+1 to this one. I cut my teeth writing boring in house business software, some 15 years of that. Time went on and the company started to automate, so as the in house software guy I ended up messing with various pieces of industrial automation. It has been interesting, I’ve learned a lot and coming from outside sometimes I can think non conventional approach to a problem.

Oh, and find a laptop with real RS-232 -port. Protect it with your life.

I know running Gentoo is labour intensive and for the most part unnecessary. Something still draws me back and every now and then there’s a fresh install.