Chris is a member of The Answer Gang.
My schooling is a BSEE at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago,
but I was a nondegreed engineer during most of my career. I have been
doing embedded software for about 20 years, and I'm 48 years old.
Networking protocols are what got me interested in Linux. For example,
after reading TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1, by Stevens, I had a yearning
to experiment with the protocols. Also, I got tired of using Microsoft
Windows software on my 486 machine. A 66MHz 486 is sort of fast when
running DOS -- Windows 95 brought it down to its knees. Also the Windows
games require so much resources! Linux (I use SuSE 6.4) brought new life
into that 486.
So I love Linux. I have lots of computers in the house with three of them
running Linux (one of them with no keyboard or monitor -- just an
Ethernet). I have another machine that runs FreeBSD because I like to see
how the various systems (Linux, FreeBSD, even Windows with its protocol
stack and Exceed) interoperate.
Physics, electromagnetics (fields and waves), and protocols are the things
that I study most. I know the IrDA protocol, I have studied its specs,
and I have ported a commercial IrDA protocol stack into more than one
embedded system.
I am married with three kids, and I actually see them. When I am not
hobbying and working, I actually get some sleep now and then.
I do embedded software for a living. I work at Motorola in Schaumburg,
Illinois, and I design and implement RF networking protocols for a living.