Purpose-driven
I think I’ve somewhat gotten over my “downtime”. I’m still not jumping up and down, trying to scratch every little itch I have. But at least I’m not so apathetic anymore. I’m moving. The bad news is that I’ve swung to the other end of the pendulum. Now I’m too driven by emotions, high and low. I was told by a good friend tonight that I’m too emotion-driven. (Only good friends tell you what’s wrong with you *and* help you with your problems). And he’s completely right. And being emotion-driven sucks, big time. Your work, your outlook, you whole life is so dependent on mood swings, on events, and on others. It’s not an eye opener for me, though. I’ve always known this fact about me. But I guess it takes someone to tell it to you point blank to really make an impact. A purpose-driven life… Maybe I should read that. Last week, I asked myself what drives me. Well it turns out, my emotions. What makes me passionate is the “high” of the moment. And that shouldn’t be. At least not for me. I need principles I can stick to, high or low. I need a purpose.
I’m not the only one that needs a purpose. I personally think Kubuntu is at a crossroads. I’ve said more than once before that this period is the perfect time for the Kubuntu community to think hard about a few non-technical details. The timing is perfect. The next release, Kubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron, will be a Long Term Support release, supported for 3 years on desktops and 5 years on servers. It has to be extra polished. It is also the last Kubuntu release that has KDE 3 by default. The release after that, Kubuntu 8.10 (no name yet) will have KDE 4 by default (whatever KDE 4 version is available at that time, 4.0 or 4.1). This will be a first for Kubuntu, who’s a bit young compared to older KDE distros who have seen the journey from KDE 2 to KDE 3. It’s a perfect time. For what? Stay tuned. I’ll get around to blogging about it.
I’ve also been playing around with other distros lately after Gutsy was released. While waiting for my pressed Kubuntu CD’s to arrive (yeah I’m crazy), I’ve installed openSUSE 10.3 on my laptop. I haven’t gotten around to needing to use the laptop though. I’m planning to test out Mandriva 2008 and PC-BSD 1.4 too. We’ll see how that pans out.
Am I leaving Kubuntu for good? Not at all (until/if they kick me out of course). I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Kubuntu has a special place in my life. Whatever happens and wherever I go, I’ll always be there to lend a helping hand. I have to admit that being emotion-driven has made me a bit touchy lately, but the commitment to help is still there and has not wavered at all. If I’m not making any sense, wait for my next post and you might understand. 
