Tuesday, February 20 12:01 AM EST

Great African-American
Moments in Linux History

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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