Hm... Let's see how I learn format.

I broke the 512MB hardddrive by dropping it accidentally. I bought a replacement 1GB harddrive and plug it, expect it to work when I turned on the computer, except that it didn't. I had a MS DOS 6.2 3.5 inch floppy disk so I booted of that and start typing in HELP and read thru all the commands. Found FDISK and FORMAT. Ran both and then I can use the harddrive. I was 13 and this was the time without internet, smartphone, nor instruction from anything or anyone. I just figure Operation System must have the things I need to make the harddrive work.

First time I had virtualization experience was watching someone using Windows inside a Mac at school, I think I was 15.

@art_of_shred said in What constitutes an IT Pro?:

@scottalanmiller said in What constitutes an IT Pro?:

In many US labor documents, they have to list "professionals and teachers" because teachers are "almost" professionals but can't be qualified for it exactly because they can't direct their own work in quite the right way to qualify, but they want them to be treated as professionals otherwise so state it in that way.

The standard professionals are doctors, lawyers, nurses (of a certain level), professors, pharmacists, civil engineers, CPAs and similar. You basically have to be forced into both base university education, must have a government or similar certification for work, effectively work in a high level government directed union like structure and work by "rules" rather than by "results." Very different than IT.

Correct: IT is not a "professional" industry. But, that's not what's represented in the term "IT pro". It's someone whose profession is in IT, the latter definition of "professional". If you say "I am in IT and therefore a professional", that would be flat-out wrong. But if you say your profession is in IT, then you are an "IT pro".

That then explains the initial discussion... it is "anyone who makes money in the IT field in any manner", there can be no further qualifications. The best volunteer expert in the world can't be an IT Pro, but the most entry level, unskilled, untrained person can be. It makes the term literally worthless in the field, which was my feeling on it. We should drop it as it has no positive outcome.

@scottalanmiller said in Legitimate University Programs Are Not Certification Training:

@FiyaFly said in Legitimate University Programs Are Not Certification Training:

@Dashrender said in Legitimate University Programs Are Not Certification Training:

You don't think learning programming in college is possible/worthwhile?

Possible? Very. I got my start with Python from a college course. Worthwhile? Not so much. The amount of debt you accrue due to these courses is just not worth it to me. Yes, I got my start with Python from college. VB.NET? Javascript? C#? All of those, I developed on my own time. Free. When you're talking what you learn from the course compared to the price, I see no justification in it, and especially if you're talking about getting a degree.

You shoudl be able to learn an entire college course in 2-3 days on your own for free, or for the cost of a book.

A whole 2-3 days? You must be feeling generous today. I tried taking a single course about 10 years ago which finally polished off whatever trust I had ever had in "the system".