I've been a computer hobbyist since before the IBM PC, and a professional programmer not too long after that. I've had experience with electronic repair, manufacturing, and testing of professional audio.
I tutored other students in Fortran before PCs existed, built my first computer from bare circuit boards and reject parts (S-100 CP/M system), and transitioned from stereo repair, to professional audio manufacturing at Dolby Labs, where I set up the automated functional testing for Dolby professional equipment. From there, I went into programming full-time as a C programmer for Mac presentation graphics systems, then to Windows C++ video programming. My last 10 years was as a C++ Windows software engineer for a corporate source code control system.
I'm now a Linux user, retired from active work but still helping friends with computer problems, configuration, audio/video setup, and other electronic devices.