfully Slackware 3, 4 and 7 as my real first Linux distribution. In case you dont really know, Slackware has that reputation to be a distribution that feels quite close to its UNIX roots, having close to none user-friendly interface, and a local copy of the TLDP's docs. Ive said more-or-less succesfully, because I had a winmodem at that time (winmodem on Linux was a no-no back in the days), with onboard video and audio adapters. And absolutely no knowledge, except for the aliased dir and del commands. Oh, happy days.
I'm not an hardcore gamer, but there was ONE game I was addicted with (Subspace), which kept me on the Windows side for a long time. Most of the time I had to dual-boot, and/or delete my linux installation once I have some gaming rage.
Silly thing to note, I had a 4 gig harddrive at that time, and no CD-Rw. Everytime I wanted to install and mess around with Linux, I needed to download manually around 500mb of packages on a 33.6k modem (which takes more or less 50hours straight at full speed, 3.6K/s), shrink my fat32 partition using some commercial product, try to find non-corrupted disks usable to create bootdisks and pray.
God, times has changed!
Clarkconnect
That was nice back in the days, until I realised that Linux was a killer OS for use in a server environment, nothing more. This is where Clarkconnect, another distro free-in-beer, kicks in. Clarkconnect is quite limited, as in only home users can use this distro for free, the company behind this is a for-profit organisation. Furthermore, there seems to have no way to install the basic developper tools in a Clarkconnect machine. In other words, you could not compile stuff on it. Think of it as another incarnation of Linspire/Lindows, where you couldnt compile or install third-party programs here too, but Clarkconnect is a server-centric distribution, as Linspire is for a desktop use. Install it and let the box in a closet: thats what CC was good for.
Fedora hype
I found out about Fedora long ago.. to tell the truth, I wasnt and Im still not a fan of Redhat's products or attempts. A few years ago, there was a time where when I googled for some linux problem, there was lots of time where some user (or maybe a tutorial) goes like "in a console just type redhat-network-dhcp", redhat-this-tool, redhat's-own-configurer, and I really didnt get why on earth Redhat just wants to reinvent the wheel here. Altough Fedora Core was really eye-candyish, I finally gave it a try. And actually I just deleted my installation after a few month, due to lack of interest, and there was some news about Redhat axing completly the Fedora project at that time.
Turns out to be a good decision, I learned later that Redhat just gaters what the Fedora community does make a commercial version of this. Not that interesting either.
Ubuntu Era
I finally heard about Ubuntu because of Digg.com.
I began by downloading Breezy CDs, and made my way to modify the system to my likings. So far, this is the distro which feels the most "right" to me. That, and the impressive amount of support, and the upstream contribution with developpers makes me think this distribution is here to stay.
I always wanted to give back to the people, but I dont really know where to start/what to do. So far, i just look around on IRC, and with the free time I have nowadays, I may get my hands dirty to make, with others, the first implementation of SpreadUbuntu.
Reguarding Bug #1, there is lots to do in ma area. Unfortunatley, I had a job in a local used computer store, but it quickly closed due to aggressive pricing by competitors / lack of customers-- the company just couldnt survive. The boss gave me the green light to make a CD Stand for Ubuntu, and I was about to install a few workstations with Breezy, but the shop closed at that time. Due to the fact that there was close to no customers, nobody noticed the CD stand.
No Local LUG
I dont know if there is a local LUG still alive. There was some project going on (kinda like a startup LUG) in a local college, but never heard of them again, and in the best of the possibilites, they might not promote anything much outside of the school community.
The future
I plan to move to Montreal this summer, where there is a more active linux community here. I'm sure I can get my head busy with LUG meetings, we'll see how it turns out.