How did you discover Ubuntu/linux

[g2g591]

So, how did you find out about Linux and/or Ubuntu? I found it as one of PC worlds (magazine) top 100 products of the year (2006). It was ranked about 16th or so.

[blithen]

Well I was just SO tired of Windows BS that I started searching for alternative O/S
And I typed in 'Linux' on google, and ubuntu is like the 4th one.

[psyguy92]

I tried installing Redhat 8 when Win95 was out. I couldn't get the display to work, and gave up. Later, i got Fedora 2 to successfully dualboot on a laptop, and liked it. I heard a lot of people talking about Ubuntu, so I decided to move out of .rpm land and into .deb land, and have been quite happy with it :) My main problems are 1) the lack of native drivers 2) some web apps not liking Linux. Neither of these are Ubuntu's/Linux's fault, but it can get annoying... Much less annoying than dealing with XP on a daily basis though!

[danny joe ritchie]

I stopped at a small computer shop to buy a sound card , instead I walked out with a free disk!
Ubuntu 5.10?

[rivalarrival]

Ran across Linux years ago... Tried installing it a bunch of times, got fed up, and went back to Windows - first it was hardware issues, then it was simple ignorance, then it was hardware issues AND ignorance. When Vista came out, it was the straw the broke the back - Started looking for the n00biest distro and everything pointed straight at Ubuntu.

I was hoping "Noobiest" didn't mean "So locked up that you can never learn how to use it properly" - thankfully, that seems to be the case.

I always thought that the "Windows BS" lines were just propaganda. Surely something hacked together by a million different people would be as fouled up as a million different people could make it, right?

After about 2 months, I could do everything in Linux that I could in Windows - And I considered myself a SysAdmin in Windows.

Now, 6 months or so after the switch, I still feel like a complete n00b - there is so much more one can do with Linux than in Windows. I bet that my current capabilities would set me back ~ $10,000 in software alone - and since I never had that kind of cash, I never even considered some of the things I'm doing now.

The learning curve is steep, but as long as you want it, compared to Windows shallow curve laced with toll booths and brick walls.

Just today, I had to use a windows machine. I double clicked a jpg which tried to open microsoft office picture manager. I got three "network could not be found" errors and a "send microsoft an error report?" prompt before picture manager opened - to show me 30 other pictures, none of which was the one I had clicked. I asked the owner (my father) what the hell was going on: "Oh, it just does that"

WTF?!!?!?!

[FuturePilot]

I actually had been curious about Linux for a while, but I thought it was going to be too hard to try out. But I kept hearing really good stuff about Ubuntu on other forums and decided to give it a shot. And, well, it just worked! So here I am, 1 year later still using Ubuntu:D

[sp0onman]

for a couple years ive always wanted to run linux but never actually did anything about it except for mucking around with knoppix a couple times.

then i just did a fair few searches on the right distro for me, asked a few questions in some forums and decided that ubuntu was for me. downloaded the iso and installed. havent looked back since.

only reason i load up xp now is to play games which is hardly ever, use my ps2 and xbox360( it is ms but its a great console with great games and xbox live is lightyears ahead of the playstation equivelant)

[tcpip4lyfe]

I used slackware for a year and got sick of building from source. I heard good things about ubuntu from websites and started using it in the edgy days. A lot has changed in just a year.

[MerlinX420]

I moved and left my computer in FL. My buddy gave me an old system. I used my win xp to Look for a Linux Distro. I figured it would have to be better then re-installing win xp evrey month. I used ArchLinux for a little while the n I found ubuntu. I switche to Kubuntu so I could run KDE.

The first time I ever ran Linux was Slackware 3.0. I had such difficulty with it that I switched back to dos/win and then later in 2000 I tinkered with Mandrake on a machine or 2. I've now FULLY made the switch and will only run ubuntu/kubuntu now. As far as I can see the 6 month release cycle the ease of updating and installing software has come MILES since 2K. I can't wait till the next release of kubuntu. I hope KDE 4 makes it in. (I've heard I can install it thru repositories but I'm still not sure what to do to get it to work.!)

[rsambuca]

I voted "other". I saw it recommended about a hundred times on the old Call for Help TV show with Leo Laporte. In hindsight, I really should send him a thank-you!

[orange2k]

I was searching for someone on local newsgroups who would burn me a linux distro for a small fee, but then someone mentioned that Ubuntu ships original pressed CD-s for free. I did buy a couple of linux distros (Fedora core, Knoppix 4, and a DVD filled with e-books about linux and programming), but I also ordered Ubuntu from ship-it.
Fedora kind of sucked, so when my Breezy Badger CD-s finally arrived, guess what I did...:)

[Warren Watts]

My first experience with Linux was about two years ago with Fedora Core 4. At the time I was a complete Linux noob, and I struggled to get it installed properly on an old system I had.

After using FC4 for six months or so as sort of a hobby, and struggling with unresolved dependancies everytime I tried to install something new, I abandoned Linux.

About four months ago I was on Distrowatch and Ubuntu was rated fairly high in the rankings, so I ordered some disks from Shipit. I installed 7.04 to dual boot with Win2K, but within a week discovered that I wasn't even using windows anymore.

Now I have three computers running Linux in a variety of flavors; Ubuntu, Archlinix, Wolvix, and DSL.

Ubuntu really was the catalyst finally moved me away from MS and into the wonderful world of Open Source, and I haven't looked back!

[saxin]

Click (http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=1926543&postcount=34)

[James7]

I saw someone recommend it in another forum as a good place to start with Linux. Best computer advice I ever had. :D

[curuxz]

Well when I was a kid i started with Red Hat, then as time when on I moved to Mandrake and then finally to Debian, it was there someone said about ubuntu and using its repo's I checked it out and started using Kubuntu (or rather ubuntu with KDE!), been here for last few years doing that, joined the forum about 8-10 months after first installed ubuntu and have been using it ever since :)

[Spr0k3t]

I'm an old unix/irix/vms/bsd user. I first tried slackware when it was released oh so many years ago, ultimately stuck to the Amiga. I used YellowDog for a couple weeks and went back to my Amiga. My Amiga finally died. I used my other system for a while thinking about which distro to choose. The subliminal advertising eventually set in (after trying quite a few different distros). For my desktop, I'm going to stick with Ubuntu for a while... at least until the first political scandal that happens with Microsoft involved.

[Oki]

Voted other:

I was bored one Sunday and remembered that my father had mentioned a "live cd" with RedHat for a long time ago. So I started searching but could not find it, but I did find a overview over Linux distros(that was soo outdated). I didnt understand much, some of them costed money? - I believed Linux was free. So I searched more and learned about Ubuntu, and decided to try the "live cd" - would bee cool to see a different OS. It didn't hurt that I was sick of ms and how they threat there costumers.

After trying the live cd I was really impressed, and I liked the idea of dual boot. So after reading a lot more I decided to install it. Two days later I was so frustrated that I removed it and said to myself; "never again, Linux sucks", and so on.

A week later I started thinking that others can do it and so can I, and this was a way out of the ms lockin. And I had learned about some of the benefits with Linux - a long list. So, back to installation lol

Today I use it as my main OS and love it. Linux impress me with so much, and I I love all the free programs. I still dual boot thanks for Google lacking support with Google Sketchp and some games; looking forward to the day I can complete remove windowst:)

[hessiess]

i was getting fed up with windows, i capt seeing linux mentioned across the web, i also saw lots of comments about ubuntu, so i sertched for it, downloaded, installed. and have been usng it ever scince;)

[PmDematagoda]

Well I've heard about Linux about 5years ago from a friend, but the thing was I really didn't care that much because I only used Windows during that time. The time I switched to Linux was when my Windows copy kept crashing constantly for no particular reason. So for that I really thank my friend for telling me about Linux.:)

[JBAlaska]

I saw a youtube clip about Compiz Fusion and was hooked, I'd used knoppix and mandrake in the past but I wanted to try a different distro. I Did a google search and saw a link for Ubuntu Ultimate, Downloaded the DVD and liked it so much I installed it on my main box and my MediaServer.

Now I'm 100% on Ubuntu and Vista can kiss my A$$ LOL

[aninaiian]

I'm not entirely sure when I first learned Linux existed. However, it was Techtv which peaked my interest in running Linux. So, about two summers ago I had nothing to do, and as a result started running Linux, a very minimal install of Debian under virtualization on Windows.

I enjoyed playing around with Debian and decided to dual-boot a few weeks after as 256MB of ram can really limit what you can do under virtualization. However, I wanted something easier to set up than that minimal install of Debian, and after a bit of research, I found Ubuntu. I decided Ubuntu was what I was looking for, a Debian desktop that required little work. I installed it on my laptop and everything worked out of the box (well, everything but the multimedia stuff which I got working with the wiki).

Now my laptop and desktop are running only Ubuntu. Well, sometimes the laptop's running Arch or Fedora, but most of the time it's running Ubuntu.

[Sslaxx]

Saw it on the coverdisc of one of the Linux mags I tend to buy. I'd tried Debian somewhat around then, so I thought "Why not?". Rest is history.

[insane_alien]

i learned about it long ago in the mists of time and thought it was a bit geeky. the first suggestion i got to try it was when i was talking with the tech guy at the library(the beginnings of my computer geekyness, i was already an engineering geek by this time) but i still thought it was geeky and waited another year. then i got hooked. breezy badger was the first i tried and i've stuck it through.

[djwisdom]

After I saw Ubuntu 4.1 CD (or so) from a friend, I borrowed it for a while, installed it at home... actually overwritten the previous Mandrake 10.1 installation with Ubuntu, I fell in love with Ubuntu ever since.

Sure I dabble in other distros from time to time, but I keep coming back to Ubuntu time and again. At a local car-dealer company here in the Philippines, I'm going to install Ubuntu for their on-site web server. For me, it simply works. (most of the time)

[Bothered]

Other for me.

I honestly can't remember. I remember a friend used it, but I was aware of it before then.

[misfitpierce]

Search engine here... But ive recently got 4 more friends to use it and 3 of them liked more than windows.

[Officer Dibble]

Through my job I came into contact with Solaris and thus an interest in Unix. Circumstantially back then it wasn't possible to get more involved in Solaris at home, so I bought Linux Mandrake as it was then called from PC World.

Regrettably I didn't spend as much time with it back then as I should have done, but always had high regard for Linux. As my job changed to that of a Microsoft Licensing Sales Expert (licensing consultant of sorts) I was sucked into the dark side for quite some time.

Now though, well here I am, after recently looking into Linux distro's and their reputations I found I was really impressed with the concept and support associated with Ubuntu... and so here I am.

Thank you Solaris, thank you Linux Mandrake, thank you Ubuntu Forums... :guitar:

[AndyCooll]

I was looking for free software for a Windows box. My conscience had gotten the better of me and I'd bought a Windows licence. Buying all the other software apps too was just too expensive so I went looking for free alternatives.

I came across Firefox and Open Office, and in my search the FOSS movement and eventually a whole free OS in Linux!

:cool:

[wersdaluv]

I discovered Ubuntu through stumble upon!!!

:lolflag:

[thesmartace]

A friend of mine got me onto Mandrake back in the day but it never seemed to like my network card at the time which meant no Internet :(

After a hunt around I found Ubuntu and it seemed to work fine. I have been an Ubuntuer ever since ;-)

[bigbrovar]

i use to hate anybody that said **** about windows..cus i taught it wasthe best os in the world...thought Linux was for the super nerds and lacked a gui. when i first saw the name Ubuntu i thought it was a computer maker like dell..later i taught it was the latest linux release .like vista..it was not until i had a windows vs linux arguement with a friend that i started getting to know about linux and Ubuntu.. u see to window users like me the linux world is soo far away...am sure 60% of ******* users know nothing about Ubuntu many have not even heard the name b4..anyway has our arguement wore on i started to see the positives in my friends arguments eventually i decided to giv Ubuntu a try..i wasn't easy esp for some body coming from a windoed mind set..but today i use only linux and nothing else..my ******* partition is now a storage partition and i will soon be wiping off vista cus i have not used it now in 2 months..right now and into a project in my country to bring Ubuntu to the average joe and provide support and help during installation...its funny how much i have changed cus now i cant stand anybody that says **** about linux or Ubuntu

[cmat]

I knew about it for quite some time. But I never considered using it until I read an article on eWeek about Vista.

[Bungo Pony]

I originally heard about Linux through a friend of mine (around 1996). We were conversing about computers and they were complaining about how much Win95 sucks. I said, "Someone should make a free version of Windows" and they told me it had already been done... sorta. They mentioned Linux. My curiousity rose, but he didn't seem to know much about it. I didn't even have a PC at the time, so I wasn't too concerned about it.

However, it was always stuck in the back of my mind. I finally got my own PC about two years later and have had one ever since. As time went on, I started getting more and more frustrated with MS OSes, especially XP. When I had a chance to get a new PC, I had made a decision that I wasn't going to use Vista (which came pre-installed). I decided that I wanted Win2k for my MS OS, and I was going to dual boot with some kind of Linux OS. I asked around on a forum I frequented, and a few people recommended Ubuntu. So, that was the distro I went with.

[xpod]

I discovered Ubuntu through stumble upon!!!

:)

I stumbled across Firefox a few weeks after first sitting down at a pc last year then i stumbled across Stumble Upon a couple of weeks after that.....

A couple of months after that i Stumbled across the Ubuntu site.:)

I`ve been stumbling my way around ever since

[LowSky]

I wanted to try linux out. I ad a copy of openSuse but didn't like the 10cds it need to install (...ok... i lost a cd..:( )

I went onto Google and typed: Free Linux

Ubuntu was one of the first that came up

[wizochelle]

I installed fedora awhile back but I didn't do much with it; I was trying to get a samba server working and I couldn't get it to work.
then 2 weeks ago I read something about beryl at slashdot and I followed the linky; that got me thinking about trying linux again and I chose ubuntu since it looked like one of the most user-friendly os's.
and so I installed it last week and I am really excited! I have been playing around trying to fix a few things. sometimes I get a little frustrated but is just like learning to ride a bike; I know it will be a life changin experience once I learn to do it right :)

[z0mbie]

Fedora > Mandrake > Fedora > DistroWatch > Ubuntu

[TheOtherLinuxFreak]

The guy we used to bring our computers to to get fixed gave me a knoppix disk.

[zeDuffMan]

I had seen lots of Ubuntu discussions on various tech message boards. I was getting annoyed with Mircosoft's tactics in Windows (WGA, OGA, Vista) and finally decided to try out the Ubuntu Live CD to see what the fuss was all about. It detected all my hardware and set up my internet connection instantly and thought, "this is exactly what I want", so I started by dual-booting, and then not too long after I got rid of Windows completely.

[CAPLinux]

I played arround with linux when I worked for a local University and got away from it. Then I heard Leo Laporte talk about Ubuntu on his Tech Guy Podcast. I am really having alot of fun using Ubuntu. I will admint it isn't as easy to set up as Window$ but it is far more rewarding and challenging. I enjoy that!!

[matthewdhandley]

I was teaching a speech class about 6 years ago, and one of my students had a really well-written speech about the benefits of using Linux vs. Windows. So I told him I'd like to try it out, and he gave me the 3-CD set of Mandrake Linux. I spent several days wrestling with it, and due to my ineptitude I ended up basically breaking the computer. I got rid of Mandrake, and became a Windows user once again.

Fast forward to this past March, and I was having a conversation with that same friend, and he told me about Ubuntu. Being a lazy college student, I had plenty of time on my hands, so I figured I would install it and see if Linux had imporved any since my terrible experience with Mandrake. Ubuntu suited my needs, and even with some of the annoying setup, it was still less trouble than windows ever was.

[mysticrider92]

I stopped at a small computer shop to buy a sound card , instead I walked out with a free disk!
Ubuntu 5.10?

Nice, we walked into a computer store once to look for a new computer for my grandmother, and they gave us a 5.10 disk. It refused to work on my computer, but 6.06 did, so I am now happily using 7.04 as my primary OS on this computer.

[chrome307]

I found Ubuntu via a Warez forum and had a large number of people who said they were trying it out.

I had an old PC lying around gathering dust and thought I would give it a try - what was great was that they shipped me a number of discs which I shared out to friends who were equally impressed - needless to say this was then uploaded onto News Servers for others and still continues to remain a popular download.

After 2/3 weeks I seem to have gotten the applications that I need on a daily basis and have spent more time on the Ubuntu PC instead of Windows PC.

The most important factor for me continuing using Ubuntu has been the great support provided here and the various tutorials/blogs etc available.

[Het Irv]

I had wanted to learn how to use Linux but the lack of programs stopped me (this was before I actually got on Linux). The Sysadmin at my high school gave us a copy of 7.04 and gave us one rule "don't hack my system." Since that I haven't stoped using it and have almost completely switched over.

[executor]

i was trying to finde a print server running linux( on a p233 96ram), i did find one (http://members.shaw.ca/nicholas.fong/printsrv/) but it had non wireless support, i search the web aboute linux and wireless, this is the way i stumbel over ubuntu. So now may p233 is a firewall (smooothwall) and my celeron 950 is the print server(ubuntu 6.10) whit wireless (ra link)

and now i run ubuntu 7.04 on my laptop

my story

[g2g591]

slightly extended version of my story, I had a subscription to PC world and seen Ubuntu 7.04 as one of the best products of the year (including paid products like OS X, and I think the xbox360 was in there too) and had ordered a free upgrade to vista home premium, eventually vista came in and I tried that and it sucked (installed fine, but took 15Minutes to boot up) I remembered Ubuntu and downloaded the cd and tried it and thought it was ok, then I heard about Kubuntu and tried it, and I love it

[linux_believer]

Found out that most web servers run Linux in college.

[mpgarate]

got horrible computers for free from a school getting rid of them. Managed to install xubuntu, but boot+login literally took hours. trashed the ****, installed ubuntu on computer. bought ubuntu desktop from dell.

I voted other

[Zoiked]

First, I discovered Linux around 6 years ago, thought it was crap.
Back to windows I went, XP was doing everything I needed.
Then thought I would try linux again about 3 years later, lack of software(Decent programs), hardware support, and things just worked in XP, I went back. Still a peice of crap. :D
Then about another 3 years, I discovered linux again, tried over 7 distributions and found Ubuntu to be the best, but hated the theme(Changed it) and ubuntu was great. I still love Windows but Ubuntu is a good toy. ;)

[ErusGuleilmus]

I first heard about Linux when one of my friends used a soft mod to install Linux on his Xbox. Later that year, I read about Ubuntu in Popular Science. This was back when the latest release of Ubuntu was Edgy Eft. Since then, I have been using Ubuntu as my primary OS.

[SomeGuyDude]

Reddit.com has links to pages/articles about Ubuntu CONSTANTLY. After I saw the first video of "Ubuntu vs Vista" with all the various effects, I had to try it.

[Ultra Magnus]

I'd been kind of aware of Linux for a while - I vaguely knew there were such things as Macs, Linux and Unix but didn't really know much about it until I got to Uni which had fedora installed on its computers - I tried installing it on mine but it wouldn't work... Fast forward a few years and I was searching for something and I got a random result with Ubuntu about some guy trying to convince his gf to use it - So I thought I;d have a look and here I am.

[-grubby]

I can't exactly remember, but it goes something like this:
got sick of Windows maintenance,somehow heard of linux,searched google for Free linux, found Ubuntu, tried downloading but 700 MB is alot on 256 Kb/s connection , find DSL, download, run as sort of 'backup' if windows decides to suck (to get on internet), upgrade internet to 768 kb/s, download ubuntu, love it, install it in dual boot.

[Irihapeti]

I'd heard about unix for a long time. Years ago I had a friend who had a pdp-11 in his flat and did unix programming as his job. Linux likewise was something that appeared on my radar a few years ago.

My son had already introduced me to FOSS software for Windows. Ubuntu I got to hear of over time, I guess. I got more and more curious, but downloading 700MB wasn't a fun option on a 56K dialup. Then one day in my local (small town) supermarket, I saw a PC World magazine with a free DVD which included the 7.04 liveCD iso. I figured I had nothing to lose. So here I am.

[David Ostrom]

I wanted to up grade from XP to Vista, and after doing some research I found out that I would need a new computer...WTF! No way would I give MS any more money for their crap ware. then I went looking for an other alternative i.e. Apple, I was so close to paying $1,600.00 for their hi end note book and thought to my self..this is nuts! Then I came across Ubuntu on another forum.This was about the same time Dell was to launch their Dell/Ubuntu line. After all my reading and research on Ubuntu and Linux I decided on purchasing a Dell 1420n and all I can say is it was the best decision I could have made. I have a fast, secure and beautiful laptop at a fraction of the cost, and it works!

[Kratos]

Started with an old Compaq Presario Desktop that we bought with Windows 95 installed. Wanted to find a modern OS that didn't cost as much as XP, and also ran on the hardware I had. Being that I was on dial-up, at the time, I was trying to find Linux distro that I could either get shipped for cheap, or something I could download on my neighbor's DSL and burn within a few minutes. Started with Damn Small Linux, and then discovered Ubuntu and ShipIt. Been a convert ever since. :)

[nintendonerd282]

I was going to download Simply Mepis, but instead i searched for other linux distros, then i found ubuntu. I love it, and i never looked back on any other distros once i had ubuntu 6.06

[geekgee]

I read Maximum PC as a fun diversion to the normal trade mags and they kept talking about Ubuntu. My favourite open source O/S is FreeBSD (for hosts/servers) but for some applications only Linux will do. As soon as I noticed Ubuntu was listed as a supported host and guest O/S on VMware's web site I decided to give it a try and see if Ubuntu lived up to the hype. I downloaded Ubuntu Server and liked it almost immediately due to its minimalist install. Subsequently, I switched my VMware and Asterisk hosts from Fedora to Ubuntu 6.06LTS and both have been rock solid stable.

I am currently testing Ubuntu 7.10 Desktop amd64 on my dual Xeon 5160 workstation and giving serious consideration to switching from Windows XP 64 bit to it. It hasn't been a painless endeavor but much of it is due to me going through the learning curve for GNOME. Ubuntu seems to be running VMware Workstation 6.0.2 very well which was one of my primary concerns.

[smartboyathome]

I first found out about it from a windows site (surprise surprise!). It was Windows X Shrine (creator of the Windows Vista Transformation Pack for XP). They said if you wanted effects like Vista, get Kubuntu. Kubuntu Feisty was an infant at the time, but I think that was said because it was just being released as alphas with Compiz added. I did my research and found Ubuntu was the main distro, and one day downloaded it and found it was in ISO format (which I had not seen). I found CDBurnerXP wrote from disc images onto discs, got a disc to write to, and wrote to it. Then I followed the instructions from Ubuntu and put it into my CD drive and loaded it. From then on I fell in love with Ubuntu.

[Lostincyberspace]

I voted other since I first used Linux at the age of 4 through my dad and I discovered Ubuntu through my friend. :)

[Glugglug]

I found it on Digital spy forums first post I saw was " I'm about to Ubuntu " so I had to look to see what it was all about as I had never even heard of it before . It was while I was having big problems with blue screen and crashing every few minuets so I sent off for a 7.04 cd as I had attempted to down load the cd image 5 times but it always crashed before completing one time it got as far as 96% downloaded .
I thought that I might have problems getting xp reactivated after replacing the motherboard and cpu and only got Ubuntu as a backup if I failed getting windows up and running but the activation went ok but had to try Ubuntu and use it most of the time now only use XP for Google Earth , Napster and for Scanning .

[bluedragon436]

I found out from a friend, and since I have been looking for an option to Windows and after giving it a try I am hooked and would much rather use Ubuntu over MS any day....the only reason I still have MS installed on anything is for my desktop to play games every now and again other than that I am running Ubuntu on everything else.... 2laptops, and 2 desktops......possibly shortly all three desktops....

[NightCrawler03X]

While distro-hopping when I first got into Linux

[kahlil88]

I discovered GNU/Linux (http://www.gnu.org/) when some students at my school installed Yellow Dog on a school computer. It was the only one not running Mac OS 9, and since I really loathe that operating system, I was quickly hooked and found the interface very intuitive! I can't remember how I got turned onto Ubuntu, but I spent two weeks downloading Warty Warthog over my awesome 24k dialup connection.

[wannadumpwindows]

I found it about two weeks after my new computer came with a "free" upgrade to vista.

Free my **** . . . .

[kagashe]

I became a Linux user before Ubuntu 4.10 arrived. I use to visit Mandrivausers.org and linuxquestions.org On one of these forums (I don't remember which one) I came to know about Ubuntu. I bought Ubuntu 5.04 CD from a local seller and installed it.

kagashe

[GCoffee]

My windows XP system was full of spyware and such and I decided to try out fedora 8, then ubuntu

[AndyCee]

CSCI machines at uni were running RHEL years ago, and assignments required terminal interaction(g++, ssh, pico etc).

I just wanted to get better at it. Someone recommended Kubuntu, but never got around to getting me a CD.

I'm not sure what happened next...I had an old desktop as my only computer, and had an illegal XP installation with strange features (eg. about 30 menu items appeared when right clicking on the desktop). My wife got a new laptop with Vista, so I installed Ubuntu on my old desktop. It's now also dual-booted on my wife's (pink) laptop.

And I love it.

[eilu]

Was using a Windows 98 box; too expensive to upgrade to XP, don't want to pirate. Remembers reading about Linux somewhere. Sees Lifehacker posts on Ubuntu (Dapper) and goes to try it out.

[Chame_Wizard]

I read about Linux in january 2005 for the 1st time,when i was subscribing for Tweakers.net (http://www.tweakers.net),Netherlands biggest information- and communitysite for 'tweakers'.
In the same month,i starting using Firefox(without knowing what Linux/Opensource was):confused:.

In february 2006,we had a study roject called Linux,so in an instant, i began to understand what Linux and thus Opensource was.The 2nd OSS i was using was OOo.1 of the sudent brought some Ubuntu live cd's,so i was quikly amazed about something i never knew it existed.After few months(reading all about Linux and OSS),i decided that Kubuntu will be my offcial Linux distro(june 2006).Ordered 6.06 LTS,via shipping.

In the mean time i had problems with my pc(had no money for parts),but finally on 17-05-2007(after fisnishing assembling my JMW5),Kubuntu is since then my main OS.:guitar:

Made a good choice
:lolflag:

[dhughes]

You know I read the post title and thought...I can't really remember exactly.

I do remember I was quite fascinated reading about Linux because all I had known about was DOS and Windows, and some Apple of course (this was the days of Windows 3.1) it was amazing there was an entirely different OS that I could run on my PC!

This was also the days of dial-up modems, my modem was a new 14.4Kbps but in reality I couldn't get anything above 4Kbps, if I downloaded a file at 4Kbps I was giddy with joy. Smokin' fast! Paying by the hour and tying up the phone and still not able to download a large 'distro'

I do remember eventually ordering a CD of Red Hat (version 1 I think) it was from CheapBytes, which I still have, but this was quite a while after knowing about it. It was quite the experience setting it up with stern warnings about knowing your monitor's correct horizontal and vertical refresh rates, if not you may damage your monitor. The Fvwm window manager with its virtual desktop and floating box thing was annoying on a 13 inch CRT.

After that it was Mandrake since it was so polished, then I discovered Debian and was impressed with their loyalty to GNU/Linux and their, at times painfully, slow updates and emphasis on making a stable secure OS. Debian had a buzz about being only for elite Linux users, people said it was difficult to install. It wasn't.

So really I'm not sure, but seeing that I only got on the Internet in 1994 and Linux was pretty much born only a few years earlier I'm amazed I even knew about it, good word of mouth I guess.

I remember hearing about Ubuntu in 2004 while taking some Computer Science classes. I had heard about it and I guess was a bit surprised at its popularity and thinking I'll have to give it a try. I was avoiding it because I tend to avoid trendy things. What's this sudo thing? No root? Pfft.

Now here I am using Ubuntu exclusively, the only Windows I have is on an old laptop but that's just for keeping up my Windows skills in case I need to know how to fix a PC at work or an Aunt's computer.

[billgoldberg]

A little over a year ago, I was searching for videos about "Vista" as I was thinking about buying a new computer with it on it. I came across the "ubuntu vs vista" video, tried it out. And now using it on all my machines.

[geogur]

i already am a linux user i migrated over from the mandriva project. i am trying ubuntu . this is the 6th linux distro i have had.whats next? time will tell.

[timjohn7]

I had a disastrous virus infection (RMVirut) which devastated my hard drive. After trying various XP Recovery tools and boot disks (I needed to get precious data back) with no joy, I tried Knoppix and found and saved all my data.

That piqued my interest and I found the Ubuntu site... the rest is history. 6 months later and never looked back.

[nick09]

I went on a trip to the BOCES school in New York to check out the Information Technologies/Networking(Cisco supports the class) class for my upcoming school schedule. Most of the PC's had windows XP and a few of them had Mac and Ubuntu installed. The Ubuntu version was 7.10(I think) and I was pretty impressed about the boot speed. Played some games on the Mac and Ubuntu PC(Xeon case it had, I think) while I waited for the day to end. Talked a bit on how many processors the PS3 has with the teacher. Then fast forward a month or two, XP is overloaded with spyware and adware. Told my parents that I would download Ubuntu and they said yes as long they don't have to buy a new PC. Enter into the safe mode, downloaded the 64 bit version of 8.04 without realizing that the OS was just released when I downloaded it and burned to a dvd. Installed on a small area on the HDD; Decided to say "What the heck lets just install it" after I tried it a bit. My brother was mad that he lost files which are a little bit hard to find(he was working while I installed Ubuntu). Been happy with Ubuntu ever since with the right codecs and songbird ipod addon. I can't wait to get my own laptop and install Ubuntu to replace Vista.

[Alasdair]

Some friends convinced me to try out SimplyMEPIS 4 (IIRC) a few years ago. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of packages available in MEPIS (although now I realize that I probably just didn't know how to enable the right repositories) and I switched to Ubuntu 5.04. I've tried lots of other distros since then, but Ubuntu is still my favorite.

[mordak13]

I had grown tired of SuSE and had recently bought a Linux Format Mag at B&N so i tried the Kububntu CD it included and really liked what I saw. I've since stopped using Kubuntu in favor of Mint, Ubuntu, and Xubuntu. I have some older PC's and they are too slow with KDE at it's best.

[Twitch6000]

The way I found it is quite odd...
I
one day felt like windows was just too boring and I wanted more freedom.

So i went on Youtube and searched BeOS as this is the first new OS I heard of besides mac.

After seeing it I was like humm neato then I seen a video that said Windows vs Linux VS BeOS VS Mac (or something like that).

I watched the whole thing and Linux just made me Youtube even more.

After finding about 5 videos of Linux I went to distro watch.com
I look at a few videos then downloaded PClinuxOS sine that seemed more fit.

I soon found out about Ubuntu after I screwed up my installation and I came here got Ubuntu and well I am using what I have in my signature :).

[Ingenue]

I learned of Linux through some searches I did on Google. I got interested in learning some programming languages, and kept coming across links about Unix. One thing lead to another and I decided to try Linux distro. I decided on Ubuntu because of the quality support I found for it online. So far no worries, I love it!
Cheers,

[drascus]

I first heard of Ubuntu from cnet.com it was just after daper drake came out. I jumped in with both feet. I have since been having a really good time with learning about and participating in the free software community.

[L1_Human]

I learned of it from my boss at Xede Consulting Group and I've been using it on my laptop ever since.

[Sapphire Rayne]

My boyfriend is a devout ubuntu user...he's the one who got me to make the switch.

[Ozor Mox]

My friend gave me a spare Ubuntu Dapper CD he had got from ShipIt and said I should try it out as I might like it. I kept the CD around but didn't get round to using it until another friend mentioned Ubuntu. I dug out my CD, booted it up, and loved it so much I wiped Windows off all my computers and replaced it with Ubuntu, and I've stuck with it ever since :)

[Dozerman]

I only came across Linux back in February, i found a pdf explaining how to convert an xbox to a PC, so i installed xebian with samba on it and have it as a file server. This got me interested in linux so i googled and found ubuntu, i ran the liveCD and have never looked back, i love it.

Dozer

[lyceum]

I just saw the word when OS's were listed from time to time and noticed I was seeing more as I was learning about web design. I wanted a Mac, but could not afford it. I was getting sick of XP as there had not been an update is so long so I thought I would check out the price of Linux. I did my home work and found there were lots of free distros and after trying all of them I could find, decided to go with Ubuntu. I really liked Ubuntu when I found it, which was about midway through my distro search. But, it was so ugly and I did not know you could change more than the wall paper (I was use to XP, 2 colors: silver, green or blue). I was using Kubuntu first, as it is easier on the eyes. But the "K"s everywhere made me dizzy (I am dyslexic).I learned about kde-look.org and gnome-look.org when I saw all the other option when trying to change my wallpeper. Once I learned you could modify the look of the OS I was sold on Ubuntu.

[nbayiha]

Actually my roommate recommended me Ubuntu as one of the best Distribution and told me about the This forum as been one of the best one :KS about supporting new user and user in problem :guitar: .
So i can say thanks to that friend janfsd . :lolflag:

[nicol_bolas]

On a HijackThis! help form (can't remember which one.) Anyways, I was trying to rid myself of a piece of malware that took over my desktop, because the virus program that I was using wasn't getting rid of it. Then I saw a link to Ubuntu someones sig so I click on it and installed Ubuntu along side XP and liked it so much I trashed XP.

[Separ]

Found it on Google after giving up on SuSE 10.2 on my old computer, the hardware just wouldn't work with it. I had heard Ubuntu was good and "Just Works" but after failing with Kubuntu, I gave up again but I decided to try Ubuntu a few months later. I had to use the alternate install CD because of initial driver issues on this computer but it works perfectly now :)

[DrumScum]

I truely can't remember. One day I suddenly was downloading Mandrake 9.0, but what exactly got me doing that... I guess I just stumbled upon it by coincidence.

[david_lynch]

I've been a linux user since 1993, and I'm always looking down the road, and keeping an eye on promising distros. I'd run the gamut from sls to slackware to redhat to fedora to suse, with some usage of caldera, mandrake, and debian along the way. I'd been on suse since 2003/2004.

When I got a new Compaq V6000 laptop, I put suse 10.3 on it, and it worked fairly well, but the wireless didn't come back up after waking from suspend. I tried hardy heron on the laptop and everything worked. I was not happy with suse 11.0, so when I got a new computer at work, I took the opportunity to move to hardy heron, and have since moved my internet facing servers to ubuntu server. Overall I'm most impressed with the package management, and on the desktop I'm impressed with the care that has been put into making it easy and fun to use.

[Naralas]

Some guy I met online challanged me, started drilling me on all sorts of technical questions trying to prove he knew more than me. At that point I only had a vague understanding of Linux. I knew something else was out there, but when that's what the questions came down too, naturally I was fubared.

I've gone through Fedora Core, Puppy, DSL, OpenLinux and a few other variants. Ubuntu is the only one that seems to share the same goals for an operating system as I have.

Ubuntu itself I learned about through research.

[Foster Grant]

I found out about Linux in 1994. I found out about Ubuntu last year via Linux Format magazine. I chose "other" due to the need for separate answers.

[sefs]

When I bought an HP Laptop from amazon, one of the comments referred to partitioning the drive and installing something called kubuntu.

Sometime later I was stuck with windows 2000 on a desktop system, and I wanted something new to try. I wanted to try linux and went back to the comment (I had filed it away for future use) to see which distro this guy had mentioned. Then I downloaded ubuntu and give it a shot. That was just after the release of breezy I believe.

How time flies.

Link on amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E1D9TE

Search page for kubuntu.

My very first installation though I think was slackware, I bought a book that it came with and also got some disk from a ISP guy. This was back in the late 90's. I felt real proper when I got X windows to run on the thing, I had it dual booting with NT4. These were the days when they used to tell you the monitor would explode if you did not configure X correctly lol.