Everything would be quite different. Would not be the professional I am today. I would not have the friends I have now. I would not have the same knowledge that I have now in the world of web development. Of that I am very sure, because I think and think, and I can not visualize another way to get so many things in a package of approximately 10MB.
...because Open Source Matters. Joomla changed my professional life and in Joomla community i found new friends.
Back in 2005 I was between jobs and my girlfriend at the time was working with local hotels, training their staff. One of those hotels asked her for help with computerising their reservation process, so I dutifully spent the day with them, looking at how they were currently working.
When I got home I spent a good deal of time online, looking for a cheap ( or free ) Open Source booking system that I could customise to suit their requirements. Nothing at all was available, so I decided to sit down and write one for the CMS that I'd recently discovered. As it turned out, the hotel decided to not bother with computerisation, but having spent a few weeks on the project I decided to get feedback from other users on the Mambo forums. The response was great, there were scores of feature requests and I ended up working on the project full time from the summer of that year.
Since then I've met dozens of Joomlers, and enjoyed many beers with them. Travel has taken me to all of Europe and it has even encouraged me to move my entire family to Spain ( ironically, and quite accidentally I now live in the house of one of my very first customers ).
Without Joomla I'd still be in Wales, gazing forlornely at rainy skies, instead I'm enjoying the very best time of my life with the same girlfriend and four wonderful dogs in an area of the world that I love.
Thank you Joomla!
... I would probably be behind a PC somewhere trying to save people from themselves as an IT Consultant / Network Engineer. But... I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and as a result Joomla! has been the single biggest influence on my professional career and a very positive one at that. I owe the Joomla project... the great friends i have made and the greater Joomla! community a great debt of gratitude for the life I now live. 10 years has flown by, see you all back here again in another 10 as we celebrate 20!
I would never have been able to learn everything I've learned. With Joomla! I created a future for me, I have grown professionally and personally.
Joomla! ... Made me meet many amazing people in the community and create friendships for life.
Thank You!!