Thank you for keeping my 10 years-old friend alive :)
This month also marks my 10 year anniversary of programming!
I started at 13 in QBASIC, and I think I found FreeBASIC a year or two later at version 0.13.
I will never forget seeing those numbers. 0.13. FreeBASIC is in 0.13. Version 0.13 added all of these neat features. I ported all of my QB code over to it. It was like that for a long time :)
I remember the IRC bots that we had in the #freebasic channel. cha0s' web sockets libraries that were actually really good, if I recall correctly. It's still recommended to use those over most other libraries for FreeBASIC, if you are able to :) I remember the arguments in IRC. I remember off-topic, and its subsequent removal :( I remember a hilarious thread I made cha0s archive, where someone asked how to do something and I responded with:
Here's an example of how to hack into a computer:
So many good memories of me being locked up in my room, wearing all black, my hair growing out, trying to become an independent game developer even though my home life was very difficult!
Then Lachie and I helping to run the FreeBASIC Games site together for a while, until life got too busy for me :(
And me actually leaving home!
And going to college!
And dropping out :)
And borrowing money from someone I met here (a lot of it)
And paying it back (after a long time) with interest!
So many MEMORIES here!
Trying to make little games to entertain my little sister,
BUT THEY WERE NEVER FUN!
I feel pathetic for that ;_;
I am a professional software developer now making more than most american households for my work.
Yet I've never made a single game that was actually fun to play.
The original reason I went into programming - to make games - ended up being something that I both sucked at and lacked the motivation to try hard in. Games actually made me more depressed than happy. And the lack of income shot my anxieties to a whole other level...
Tinkering around with Photoshop, Flash, Blender (Hi, Dr_D!), Java and other technologies... trying to make it as an artist or game developer.
Turns out, I really LIKE business programming!
Unlike a lot of programmers.
I am motivated by the fact that the software I write can make people money!
And turn a business from inefficient to very efficient!
I think that's why I dog on FB so much.
But it has always been here for me.
And the community is excellent.
I THINK YOU ARE ALL CRAZY!
But guess what?
So am I XD
Much love!
And Congratulations, Everyone!
- anonymous1337