It was 4 years back when I had my first encounter with linux. It was for a protocol analyzer project I did for HP. It was memorable for more than one reason. That was my first involvement with any company. I got a S grade (highest grade) for the project.
A lot has changed since then. Joined the semiconductor super power Texas Instruments. Worked in modules that was no where close to linux from DSP, MCU to Symbian spreading across algorithms and device drivers (SIM, Battery, MMC). Thats all part of the history now. Now Linux is the focus. Not just for me but for the business division and even the entire mobile market. Android has changed the way market sees linux.
Linux in my perspective has changed from a complete operating system when I started to work in linux to a kernel which different distros (http://distrowatch.com/) uses to build OS. Now you know how I was when I started linux. Redhat linux was the only linux distribution I used then. A lot of things was exciting during my first encounter with linux. It being an offshore project made it even more exciting. Pcap library, Ethereal, workbench are certain things I'll find hard to forget.
I'm a bit more mature now as I encounter with linux for the second time. Though writing device driver has the same complexity in all the OS, the process of upstreaming your work in linux torvalds kernel tree is even more complex. After all if it gets you name and money, it has to be complex :)
Feel more excited about this second encounter with linux and hope this to be a long and exciting journey.
