I kind of "fell into" working in IT. It ran in the family, but I was rebellious, and wanted nothing to do with computers. So I joined the Army instead. In 1987 I got forced to attend training to learn MS-DOS. Much to my surprise, I enjoyed what I was learning, and saw great potential there for being productive. My dad gave me a computer, and it became a hobby to learn how DOS worked, how to program in BASIC, and how different hardware worked. One thing led to another, and pretty soon I was the guy in the unit who could fix the broke computers that other people screwed up. After I left the Army, I got a part time job teaching Windows, and started getting certifications to prove I knew what I was talking about.

But it also became a passion too. I think that is why I gravitated toward Linux. Working with it gives the same "thrill of discovery" that I felt working with DOS back in the 80s. Windows is pretty well set, but I like to be able to tinker with things.