Here is a list, and of course my opinion of each item of what makes a linux guru.
1. Knowledgeable in all major Linux distrobutions.
I pretty much agree with this one. If someone doesn't care to know what is happening within the community, then they don't qualify as a guru.
2. Configures Samba, DNS, Sendmail and Apache with no Googling.
Basic Samba maybe qualifies, but I am a UX guy, and it doesn't need Samba to do any magic for me. I can configure Samba without much thought, but only because I have had to set up more than a few file servers for Windows based networks in my early career.
Now as for DNS, well if you don't know how to configure BIND in your sleep to do basic name resolution, and to ask a caching server, then you don't know enough about networking to be a UX guru of any kind.
Sendmail is a nasty beast. No one knows how to make it sing without Googling, unless that is all they do, or they are a Sendmail developer. You do need to be able to tame the beast, and that should be able to be done without any help. A real Linux guru doesn't use Sendmail anymore, Postfix is the modern general purpose SMTP server.
I agree that any Linux admin that doesn't know Apache well enough to configure it in fairly complex ways without assistance is hardly a guru. I say this because Apache is critical to so many web apps, but it should be noted that Apache is hardly Linux. This is softwar not operating system.
3. Helps others solve their problems with Linux.
To be a guru, you have to like to share your knowledge, its kind of in the job description.
4. Blogs or writes about personal experiences with Linux.
This is pretty much the same as above. To be a guru, you have to share your knowledge.
5. Donates time and resources to at least one Linux project.
It is likely that a guru would do this. It is the type of work that would encourage someone to be a guru. I don't believe it is a requirement to be a guru. I place this in the category of common characteristic, not a defining one.
6. Uses Linux on a variety of computing hardware.
Yes, if you don't use Linux in diverse ways, then you aren't a guru.
7. Hacks Linux-based devices for fun and/or profit.
I would place this in the same category as number 5. This is a common characteristic, but not a defining one. It is unlikely that you are a guru if you don't enjoy hacking things to put Linux on them or change the Linux already installed.
8. Finds innovative ways to use Linux at work.
Again, I believe this to be a common characteristic, but not a defining one.
9. Is a Linux Evangelist.
Again, common, but not defining.
10. Has a collection of very early (Kernel 1.x or older) Linux CDs.
This one is silly to me. Everyone knows that kernel.org does this for us. Why would I need the old distro, if I can just compile the kernel and do the rest from scratch.
Happy Hunting
This video just confirms what I always knew. That rock the vote is not an organization determined to get young people to vote, but an advocacy group for an agenda. Well its unlikely that the people who are such shallow thinkers as this ad is targeted at would likely abstain from sex.
Should I feel hopeless about our country? Do we not have what it takes to enjoy freedom anymore? It just seems too many people are willing to give up freedom to gain security. Some might blame 9/11 for this change, but I don't. I believe that we have been heading down this road for a very long time. The sad thing is, we cannot have security. There is no such thing. We either act like adults and accept the risk of living, or we allow someone else to protect us. When someone else protects us, they have significant authority in our lives, and can then themselves become the danger. I warn you that if we accept universal health care, then we will regret it, because we will have ceded too much power to the government, and they will leverage that power to take control of our lives.
Happy Hunting
I was going to build this, but I already spent more than this costs, and still am not done. I hate it when someone beats me.
I don't know if congress can get this passed, but it is not only scary, but impossible. Its scary, because those congressmen and the President think that this is a good idea. The men elected to serve us think that it would serve us to take control of private resources. Now the fact is that the majority of our government shuts down if access to the Internet is take away during a threat. The likely hood of a geek like me going into the office while we are under some credible threat is small, very small. I would work from home, but that would be more than likely be cut off according to this.
