I grew up with the DOS command line. I waited in line to buy DOS 6.2. I used to waste hours downloading the latest Apogee game [remember: Commander Keen?] from a local BBS.
I’m a DOS baby. I love DOS. More importantly DOS taught me how to love computers.
As a 12-13 year old kid it seemed like a natural upgrade from my Commodore 64. I came to enjoy the challenge of getting something to do what I wanted.
In this respect; memorizing DOS commands, file structures, modem protocols, and CONFIG.SYS/AUTOEXEC.BAT files likely made me a faster learner and a better student.
Want your 10 year old son to pay more attention to geometry? I bet he would if all his candy came packaged in a polyhedron puzzle box.
That’s DOS. But it isn’t Windows. But it is Linux.
I had forgotten there was a level of satisfaction in simply using a computer.
I’ll always be grateful to DOS for fostering curiosity in computers. If I ever reference the ‘good ‘ol days’ then you can rest assured it has something to do with DOS and a BBS.
For me, Linux has picked up where DOS left off and made me realize that my memory, like my 50 meter backstroke, was better when I was 13.
Next post: Ubuntu: Like a kid again, playing in the terminal..
