PenguinREPORT

You probably don’t need any more indication of just how tough things are in the
tech sector these days. Even if your career is unrelated to tech, you, as a
hardcore hobbyist, have felt the trickle down of the tech erosion. Between
dwindling investment and profits and increasing regulation, it’s a tough sector
in which to hold your own. I’ve always had a personal impression of tech work as
a vocation that holds an indefinable mystery and, accordingly, a measure of
glamor. We’re involved in the future in a way that few can really claim.

Today will be the first day in nearly four years that my job has nothing to do
with technology. If you’ve followed Penguin Shell for the past few months,
you’ve undoubtedly already sensed a change in the wind just from that sentence
alone. “My job” isn’t a phrase I’ve been able to casually toss around for a few
months. Sure, I’ve had “my company,” and “my projects.” Just no “my job.” That
changes today, and though the change moves me out of the realm of full time
geek, things are finally starting to look up.

I’ve said before that it’s useful to have an array of skills. Fortunately, I do.
I’ve been a musician, a journalist, a retail manager, a paralegal, a programmer,
a media relations specialist, a telescope builder, and, in the form of Penguin
Shell, a tech writer. I’ve been fortunate in that respect - I’ve been able to
find many pursuits that I enjoy and do reasonably well with.

The tech-related occupations were really the evolution of a lifelong thirst for
the knowledge of how things work. I could no more be called a casual computer
user than the Pope could be called a mildly religious man. I’ve always had to
dig deeper and deeper into computers, never satisfied with just pointing and
clicking. That’s one of the many things that’s drawn me to Linux - the
dissatisfaction that comes, in my own mind, with not understanding a process at
its deepest level. Or, worse yet, having the fundamental underpinnings hidden or
obscured in such a way as to make it impossible to deepen the discovery
process.

As much as I’ve loved the tech jobs, they happened, in a way, by accident. I’ve
never planned a tech career - I just always seemed to be the guy that had the
very specific set of skills needed at that moment. I was the “go to” guy for
blue screens and bug fixes in one company, primarily because the IT department
was absolutely buried. In another, I was hired as Director of Marketing, only to
become the sole Python coder for a great web application. Never mind that I had
to learn Python on the fly. I was the only one in the office who, first of all,
wasn’t intimidated by computers. Even when I was hired in a purely technical
position, the scope always grew beyond anyone’s expectations. I’ve been lucky
that way. I’ve always had the opportunity to deepen my passion for
technology.

As much as I love technology, it’s never been the choice for a lifelong career.
I’ve reserved that space for law. They’re really not so different. Law requires
a certain tenacity for details and a thirst for a deeper understanding of a set
of circumstances than most people may ever realize. It quite closely parallels
the approach to technology I’ve had for many years.

People, in the main, groan when the subject of law and lawyers comes up. They’re

easy to dislike, in part because they have a knowledge of the practical
application of a set of principles very few of us understand. It’s not such a
different groan than that heard when discussing mechanics or, to a lesser
extent, doctors. And like mechanics and doctors, the toughest one to dislike is
your own.

For me, law well practiced is a skillful exercise in language and logic. If my
experience with Penguin Shell and programming has shown me nothing else, it’s
certainly reaffirmed my love of those two intangibles. They’re as important in
tech as in law.

So, today I step away from tech as a full time vocation. I am, as you read this,
the newest paralegal in a private firm specializing in real estate. It’s the
foundation of all law, really, the acquisition and protection of property. In
many ways, it requires the highest level of detail orientation, curiosity and
skill with the language. I’m quite excited, both about the immediate prospects
and the return to a path that will, eventually, lead me to law school and a
practice of my own.

It’s been an amazing ride. I’ve survived the failure of three companies, the
“Black March” of 1999 with it’s full NASDAQ implications, canceled projects,
and months of unemployment. I wouldn’t change a thing. I’ve made a dozen friends

for each enemy, learned more about business, programming and the stars than I
ever imagined, and have ended up exactly where I’m supposed to be. And, it all
comes with the satisfaction of having taken the risk.

Bear in mind that the Pope will always be a Catholic when you wonder about my
future role in tech. You can take the man out of tech, but. Tech and Linux, in
particular, will now take a much more comfortable role in my life - a passionate

avocation. The new firm doesn’t allow personal email. Or cell phones. That’s as
it should be. I will, as surely as gravity holds us to the earth, be buried in
code and consoles every evening. There’s just still too much to learn and
discover. Unfettered of the expectation of earning a living in tech, I can feel
the passion rising renewed already.

More importantly, I’ll still be here with Penguin Shell. Your enthusiasm,
criticism and comments have kept things very light in a very dark year. As long
as you Chris will have me, I’ll be here.

So, from a man on the brink of transition - have a great Tuesday. I’m certain I
will.