My career is well into its fourth, and possibly final, decade. It has spanned most of the United States and a few locations outside as well, a good 75 or so places in total. I often find myself reading about various professionals in the world of Linux, open source, and the Linux Professional Institute: engineers and implementers, people I know or know of, and sometimes people I was quite oblivious to.<\/p>\n
But in the young world of technology, the most important reports I pay attention to are those not-so-uncommon \u201c30 Under 30\u201d lists, which highlight thirty professionals under the age of thirty. Coincidentally, I have been deploying Linux and open source solutions in companies since 1995, thirty years now. Correspondingly, if I had to make my own \u201c30 under 30\u201d list, over my 30 years of deploying Linux solutions at various installations, I would have to include a young man named Neel Patel.<\/p>\n
The time I\u2019ve known Neel has been brief, exactly six months. He was one of those young people who reminded me that the best times are still ahead, as they lead.<\/p>\n
While Linux (itself the creation of a young person), and even elder UNIX system administrators are often known for being \u201dalways ready to help,\u201d in an age of distractions and social media and the ever more worshiped \u201cinfluencers\u201d we can especially celebrate that one \u201cstandout\u201d who is spending every moment helping others, leading by example\u2014and not just at the keyboard but by being who he is.<\/p>\n
That is Neel, someone who \u201dinspires\u201d us all, my kind of \u201c’influencer\u201d and a growing Linux Professional.<\/p>\n
Years before we met, as my colleagues attest in quotes I\u2019ll include later in this article, he had become a brand new level 1 (L1) Linux system administrator. He acquired the LPI Linux Essentials certificate, among others, heading into a dozen total. Furthermore, he had started his master’s degree at the University of South Florida (USF). As with many working in Linux and open source, cybersecurity was his passion, especially in our shared goal of securing critical infrastructure and service for our employer.<\/p>\n
He immediately grew into being not just an outstanding L1 practitioner but a true leader, helping others learn and transferring his knowledge. But it was him, as a person, \u201calways ready to help,\u201d from his family to every single one of his peers, that puts him in my \u201d30 under 30 over 30.\u201d Sometimes, as much as we all stand on the shoulders of giants in the community of open source and of greater, human knowledge, you get to see those who will soon be the \u201cnew shoulders\u201d as they unfold\u2014in real time, you might say.<\/p>\n
And as some past tense has already crept into this hastily written article, I will now be blunt: We lost Neel at the end of April. The timing was sudden, and particularly tragic because he would soon have received his master’s degree from USF. In addition, his promotion to Level 2 at our company was effective May 1. We all considered him a\u2014if not THE<\/em>\u2014future leader coming out of our group. I have limited myself to three of our shared peers here, who knew Neel longer and deeper than myself.<\/p>\n “Neel was not only a great coworker but also a dear friend. I had the privilege of working every day with him over the past three and a half years. We spent many weekends sharing GIFs and memes within our group chat. Neel often spoke about the love he had for his family and cousins. He truly cherished those times, and it was clear how much they meant to him. He was incredibly knowledgeable, kind-hearted, and deeply respected by everyone he worked with. His presence brought light and laughter to our team, and he will be truly missed by all of us.”<\/em><\/p>\n “Thank you to the Patel family for raising such a wonderful person and sharing him with us. My heart breaks for you at this time. Neel cared about his family, and it showed. When discussing the changes to his upcoming schedule, the first thing he was concerned about was family time. He possessed an uncommon kindness and work ethic. I was truly excited to see how far he\u2019d go in his career. I would tell him I was going to be asking him for a job someday. He quickly grew from a student into a leader who was successfully and patiently teaching others.”<\/em><\/p>\n “His pursuit of knowledge, specifically certifications, inspired me to do the same. I became more impressed because he was able to earn them while working on his degrees. You\u2019d never know he was pushing himself that hard outside of work because he never let it show. He was telling me about a night where he stayed up until the early hours of the morning, and was still on point at work the next day. Anyone who had the privilege of working with him had nothing but positive things to say about him. Neel is and will continue to be missed.”<\/em><\/p>\n
\nI was just speaking to him the week before his passing about an LPI Level 1 (LPIC-1) certification, since he clearly functioned already as a Level 3 (LPIC-3) Security subject matter expert. I even, quite selfishly, took my chance to playfully jab him, since I am a graduate of the rival of his alma mater. I even mentioned how his second degree must be just as worthless as the first, since we needed only one degree at my alma mater. Like everything he did, he was an overachiever, especially as a human being.<\/p>\nIn Their Words<\/h2>\n
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