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My name is Adam Smith, I British, 34, and currently living in Cairns, Queensland , Australia. I studied Computer Science (1998-2001) at Cardiff University, United Kingdom, and moved to Australia in 2002. I am currently looking at studying some more for Linux certifications. I have been reasonably active on the Ubuntu forums since November 2005, and am the muppet responsible for the Forums Firefox menu extension.<---Well someone was gonna do it!

My initial introduction to Linux was back in 1998, when installing Linux (at the time RedHat) was a touch and go 'weekend plus' project, requiring much patience, an ability to cope under extreme pressure, and a bottomless jug of coffee! Still very rewarding though. I was lucky, in the sense that my University was by no means 'pro-Microsoft', and strongly encouraged venturing into Linux. Back at that time, for many, Linux was often frowned upon as being almost gimmicky, and almost certainly a short term fad, and it was refreshing to see educational establishments begin to tip-toe into the Linux community. Well look how far we have come. I only use Linux now, and for my needs it is perfect.

Linux has started to be adopted by the business community up here in Cairns, with local government taking the lead. They migrated from Windows to RedHat, which whilst not Ubuntu, is still a significant step in the right direction, and something I hope will be built on in the future. With modern budget conscious government service providers, and an increasing Linux awareness, I feel sure it will be.