What got you into open source?

[Middle_Man]

HAY WHATS UP!!! :D

I'm kinda new to the community here. Im very nooby when it comes to linux (like all the basic things i struggle with but am learning) but while i was reading a tut, i was thinking to my self what got me to push my hand into this. TELL ME WHAT GOT YOU INTO OPEN SOURCE! here is my story.

i guess it started back in 03 when my dad's friend fixed my busted comp. The Dell comp we bought broke after 80 days of purchase and the hard drive needed to be replaced. we called them up but they wouldn't take it back (we had a warranty but they were underhanded and there sales people kept referring us to false numbers to get us to leave them alone.) anyways, he fixed our comp. it had a busted hard drive and when he re-installed windows he added an "extra" program for me. he said it was safer and faster than the standard. it was Firefox .5 beta. he said it was "open source" and at the time i didn't understand what that meant. after a while i did some searching with the new browser. (i found it fast and secure like he said it was) and i started to learn and understand the community of open source. from then on i replaced about 85% of my stuff with open source alternatives. i just found them more unique and more reliable and easier to understand. i was really devoted to this whole notion of choice in software, and freedom to do what you would like to do with this software.

recently in late 06 i decided to make a switch to linux. i chose Kubuntu as my first (and only, so far) linux OS. since then i have been using it to do a lot of my school work on. like the open office apps. i use the word processor and presentation apps quite a lot. I'm still learning my way around and am hoping to get some good skills to contribute to the community. SO WHATS YOUR STORY? :popcorn:

[starcraft.man]

3 things really got me into open source. First was Firefox. I adopted it in mid/late 1.0 and never looked back, I found myself amazed at how well a free program could be coded and render something paid (IE 6 at the time, you pay for windows) completely and utterly inadequate (not only in security, but in every other feature as well...). It just blew me away, 1.5 just sealed it for me as a great thing.

From there I started getting more and more interested, in part out of resentment for being a long term windows user and upset at the increases in DRM and other horrible things MS was doing (WGA was one of the worst). I was tired of MS and was tired of some of ridiculously overpriced suites for Windows (Office and Adobe suite come to mind, I had used less than legitimate means for some...). I found open office later and well, I started using that more and more and forgetting about Office 2003 my last office suite.

Lastly was Vista. MS pissed me off. Stupid decision after stupid decision got me MAD! I've seen over my long term use (stared in DOS 4.x) the amount of care put into Windows degrade, to the point now where MS seems to think they can do anything and people will still buy (not me). The dropped key features (WinFS, powershell (later made) and others), the inclusion of stringent DRM (WGA and HD DVD DRM), the crappy Aero and its requirements and a few other proprietary decisions all lead me to the conclusion that this was an OS MS made to limit my actions on MY OS. That was the final straw, I'll not be told what I can and can't do on MY Computer. It's mine!

I steadily increased my Linux (Ubuntu) usage ever since early January, becoming seriously interested when I joined these forums and started plowing over texts till I got to where I am today, helping other people do it. I'm still learning btw, I don't know nearly enough yet about Linux to call myself a power user :).

Not a complicated story, theres more details but I'd probably bore ya. I wish I'd knew about such great choices like Ubuntu before (then again, some people say that might have been less pleasant). I am happy to be here now though, and not going anywhere else.

Edit: I guess looking back I got into it because MS was giving me unnecessary headaches, in part because I really liked the quality open source products I tried (including Ubuntu) and in part because the Ubuntu community (amazingly to me) was friendly when I was starting out and answered questions without any antagonism or other negative like charging by the hour for tech support in a foreign country or some such.

[Middle_Man]

Not a complicated story, theres more details but I'd probably bore ya. I wish I'd knew about such great choices like Ubuntu before (then again, some people say that might have been less pleasant). I am happy to be here now though, and not going anywhere else.

please tell me the details. i got time.

i have an old comp (not good for much i am afraid) in runs windows 2000. a friend of mine fixed it up and installed it. i never had a problem with it till i hooked it up to the internet. it told me that updates were ready for it and i downed it. ever since then i keep getting pop up adds (even when my internet cable is unpluged from the darn thing) about how i need to buy software to fix the stupid machine after a security update! its a money grab! that ticked me off a lot. i was better off with out the "security update". and yes i did download this from MS update website.

they tried bleeding me for money... i couldn't stand that... the only reason why i didn't wipe it clean is because i have AutoCAD on there and i don't THINK it runs on linux. that and i dont want to take a chance of never using the program again. i kinda need it.

[ijustam]

I got sick of paying for crap applications with no community in which I was just a "consumer" who did nothing but use their apps. I would come with ideas to make the app better with no outlet, and no options. Open source allows me to voice my opinion in a community, and if no one cares (and I feel up to it) I can do it myself.

I don't have a lot of beef with Windows... it works, just not in the way I want it to work.

Not to mention Gnome/X is so much more efficient. I was able to run all of Vista's eye-candy (and more) using Beryl (on Feisty) on a 750mhz K6 with 256mb of ram and a GeForce2 video card.

Plus, if there's a security breach in an closed-source app you just kinda have to sit on your hands and hope the developer isn't on vacation. With open source, someone else can pick it up if need be.

I can't program well, but Linux has been nothing but a learning experience (and I love to learn)... last night I started getting into Perl and found how amazing simple commands like "cat" and small perl scripts can be when doing large database work.

[sonofusion82]

like many tech-geeky type, I have been playing around with linux due to curiosity to explorer the inner workings of an OS since Red Hat 4. however, it has remained as a toy OS and Windows (pirated copy) is still my primary OS until I graduated 2 years ago. Hey, in this part of the world, software piracy is so common that there are not much motivation to buy originals especially for home users.
Now that I am a software developer myself, understand the difficulties of software development, I would feel guilty to use software without appreciating and for paying all the hardwork that has be put to make a piece of software product a success. but being in this part of the world where Vista Ultimate cost half my paycheck, i have decided to turn fully to open source as it has mature so much since my late 90s when I first started playing with them. the community support in open source is great!

[Middle_Man]

sounds like you really wanted the community aspect more than the software. i can understand that. you got ideas swarming in your mind on what would be kinda cool to have but no one is there to listen. and you have no way of getting that idea to take form. i guess in linux you at least have a chance to let that idea take shape if no one is willing to help.

its good that there are people willing to learn. it shows character, at least i think.

EDIT: the above was directed at ijustam

to sonofusion82 - i can relate to that. i have pirated a few things before but quite. open source just clicked for me.

[SoulinEther]

Because it was different?

Actually... my brother introduced me to linux... neither of us knew anything about it until he read something about it, and showed it to me. I was thrilled. Still am, lol.

Plus... eh... guilty conscience. If you get my drift. :P But... in ONE sense... pirating isn't stealing, it's more like sharing. Though that's where the EULAs and license agreements come in.

[MaindotC]

I'm in a network administration program that requires Linux as part of the curriculum. A majority of the classmates were already well-versed in Linux, so I got to meet some people who talk about things like john or rpm's or smoothwall like they're second knowledge. Then I started to explore the different distro's and I liked Ubuntu because a lot of people had it and it seemed a good starter Linux O/S. A lot of people I know that have advanced their knowledge of the environment use Gentoo so I plan to move up there soon, but for right now I like Linux.

I have a lapper I wanna give my g/f as a gift and she is into graphic design so I'm going to install Ubuntu Studio on it. Of course I can't help but fall in love with the ease of installations, searching for packages in repositories, and feeling a sense of self-accomplishment by learning how to overcome obstacles, although mostly by searching forums :)

[avik]

It all started with my love for hacking (the good kind). I guess that comes from my dad.

When I was running Windows, I felt constrained by the lack of good tools, such a decent command line, and the fact that the best development tools like gcc were made for UNIX systems. So of course, I had to switch.

Even aside from pure programming and such, I loved the customizability of most OSS. After all, Firefox was customizable through themes and extensions, and as I found out, GNU/Linux and family were customizable through Desktop Environments and Window Managers. For example, right now, I'm running the Ratpoison Window Manager (http://www.nongnu.org/ratpoison/), something I could never have done on my Windows box.

In terms of principle, I've always loved open source and found closed source development very restricting. Even when I found it too hard to switch to GNU/Linux (I tried a couple of times and failed each time), I still tried to keep my Windows box as open as possible, with OSS such as Firefox, Thunderbird, etc. Still, when the central piece of software on the system (namely the OS) is not only proprietary, but deliberately tries to lock you in, then there's no other option than to get the hell out of there.

Obviously, Macs are too expensive, and even then, they try to lock you in. The only good option? OSS, of course!

So I've always loved OSS from whenever I found out about it (way before Firefox and such, too), and now, it's been over a year since I switched! Yay!

[JOrtiz8612]

1 word: Firefox.

[Hex_Mandos]

First it was FF 1.0 in late 04. Then I tried OOo, but didn't use it much. I also installed Gimp around the same time. I really liked the idea of free software, as I'm a bit of an idealist, but I thought Linux wasn't for me yet. Then, late last year, I had to format my HD. I decided that installing another OS in a separate partition would be fun, so I looked around for different distros that'd fit my needs. I found Ubuntu, tried the LiveCD, and decided that I'd use it as my primary OS. A few months later, I deleted my Windows partition. If I ever need to do something that's Windows only I use my brother's XP box.

[Ultra Magnus]

I didn't really know much about Open source, but I had heard of Linux. I think it was around 2003/4 when windows virus' ruled the world and every visit to the internet infected your computer - I think most people who remember will remember it was a nightmare - I couldn't connect long enough to get a fire wall without getting a virus that totally crippled my computer, so i gave Linux a try (Fedora Core 3 (or 4) I think) - unfortunately it didn't work on my laptop so back to windows I went.

Last september I started using Linux on the University computers and really liked it and I got as many of the apps I could to run on Windows -I wrote my entire masters physics thesis (mostly fortran programming and latex) on emacs in windows - and I started to find out about open source, then I actually realised most of the programs I used were open source and thought I'd give Linux another go - this time it worked, been using Ubuntu as my main install now for about 4 weeks and its been great.

[lamalex]

definitely for the chicks, nothing gets you in bed with a major hottie faster than a LUG meeting. /me packs his bags for Ubuntu live.

[crimesaucer]

Finding Firefox in December 2005- then I got into all of the Freeware apps available on Filehippo and Softpedia... then after using GIMP with the GIMP GTK for windows, I really liked the program and figured if I liked Firefox/Thunderbird and the GIMP so much, then I would probably like ubuntu and Linux...I messed around with the 5.10 Live CD but didn't like it, and also tried the xubuntu beta 6.06 and didn't understand it so I went back to Windows Xp...then I finally gave xubuntu 6.06 an honest try in September of 2006, and I have used it everyday since then...learned some basic things like writing gtkrc files for gtk-2.0 themes, and have kept upgrading all the way to 7.04...

[andycyca]

Mine is kinda the same. Unhappy with Microsoft. I started blogging and a fellow mlogger asked me wether I knew some nice FF extensions for blogging. "Extensions? Firefox? " I said. When he showed me, i was really shocked: I could manipulate easily my browser according to my needs! I couldn't understand a toolbar without ads or annoying things!

That was like, winter 2004. Near Jan '07 I got this "Crappy old pc" (quoting his previous user): very slow, still with Win 98, some viruses... I had enough courage to test on it my newly acquired formatting skills (which, BTW are still very poor). I was talking about it with a friend and he told me that re-installing Win was a Pain in the neck just for acquiring the boot disks. He told me that there were other options, like Linux. At that time I only knew Linux as a "something" made for Human Gods of programming and advanced webmasters, definetly not something for a common user like me.

Well, he gave me this CD ("They gave it to me for free") and told me that all I had to do was to start my PC with it. AS any other skeptical guy, I tried to find ot more about this strange thing and somehow ended on this Xubuntu System Requirements:

160 MB RAM O_O

And, downloaded it, burned it, booted it, installed it. I couldn't believe I had a brand new OS just by clicking 7 or 8 "next" buttons. And free of charge.

[JOrtiz8612]

I was pretty impressed too how quick Ubuntu installed. I even went as far as thinking that something went wrong because I'm used to installing Windows which takes forever.

[raul_]

Even aside from pure programming and such, I loved the customizability of most OSS. After all, Firefox was customizable through themes and extensions, and as I found out, GNU/Linux and family were customizable through Desktop Environments and Window Managers. For example, right now, I'm running the Ratpoison Window Manager (http://www.nongnu.org/ratpoison/), something I could never have done on my Windows box.


That's raw

Actually I started using Firefox and then Thunderbird because they came in my Pc MAgazine's cd. Later I used Open Office because i didn't need nothing too fancy as Microsoft Office. I didn't even know what OSS was.

I changed to Linux, not because of OSS, as I said, I didn't even knew they were related till later. I switched because I had to boot Linux in order to do my college works (programming, mostly) and I started customizing it, since I spent so much time in it. A couple of months later I realised I haven't booted Windows for like 2 months, and I kept it that way :)

[mostwanted]

Mozilla Browser version 0.6 or 0.7 (this was waaaay before Phoenix AKA Firebird AKA Firefox was ever conceived) got me into open source. I feel old now :(

[ironslave]

dont worry mostWanted, im only 22 and i was using mosilla when it was still beta, then firefox came around... i liked mozilla just fine and didnt start using forefox till i put in ubuntu. i like ubuntu fine, i didnt switch. i use both 50/50. i'm a gamer and linux dosent have the same level of gaming, and Cedega wont cut it, not to mention wine has issues with my hardware.... i also write software for my job and it's hard to program on anything but the Native platform, especcialy with Visual studio (which i dont like) i will prolly go back to borland. i first got to ubuntu when my computer took a crap on me and my windows install disc was AWOL i had my Knoppix laying around for "emergencys" and found ubuntu on distrowatch.com dl'ed to the Crashed drive, burnt to a disc. installed it and i was happy. and ive had it on my PC for around 6 months, not including the 2 months i didnt have it cause Edgy was bogging the PC down with constant updates and i didnt feel like 3 hours of dling updates for it after i destryed Xorg trying to install a new video card. but i have it yet again now that feisty came out. and it seems to run SO much better.

[VChief]

Linux introduced me to open source (along with the documentary Code Rush). I loved the idea that people were free to modify the code themselves and actually owned it, not just had a license. And, finally, my big reason for supporting OS is it works! Just look at open source development vs closed source. Open source works.

[xhilyn]

Like many other people here my first Open Source Prog was Firefox and then Thunderbird. A few years ago I tried to install Debian onto an old Mac I had lying around but failed completely. I used Macs for years during the OS 7-9 period (when I had money) but when OSX came out it was terrible it was so slow and completely unusable until version 10.2. It was at that point that my three year old G4 suddenly died on me and as I just could not afford a new PowerMac I had no choice but to buy a cheap Windows XP computer. Which was OK to use just not very inspiring and I really missed the OS 9 GUI. So when I saw some screen shots of Ubuntu in 2006 I decided to try to install it onto an old Pentium III that someone had given me, and much to my surprise it installed and worked beautifully and the Gnome GUI really reminds me of Mac OS9 only much better, as it doesn't crash all the time. So last month I bought a second hand Compaq Evo W4000 2.2ghz Pentium IV and installed Ubuntu Studio onto it (I'm an amateur song writer with a home studio) which is just great. I can't leave windows and Cubase with it's VST plug in Synths and Effects just yet but I hope to slowly learn the Programmes in Ubuntu Studio like Ardour and Rosegarden and eventually change over completely.

What is really driving me to do it though is all the Windows Genuine Advantage crap and DRM that you have to put up with using XP. Validating the software is bad enough but now you have to constantly let Redmond know that my copy of their crappy Windows is a real one, not once but over and over again which is even worse in Vista which I hope to never use. So it's Ubuntu and open source for me from now on. And I must just add that I am truly blown away with the quality of Open Source Applications they are certainly more than good enough for my use.:)

[AndyCooll]

My conscience got me into open-source.

I'd been using pirated software for years and my conscience got the better of me. Although I bought an XP licence I simply couldn't afford to buy loads of software (not to mention additional OS licences for my other boxes).

So I started looking for "free" apps. I became aware of Firefox and oOo, and eventually Linux. And along the way I learnt about the open-source. I'm not a programmer but nonetheless I understood the philosophy and was soon hooked (and still am). I've been using Linux only at home for a couple of years now. And open-source apps where possible at work (mainly through Portable Apps and Cygwin, though I have managed to sneak installs of FF and oOo onto my work laptop!)

:cool:

[beefcurry]

Free Software came first, Open Source came second. My liking of the FSF ideals gradually led me to replace everything to Open Source software.

[raul_]

I guess Mozilla started all of us in Open Source. Amen to them ;)

[init1]

Firefox seems to the main reason why people started using open source. I started when I saw Fedora Core 1 at a book store and bought it. Fedora Core didn't even come with Firefox, but Mozilla instead. I guess it isn't much different.

[Sunforge]

I have to say that Firefox was a starter although at work I alternate between IE and FF depending on the site or application being used as there isn't universal support for either browser (correct me if I'm wrong here).

For me the big change was Windows Vista. I have a pretty fast machine for home use but ye gods, the amount of RAM that Vista takes up just to function, so I asked around about Linux and was told Ubuntu was the most user friendly distro.

I'd quite like to try other distros and have so far tried Fedora and Suse, completely failed with Gentoo (I think I need to understand Linux before attempting to install that one) and Centos (mainly as a server replacement).

A question for anyone out there: what are the friendliest Linux distros?

[euler_fan]

What got me into open source was twofold.

First, I had a friend or two in it and it looked cool. They didn't even have Beryl or anything like that, just the idea of messing with it seemed interesting.

Second, at the time I was looking at getting involved with a research project that would involve a lot of Fortran coding, and the software was designed to run on *nix boxes.

The project prospects changed, but after getting into Ubuntu I'm not going back to Windows as my full time OS. Rather, it is for interfacing with parts of the world that still don't get the *nix is just better :) And even on my Windows install, I am running OOo, LyX, Thunderbird, FF, and a number of other open source programs for most of what I want it to do.

[kopinux]

it was during the WGA days. one day MS got stricter and starts pushing unlicensed windows users, got tired of the pop up and i went to look for a free windows like os in google, and found lindows/linspire then someone recommended ubuntu if i want totally free software. and found this open source world that i thought never existed.

[morrigan]

the fact windows seemed entirely incapable of working without constantly being coaxed like a constipated geriatric. seriously, i had endless problems with xp on my laptop. since switching to ubuntu i haven't looked back, not even when parallel parking (women drivers eh?)

regs

morrigan

[Skrynesaver]

Needed to learn how to maintain a website and write cgi-bin code for it, came across this Slackware Linux OS and decided to try it out as a learning tool, got to like it a lot. Windows hadn't incorporated BSD's TCP/IP stack into the kernel yet so I got to learn networking properly and the tools available for knocking up scripts were fantastic. Tried a few more distributions over the years and settled on Ubuntu of late.

If I were advising someone today on a sensible progression from beginner to guru I'd recomend starting with Ubuntu then moving on to Slackware when you got comfortable with the command line and config files. Once you're comfortable compiling your own software and adapting scripts to do what you want, try out LFS and build your ideal environment. At this point you should be able to use any distribution at all.

[arbulus]

It's really interesting how many people in this thread got started with Firefox.

My first was the original Mozilla Browser (pre Firefox). Although, at the time, I didn't understand what open source was. Later on, I moved to Firefox. I aslo tried The GIMP on my Mac. And I had heard of Linux before, but never really knew anything about it. I had read a little on it, and found that I had to download an ISO, burn to a disc and then install a whole new operating system. At that time, I didn't have any way to do that because I didn't have an extra machine, and I didn't know anything about dual-booting at the time. So I forgot about it. My curiosity got the best of me a year or so later when I downloaded Ubuntu and set up a dual boot on my iMac.

[MethodOne]

I first heard of Linux when I saw a box of Mandrake for $20 at Wal-Mart, but I didn't have a computer to run it on and I wasn't knowledgeable about computers at the time. The first open-source app I used was ZSNES (http://www.zsnes.com), a Super Nintendo/Famicom emulator. I heard about the GPL when I was looking through the archive of the cheat code hacking tool GCNcrypt. The first time I heard the phrase "open-source" was when I was using Firefox. After a while, I kept hearing the term over and over when I started to use Linux.

[hummingbird59]

This is really funny to me: My journey started a few years ago with Firefox. Then, I found Opera and loved it. Then, I found Open Office and started using it. Thought it was great (and still do). Then, realized I was wasting my money on paid antivirus/firewall programs so I started using "free" versions (not sure if they were open source or not). Then, I realized I was spending way too much time "defending" my computer against viruses and spyware (I had two or three different antispyware progs on my WIN XP machine at one time). Then, I realized my comp was so slow by all my defense efforts and just generally being Windoz. So, I read about Linux Ubuntu in PC World (I think) ordered a Dapper CD through ship it - waited forever - finally got the cd but found that none of my hardware worked. So, I started burning ISOs and found that Edgy worked. Still unsure so I waited for Feisty - loved it almost immediately - everything worked (for the most part) so I did not even bother with the dual boot just went straight UBUNTU (small hard drive - so I really had to make a choice). No regrets (except for a little kernel panic every now and then). My computer now thinks it is brand new..LOL

Anyway, maybe its just me but every time I think about my journey, I just have to laugh! Once you go open source, it really is hard to stop!

[Irony]

Blender - I thought blimey this is a fantastic program. Up to that point I had thought opensource stuff must be rubbish 'cos people weren't paid for it.

[samschoice]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but FireFox was built out of the remnants of Nutscrape Navigator?

I'm using firefox right now. Vista brought me to open-source, Ubuntu has made me stay.

[beefcurry]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but FireFox was built out of the remnants of Nutscrape Navigator?

I'm using firefox right now. Vista brought me to open-source, Ubuntu has made me stay.

Yup it was :D, Mozilla was the code name used in the development of Netscape, then when Netscape was taken over by AOL the developers started using Mozilla.

[Fenryr]

I'm one of those leftover '60's kids...Any time I get a chance to kick 'the Establishment' in the balls, I figure, 'GO for it!'...*g*:guitar:

[wolfen69]

I'm one of those leftover '60's kids...Any time I get a chance to kick 'the Establishment' in the balls, I figure, 'GO for it!'...*g*:guitar:

Right on! Groovy!