In 2000, I was a student at Shiraz University, majoring in agricultural engineering. Although my studies revolved around soil, water management, and crop sciences, I had a deep interest in computers and programming. At the time, I was learning Visual Basic, using it to develop small applications that helped me solve fluid mechanics and hydraulics problems through numerical methods. Writing code that could compute solutions faster than manual calculations fascinated me, and I often found myself experimenting with new algorithms late into the night.
One afternoon, on the bus ride home from campus, I struck up a conversation with a friend from another department. We both shared an interest in programming, and as the conversation unfolded, he brought up something I had never heard of before—Linux, open-source software, and the free software movement. He spoke with a kind of excitement that was contagious, explaining how Linux was not just another operating system, but a philosophy, a way of thinking about software as something communal, something that belonged to everyone.
"You should try it," he said. "Linux is a great system for programmers. It feels like ‘home’ once you get used to it."
Curious, I asked how I could get started. He promised to bring me a CD set and a book that would guide me through the installation process. Then, with a grin, he added, "Just be careful—you’ll probably ruin your system the first time you try. Dual-booting can be tricky, and it’s easy to wipe your Windows installation by accident."
A few days later, he handed me a Red Hat 7 CD set along with a thick book filled with step-by-step instructions. I felt a mix of excitement and apprehension as I took them home. That evening, after finishing my coursework, I carefully inserted the first CD into my computer’s tray and rebooted the system. The unfamiliar text-based installer and partitioning process looked intimidating, but I followed the instructions diligently, double-checking each step before proceeding. After what felt like an eternity, the installation completed successfully. I had done it! My machine now offered a choice at startup—Windows or Linux.
That first login was like stepping into a completely new world. The command line greeted me with a blinking cursor, and I had no idea what to do next. But rather than feeling discouraged, I felt an overwhelming urge to learn. I spent the following months diving deep into Linux, absorbing everything I could find about the terminal, system administration, and shell scripting. Before long, I was exploring programming beyond Visual Basic—learning C, C++, Java, Perl, Python, and Bash scripting.
I realized that Linux wasn’t just a tool; it was an entire ecosystem that encouraged exploration, problem-solving, and collaboration. It reshaped the way I thought about software and computing. Looking back, that bus conversation with my friend had unknowingly set me on a lifelong journey into the world of free and open-source software—one that would define much of my career and personal passion in the years to come.