how did you fist learn about Linux Ubuntu ?

[trixman]

i was wondering i am new to the Linux world and was wondering how fellow users learned about Ubuntu.

for me it was at my local computer shop, the tech guy showed me his laptop and i was interested.

:popcorn:

[Mrandersonjr]

Well,I had knoppix and decided to find some other distros,I found Linux mint 5 (based off ubuntu hardy) (Same repos as ubuntu,just different look and more software)and I've had it installed ever since.

[sges]

Found a site called distrowatch and it was ranked as number 1.

I hadn't used Linux for years and had decided to get back in. I tried SUSE 9.(I can't remember) and 10.1 which wouldn't upgrade properly (SUSE has improved greatly, I run 11.1 on my secondary machine, still zypper is not as good as deb packaging IMHO). I choose SuSE because I did not want to go Red Hat and Caldera/SCO had started suing. I had heard of Debian but I read it used a weird format not compliant with LSB and wouldn't run binaries (I now know rpm can be converted via alien, give my past self a break). I then discovered Distrowatch and read about Mark Shuttleworth. With misgivings, as it was based on "weird" Debian, I installed Hardy Heron that had come out the same month (April 2008 ) and fell in love, Linux that was easy to use.

Initial ease of use is important to allow a first time user to get interested, and not abandon Linux after one day.

Way back (Dec 18 1995 according to the invoice) I had purchased Slackware professional Linux "New Version! 2.3" (I still have the box, manual and CD-ROM) but could never get Xfree86 installed. I gave up eventually.

[linuxisevolution]

How did I? Well I was using Windows 98 and was searching for windows xp on ebay... DO NOT LAUGH!


I learned about Ubuntu from Ebay.

3 years later I am an Linux Guru, and I started on 6.10 :P

[Ben Crisford]

Back when I was a bit of a computer noob I posted on computalk forums to ask for some information on linux.

Someone told me all about it and told me that the best place to start was with Ubuntu, so I did. I got ubuntu and it didnt work... I fixed it, and wasn't happy with it (entirely down to my hardware).

When I got my new laptop I have it another go and loved it. I hardly ever boot windows at all now.

@linuxisevolution: I started on 6.10 also :). Does that make me a guru too ? :p hehe

[wolfen69]

after a friend of mine showed me a mepis and knoppix live cd, i did some research and stumbled across ubuntu soon after it first came out.

[yeats]

I was using Debian on a hand-me-down desktop (not my main computer), just to try it out. I was extremely conservative and Debian's stability was appealing (I also thought I was doing something really radical by installing Linux in the first place :-) ). Last year I bought a second hard drive for my main desktop for the purpose of installing Ubuntu, which I kept hearing about as being a cutting edge version of Debian. I am now a "Uni-booter (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1078277)" and haven't looked back.

[linuxisevolution]

Back when I was a bit of a computer noob I posted on computalk forums to ask for some information on linux.

Someone told me all about it and told me that the best place to start was with Ubuntu, so I did. I got ubuntu and it didnt work... I fixed it, and wasn't happy with it (entirely down to my hardware).

When I got my new laptop I have it another go and loved it. I hardly ever boot windows at all now.

@linuxisevolution: I started on 6.10 also :). Does that make me a guru too ? :p hehe

No, I just know a lot :D I also run 8 websites (including the ones in my sig) out of my closet with a Debian Linux server. And I have done MANY installs with different window managers and distros.

[perpetualcacophany]

I learned about it around the first time I ever heard of Linux. I found out about Linux while browsing &totse (a now defunct forum). I tried installing it on an older computer of mine right when 6.10 came out, but I didn't have the know-how to get it working properly. Now, in January I gained interest in it again and installed 8.10 on my MacBook. I've been using it as my main OS since.

[jelle_]

i wanted linux on my old pc, but i was unable to burn a cd. my nephew said ubuntu give free cd's, so i ordered one and installed it.

[WatchingThePain]

Good question.

I was sitting on Winblows bored.
Googled Linux. When I saw live cd slackware-no changes to system I thought right nothing to lose.

Well that Mandriva cd impressed me so I installed it.
There was a lot of stuff in google about Ubuntu so out of curiosity I tried Ubuntu.

Nearly two years on, me and Ubuntu are still best buddies.

[mkvnmtr]

I guess I first learned about it surfing the net, I really don't remember. My Mac osx 10.3.9 was getting kind of old. I pirated 10.4 and didn't like it. Found 6.06 and downloaded it and replaced the 10.4 partition and now I almost never go into osx. Never really used windows. Have a partition on one machine with xp pro but never really used it. It is payed for I won't delete it. Might sell the machine some day and it only takes 7 Gb.

[amylase]

A friend told me it's (Ubuntu) good. I didn't have time. So he gave me a desktop preloaded with Ubuntu. For a year I used only Firefox on it. I did everything else on my main Windows XP computer. Only when the XP box is too busy with various things and when I really needed to go online to check something at the same time, do I ever use that Ubuntu desktop he gave me. At first it was 2 minutes a month, then 20 minutes, then became an hour a week.

That's how it started for me. Now I'm using mainly Ubuntu. My notebook runs Ubuntu too. From time to time I still go back to the Windows XP box but less and less.

[cmay]

i used to subscribe to linux magazine.
once there was a debian sarge dvd on it as i did fall in love with.i went from rmp based disros to .deb when i found that.
next month there was an ubuntu live cd and i used it as live system sometimes and one day i just installed it and have being using it ever since. it was dapper drake.

[konqueror7]

found an old Oracle Magazine from my uncle, scanned trough the pages, saw the word 'linux' with the word 'operating system' got me somehow curious, but really never got me going because we don't have the resources there. started college, remembered about linux, got to the library, asked my professor if he has any linux distros there, got SuSE Enterprise Server, installed it and got amazed, didn't know what to do, after a year or so, got me thinking of linux's value for me as a developer, started dual-booting it (until now)...

[RichardLinx]

I saw a Linux magazine at a local store and noticed it came with a CD. The magazine was expensive but it caught my interest. I googled "Linux" later that day, learnt a little about it. Saw Ubuntu being recommended on multiple forums as "a good beginner distro" and the rest is history from there.

[3rdalbum]

My old Mac was running Mac OS 9 when the rest of the world had jumped to OS X. I didn't like OS X and besides, it would have barely run on my machine and left me almost no free HDD space. I started looking into Linux distros with this criteria:

1. Must have a PowerPC version (of course)
2. Must have a Live CD so I can evaluate before I go to the trouble of reformatting my HDD (no HFS resizing support at that time)
3. Must be able to send me a copy for free or at least be a small download - I had limited broadband connection then
4. Must be easy to grasp.

Guess which Linux distribution was the ONLY one to tick all those boxes?

[stalkingwolf]

I started with Red Hat 8. I liked it, the wife didnt. I went from there to
Linspire 4.5. at 5.0 it started to get flaky, tried xandros. worked for a while then one day it just would not boot. tried 6.10 and the rest is history.

I still try several distros a year. About once a year I go to frozentech
and buy 20.00 worth of CD/DVDs just to play with.

[kjb34]

I remember when Red Hat came out. I didn't use it back then but I kept track of linux developments. Finally a few years back when I decided to build my own computer I decided to take the plunge with 7.10.

[megamania]

In 2004, I got absolutely fed up with Windows. I installed Mandrake on an older PC to try Linux for the first time. I realized that was the way to go.

After a few months I installed Ubuntu 4.10 after reading feedbacks from other users. At the end of 2004 I deleted Windows. I've been using Ubuntu and only Ubuntu ever since.
Sometime in 2005 I bought a second-hand Mac Powerbook PPC. I was so bored with it that I sold it after a couple of months.

Sometimes I try new ditros in a virtual machine with VirtualBox, but have never felt the need to switch to a new distro.

[vigyani]

I used Redhat for long time and have been using REL and Fedora. When I bought a new laptop, I was researching a Linux Distro that is fast and easy to use for all.
Then I visited distrowatch after a long time and found that this new distro called Ubuntu was ranked as number 1.

Searched more about Ubuntu and found it was getting popular. Decided to try and almost everything worked out of box on my Laptop HP NX 6310.
Found a very helpful community and it getting better with each release. I fell in love with Ubuntu and it still continues.

[Flimm]

I read somebody's blog post about Ubuntu's default icon set. I think it was on my.opera.com (http://my.opera.com). Once I got a free CD of Ubuntu thanks to shipit (shipit.ubuntu.com), I was hook.

[xpod]

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=550506&page=4

[hyperdude111]

I was trying to crack school passwords with ophcrack but on boot the cd said "slax" so i searched slax on google and started learning about linux.

[armandh]

suggested by computer savy brother in-law

[lancest]

I was in college taking a computer course and the instructor introduced us to Red Hat. Sometime around 1997-98. I remember he told us "You'll either like it or hate it". We had fun installing it, x-windows was pretty difficult for us. After that I had Linux fever- buying boxed sets at Fry's and other places. Mandrake, Suse, Caldera & Storm were so much fun I never quit. I remember running Beos also. Ah the good old days... but Linux is so much better now.
I actually had a Slackware live cd around 2000 I think.

[cariboo907]

I have a software supplier than used to send out price lists via snail mail back in the late 90's, I started seeing Red Hat on the list around 1997-98. I was curious, so I bought a copy of Red Hat 5.2 and have been using Linux ever since. Staples also had Mandrake and Red Hat on the shelves around the same time.

Jim

[this is new york not l.a.]

my friend was using ubuntu on his desktop a few years back and it looked pretty cool then I got my first computer and dealt with windows bologna for about 2 years then I felt like a change. I looked up ubuntu and decided to give it a whirl. its been about 4 months and no lookin back

[Sef]

This thread has been done before. Hence moved to recurring Discussions.

[mdsmedia]

I installed RedHat some years ago. Can't remember what version it was but it came with a pocket book on my computer magazine. It worked, and I got dialup internet access, but that was about it.

I remained interested in Linux so I subscribed to my local LUG mailing list.

In 2001 I moved back from Perth to Melbourne and went to a computer swap meet. I found a copy of RedHat and installed it. I can't even remember the result of that, but needless to say I was still interested.

March or April 2005 I replaced my 3yo notebook under warranty. The 2nd luckiest thing that has happened to me in IT (just having the extended warranty), and 6 months later, my brand new notebook was grinding to a crawl. I asked my LUG mailing list and Ubuntu was suggested.

I downloaded and tried the Live CD. I used it for about 3 hours and was hooked.

The rest is history.

[z.s.tar.gz]

Back in 2007 I was waiting for more ram to come in the mail for vista (what was I tinking?!) and figured I would look at linux, which I had read about somewhere. I was under the impression that linux was one thing, and that it now had X11, so I could use a GUI, instead of a command line.

I figured I would take a look at linux, and when I googled it, ubuntu came up first. Since then I have used almost all of the top 20 distros, and ubuntu is still the best. (OpenSuse is nice too)

[bpalone]

For Linux it was back in late 90's (probably 98 or 99) that I heard about Linux. I installed a version and liked it but had the old software issue.

a few years passed and I read an article in a computer magazine about Ubuntu. I was getting tired of the M$ treadmill and decided that I would look into to it for a move away from M$. First set a file server with 7.10, which is still running, then decided to try making the switch for real. Learned about VirtualBox and now I am almost always in Ubuntu. Still have some software that runs better in native Windows, so once in a while I have to boot into it.

I chose Ubuntu, because it was the top distro. Figured that way if I ran into trouble I would probably have an easier time finding an answer. That was one my few correct decisions. It has been easy to find answers here in these forums and elsewhere on the internet. I still like books though, so I end up purchasing books once in a while.

It has been a good journey so far and I don't see anything to make me think it will change any time soon.

[cheapie]

OK, Here Goes...

I stumbled upon a Slackware-based Live CD only distribution called Slax (slax.org) and liked it. I wanted to install Slackware but didn't have any CDs or any money to buy some. I then searched on Google for a way to install Linux from inside windows. (I didn't care about the distribution at that point) I found an installer called Wubi (wubi-installer.org) that supported installing Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Xubuntu. I picked Ubuntu, but it wouldn't work on my hardware. About 9 months later I tried it on my new computer and it worked. While playing around in the system menu, I found the option "Create a USB startup disk." I used it on an old 2GB flash drive I had and started from it. To my (pleasant) surprise, you can install from it. I wiped out Windows on the spot.

[jo4hnc]

I had put together an AMD 64 machine in 2006. Installed Windows XP on it and after a short while XP got very cranky. It blew up 3 times at which point I decided to explore the possibility of using Linux. I downloaded about a half dozen live CD distros and fooled around with them for a few months. Choosing Ubuntu was actually a no brainer. I've found that I can do virtually everything I did in Windows using Ubuntu. I still do have a wiindows machine and a windows laptop but find that I use Ubuntu probably 80% to 20%. It's been easy to learn and the forums are a great place to do it. Like I said in another post "built by associations".(I know bad pun but I can't help myself)...........

John

[ninjapirate89]

I can't remember where I first heard about linux but I do remember when I first tried it. I was in a computer class in high school and a friend of mine ordered several Ubuntu 7.10 cds and gave them away. I took one and experimented with it as a live cd for a few months then dual-booted with xp. Now it is the sole OS on my laptop. Still forced to dual-boot with XP on my desktop though for my Zune software.

[Ericyzfr1]

I first heard about it from guys I used to work with in 2002/2003, they all seemed interested and wanted to use it. Of course, I heard the word Linux before.....so I said I was also going to get it.
Sometimes in spring 06, I read that more company were using "open source software", that it did not cost anything and did pretty much what windows did. Myself being tired of my Vaio....sony crap+XP, I searched for it....Well, in one afternoon, I ended up loading Ubuntu, then kubuntu, but thought it was going to be too much work ( I did not have the time anyway). A year later, after spending money on 2 XP cd's and not getting where I wanted I decided to give it a good shot, I scratched my head a bit and made it work. I installed it on my wife's laptop...she uses it everyday!

[Deuce1912]

Heard of it from dl.tv. First tried Gutsy Gibbon, and now am running Intrepid Ibex.

My desktop is primarily windows. I mainly have linux on there in case of windows meltdown. (you know the kind.)

On my laptop however I have found that the only time I boot into windows is on patch Tuesday to update it. Other than that it's primarily my good ol' friend Ibex.

[C!oud]

Soulseek

[sheshdd]

i had been interested on linux since many years,like 5 years ago i installed Mandrake and RedHat,but couldn't get them to work properly due to my general lack of computer knowledge.

So in january of this year i started to do some research about linux distros on forums,asking people wich linux distro offered ease of use and stability for a system like mine(pentium 4 2.26 ghz less then a giga of ram,764 or something like that,don't know the exact number)and i kept reading "ubuntu" everywhere...so here i am,running ubuntu.

[rspk3]

One day I decided that, being a geek after all, I have to learn about Linux. Googled around and found Ubuntu.

[Simian Man]

When I went to University for CS, they were running Red Hat 7 in the computer labs (this was a while ago). I was intrigued and got a copy for my old computer that was running Windows 95 at the time. I used that for a long while and eventually upgraded to a new computer and installed Fedora 5. I have used every version of Fedora since then. I have tried several other distros including Ubuntu over that time, but always stuck with Red Hat/Fedora.

[Therion]

I met this really cute girl wearing an Ubuntu t-shirt and it got me to thinking about... About...

Well about a few things actually, Ubuntu being one of them.

[tacantara]

A buddy of mine at work, who is more of a tech geek than me, introduced me to Ubuntu well over a year ago. At the time, I was interested, but not enough to convert. Recently, I decided to give it a second look, as I was becoming more disenchanted with Windows. I run Ubuntu now as my main OS, with XP in a virtual box (for those few remaining programs that don't have a Linux alternative). :)

[elliotn]

I first read about linux in prodigits but neva cared until when I browsed the net and start reading more about it so it was 2007 and I got myself ubuntu disk and installed it but couldnt get around it, until Ms gave me troubles so I put Ubuntu back and dual booth with xp since then

[capnthommo]

hi. i first heard about 'buntu in a newspaper column by stephen fry, about a year or so ago. he wrote about some useful tweaks for ones brand new pc such as firefox instead of ie and open office for ms office. and he suggested junking windows and loading ubuntu. a year later i did it.
my everlasting thanks will be thine, oh marvelous stephen!
glad i screwed up the nerve to do it.
cheers
nigel
:guitar: