Where'd You Learn About Ubuntu (or any Linux distro)?

[tcoffeep]

This is a question that's been bugging me for quite awhile. I mean, I've been hearing about Linux off and on for the past year, but nothing beforehand. I took the step when there was a guide in Maximum PC on how to install Ubuntu, and it's been a dreamland ever since. I've tried a few others I read about here in the forums (ie - Fedora, Debian, Gentoo, Linspire), but Ubuntu works best for me. (Although I dual-boot Ubuntu with Debian). So, my question to you all, is this:

What made you take the step?

[misfitpierce]

Google.... lol :)

[tcoffeep]

Seriously?
What made you decide to take the step?

[Zzl1xndd]

Well I heard about Linux cause I have always had a large interest in Computers and I dual booted with Fedora for a long time but I heard about Ubuntu threw Tech TV and Pod casts about a year ago and Installed it and never went back to windows.

[stepan2]

I was reading a hacking zine and they talked about the power of linux so i searched it up . When i found out that it was free9as in open source) and i could create my own OS , i jumped right on the bandwagen

[Saner]

We used to use Olivetti Unix on machines with wine terminals in the olden days (we as in we maintained them for schools)

I couldnt afford Unix, and I wanted to play at home, so I got hold of a copy of Redhat, and have used Linux on and off since then depending on my mood.

In recent years (the last 3 or 4) I have found it a hell of a lot easier to let go of windows and switch completly to Linux, I usually only switch back when a game comes out and cedega / wine refuse's to run it (I am sulking at the moment over the Civ 4 expantion pack and vista is starting to look tempting urgh)

[crimesaucer]

StumbleUpon is where I first saw ubuntu and Linux, I was very new to computers and had just gotten into xhtml/css so I researched ubuntu and liked the idea of open source and command line interface so I joined the Ubuntu forums.

Then I kept seeing articles about it on digg.com and slashdot, so I gave it a real try in Oct.2006 and have used it since.

[FuturePilot]

Some of my friends and people on other forums. I had been curious about Linux for a while but thought all of the usual stereotypes about it. Hard to install, hard to use, no software blah blah blah. Wow was I wrong. Finally the curiosity really got to me and I found an old hard drive, popped it in my laptop and installed Ubuntu.

[original_jamingrit]

A few years ago, I was totally unfamiliar with linux, and it never occurred to me to check it out. But when I took a class in programming in C, our professor suggested using the gcc compiler in linux. I tried Fedora core 4, and while it didn't quite understand it, it seemed cool. Later on, I installed Ubuntu and liked it a lot.

[xpod]

StumbleUpon is where I first saw ubuntu and Linux, I was very new to computers and had just gotten into xhtml/css so I researched ubuntu and liked the idea of open source and command line interface so I joined the Ubuntu forums.

lol....snap
I`d seen the term "linux" here & there during the few months i used Windows,mainly on the help forums i was frequenting funnily enough.

Typed "operating systems" into stumble upon one day and up popped Ubuntu:)
That was a year ago to the day in fact(give or take 24 hours)

I only really sat down at a pc last March hoping to keep ahead of the kids as they began using the things proper."Pc`s & kids" kinda worried me a bit back then so i was determined to get my head round the things for them alone.

I`d never have sat down at one otherwise, and now........well,the wife still loves me and thats the main thing:)

[ThinkBuntu]

I don't recall any distinct reason I wanted to try Linux, or even how I first heard of it for a desktop system. I was aware of RedHat and had heard of Fedora once or twice, ut that was it. This is sort of strange, because usually I don't forget these things. I had no pressing reason to use Linux either, except that I was bored, broke, and wanted a cheap thrill. So I browsed Wikipedia for "distros", not really understanding the differences between them, but I knew I wanted something easy and robust. The Ubuntu article made clear the distro's popularity, so I figured I should jump in with that. If it's free, I could easily switch. I decided not to use openSuSE because I thought the logo was tacky, and it seemed too commercial for me at the time.

So I downloaded the ISO, figured out how to burn it, and completely wiped my harddisk of Mac OS X. Since then, everything I've learned has been passive, i.e. I've picked it up as I've needed it. But if my current self were to talk computers or Linux with myself before I used Linux, my former self would probably just look confused.

[misfitpierce]

Free software was 1
No spyware and crapware was 2
Innovation and customization was 3
Wanted to move away from unfree mac and windows.

[ThinkBuntu]

I also remember that I'd heard of OpenOffice (which I used on my Mac) and the GIMP, both of which I was curious about. I wanted to run them in their native environments, which I learned was Linux.

[Steve1961]

I started using openoffice, firefox and thunderbird in windows as well. Thought they were great and decided to go the whole hog. I started off buying a copy of Suse 9.1 from PC World, then buying Linux magazines (Linux format mostly), and eventually gave Ubuntu a try when Hoary was released.

[kingof1981]

helllo..
i learned about ubuntu via friends and the great www...
linux it's great... and ubuntu rock's...:guitar:

[XDevHald]

I learned about Ubuntu from doing a search for Linux Distrobutions on Google and found that Ubuntu was the look'n feel and also gnome touch that I wanted for a desktop. I wasn't sure how to use the commands but it took me a great deal of 3-4 months to really learn it ALL.

[kknd]

On the web. People always said: "Linux is fuc**** good!", and they where right :)

[ceelo]

Kind of weird, the first place where I saw any reference to Ubuntu was on the uTorrent official site. In the screenshots down the right side, they have Ubuntu downloading, among other things. So I Googled it and went from there.

[RAV TUX]

This is a question that's been bugging me for quite awhile. I mean, I've been hearing about Linux off and on for the past year, but nothing beforehand. I took the step when there was a guide in Maximum PC on how to install Ubuntu, and it's been a dreamland ever since. I've tried a few others I read about here in the forums (ie - Fedora, Debian, Gentoo, Linspire), but Ubuntu works best for me. (Although I dual-boot Ubuntu with Debian). So, my question to you all, is this:

What made you take the step?

How did I hear about Linux?


I don't remember the publication but it may have been NewsWeek or some other magazine like that, they ran a front page article on Linux and it's threat to Microsoft.

On the front page they had a annoyed looking Tux with a fly swatter in his hand about to whack the Windows butterfly.


How did I hear about Ubuntu?

I first heard about Ubuntu, after doing extensive research on Linux distros....

Why, was I researching Linux distros...because I was quite annoyed and bugged with the spotty preformance of Windows.

After doing a lot of research I found that SUSE was my #1 pick(this is before Novell took them over)....but then I read about Ubuntu....even though at the time it was billed as not a beginners distro by what ever review I was reading...what attracted it me was the almost limitedless customization and freedom that Ubuntu offered...at least that is what the review/article read.

I didn't know much about Linux but it sounded nice to me...so I ordered free ship it CD's and blogged about the ship it CD's and told as many people as I could about it online via StumbleUpon (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/138)(under an old ID I have since stopped using and had the account deleted).

People were interested and started ordering free ship it CD's like wildfire...

This was when many people had never heard of Ubuntu, let only Linux.

The buzz was phenomenal.

[jkdub]

I actually found out about Linux in the process of learning Windows from Windows forums. For some reason I was fascinated with reading about it but thought it was above my limited tech ability. I'm really just a technical wannabe, my understanding is way too limited though. Since I like to explore and mess with computers I seemed to come across old computers from time to time and installed Windows on them just to play and learn. Then came WinXP with activation..........stopped my fun dead. Well I still had older Windows to play with but it kinda ticked me off, that's when I started checking Linux out. I was immediately taken with it but then it was still a smidgion too much for me. I was given a not quite legit version of XP and my fun continued. Then of course came WGA (it's easy to beat, but what's the point). I checked some Linux distro's out again about a year ago and things had come quite a long way. I did some distro hopping looking for the right one (and just for the fun of it) I finally got to the Ubuntu distro on my list. I made the list by the way from searching Linux sites. Ubuntu turned out to be the distro for me and I'm glad to have finally settled down here. I still have XP on a second hard drive, I sometimes boot into it just to see if it's still there. For some reason I'm afraid to get rid of it, like some kind of security blanket. I don't hate it but I do despise the company MS. I won't be purchasing (or getting unauthentic) any newer MS OS's tho and the great thing about that is...........I don't have too!

[jusmurph]

It is a funny thing but i don't remember... i wanted to try linux for a long time.

I think i stumbleupon'd wubi, and i thought i would cut out the wubi?

[keyboardashtray]

I kept seeing stories on it at Digg.com. I wouldn't read the stories, I just kept seeing the word "Ubuntu" in titles. I thought it was about an African community that was getting laptops from OLPC that I'd heard about on NPR (although I didn't know the details on OLPC until after I got Ubuntu). I believe the first story I actually read was "Ubuntu guy has a Dell T-shirt", which really just lead to Ubuntu.com. I was amazed: an alternative to Windows, and it's free? (as in free-beer). I'd heard about Linux but I never paid much attention to it. I thought Linux was for scientists.

Well, all the stuff I was reading about it just seemed so cool, the principals of open-source software, the whole underground feeling but that it was really growing.

I gotta admit, though, the biggest sell for me was that it was free and I could try it off of a CD without affecting my computer, because ultimately XP hasn't been too much of a headache for me.

After I set up my brother's new PC with Vista, though, I knew XP would be the last Windows I would use. Windows keeps getting more bloated with every release, I really don't see how they can keep up this pace and still retain the market share, especially when things like Ubuntu are out there.

[steveneddy]

I was already using Knoppix and DSL when someone, actually, a girl at work gave it to me, saying it came from her husband. They said that they had heard that I was kinda geeky and would enjoy this (the CD).

After using KDE, the gnome desktop threw me off at first.

I soon warmed to the distro known as Ubuntu and uninstalled Windows.

:popcorn:

[kamaboko]

An ad in Penthouse. :guitar:

[Damiel]

More than a year ago I wanted to try linux so I chose the most popular distro in Distrowatch (http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major). Now I log in Windows just for gaming.

[cmat]

Some dude that made Firefox plugins at my school that gave me a whole load of free software. Then I decided to get the full free OS.

[Ericwt]

I have used mandrake, Pc linux, Fadora, and tried many others over the last 5 years. I now run only Ubuntu 7.04 on my Toshiba laptop. Took awhile to get everything working but will never go back to Microsoft again.
Joined this forum to stay informed on Ubuntu. I also do not use any window programs on my Linux machines.):P

[Jellicletrb]

What made you take the step?

I found a Hoary CD on a lunchroom table at work. It sat in a desk drawer for something like 3 months, then I found it again and decided to play with it a bit. Kind of bumpy at first, but I just hate giving up, and now here I am :guitar:

[wolfen69]

i learned about ubuntu when vista came out.

i had played with ubuntu for a long time, but only recently switched to linux for good.

[logos34]

can't remember exactly where I read about ubuntu but I decided to go linux years ago when I built my first pc. In fact, it was the viablity of a linux desktop that really made me want to build my own computer. I know was running suse as the main OS by late '04 and I got the 5.05 shipit cd's in april or may '05 (still have 'em. Will they be worth something in the future like beatles records?). I knew as soon as I read Canonical's philosophy that this was the linux flavor for me. (I liked Suse second best until the the microsoft deal). Still a somewhat exotic name, though, and I've only lately finally gotten to like the golden brown color (even though I like earth tones). I think the turnoff color-wise for newcomers to ubuntu is that brown is not a 'tech' color--blues and silvers are. And then they're used to those colors because of windows.

[wolfen69]

can't remember exactly where I read about ubuntu but I decided to go linux years ago when I built my first pc. In fact, it was the viablity of a linux desktop that really made me want to build my own computer. I know was running suse as the main OS by late '04 and I got the 5.05 shipit cd's in april or may '05 (still have 'em. Will they be worth something in the future like beatles records?). I knew as soon as I read Canonical's philosophy that this was the linux flavor for me. (I liked Suse second best until the the microsoft deal). Still a somewhat exotic name, though, and I've only lately finally gotten to like the golden brown color (even though I like earth tones). I think the turnoff color-wise for newcomers to ubuntu is that brown is not a 'tech' color--blues and silvers are. And then they're used to those colors because of windows.


you are a nerd

[lisati]

Google.... lol :)

I honestly can't remember how I "stumbled" onto Ubuntu - possible through google or an electronics shop's website, while looking for something else. I notice that recent issues of a couple of computer magazines have had Ubuntu on their cover disks.....but since I already had the disk from shippit, I didn't bother

[itzpapalotl]

I heard about Linux for the first time in 1995 while in school, but I didn't start using it until my friend showed me his Pentium II desktop running a stripped Debian Sarge and just running circles around my Pentium 4 Hyper threading super duper laptop in both frame rate and GL rendering during a Quake II match. It was ridiculous. This hunk of junk was more than keeping up with my much newer "faster" machine. At the time, I had heard that Linux and laptops didn't mix, so I the it on an old box I had, and played ID software games, and fiddles around with the console. It was like I was a kid again. Man.. I missed the terminal. Still have NO IDEA what I'm doing with it. But that was true true of DOS right up until it wasn't, and the documentation and how to manuals available online can accomplish anything. No joke. I have built entire systems without knowing a thing about it. What a great way to learn.
I stumbled on Dapper Drake in a book store while looking for a command line book. It fired my laptop up on the live CD, and I just haven't looked back. Started converting the whole fleet at my school.

Because of my job I have to work with all kinds of computers from Mac to Windows to LAMP servers, and even one old apple II gs. I can tell you that with the exception of out of the box wireless, for every time I have said "Man I wish this feature was available for Linux." I have said. "Well... if I had a real terminal instead of this cmd $#!7 I'd just _____ " five times.

And.. now.
Well. Ford made the Edsel, and Microsoft has given us Vista.
"... fortunately there is another kernel..."