maddog celebrates his 60th birthday

Paw Prints: Writings of the maddog
Today, August 7th, is the sixtieth anniversary of my birth.
To mark this occasion I am going to inaugurate a project of my retirement called “maddog's mansion and marina of math, music, micro-computing, micro-brewing, micro-winery, micro-distillery and bait shop”, a nice place by the beach where I hope to house and inspire young people who wish to be involved with producing Free Software.
Part of this “inspiration” of the students will be to ask various people that I have known over the years to come to “maddog's mansion” and give a talk on the topic of “Three things I have done right with my life, and the three things I have done wrong.” Since I can not in good conscience ask people to bare their souls in front of strangers without having done that myself, I intend on giving an example of what I would ask of my old friends in this blog.
I also thought about writing only one blog entry (“Quick and painless”), but upon further reflection, to do the deed correctly would make a very long blog entry, and most people would get tired of reading it, so I decided to do one per day, with an “extra thing” at the end, starting tomorrow.
I have loosely determined that the seven topics below will guide the blogs, but they are only guides, and as the blogs unfold they may take on a life of their own.
Do something good early in your life
Get married, raise a family
Keep life simple, but elegant
Save money for retirement
Do not lose your temper
Learn to play a musical instrument
Have lots of friends around the world
Some people may not like these blogs, saying that they really have nothing to do with Linux or Free Software. They will be wrong, of course, but the people who do not like the blog entries will not have to read them. The “maddog mansion” blog entries will be well marked and easily avoided. For those people that do not like the reflective entries of “maddog mansion” I will also be blogging about LinuxCON, where I will be spending my time from tomorrow (Sunday) to next Thursday.
Today a friend of mine from Brazil (see number seven above) will be visiting Lowell, Massachusetts where a large portion of the industrial revolution of the United States started. There will be many relationships to Free Software, and I intend on taking my still and video cameras to try and capture some of these, which may also be turned into blog entries.
For all of those friends who will send email or “scraps” in Orkut or well-wishing birthday messages on Facebook, I thank you. It is nice to have the anniversary of your birth remembered, even if it has happened sixty times before.
Carpe Diem!
Comments
comments powered by DisqusSubscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
-
So Long, ArcoLinux
The ArcoLinux distribution is the latest Linux distribution to shut down.
-
What Open Source Pros Look for in a Job Role
Learn what professionals in technical and non-technical roles say is most important when seeking a new position.
-
Asahi Linux Runs into Issues with M4 Support
Due to Apple Silicon changes, the Asahi Linux project is at odds with adding support for the M4 chips.
-
Plasma 6.3.4 Now Available
Although not a major release, Plasma 6.3.4 does fix some bugs and offer a subtle change for the Plasma sidebar.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 First Release Candidate Now Available
Linux Torvalds has announced that the release candidate for the final release of the Linux 6.15 series is now available.
-
Akamai Will Host kernel.org
The organization dedicated to cloud-based solutions has agreed to host kernel.org to deliver long-term stability for the development team.
life and things
Belated Happy Birthday
Congrats!
Hippy Burpday Jon - and many more to come
Regards Ray (UK)