But lo what light through yonder, Windows breaks. Tis the east and Ubuntu is the Sun...

Linux is the way forward, I realised this when my XP box broke to the degree that only a floppy based low-level HD formatter would fix it. Once I'd got my machine so it booted up again I used knoppix off cdrom till I bought Linux for dummies. (Yes people really do buy that book and it's great when you haven't got a clue.)

This gave me enough knowledge to do most stuff I was already doing in Windows, from that point on I never looked back.

For a long time I went flitting from one distro to another finally settling on Ubuntu.
Once I'd settled I wanted to join in. I wasn't forced to, it just felt like the right thing to do. Once I'd started helping out I soon found myself being drawn further in.
I found out something incredible! You can't help but care about Ubuntu (and derivatives, alter as necessary) and the people that make and contribute to it.

I heard a quote from a wrestling game ad that ran thus... Alone we're good, together we're unstoppable.

This is how I feel, you can all be proud of the distro you help produce now lets go kick some ass.