Self introduction

[Mike & Kathi <lepomis@lesbois.com>]

Hello,

It seems word of this project spread well in fisheries circles, as I am
also a fish biologist.  (Maybe the announcement needs to be released
again?)  I have worked with pike in Iowa and anadromous salmonids in 
Idaho.  I'm currently finishing work on a project examining the relationship
between water speed and smolt migration rates in a reservoir in Idaho and
Washington states.

I believe I have a pretty good computer background, though I am not a
programmer.  I have not used UNIX, but I am quite handy with DOS, OS/2, 
and Windows OSs/environments.  During my previous job, I often found 
myself using 3 computers simultaneously, two of them running multiple 
programs.  I'm interested in a stable OS with advanced features and 
stability, and with recovery tools and disk utilities built in.  I have enjoyed 
OS/2 greatly, but the promise of a free OS, and quality scientific programs 
for statistical analysis and graphics, is quite appealing personally and
professionally.  It would also be nice if this project resulted in the
ability of the new OS to run virtual sessions of other OSs, so that more
"mainstream" applications can run concurrently.  We all have our favorite
ways of working, and there shouldn't be the need to abandon everything.  

I look forward to having software written to do work efficiently rather than
to be appealing to computer-shy people at a great performance price.  We
haven't seen many programs that run this way in several years, but I much
prefer command-line operation so that I can run batch files rather than
babysitting my computer.



Michael J. Banach
Boise, Idaho, USA
email:  lepomis@lesbois.com
Phone 208-321-9257