Tuxification

Paw Prints: Writings of the maddog
As you might have guessed, I have a lot of Linux-based T-shirts....a LOT of them. And I enjoy wearing those T-shirts. From time to time wearing the image of Tux encourages strangers who would normally never say anything to strike up a conversation. The number of security people at the airport that know about Linux and Free Software, for instance, is fairly amazing.
On the other hand, I have fewer outer garments that have Tux or “Linux” on them, and often Tux is not visible as I travel.
Another problem I have with traveling is that my luggage style is fairly common, and straining to see whether it is my bag coming down the conveyor can be annoying. Regular luggage tags are expensive, often ripped off by the machinery, and suitcase life is fairly limited. Usually a suitcase lasts me about five trips before it is beat up to the point of embarrassment, so taking a lot of time to make them 'unique' is not something I want to do.
Recently I got a box of mailing labels, size 3.5 by 5 inches. These match up with Avery(C) 5168(tm) labels, and I printed some pictures of Tux on the labels, four labels to an 8.5 x 11 page. I then applied two Tux labels to the sides of each suitcase. Now as the suitcases come down the conveyor belt I can easily see my bags from far away. If the label gets ripped off by the machinery, or if it gets dirty or beat up, I just print four more.
Having the labels on the outside of my suitcase has the added effect of a conversation starter. I was sitting in the office of a bus transportation company near my home when a man said to me “You must use Linux a lot”. I explained about my connection with Linux and he told me that he had been using Linux since 1995, and did all types of kernel and network programming for embedded systems. He had never heard of our Linux user group. I invited him to join, and perhaps give some talks on work he had done, to which he agreed.
On the airplane returning from a recent trip to Brazil I sat beside a woman about my age. She saw my Tux T-shirt and said something about Linux. It turns out that she was a former employee of Sun Microsystems in the USA that had moved to Salvador, Brazil. She had (of course) used Unix, programmed in “C”, JAVA, used MySQL and used other FOSS programs. We exchanged email addresses.
Make Tux a bit more visible in your life and you may find a lot of new FOSS friends....or just find your suitcase easier.
Carpe Diem!
comments powered by DisqusIssue 268/2023
Buy this issue as a PDF
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Find SysAdmin Jobs
News
-
LibreOffice 7.5 has Arrived and is Loaded with New Features and Improvements
The favorite office suite of the Linux community has a new release that includes some visual refreshing and new features across all modules.
-
The Next Major Release of Elementary OS Has Arrived
It's been over a year since the developers of elementary OS released version 6.1 (Jólnir) but they've finally made their latest release (Horus) available with a renewed focus on the user.
-
KDE Plasma 5.27 Beta Is Ready for Testing
The latest beta iteration of the KDE Plasma desktop is now available and includes some important additions and fixes.
-
Netrunner OS 23 Is Now Available
The latest version of this Linux distribution is now based on Debian Bullseye and is ready for installation and finally hits the KDE 5.20 branch of the desktop.
-
New Linux Distribution Built for Gamers
With a Gnome desktop that offers different layouts and a custom kernel, PikaOS is a great option for gamers of all types.
-
System76 Beefs Up Popular Pangolin Laptop
The darling of open-source-powered laptops and desktops will soon drop a new AMD Ryzen 7-powered version of their popular Pangolin laptop.
-
Nobara Project Is a Modified Version of Fedora with User-Friendly Fixes
If you're looking for a version of Fedora that includes third-party and proprietary packages, look no further than the Nobara Project.
-
Gnome 44 Now Has a Release Date
Gnome 44 will be officially released on March 22, 2023.
-
Nitrux 2.6 Available with Kernel 6.1 and a Major Change
The developers of Nitrux have officially released version 2.6 of their Linux distribution with plenty of new features to excite users.
-
Vanilla OS Initial Release Is Now Available
A stock GNOME experience with on-demand immutability finally sees its first production release.