From US Soldier to IT Manager... with Linux Mint

During my earlier years, I was in the US military as an enlisted soldier. Money was extremely tight for my wife and I, but I had a passion for computers.

I couldn't afford a new system, and certainly couldn't afford to pay for Microsoft Windows. So, I purchased a used computer from a yard sale that had no operating system on it.

A friend gave me a Linux Mint (version 6) CD-ROM, and I installed it on the system. Since then, I have tried many different operating systems on many different computers. 

I now own a tech services store and am IT manager for two businesses. We use Linux Mint at work, at the store, and promote it with our customers daily. 

Although I dabble with many different Linux distributions, nothing comes close to matching Linux Mint.

From freedom came elegance. From elegance came stability, reliability, and usability.

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This is a guest post by David Bowlin, which won the 2nd prize in the Linux Mint contest where the main prize was the book Linux Mint System Administrator’s Beginner’s Guide. David received the second  prize: a disk with his favourite distribution Linux Mint Cinnamon from Buy Linux CDs.

Win a Free Magazine Subscription in the Zinio Contest

The contest is over! The results are announced!

The latest contest, which I organized together with PACKT Publishing, is now over. Results announced and prizes are on their way.

Now I am already happy to announce a new contest!

This time round, Linux notes from DarkDuck runs a contest together with Zinio.

Zinio is a great place to subscribe to your favourite magazines in an electronic format.

Just few facts about Zinio:

• Thousands of top magazines from around the world. You can browse and purchase subscriptions or single issues instantly from your computer or mobile device to read wherever and whenever you like
• Explore section lets you read – even without a subscription – thousands of articles from your favorite magazines and share them with friends
• Use on iPad, iPhone, Android mobile phones and tablets, laptop or desktop
• For use on Kindle Fire, follow these steps: http://imgs.zinio.com/faq/fire.html

In particular, Zinio distributes iconic Linux-related magazines like Linux Format, Linux User and Developer and others. Of course, more magazines available too: from PC Magazine to Cosmopolitain, from PC World to Garden Illustrated Magazine.

If you participate in this contest, you have a chance to receive one of ten FREE subscriptions to any one of magazines from Zinio assortment! Yes, that means FREE!!!  Plus, one winner will also receive a disk with his favourite Linux distribution from Buy Linux CDs.

Linux Mint is better for those who come from the world of Windows

Back in 2010 I was looking for jobs and I´ve always had a hobby interest in computer and found out that some work ads were asking for basic Linux skills.

I had not heard of Linux until then.

So I started asking friends who’s into computing if they knew about Linux and pretty soon I was told that Ubuntu 10.04 LTS was probably the easiest Linux and with GNOME 2.x it was awesome.

Some more off-line publications

It is actually not the first time this happens, but it is always nice to see that my articles are being published in a printed form.

The people from the magazine User and Linux, which is published in Ukraine in Russian, are my old friends. They have published some of my articles previously, and I have even made an interview with their ex-Chief Editor.

December issue of U&L saw 4 articles with my name in them. Here is the list:

• Zorin OS - the gateway to Linux for Windows users (page 14). This is an interview with Artyom Zorin.
• Eugeni Dodonov about Slackware and his work at Miscrosoft (page 19). This is an interview with Eugeni Dodonov, probably his last in Russian.
• Benefits of using Linux (page 30). This is a translation of my own article.
• Linux, OSX, Unix and malware (page 87). This is my translation of original article from ERACC.

Feel free to re-read the articles either in Russian in the magazine, or in English on my and ERACC's sites.

Linux Mint Contest Results

Time flies by very quickly.

It seems that only yesterday I announced a Linux Mint contest on my blog.

Now it is time to tell you who the winners are.

Drums please!!

9 Best Tools for LINUX Admin

System managers are in serious need of the right tools to help manage their systems and environments. There are many different Linux tools that can help administration managers deal with unruly environments. These tools are some of the most highly rated in the business. While the following list of tools may not be the most well known tools, they are by far some of the best Linus tools that can help administrators in a variety of ways. The benefits of these tools are truly limitless.

Linux Mint Contest

This contest is now over.

Linux notes from DarkDuck, together with other organizers, recently ran a contest for the lovers of Zorin OS. That contest had a great success. That's why I think this is a good idea to repeat the contest.

PACKT Publishing has recently announced the release of their book Linux Mint System Administrator’s Beginner's Guide. This is a good reason to run a contest about Linux Mint, and award the winner with a FREE copy of the book.

Of course, you still have an option to buy this book:

UK:	US/worldwide:

However, read on to get a chance to get it for FREE!