How did you start Linux?

[KOTAPAKA]

Well nobody was born with the knowledge of how to work with Linux. So how did you get involved and how did you start working with Linux.
I personally had heard of Linux and had the desire to try it when I was 13 (5 yrs ago) but only did so last year when I bought a Dell Inspiron 6400 with preinstalled Ubuntu (which I deleted immediately because the hard drive wasn't formated as I wanted it to be) and had to go through all the trouble by myself after that. Now I am reading a book called "beginning UNIX 2005" Authors:Paul Love, Joe Merlino, Craig Zimmerman,Jeremy C. Reed, and Paul Weinstein. I am looking forward to learning C programing but I want to do it under Linux not windows and that is the main purpose of all my Linux business.

[ruy_lopez]

I got hooked on using the terminal on OSX, but found a lot of packages wouldn't compile. So I installed debian on an old clamshell iBook. I haven't looked back.

[Fred_E _krugar]

Well I got started because I got tired of calling Microsoft when I would bork my XP, for a new number. Also I am tired of being Bill Gates little prison Biotch

[montres]

I had heard a lot about linux, particularly from a friend of mine who is a big linux fan. He always tried to persuade me to give it a try, without success. (I was somewhat lazy and lacked motivation). About a year ago, I got connected to the internet and my pretty old PC was made unbearably slow by the burden of the heavy antivirus program I was forced to install. The same friend told me that , with linux, I wouldn't need an antivirus program and suggested ubuntu. I tried it, and liked it a lot. Under Ubuntu my PC was again reasonably fast and I was becoming a better and more knowledgeable user. Now, I just can't go back.

[Northsider]

Wrong section perhaps?

I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I kept hearing about linux on other forums, and I wanted to give it a try. Plus, i like the truly free mentality and the real community feel about Linux (especially Ubuntu), you don't get that with any other os.

[bwhite82]

I was a dabbler for years, first distro tried was Slackware back in the mid 90s, then various flavors after that (Mandrake, Suse). I was simply waiting for them to be up to my standards before I left Windows. That happened a little over a year ago when I discovered Ubuntu by way of Digg.com.

-Cheers

[calman]

About 5 years ago (wow) I had a crappy computer my friend gave to me that only had DOS on it, which is about when i started learning about computers in general. I wanted to put 98 on it but that was too new, so my dad told me "Linux would scream on that machine" and that's where the story begins....I started with Turbo Linux which didn't work at all (I had no idea there were different distributions) and moved on to Mandrake. After a year with that I got a new system with XP and dual booted Fedora and XP, since then I've gone through about 10 different distros, messing around mostly, and finally I settled on Ubuntu!

[r4ik]

By setting my boot order to cd first i guess :)

[timbounceback]

I was 10 when I first started using Linux after seeing it at the local magazine shop ( the mag was Linux Format). I loved it, and I haven't gone back since. I'm now a geek; fluent in C, Python, Ruby, and the command line :-).

[zerhacke]

I got tired of how Minux was poorly commented...

[billgoldberg]

I had heared about linux but I had the idea in my head that linux was complety text-based.

I was thinking about installing vista and I checked out a few videos on youtube and I was very curious about linux after seeing the infamous "ubuntu vs vista" video.

Then I started reading about it and because of the wonder that is the "live cd" I used it, decided to go for it and I haven't looked back.

Been using it for about a year now.

[NewJack]

Former ******* zombie here. I kept reading about Linux on various sites and decided to give it a go. I love the freedom and flexibility that Linux provides the user. Now I only keep my win partition running for a few games that I run. Other than that, I use Ubuntu for all other functions (Surfing, emails, music collection, etc.).

[solitaire]

I was toying with Linux for nearly 13 years But really got into it 8 years ago at Uni doing a small project in a Computing class.

everyone was doing a Java or windows based project but me and 3 of my mates in the class decided to do a small POVRAY cluster project with all the comps in the class (14x P2 '666Mhz' i think?) had a blast installing a small Linux kernel and clustering them all to make a huge 12,000 by 10,000 image and a few 800 x 600 animated moves :D

we all got a nice big "A+" for the only ones to attempt to use Linux! lol!

[piousp]

It was like 2 years ago, when i was studying different operative systems in college. I tried kubuntu 6.6 and openSuse (at the same time!). 1 month after my first try, i was 95% of the time in linux. :)

[Teber]

a friend of mine is a real linux fan. that's how i got some picture of what linux. is. after trying out opensuse, fedora and ubuntu, i despaired. then i replaced my old 64 mb videocard with a 128 mb one.

the things my friend told me about linux recalled my amiga days and linux became increasingly attractive to me. and with all those free applications i can stop worrying about how to get the latest software legally. plus the fact that my somewhat older computer should not become in the near future of course...

i've been using ubuntu for almost a week now and i love it!

[JordanII]

A friend told me about it and gave me a Knoppix CD. After that he gave me a Slackware CD (which I hated.) Because of the Slackware CD I almost gave up on Linux and then I heard about Ubuntu and decided to give it a try. I've been a happy Linux user for about 2 years now. :D

[juxtaposed]

Didn't like Windows.

[jpittack]

Ran out of stuff to do in Windows. I don't actually need a computer. I have one for entertainment and fiddling purposes. I do run my business via the internet, but I could just use my dad's laptop for that, since I print an e-mail and thats about it.

[Linuxratty]

I used Windows for years and oticed that even though each version had a fancier gui,under the hood,it had the same old problems.
I found myself distrubed with the direction Windows was going in and XP kept goofing off...Finally I moved to a $20.00 copy of Linspire,then Freespire and distro hopped over to Klikit and Mepis7.

[FuturePilot]

I heard a lot about it on the internet, and I got curious. Found an old hard drive, installed Ubuntu 6.06 and fell in love with it.

[mr.propre]

Windows Explorer always crashed on my laptop and on the moment I decided to format it, I though: "Why don't give it a try?"

[k2t0f12d]

I last started Linux 2 days 17 hours and 47 minutes ago by pressing the on button. Whatsa Windows?

[AsoSako]

I last started Linux 2 days 17 hours and 47 minutes ago by pressing the on button. Whatsa Windows?
Heard it's the child of Satan, but I am really not sure...

[solitaire]

Last i heard Satan was devowing all knowledge of Windows

He was quoted as saying " I know I'm cruel but come on even I'm not that evil to force that on the world...."

[arkara]

god told me to use it because he said it was a godly os...

[hessiess]

got bored with XP and dislike vista.

[SunnyRabbiera]

Well my quest began when Microsoft released service pack 1 for XP and my system became fragged up.
I had some major issues with service pack 1 and was told that linux was worth getting into.
My first experience was yoper linux.... big mistake, it was crap.
My next try was with Suse... it was crap too.
Then came mepis linux, one of the best distributions around.
It was easy, fast and possibly my best linux experience so far (even better then ubuntu in some places)
After that I was sort of a hopper and still am, though I might stick with mint for a little while...
But what makes me stay with linux is that there is always something new with it, its ever evolving so its always interesting.

[phrostbyte]

I learned about Linux in 1998 when I was looking to research how to start my own IRC server. I used a Linux desktop (Red Hat) for a few weeks in the year 2000. But I switched back to Windows (Windows 2000) afterwards. But I never really gave up on Linux and was always on Slashdot or Linux.org to learn more about the OS, even though I couldn't use it as my main OS that thought of doing so interested me. I switched to Linux again in 2006 (Ubuntu Dapper Drake 6.06), been on it since.

[Cloudy]

One of my best friends used it a little bit when we were in high school, and that was my first exposure to it -- listening to him talk about using openSUSE. After that I decided that I wanted to try linux out, so I asked around and most people told me to check this (relatively) new distro (at the time) out, Ubuntu.

So I downloaded the Ubuntu 5.10 ISO, burned it, and wiped the harddrive on my old PC, put 5.10 on it and it took off from there. I learned nearly everything I know from this forum + tutorials. :popcorn:

[julian67]

I didn't get my 1st computer (old & used) until 6 years ago (though I used computers at work...or did they use me?) ....it was a PII I think and had Win 98 and I hated it from day one so 6 months later I built my own PC, purchased Win 98(!!!) and soon upgraded to XP (more money to Bill!!!) and liked that a lot for a while (you'd like anything else if you started with '98). I was vaguely aware of the GNU project and the more I learned about Windows and the more I used it the less I liked it. I tried live CDs and installed distros but had some fundamental hardware problems (the hardware simply was not yet supported outside of Windows) but I used as much FOSS as possible while still using Windows and continued to play around and keep myself vaguely up to date with Linux happenings/distro releases ready for the magic day when my PCI IDE card would work and all my data could be liberated. The day came and I switched. Actually what finally prompted and encouraged me was an associate showing me his rather old laptop running Dapper with everything working well including wireless (he had got the CD posted for free). I found I couldn't install Dapper satisfactorily (installer problems followed by screen res problems) but I could install openSuse which I used happily for a while, these days I prefer Debian and Slackware based distros. I'm still running the same PC I built those years ago but there's Xubuntu on it these days, no proprietary OS, and I love it, the performance is fine and no need for expensive hardware upgrades like the MS crowd get pushed/marketed into.

[Vitamin-Carrot]

I first tried fedora back during core 3 then i went to wondows Xp to play games and then came back to fedora core 6 then 7 i didint like fedora that much thought it was **** really. the i installed XP cause i wanted to play games again and then vista i had a play of that for 2 days and thought WTF! so i reinstalled Xp and then dual booted with ubuntu and so far while i do still play the odd game under XP I user ubuntu way more.

I find linux addicting as said above it is alwasy evolving and changing and its the fruit of all our efforts really we all have p[arts to play whe it comes to ubuntu we may not all be programmers or desingers but just by using it and enjoying and spreading the word it makes this wonderfull OS ours and we want to share it. Remeber ubuntu only started up in 2003-4 so its come a very long way since then, impressive to say the least its taken MS alot longer to get where they are now.

Windows users converted this week: 4

[ODF]

Since december 2007 :KS

Using it 99% of the time.

Still need my games. =)

[fifth]

Not sure when it was (1994/1995 ish?) but i started by downloading slackware floppy disk images over a 14.4 modem. I remember it taking forever and the pain of having to restart a download when someone in the house disrupted it by trying to use the phone lol.

I remember having to configure everything; reading all the online help I could just to get the X server running on my 486sx and then moving on to try and get the sound working.

Changed days when I can just throw in a Ubuntu CD (after a quick download) and everything just works:D.

Been properly using Linux as my only os for about 3 years now.

[HotShotDJ]

I've been using computers since I was in High School in the late 1970's. My school had a mini-mainframe with teletype terminals and punched paper-tape for storing our work. In college, we used either punch-cards or DEC VT-100 terminals (I think they may have had Wyse terminals in one computer lab... but that was a long time ago.) I remember my father bought a DEC Rainbow 100 in the early 1980's which ran CP/M DOS -- later I used IBM-DOS and MS-DOS on various PC Clones. I recall using Windows 3.1 briefly... but it wasn't very useful. Then I switched to OS/2 WARP in the mid 1990's (either just before or just after Windows 95 was released -- I don't remember). It wasn't until 1999 that I bought my first computer that came preinstalled with Windows 98. I cannot describe how horrified I was with it. I upgraded it to Windows 2000 (I still run Win2K in a virtual machine on one of my computers) and then in 2002, I switched to Linux and never looked back.

The point of this rambling is that out of the 30 years I've been using computers, only 3 of them were in Windows. I had more problems adjusting to Windows systems than I had working in Linux. I feel sorry for those who grew up using only Windows. You've missed out on the full richness and power of computers. Windows just turns them into expensive game consoles.

[CSMatt]

I had switched to a Mac several years ago, but I had to get a new laptop for college. My college frowned upon Macs, so to appease my parents I got a PC. But I didn't want to run Windows so I installed Ubuntu. I choose Ubuntu because of its reputation of being easy to use. I stuck with it because I agree with the philosophy of free software, and because I found that it didn't get slower with each installed program.

[RandomJoe]

I first heard about Linux from a friend. At the time, somewhere around 1993-94, I was in college and dirt poor. I had *barely* managed to put together a 386DX40 system - whopping 4MB RAM, and a 40MB hard drive. Didn't have Internet access at the time, so I had to get the Slackware floppies from my friend. Stacks and stacks of floppies... He lived an hour away, so naturally one floppy was bad... :p

I knew absolutely nothing about Linux or Unix, let alone dual-booting, so I would wipe Windows then install Linux. First time I got about 10 minutes, went back to Windows. Second time, maybe 20 minutes. So on for a LONG time, gradually building up how long I went, how much I could do.

Eventually, I managed to get two machines so Linux got to stay on one permanently and I managed to figure out a lot more then. By 1998, I had Slackware down pat. And finally wiped Windows from the last computer I had it on. Been Windows-free ever since! :D

Still use Slack for servers, but have played with others. I like Ubuntu for my desktop systems!

Ah, nostalgia... :lolflag:

[samwyse]

I saw my brother using Linux on his computer in 2000 and then installed it on my computer dual booting with Windows 98. I don't think I had heard about Linux before that. I learned some commands and stuff from my brother like configuring X and fstab (or where the confs are located), using su, vim to edit, compiling software and mounting cdroms or harddisks. Most stuff just worked even back then. I stopped caring about Windows games in early 2002 and was fully converted to Linux. I started with Red Hat Linux, then Fedora Core and finally Kubuntu.

[Salpiche]

I got started after doing a search on Operating System, while trying to fix a problem with my win 95 box about 10 or 11 years ago. I stumbled upon BeOS read about it and decide to try it and used it fro a short time, went back to windows, then I tried mandrake Venice, then RedHat, and well, here I am in the Ubuntu Planet

[Superkoop]

I'd always used a lot of open source programs, and so I always hung around on those forums, where Linux was mentioned quite heavily. So I had known about it for a good while, I was just unsure how hard it would be.
And then one day I was just in a really weird mood, and decided to order a live CD since I have too slow of Internets to download it. And I guess that was it, the CD arrived, I set it up for a dual boot. I decided immediately that Ubuntu was better than Vista, in every way I could think. (I'm not a PC gamer at all)
So within the week I convinced my parents to use Ubuntu too. (being able to use the computer within 1 min of pressing the on button was a large plus for them)

And now I am trying to convince my friends to use Linux too, but I think they are even more computer dumb than my mom and dad. (seemingly impossible as it may be, it's true)

[Trenchbroom]

I've known about Linux for years, since the mid-90's. Nerd OS stereotypes mostly. One day I found my self very bored and extremely frustrated that my XP install picked up some dang trojan again. Instead of investing all day in, at best, running anti-spyware programs and scanning websites on how to remove the beast or at worst, format/reinstalling Windows. I decided that there had to be a better way & that it was time to give Linux a whirl.

Knoppix worked OK on a live CD boot but the hard drive install froze so I downloaded Ubuntu Hoary Hedgehog. Been using Ubuntu nonstop ever since.

[DoktorSeven]

First played on it in the mid-90s at college (university), but not very much; I had more experience in DOS, and after that, Windows. But I didn't care much for the way Windows did things even back in the 9x/early NT days, so late 90s I started experimenting with Linux plus forced into it at work (web hosting company).

It replaced Windows as my primary OS around 2001 or so.

[chris4585]

Well i heard from a friend on irc, and i was introduced to a group of linux users on a private irc server, i was curious at first, then someone offered me to ssh to his machine, he said for me to play around with it, i didnt really understand it, then i ordered a cd from shipit, i tried it, and i found it easy to use, but i wasnt ready by that time, over the next year i downloaded and tested a bunch of livecds, i got a new computer with vista on it, and i loved it, until drm kicked in, and i hated it, i could play some of my music, and i couldnt watch any video types besides wmv, finally i installed sabayon and kept it on my computer for about a month, i really only liked the compiz effects, but i hated its package manager, i had a ton of issues with sabayon, i tried ubuntu 7.10 (before i tried 6.06) i knew what gutsy could do by watching videos on youtube, so i tried it, and looked for howto's to get things going, it took me about a week and three installs to get everything good and going, i got invovled in the community and i fell in love with ubuntu, and i've been using ubuntu straight for 6 months, i use xp in a virtual machine for mIRC, (for some reason my mirc script keeps disappearing under wine, it just vanishes) but other than that mIRC works perfect under wine i think, well thats my story :)

[v.cube]

Well nobody was born with the knowledge of how to work with Linux. So how did you get involved and how did you start working with Linux.
I personally had heard of Linux and had the desire to try it when I was 13 (5 yrs ago) but only did so last year when I bought a Dell Inspiron 6400 with preinstalled Ubuntu (which I deleted immediately because the hard drive wasn't formated as I wanted it to be) and had to go through all the trouble by myself after that. Now I am reading a book called "beginning UNIX 2005" Authors:Paul Love, Joe Merlino, Craig Zimmerman,Jeremy C. Reed, and Paul Weinstein. I am looking forward to learning C programing but I want to do it under Linux not windows and that is the main purpose of all my Linux business.
good post. keep it up.

[v.cube]

http://groups.google.co.in/group/comp.os.linux.advocacy/browse_thread/thread/6fb0ed2888acab2e/4ff8c5d8ba35800a?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=New+Ubuntu#4ff8c5d8ba35800a

Hi,I'm 20 years old. My id is v.v.vinayb...@gmail.com. i'm a final
year Enginnering student. :)

I've got fed up with windows XP( Ofcourse, Vista SUCKS!!). Three-and-a-
half years of using
microsoft products has left me highly irritated. They've so many
bugs, are resource hogging, and is CLOSE-sourced. After hearing about
Linux, I've researched a lot on the internet about stuff, like which
distro to choose, kde vs GNOME, I also watched lovely LINUX MOVIES
like
http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3516869/RevolutionOS_(Linux_story).avi
and
http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3955602/The_code_linux

I tried Mandriva( VGA problem), Fedora( couldn't get gui),
ubuntu( downloaded twice, but was unable to install on my Pentium 4.)

Fed up, I would have resigned to my fate and continued to use the
"useless" XP, but a comment on one forum change my thoughts. He said
"I'm unhappy with the problems which keep cropping every now and then,
and the time required to understand and solve it. But, EVERY TIME I
ENCOUNTER A PROBLEM WITH MY OS(UBUNTU), IT ONLY MAKES ME WORKS HARDER
TO TRY TO SOLVE IT." This is the quote which made me to rework my
efforts for Ubuntu OS.

I finally used the ShipIt feature to get CDs delivered to me. I
requested in the end of December, 2007. I received them on 15th Feb,
2008. I went so MAD WITH EXCITEMENT. Since I requested 7 CDs, i called
my friends and asked them to try out Ubuntu and sold the facts about
it. Yesterday I handed over CDs to 3 of them and asked them to use it
and then PASS IT ON!!

Today is a Sunday. On Sundays, I usally get up at around 11.00 am.
Today I got up at 6 am and out of the bed at 8 am. Do you WHY??? Bcoz
I wanted to install Ubuntu. I installed it and am enjoying it. The
screensavers are SUPERB, GNOME rocks, support is awesome and thx to
Canonical for sending me free CDs. Yeahhhhhhhh!!!! Today is a GREAT
DAY FOR ME, Because today I've got freedom, yes the real "freedom".
Thx to Ubuntu.

[v.cube]

they have started false nonsense like Ubuntu sucks
http://groups.google.co.in/groups/search?hl=en&qt_s=1&q=+Ubuntu+sucks
:lolflag:

[stooshbunutu]

I first heard about it on the news about 3 years ago and sine I've used a computer hated microsoft with a passion.

Finially I got my own computer and the opportunity arose to install linux.

I asked a friend of my sister who had been using it for about 5 years and he pointed me in the direction of Ubuntu

I've been one of the converted for about 4 months now.

The only problem is I now hate using Windows computers even more because I know there is a better AND FREE alternative.

Why don't schools use Linux, its free for god sakes and the kids wont be able to accidently download viruses, there aren't any. The education system will save millions and the kids will get a much better education

[quanumphaze]

Though I don't remember the exact circumstances of which I first heard of Linux but I first saw it when my friend installed Mandrake on another friends old Thinkpad back in 2004.

Later I got a knopix CD from a magazine and found it interesting. Then borrowed Mandrake 9.2 of him and installed it and thought it was nice. Worked very well with the hardware of my old IBM desktop but I didn't really get into it.

Found Mandrake 10.? later that year on another magazine and still didn't get into it.

3 years later (2007) I see Ubuntu 7.04 with Beryl on another friends PC. Wow I thought, looks way better than Vista.

I still played games so I kept putting it off.

I didn't get much opportunity to install 7.10 until I finished my exams in November. I installed it, fixed the audio and only went back into Windows to get some data once.

So far I have not used Windows on this laptop for about 3.5 months. With such a nice OS I just can't go back to the old way.

[Iceni]

I've been aware of linux and keeping an eye on it since mid-90's, but never actually made the step because I used to game a lot. As my gaming habits have dwindled down to nothing xcept the wii and a little gh on the 360 and linux had matured meanwhile, it made the choice easy. Especially after trying vista beta:)

I recently removed the xp partition that I kept just in case, so I'm now 100% linux. Whopie!

[Tails9]

I heard about Microsoft applying 'silent' updates.
I then decided I wanted an OS which was completely mine.

Although my Ubuntu now broke down, I'm still loyal to it, if I can ever get it working again.

[odiseo77]

First, like 5 years ago (or so), I was reading a magazine about politics, culture, etc, and read an article about linux (it was not technical stuff, but rather about the linux philosophy and the GPL license); I got immediately interested on linux after reading that article. By that time, my old P3 computer had got toasted, so I had to wait like for one or two months in order to get a new machine. So I started my research about linux: buyed some linux magazines and got introduced to the terminal (even if I had no machine to practice), started reading about linux and how to install it on internet while I was at work, etc. Then I got a new PC, installed linux (SuSE 9.0, if I'm not wrong), and started playing with it.

I still keep a windows partition but I use it in very rare occasions for gaming.

[jpl80]

I began using the terminal in Unix while studying Computer Science in college. I ultimately made the switch from Windows to Linux (Ubuntu mainly, but I've tried other flavors) about 3 years ago. The reason I did it is because I like the open-source principle. Also, it is advantageous for my career to have linux command-line experience. And last... it is kind of fun!

[kamaboko]

I hit the power button on my laptop. That starts Linux for me. :)