About John

I am John Adams. In 1988 I completed Basic Electricity and Electronics (BE/E) — my first formal exposure to electronics. In the early 1990s my first computers were a Commodore 64 and an Atari (cassette storage) — the C64 likely when someone moved up to a 128 — then old Apple IIe machines. In the late 1990s Linux began when a friend, Mitch, pointed me at Red Hat 5; I later ran Red Hat 7.1 and 7.2. When Red Hat turned more commercial, I spent a few years on another Linux that started with M (possibly Mandrake — the name is fuzzy). I then found Debian and later Ubuntu — I still use Debian primarily and Ubuntu sometimes. I have tried many distros: I love Slackware for staying true to Unix roots, and I have always had an affinity for Gentoo (I once ran it on a single-core Pentium 64-bit laptop; updates took about three weeks). Around 2022–2023 I dual-booted Qubes OS and Windows 11. I have worked in construction off and on for about 35 years, and I have been a self-employed handyman since 2009. Clients know me as a computer power user and call when the internet dies or a PC/printer/network misbehaves. Alongside the trades I built deep skill in Linux, networking, and systems work. I earned CompTIA Network+ in May 2009 (certificate on LinkedIn). In 2023 I earned amateur radio Technician and General (both tests the same day); callsign KQ4GKO (also on LinkedIn). In 2024 I built a SHARI node (655760) that stays on the East Coast Reflector (AllStar) around the clock — Asterisk configuration was new ground for me then.

I live in Eastern North Carolina with my wife and children. I am Anglican: open about it, not pushy. If you know me for long, you will know my church habits.

Handyman work pays the bills today. In parallel: Linux systems practice, Qubes dual-boot era (~2022–2023), VirtualBox when a guest was useful, and about two years of serious AI practice. I also kept a private server in Switzerland reachable over SSH for a stretch.

I am looking for the right company for remote-only AWS CloudOps, Cloud Engineer, or Solutions Architect path work — a place where I can contribute and grow, not just a job title on paper. Essentials Parts 1–2 are done; MFA is on root and PowerUser; hands-on AWS projects are next on the list.

The trade name 101 Computer Services and this site are the public home for my professional record. LinkedIn is the handshake; this site is the archive.