Memphis, TN - Jason Jackson, the African-American Linux user, celebrated
Black History Month with a friend today in a small ceremony in his
apartment. His friend, James Sanders is an avid computer user
but has not yet had any experience with Linux.
"I wanted to bring together all the black Linux users and well,
James uses a computer so I invited him," said Jason. "I
posted messages on popular Linux message boards but the only replies
I got were 'I've never heard of a Black Linux distribution.' or 'Do
you mean Black Cat Linux?"
After a short candle lighting ceremony, the duo sat around for a
few minutes exchanging stories about African-Americans and Linux. "I
think if Malcom X were alive today he would use Linux," said
Jason, "and probably Martin Luther King Jr. too. I have
a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where
operating systems will not be judged by the might of their monopolies
but by the content of their kernels."
"One time I thought about loading Linux," said James. "And
Tux the Penguin is mostly black. That's about it. You think
that's enough?" Bored, they fired up Napster and started
downloading some tunes.
Jason also has a web site which celebrates Great African-American
Moments in Linux History. It is a one page tribute to his first
installation of RedHat Linux on his 233 MHz Pentium. "I
scanned some pictures in that my dad took of me while I was installing
it. We both knew it was a pretty big moment. I looked
for other significant events in Linux history but came up empty."
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