I’ve got another decade roughly until I can (hopefully) retire, I was just thinking that being able to spend more time properly tinkering, still learning, exploring, yeah that’s pretty much my dream come true, having more time to devote to hobbies and not trying to fit them in around everything else.
I may have one more rig build left in me potentially, though those freaking motherboard pins for the front panel are getting harder and harder . Grinding out this last ten years, gah, if I could, I’d be done tomorrow, but for those of you who’re close to, or at the point I’m hoping to get to, what’s the best thing about Linux in retirement? Personally, I’m going to grab every single RPi equivalent and start making IoT kit, - I’ve always wanted to make one of those smart mirrors!
Love the attitude life long learning is so important. As you tinker try to have a goal in mind, a problem to solve, make it part of a larger project. Tinkering is great when it’s an escape from the daily grind, It’s relaxing and stimulating, but without the distraction of a day job tinkering can start to feel hollow and meaningless, without purpose no direction. Giving yourself some structure even if’s automating watering the flower garden, allows you to learn with purpose, direction and a reason to get out of bed and into the lab.
Yep that’s the bit that I’m genuinely pondering, that right now, tinkering is almost a way to wind down and get away from work, it’s a hobby. But when it’s essentially everything, or not constrained by time, having a purpose absolutely needs to be a thing, not just for that, but for anything. Good call!
Not retired or even close to it but have been medically unfit for work for a very long time now and what I do to keep myself busy is constantly try teach myself new skills. This year I am going to be starting a course in Digital Media so I can expand upon what I have taught myself over the last few years and get a qualification. I also looking forward to it giving me a bit more structure in my life.
I’ve been retired for several years now (sort of…I was a British Auto Mechanic for almost 50 years & I still work as I want for old customers…extra cash). It’s been nice to devote more time to Linux (I do debug for several projects) & just enjoy playing with my system. I still do a major upgrade every couple of years–sell the old parts on eBay while they still have good value & get the “latest & greatest.” I’ve been holding back a bit the last 6 months while prices sort themselves out…Figure that I will upgrade the CPU this fall (currently on a Ultra 7 265K) & most likely think about a motherboard sometime next year…Glad I bought memory when I did…have a 48G DDR5 6200 kit & the current prices are a bit breathtaking…
I’m 75 yrs now and I’ve been retired 12 yrs. This gave me the time to be one of the EndeavourOS ARM devs for about 4 years now. I know a lot more now about Linux and ARM devices. Still learning from @joekamprad@manuel and @dalto. In the beginning of ARM development, @fernandomaroto helped me a lot getting stuff going. It is still an ongoing thing.
Honestly at first I did a lot of computer stuff. Especially learn Linux properly. I had been using it pretty much like Window prior to that. Only going to the command line when necessary. Now I go to the command line as much as I do a GUI. However I also need to get away from technology and allow myself to expand in other ways. I have been getting into gardening the last couple of years. This year I spent money getting the greenhouse setup again which was a set back but its ok because now I have a better setup. I think the important thing is to keep yourself happy.
In the Netherlands we don’t get the chance to retire as they put the age up every 5-10 years. Last i heard was the age of retirement going up to 71 years.
I’m planning on retiring next year when I turn 60 and looking forward to the same thing. I want to dig in and learn Linux in more depth than I currently understand it. I use it now, I’d like to learn it and this is a hobby I plan to embrace when I retire.
I was medically retired last year and my main hobby is expanding my Linux skills, trying new things out and general system tinkering on my Linux machine. Keeps the brain moving
My dad was one of the early movers with Linux as a desktop system here in Germany, starting with the German SuSE distributions and one of the 1.x versions of KDE He also built some small servers as side projects. He sold some of those, but his main trade was restoring hardware.
With SuSE, he had a translated distribution with German manuals, which he needed as his English was awful.
When he retired, his Linux PCs (Kubuntu) and Raspberry Pis were his main hobby, well, also trying to get everybody from Windows to the holy FOSS lands. After he learned to build a KODI Raspberry Pi with two external drives in a RAID configuration, he went to build his own set of loudspeakers. I am pretty sure those projects kept him going Linux and FOSS are perfect for retirement projects
Richard Bartle: I’ve been retired for a year now (well, as of two days ago).
Apparently, a lot of people drop dead within the first year of their retirement, so I’ve done better than them. I have to say, though, it’s not what I was expecting it would be like. Every day is a Saturday …
Much of my spare time has been spent, and continues to be spent, on writing the second edition of Designing Virtual Worlds . This is a real time sink. I usually spend two or three hours a day working on it, and progress is slow. Today, for example, I’ll be continuing the sub-section on character skills that I began yesterday. I won’t finish it until maybe Wednesday, because I need to ensure it’s correct and reasonably complete. source
Richard Bartle is a game designer of the first generation.
Retired guy is Asked whats the Best thing about Retirement.
He Replies Getting to Spend more time with my Wife.
Then he is asked well what is the worst thing about retirement?
Old Man Replies: Having to Spend more time with my wife.
There was a prominent YouTuber who was retired, and he also had a motorcycle and toured England. OldTechBloke. He used to mostly review distros, but might have done some applications. He had good takes on each distro and liked dwm. His channel is still there.
He appeared to have a back house or something, often wearing heavier jackets during recordings and cooler parts of the year. Some have his motorbike behind him.
So many lovely responses in this thread, thank you! I think it’s fair to say the message is to find what keeps the spark going, and spread your interests as wide as they can go. Hence me digging a pond currently for the birds to wash in the shallow end, and frogs to sleep in the deep.. The clock keeps ticking, I’d like to think there’s a chance to make the most of what we have, regardless of the way the world turns. Appreciate the posts all, I’ve learned more about you all than I thought I would.. You’re good people.
. Grinding out this last ten years, gah, if I could, I’d be done tomorrow, but for those of you who’re close to, or at the point I’m hoping to get to, what’s the best thing about Linux in retirement? Personally, I’m going to grab every single RPi equivalent and start making IoT kit, - I’ve always wanted to make one of those smart mirrors!
He also built some small servers as side projects. He sold some of those, but his main trade was restoring hardware.
Linux and FOSS are perfect for retirement projects