Eric

Eric’s Bio – May 2026

After spending a good bit of time with computers at a young age, mostly an Apple IIC and a Tandy TRS-80, I stopped until my early 20s when I needed a career. I attended a technical school certificate program in “Computer Technical Support”, whatever that was. I learned a ton about hardware, software, and networking and found a job with the company that I was to spend the next 18 years with. My early history was as a sysadmin for a local branch office where I inherited an aging MS-DOS-based document processing system as well as an office full of business equipment. I learned a lot, often via trial and error. Over the subsequent years, I participated in most facets of the IT organization, from help desk and infrastructure to software development as a product manager.

Early on in my sysadmin days, I discovered Linux command line utilities that made using MS-DOS much easier. From there, I discovered the power of Linux on servers and deployed a number of file and network focused boxes that were much easier to administer and far more reliable than the commercial alternatives. It wasn’t until later, around 2005, that I started using Linux on the desktop. Even then, I was required to use mostly proprietary software and couldn’t use desktop Linux for work. Eventually, mostly due to more software became browser based, I was able to use Linux full time. I considered this a major victory and have been using Linux almost exclusively ever since.

I have spent a great deal of time testing and using just about every distribution available. Distro hopping continues to be one of my main hobbies, as is discovering and testing open source software. I also continue to administer Linux servers, mainly for hosting the websites I build for customers, but also for personal projects and honestly, because it’s a lot of fun!

I have always been interested in aviation and finally took lessons to earn my private pilot’s license. I got very close to doing so but, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish due to illness. The same illness cut my busy career short and life transitioned from 60 hours work weeks and extensive travel to a slower pace. Since then, I have dabbled in creating content for YouTube, writing articles, and making podcasts. I enjoy spending time with people in the Linux and open source communities and have made some wonderful friends doing so.

You can see me on my YouTube channel (@EricAdamsYT), and Linux Saloon (@linuxsaloon) as well as see and hear me on The Linux Lugcast (@thelinuxlugcast), Distrohoppers’ Digest, MintCast, and Linux OTC podcasts.

Feel free to contact me on Matrix (@esa1975:matrix.org), Mastodon (@[email protected]), Discord (eric_adams), Telegram (@ericadams), or by email at [email protected].