I remember accidentally breaking my parent’s computer

loool that was me! I was kind of fortunate that they didn't use it all that much, but installing something like LiteStep or AfterStep, that would completely hide all everything but the background was fun.

I still remember how cool I thought I was figuring out how to add an extra 32 MB of EDO ram into that 750 lb TWO GB (2!!) HP (back when the full name was printed on the case) Win95 desktop. It wasn't until I went to the community college and saw the weird X cursor on the lab terminals that I asked the techs what it was, and a week later I had my first distro, Linux Mandrake, installed on a now-partitioned hdd.

I miss my grandfather teaching me the basics of DOS 2.0 on his dual-floppy IBM. Those were simpler days, and those were the golden days. The greybeards knew what was up then, just as many today still do.

I'm off to re-read the legendary tales of the BOFH.