Currently I live in Kraków. Traditional Chinese medicine is my education background. The life in Poland greatly enhances my ability of cooking Chinese dishes. And one of my big hobbies is programming. I love Python and C++.
In mid 1990s, it was my dream to have a learning machine, a simulator of a personal computer. At that time, in my school there was a computer lesson, and students used 386 with PC-DOS in the school’s computer room. Later I found a private training school for typists and paid hourly for using their computer. Then I used 486 with MS-DOS. A computer with a 586 (Pentium) CPU and Windows system was a luxury.
Around 2000, because of the appearance of Celeron processors, soft chips and integrated motherboards, computers were not luxuries any more. Linux was also introduced into China, and there were some localized distros. It was the first time I used Linux. Computer producers used Linux as the pre-installed system of their computers, just for reducing the costs of their products. The pre-installed Linux system was hard to use, and there was no sound or network. Obviously salespersons always helped customers install unlicensed Windows.
In 2007, while Canonical was mailing their Ubuntu CDs, I became interested in a French distro named Mandriva Linux. It was the first time a Linux system worked normally on my computer. Since then, for many years, I had been an enthusiast of free software. However I gradually changed my attitude to proprietary software. Since we couldn’t access Google’s services anymore, Apple’s App Store has been the only alternative to Google Play. If we can’t use the services of Apple and Microsoft anymore, I don’t think it is a good thing. In our childhood, we regarded meat and sugar as the best food, and only in festivals we could eat much of them. Now we think that it is unhealthy. For people somewhere, it is important to get more contents no matter that it is with DRM.
Around 2007, I read two books about history of computer technology, “A Brief History of the Future: The Origins of the Internet” by John Naughton and “Free for All: How Linux and the Free Software Movement Undercut the High-Tech Titans” by Peter Wayner. The two books with “The Greek Way” by Edith Hamilton gave great influence on my values. And each time when I recall the text of “The Commentary of Zuo” which is my most favorite book, I always feel that the original Chinese way should be compatible with universal values.
My programming experience should start with BASIC in mid-1990s. On early learning machines, there was no storage device. Everything made by a user will be lost once turning off the power. Later learning machines with a floppy drive appeared, and this kind of products were called “student computers”. Their prices were below one thousand CNY, so Chinese families could afford. BASIC on learning machines was a very simplified version of interpreted BASIC language. It enlightened my interest on programming.
My app is listed on Microsoft Store, and it is a great encouragement for my programming. I don’t need to consider how to distribute my app anymore, since everyone who uses Windows 10/11 has Microsoft Store installed on their computers. What I need to consider is programming itself.
Yike Jiang
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