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View Full Version : How did you get into Ubuntu?



mikecomua
January 6th, 2008, 10:12 AM
Hey.... I'm just wondering how all the people in the forum got into Linux/Ubuntu. Did somebody tell you about it? Did you find out yourself? Do your parents use Linux? Tell me YOUR story:guitar:

jan quark
January 6th, 2008, 10:17 AM
Hi
I think this thread will be moved to the Ubuntu Testimonials and Experiences
thats the wright place to exchange and to compare Ubuntu stories, just for your future posts
, but nevertheless...

I was wondering why my old OS (Vista) became slower every time I booted up.

Then I searched for an alternative, and Linux /Ubuntu seamed to be my way...

and it is.

Comhra
January 6th, 2008, 10:41 AM
I discovered Ubuntu through using Wubi.

abadtooth
January 6th, 2008, 10:48 AM
I had used Mandriva for about a year, but I was always missing something.
After building a new PC I decided to try Ubuntu now that I had hardware that could handle Ubuntu (Never thought of the alternate installer before for some reason..)
But anyways I use Ubuntu now and love ever little Mb of it!

You couldn't pay me to use and m$ product now.:guitar:

-grubby
January 6th, 2008, 10:53 AM
Option numer 2

Ultra Magnus
January 6th, 2008, 12:30 PM
My University used fedora so I was interested in trying out linux - I didn;t really know what open source was but after a bit of reading on the internet I realised that most of the stuff I used on windows was already open source (firefox, open office, emacs etc - yep for some reason I used emacs for windows) so I thought I'd give ubuntu a go as everyone seemed to be talking about it.

TheWizzard
January 6th, 2008, 12:38 PM
other. i was using fedora.

Iehova
January 6th, 2008, 12:40 PM
I got sick to the back teeth with XP, so I bought myself an old copy of linux format which came with Slackware 10 or something... Anyway, I never got around to installing slack, but after I got my new (then) laptop, i bought a copy of linux format with ubuntu dapper on, and I was a convert from the very first boot...

jimbean
January 6th, 2008, 12:41 PM
allways want something for free
been looking at linux for years
saw some hype on internet {ubuntu}
talked to some person that used linux
now ive been using ubuntu for a year or so

cheahk
January 6th, 2008, 12:44 PM
Other: was using FC5, and the upgrade to FC6 was so bad, that I went to FF. The upgrade from FF to GG was a much better experience.

metalpancake
January 6th, 2008, 12:47 PM
My windows install was full of viruses and spyware, and wasn't running very well at all, So I found a copy of the ubuntu feisty iso on a dvd that came with a computer magazine, tried it and liked it.
I have since moved up to gutsy and am still loving all of it!:)

r.hall
January 6th, 2008, 12:52 PM
I was constantly getting bluescreens for no apparent given reason other than 49560605x000000. Real helpful.

So I asked on a web forum how to get Ubuntu on my computer, and I did just that. Never went back to the shady world of Windows, because the Windows were never open.

_sluimers_
January 6th, 2008, 12:52 PM
Friend of mine uses Ubuntu for quite some time, so I thought if I were in trouble, at least I know who to go to for help.
So I kept seeing this cool Linux thinking, it's cool, but it doesn't have the aps.
At some point I needed it for school for an assignment if I wanted to work at home.
So I installed a dual boot and after a month windows XP no longer worked.

But I didn't worry anymore, because almost all the aps I wanted are on Ubuntu.
The only thing that really annoys me is lousy printer/webcam support.

mr.propre
January 6th, 2008, 01:07 PM
Other: Expending knowledge. And glad that I did it :-)

Defrector
January 6th, 2008, 01:31 PM
I had a win98 machine, heard the news about windows 2000/Me drama, then skipped XP because of system requirements and serious virus problems early on. Tried Mandrake linux in the late 90s with disappointment.. I was using win98 until 2007!

What made me change was that I was losing support for newer hardware/software; I wasn't impressed with the new 'features' in newer windows versions and looked back at linux for a distro that 'just works' as much as possible and found ubuntu.

From the get-go ubuntu 6+ works a lot better than Mandrake did in the late 90s out-of-the-box. Ran dual-boot for a year and a half until a RAM upgrade rendered the win98 install inoperable.

I'm mostly happy; I get all of the new features but little or none of the lag. I bought a laptop recently and it had Vista installed- it's AWFUL. My 7 year old barebones box with a Riva128 runs like greased lightning compared to the dual core laptop w/ 2GB RAM running Vista. And ubuntu on the laptop is even quicker than the two. There is an irrefutable performance advantage. Not to mention all the crapware that came installed on the laptop... Every time it boots Vista, McAffee demo says it isn't registered and gives the option to register/buy or bother me later-where's the "get the hell off of my machine" button?!

That experience sealed my fate.

el_ricardo
January 6th, 2008, 02:12 PM
my windows XP broke, and i couldn't find the CD!

billgoldberg
January 6th, 2008, 02:53 PM
About a year ago during the school holidays (I was still at the university at the time) I was browsing the web and was thinking about getting Vista. I went to youtube and searched for vista. I came across the infamous Ubuntu vs Vista video and was sold on the spot.

I started with feisty, then I used Mint Cassandra for a while, I tried opensuse and PclinuxOS but nothing really beats Ubuntu and the ubuntu community.

I'v dual booted for a half year and now I use linux only. (I have a xp partition somewhere on my laptop but it hasn't been fired up in 3 months and since I hate laptops, I hardly ever use it anyway).

I like everything about ubuntu/linux. The fact that it's free. The eye candy. The fact that it's a safe OS. The open-source programs. The fact that you need to get down and dirty with the terminal ever now and then (it makes me feel smart and computer savvy :p). Everything.

The only thing I dislike about ubuntu/linux is the fact that I have to unmount my usb drives.

Praadur
January 6th, 2008, 03:18 PM
I first got into Linux a long while ago...

It was basically started when a friend asked me why I wasn't using it, since I clearly wasn't stupid when it came to computers. Certainly I knew of Linux, but I wasn't really sure about it, how far had it come as a desktop OS?

Eventually I caved and tried installing it as a dual-boot, and after that I thouroughly conceded to my friend that she was entirely right, and it was a better experience and one that I felt more clean and whole for partaking of.

I've done a number of distros, from Slackware, to Fedora, OpenSUSE, and then finally Ubuntu. I was quite surprised when I tried the latter at how powerful a Linux desktop could be (as Ubuntu is slightly more experimental than most, rather than always staying with the latest stable which might be as old as 10 years or so in some cases, I always hated that), so I stuck with it.

Eventually, Vista came around and reared its ugly head, Microsoft pretty much dropped support for XP and started the usual mantra of 'If you want to play games, Vista is the only way to go, we're not supporting our last generation OS anymore, it's old, get new!'. I really didn't care to listen, so I looked into the PS3.

Of course, it helps that the PS3 is every bit as good as a decently mid-range to high-end PC, and since I bought one I've thouroughly enjoyed the games available for it (even the claimed stinkers, like Lair, but that's more of an IQ thing if you ask me because the game is a little too much Horse-riding and it requires patience and effort, but I digress) and I finally... finally dumped Windows completely.

I still play the occasional Windows thing, as I've said in other threads, when it comes to indy games (and I love indy games, I can't imagine a PC without Knytt Stories) that don't have Linux builds and the rare MMO. But that's about it, really.

All in all, I'm much happier with a pure Ubuntu desktop than I ever could've been with Windows, and I'm glad of the change. Dedicated Linux (and likely Ubuntu) user for life, now.

mikecomua
January 6th, 2008, 03:54 PM
Thanks for the replies.
Praadur: Get Ubuntu on your PS3.There is an article about it on softpedia:)

Chilli Bob
January 6th, 2008, 04:04 PM
A few years ago I bought a computer magazine with a Fedora CD on the cover. I installed it, but it wouldn't boot. After that I didn't think much about Linux until last year when I kicked my Win98 PC to death (it deserved it) and I needed to find a low cost replacement fast. I searched ebay for a Linux CDs, and saw Ubuntu for the first time. I did some googling and decided it was the way to go.

FuturePilot
January 6th, 2008, 04:19 PM
It was really curiosity more than anything.

Omnios
January 6th, 2008, 04:21 PM
K I started using Ubuntu about 4 years ago.

The thing that pushed me over the edge was one day I went to get some smilies for messenger and found that they changed them to you having to buy them which was like $3 for a couple smilies which was the last straw. It was at that point that I decided to try linux.

I spent a a while on the Avent forum where they recommended Ubuntu as a first Linux Distro because it was rated as easy to learn thought not the eisiest.

There where many reasons for me switching to Linux ranging from having to reinstall windows every once in a while to virus problems and spy ware.

One of the big things that I found after switching to Ubuntu as my main OS was I did not have to do a lot of virus and spyware dif updates and scans which used to take anywhere from 15 to 30 min. Now I can boot up and go as apposed to maintainance,