Why buy a Raspberry Pi? Because I hate Windows 10!

Winter 2018,

Between failed transfers, required updates (stalled ones at that), and overall lack of control, I've finally hit my breaking point. No more technology for me, no sir! I made that point abundantly clear after a long winded complaint session at work...via Skype of course. My amenable co-worker immediately joined my anti-Windows rebellion. We shook our fists at our screens and raged silently, "Take that Microsoft!", and immediately resumed work. But the spirit of insurrection lingered as the treasonous word "Linux" was uttered.

Linux has always been one of those fringy tech things to me. Only super nerds were supposed to know that sort of stuff. My only knowledge of Linux was that it had a penguin for a mascot

Friendly but intimidating

Surely, I would never be able to grasp the forbidden technology denied to us normies. My heart sank as I realized that my next PC was fated to become another soulless Windows machine. Then it hit me: Didn't I buy my son a Raspberry Pi for Christmas, and weren't they supposed to run on Linux? Surely $35 wouldn't break the bank if I wanted to give Linux a run well before dreaming up my next PC build. Not to mention the temptation to get in some retro gaming. Ten minutes later I find myself breaking the bank to buy a Pi and a host of accessories.

Essentially, this is going to be a project starting from the ground up, I've only had just a few brief moments with my Pi, learning some of the basics about setup, checking out a couple of Distros, and perhaps most importantly: discovering places to find all of the games that I've loved in yesteryear. I kept preaching about how awesome it was to coworkers and family, but I always got the same heartbreaking reaction: "Cool, but what can you do with it?"

Me: "Really awesome stuff..."
Inner me:

I needed some direction, so I gave myself a series of goals to immerse myself and get the most out of my Pi:

1. Learn Linux
2. Do some retro computing
3. Do as much as possible from the Pi

Learn Linux

If I am to build a new gaming PC without running Windows at some point in the future, I needed to get a grasp on this Linux thing. I understand that experiences vary across Distros, but a $35 single board computer is a bargain way to immerse myself.

Do Some Retro Computing

Yes, I will do my best to get some old PC games running (and hopefully review them here); but I've got some old 3.5" floppy disks hiding somewhere, including Windows 3.1. As much as I'm hating on Windows at the moment, I want to relive the experience of using my very first computer (RIP 1992-1999), but take it beyond what my teenage self understood at the time.

Do As Much As Possible From The Pi

Sounds a little redundant to say that: Obviously a Raspberry Pi project is going to feature it's namesake. What I mean is that I would prefer do as much as possible from the Pi such as writing for this blog, or creating an accompanying website. Maybe I'll even do some of the work from an old productivity suite (Microsoft Works, I'm looking at you).  This also means not taking shortcuts and using methods and software that I'm familiar with in modern versions of Windows. My hope is that sticking to this goal will bring me closer to achieving the first two.

I should add the disclaimer that my level of computing experience is "functional": I know it as long as it's something that I use. Beyond that, I've toyed around HTML, programmed a simple Lego robot, and looked at a BIOS screen a couple of times. This is essentially my means of documenting my projects. Feedback is always appreciated, but I cant guarantee that I'll understand what the frell you're trying to tell me!

Next Time: Hardware and Setup