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I starting using Linux around 1993. My first distribution was early Slackware, and my first “Linux box” was a 386SX-16 with 16MB of RAM. As I recall, it took a day and a half to compile the kernel. And in those days you always had to compile a custom kernel to get a workable system.
Sometime around 1995 I discovered the Debian Project; my first Debian distribution was Buzz (1.1). I stayed with Debian through upgrades to Rex (1.2) and Bo (1.3). During this time my primary OS was MS-DOS, and I used Windows when I absolutely had to.
With the release of Bo (1997) my primary OS became Linux; I set up a multi-boot machine and booted into the current version of Windows when I had to, a circumstance that occurred less and less often over the years.
In 1998 I went to work for the publisher of Linux Journal magazine. They were running Slackware at the time. With the release of Hamm (2.0), we converted all the employees' machines to Debian.
I stayed with Debian through releases Slink, Potato, and Woody. I was running Woody (3.0) at home when I went to work for Columbia University in early 2005. My new job came with a new computer, a Dell GX280 with a SATA hard drive.
For many years now whenever I install Linux on a new machine I first boot up the Knoppix live CD and take advantage of its excellent hardware detection capabilities to characterize the computer. In this case, Knoppix 3.7 would find the SATA hard drive and lock up.
Since the Dell came with Windows XP installed I was able to Google for help and that's when I found Ubuntu. According to Ubuntu's web site:
Ubuntu and Debian are closely related. Ubuntu builds on the foundations of Debian architecture and infrastructure, with a different community and release process.
I was able to download a CD image with a pre-release version of Ubuntu Linux 5.04 (Hoary Hedgehog). When I booted the CD not only was my SATA hard drive properly detected, but I discovered I could get a root shell and run ntfsresize, thus freeing up drive space to install Linux while leaving XP fully functional.
Thus I became an Ubuntu Linux user.
I live on Long Island and work on the upper west side of Manhattan. My normal commute involves a short walk to the local Long Island Rail Road station, a train ride to Pennsylvania Station, and then a subway trip from Penn to within a short walk of my office.
The transit strike didn't directly affect the LIRR, but the subway ride of approximately 70 blocks is no longer available.
Day one and day three (today) I stayed home and telecommuted. Day four looks like things should be more or less back to normal. I'll find out because I have a doctor's appointment in the city at noon tomorrow.
Day two I had a meeting to go to at work and so off I went.
There is one inbound train a day on my branch line of the LIRR that doesn't require a train change at Jamaica Station. The TV news made it clear that I really wanted to avoid changing trains at Jamaica which had huge crowds of additional passengers.
So I took an earlier train than usual and my trip into the city was relatively uneventful. The train made one additional stop in Queens and was a little delayed getting from Jamaica to Penn Station, but that part of my commute was only about fifteen minutes longer than usual.
Once I got to Penn I walked outside and, as promised, a shuttle bus provided by my employer was waiting. I got on board and about five minutes later the bus had filled up and off we went.
We went as far north as 96th Street and 10th Avenue where southbound vehicles were being checked for a minimum of four passengers. At that point we all got off the bus and waited (about five minutes) for vans that would shuttle us to 116th and Broadway, right where I normally get off the subway.
All in all the morning commute was fairly painless and took only half an hour longer than usual.
The TV news had made it clear that the evening rush was going to be painful no matter what I did. So I didn't wait for it. After my meeting ended I headed for home to resume telecommuting.
I waited about half an hour for the shuttle bus a couple blocks from my office. The Manhattan traffic was much worse in the early afternoon than it had been in the early morning, so it was more than an hour after I left my office that I arrived at Penn Station.
During the middle of the day my train doesn't run that often, so I had to wait at Penn Station for over an hour as well. But I got home without incident. While my morning commute only added half an hour, the afternoon commute added two hours, and it would have been much worse had I waited for an evening commute.
All things considered, not that bad.