PrivacyActivist's Geek Journal

[PrivacyActivist]

Hello everyone! Welcome to my journal. I would like to use this first post to describe myself, my interests, etc.

 

I'm a teen who loves technology. I have been infatuated with computers since 2008. Shortly after I started using computers, I have been addicted ever since. I would (mostly) play FPS games as they were challenging and kept me interested daily, without failure. I told myself that gaming was good, I had dreams of becoming a competitive gamer (which I've almost reached recently) and that it was okay to game. While it is okay to enjoy video games responsibly, it was not okay to play 8-12 hours a day until now. I have became a changed person, I wouldn't consider this a bad thing; I don't feel the need for friends/human interaction. I prefer to be alone - an extreme introvert. I have to use a fake personality when I meet people my age. They do not understand me and I do not understand them. My computer/gaming addiction has kept me hooked until now; I discovered Linux. Ever since I have discovered another operating system, I had to learn it. For around 6 months, I have been using Linux exclusively, but this didn't fully prevent me from gaming. I have fallen into a deep depression after I thought I healed my addiction, only to make the fatal mistake of going back to it... Fast forward to now... Here I am, my second official attempt to quit gaming. Wish me luck!

[WorkInProgress]

Welcome. It seems like you were pretty succesful gamer. Now it is the time to apply the skills you have to improve your real life instead of your gaming capabilities. What are the things you missing the most in your life. If you can identify These you made your first step towards Them and away from gaming. Often times this gaming habit filled alot of needs we don't fulfill in real life (even if it is possible) like improving yourself wiht measurable success (learning linux is for example a way to fulfill this need without gaming), social interaction, a temporary escape or a way to compete wiht otherpPeople. All needs are reachable with different activities in real life and have to be met to quit successfully. So the first thing I woudl advice you would be to identify the needs gaming fullfilled for you and try out different activities to fullfill this needs. Best of luck.

PS: Hail to the penguin!

Edited December 13, 2016 by WorkInProgress

[Reno F]

Welcome back to the path of freedom!

[PrivacyActivist]

Today was a usual day. Woke up, did some school (I attend online school), spent the rest of the day setting up my new Debian install. Had fun learning how Debian works and had to edit some config's manually to get some functions of the hardware to work (namely the sound buttons). Overall, I am happy with how everything worked out today. Tomorrow I will help my friend (who is also joining me in quitting gaming) install Debian.

 

[Cam Adair]

Awesome that your friend is joining you!

[PrivacyActivist]

Today was another great day! Made some progress in catching up on missing assignments but I still have a little ways to go. I expect to be able to finish all of my missing assignments in about a weeks worth of time... My buddy was unable to set up Debian today as he needs his computer for a class tomorrow so we decided to wait. I was thinking about career path I want to take, and I am really interested in being a sysadmin. My choice stems from my love for Linux (and computers in general). I have used various (more than I can count on one hand) Linux distro's for many month, just to see how they all work and to compare and contrast. I feel comfortable using Debian now (which is practical for services that need high uptime, such as web sites) even though many consider it to be a "server distro" as it's not very user friendly (you need to manually configure a lot of things initially).

Edited December 15, 2016 by PrivacyActivist

[dandielionous]

I've tried quite a few Linux distros.  Presently I am using Linux Mint Rosa.  Basically because I am tired of configuring things by hand  

Linux is fascinating and I believe if you can do sysadmin you can get a good job!

WB to Game Quitters  You can do it! 

[PrivacyActivist]

I've tried quite a few Linux distros.  Presently I am using Linux Mint Rosa.  Basically because I am tired of configuring things by hand  

Linux is fascinating and I believe if you can do sysadmin you can get a good job!

WB to Game Quitters  You can do it! 

Thanks for your feedback! I do think sysadmin positions are growing as the world is growing more "connected" each day. May I ask what desktop environment you are using?

[dandielionous]

Ha ha ha I am being so lazy!  I am using Cinnamon.  mmmm  maybe this is something I could do in my life get involved in linux again

 

[PrivacyActivist]

Ha ha ha I am being so lazy!  I am using Cinnamon.  mmmm  maybe this is something I could do in my life get involved in linux again

 

Cinnamon is nice! I prefer an "older" look for my desktop... Call me old school but I am using LXDE.

Edited December 15, 2016 by PrivacyActivist

[dandielionous]

I love LXDE.  I believe that's what Zenwalk uses... no wait that's xfce.  

[PrivacyActivist]

I love LXDE.  I believe that's what Zenwalk uses... no wait that's xfce.  

XFCE is nice for those who like a newer look, it's very comparable to LXDE in terms of resource usage. I just prefer using good ole' LXDE and Openbox though. It's very stable itself and I am using the Stable branch of Debian (Debian Releases) on top of that so the packages are thoroughly tested before making it to stable. Overall, it's a very stable system, packages are older than most distro's, but it's production worthy.

Edited December 15, 2016 by PrivacyActivist

[WorkInProgress]

Mhh im using LinuxMint too because I never seem to find the time to bury myself into Linux-stuff. To many other things on my plate. But someday I will configure my perfect ArchLinux-System per Hand.

[dandielionous]

@workinprogress Brave man  Archlinux

 

[Piotr]

I want to learn Linux, too. Could you link some good sites to learn about it? (tag me so I won't miss it)

I have an experience with Ubuntu, I've used it for a while but then abandoned it(mostly due to games not working and compatibility issues with flash). Now you convinced me to go back to it.

[dandielionous]

@Piotr Distrowatch

GnuLinux

CommonLinuxCommands

I would suggest starting with Linux Mint.  On distrowatch look at the right hand side, down a little it lists the top 100 distros for linux.  There are over 500 distros of Linux.  You can click on the links and get more information about each one.  Enjoy  

[PrivacyActivist]

I want to learn Linux, too. Could you link some good sites to learn about it? (tag me so I won't miss it)

I have an experience with Ubuntu, I've used it for a while but then abandoned it(mostly due to games not working and compatibility issues with flash). Now you convinced me to go back to it.

Sure! You can learn about GNU/FSF and Linux by the links in my signature (the text is clickable). Unfortunately there is no easy way to "learn" it (which I discovered when I was first starting Linux) other than trying different distro's and choosing your favorite. Feel free to PM me if you need help!

[dandielionous]

Hey Privacy!

How you doing?

 

[PrivacyActivist]

Today and yesterday were usual days. I have switched to Lubuntu due to a SystemD error that somehow permitted me from mounting drives. I am learning more about Linux each day as I try different distro's in VirtualBox. Today marks my 5th day game free!

Edited December 17, 2016 by PrivacyActivist

[Piotr]

Today and yesterday were usual days. I have switched to Lubuntu due to a SystemD error that somehow permitted me from mounting drives. I am learning more about Linux each day as I try different distro's in VirtualBox. Today marks my 5th day game free!

That's how you start a 90 day freedom!

[dandielionous]

Woot! Congratz! 5 day!  

[StereotypicalNeckBeard]

I want to learn Linux, too. Could you link some good sites to learn about it? (tag me so I won't miss it)

I have an experience with Ubuntu, I've used it for a while but then abandoned it(mostly due to games not working and compatibility issues with flash). Now you convinced me to go back to it.

I can teach you.

[PrivacyActivist]

I want to learn Linux, too. Could you link some good sites to learn about it? (tag me so I won't miss it)

I have an experience with Ubuntu, I've used it for a while but then abandoned it(mostly due to games not working and compatibility issues with flash). Now you convinced me to go back to it.

I can teach you.

Welcome to the forum! (to others reading, this is the friend that is quitting with me)

[dandielionous]

@StereotypicalNeckBeard Welcome!

 

[PrivacyActivist]

Apologies for not updating my journal recently... I have been so busy with school that I've hardly slept these previous couple days. I am in the process of getting all my missing work completed and staying caught up. I am also trying to pay attention in class and fight off the thoughts of gaming. I must admit, I have been leaning on junk food as a new habbit, I guess my brain is looking for it's next addiction to fill empty spot where my gaming addiction once lived (though it keeps trying to come back). I've only had a few hours a day to do what I wanted to do so I used that time wisely and learned about Cron in order to automate simple tasks, such as starting a bash script on reboot (so I wouldn't have to manually do it).

One week game free!

Edited December 19, 2016 by PrivacyActivist