What Does It Take to Be a Linux Guru

It's a well-known fact that humans love lists, and the media are generally all too happy to oblige.

Recently, however, mixed in among the many "Top 10" lists and "10 Ways to ..." articles out there (Linux Girl's second favorite: "Top 10 ways to spend a Goldman Sachs bonus") was one that seemed worthy of attention.

"10 Characteristics of a Linux Guru?" was the title of the post, which came from DaniWeb's Ken Hess.
'A Collection of Very Early Linux CDs'

"I've known many knowledgeable people over the years but never have I met an actual guru," Hess began.

"I've worked with Linux since 1995 and still wouldn't call myself a guru," he added. "It seems that there's always someone out there who's found some obscure thingy to tell me about -- making me feel as if I don't scour the Internet's neutral zone enough for these things."

What, then, makes a Linux guru?

"Knowledgeable in all major Linux distributions," "donates time and resources to at least one Linux project" and "has a collection of very early (Kernel 1.x or older) Linux CDs" are all among Hess's suggestions.
'Most of Us Prefer to Stay Humble'

DaniWeb readers appeared to find little fault with Hess's list.

"Very nice post," wrote ralemi, for example. "I agree that pride is in contrast with the spirit of open source, so most of us would prefer to stay humble and not to consider ourselves special in the context of Linux community."

Bloggers on LXer, however, were considerably less impressed.

"Seriously, even if just taken as opinions they don't hold up to logic; as guidelines, this list would be better if approached as tongue in cheek humor," wrote azerthoth, for instance, adding that the article had been "annoying me since I first read it."

Taking it even further: "I would postulate that the majority of LXers think that Ken's writing is more 'foot in mouth' than 'tongue in cheek,'" softwarejanitor added.