What was the first distro you ever tried?

[toasty_ghosty]

I was thinking about this earlier, what the first distro I ever tried was and I was wondering about everyone else here. Mine was Mandrake Linux in 1999 when I got my Windows ME box and couldn't take it anymore. Or perhaps another question would be what distro really got you "hooked" on Linux?

[kreggz]

Tried Red Hat when it was free, but Ubuntu got me hooked

[markp1989]

mine was knoppix, installed it on my laptop, used it for abit , then went back to XP, then i heard about ubuntu, ran it from the live cd for a few weeks, then decided to install dual boot. then after about 4 months got rid of XP and am all ubuntu, have tried other distros, but find that ubuntu is my fav, im planing to convert to debian soon thou

[Twitch6000]

PClinuxOS07

[I-75]

Windows 3.1


:lolflag:

[unknownmosquito]

Suse 9.3 was the first but it was Fedora Core 3 that got me hooked.

[blackened]

I tried Redhat in 1998, but had a horrible time with it. Tried Mandrake in 2001 or so, was a bit better, but I can't tolerate KDE. Got hooked on Warty when it came out, and have used some form of Ubuntu ever since. I've also tried Puppy, Arch, Sabayon, Mint, DSL, Debian, and Gentoo for varying lengths of time, always coming back to Ubuntu for one reason or another.

[ddrichardson]

Slackware 3.0 in 1995. We had a project about UNIX shell scripts due, I was in a book store and there it was - "Linux, Installation & Configuration" by Patrick Volkerding with a free "UNIX Like" OS. It was a tenner so I bought it. X was a bugger to configure, had to learn how to write xf86config and learn about modelines but when I first ran OpenLook I was amazed - light years ahead of Windows 3.1.

Man, I am getting old.

[sunexplodes]

Corel Linux, I think. This was ages ago, and I don't think it made it past the setup, if I recall correctly.

Then Ubuntu about 3 years ago, now Arch.

[melojo]

Red Hat 10 to 12 years or so ago

[amauk]

Corel Linux (around 1999)
came on a CD with a computer magazine I subscribed to

didn't know what Linux was (I'd never heard of it before)
I actually thought it was some kind of graphics package - as that's what I knew Corel for

[namegame]

Knoppix, but it didn't work.

I then tried Fedora. As I was a linux noob I couldn't get wireless to work on the Campus of my college.

Then I found out that my college supports Ubuntu, including necessary packages for wireless, so I started using that.

Then I learned how to manually configure my wireless so I started distro-hopping.

I'm using Mint right now, but I guarantee that will change in a few days/weeks.

At work, there is a joke to guess my current OS. (I work for my University's IT department.)

[SuperSonic4]

Mandriva 2008.0 because a friend recommended it

Ubuntu because of these forums

Kubuntu I prefer KDE (sitting on another partition throughout)

Mint KDE but it kept breaking with updates

SUSE 11.0 but I kinda got bored with it

Mandriva 2009 beta and finally upgraded it to 2009.0 early this month

[starcannon]

Redhat Linux (I now forget which version, but it came with a doorstop of a book from barnes and nobles). That was about 10 years ago.

[cookieofdoom]

Mine was Mandrake (8.2, iirc). I believe Windows ME was what pushed me over the edge. I was in 8th grade at the time, and when it took me 4 hours to figure out how to install the Nvidia drivers I gave up.

I think the hard drive was dying on that machine, too, because I got random lockups all the time in both operating systems (which went away when I got a new hard drive).

I came back to Linux by trying Ubuntu around the time Edgy Eft came out.

[-grubby]

damn small linux

[toasty_ghosty]

I'm using Mint right now, but I guarantee that will change in a few days/weeks.


I did that about a year ago. I tried Slackware, Gentoo, OpenSUSE, and Debian. I've stayed with Ubuntu though because when it would take me a while to get everything working just how I like in Slackware and Debian, it takes an hour in Ubuntu. Sure, it might not sound as "l33t" to use Ubuntu, but I enjoy being lazy.

[xang]

Caldera OpenLinux or Corel Linux. Can't remember which I used first..but both around 1999/2000.

[Sponzenbroekske]

If I read these post, then I'm fairly new at Linux, but hooked already, my first distro was Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon, did some distro hopping, but euh.. I always come back to ubuntu, now its hardy heron and intrepid ibex, and the last one is 64bit, Cuz now I got a laptop with 64bit architexture, but I still got some work to do at that one, compiz aint working, wlan is trouble, but yeah its a beta.

But to make it short, ITS ALL UBUNTU.

[omns]

Red Hat 6

[phowells]

I installed a version of Slackware maybe 10 years ago that I still have on a box in my basement. There is no network card in the box because I was still using a 14.4 modem back then. Looking back my time would have been better spend trying to get laid.

[tigrezno]

i think it was trustix or redhat (or mandrake)

[Chame_Wizard]

Ubuntu 5.10 in February 2006,was my start to being Tux user.:guitar:

[Tak11]

When I was about 13 I got pissed off at windows, because i downloaded a corrupt disc, and installed fedora core, =)

i then went to OpenSuse, and distro to distro untill Ubuntu got me addicted.

[Erdaron]

Maybe three or four years ago I helped a friend install either Redhat or Fedora, I don't remember which, but it was something hat-related.

About a year ago I tried SUSE, which was an epic fail. Then I tried Ubuntu, and everything's gone swimmingly.

[ddrichardson]

Caldera OpenLinux or Corel Linux. Can't remember which I used first..but both around 1999/2000.

Later politics aside, OpenLinux had a fantastic installer for the time and KDE 1.4.

[bfc]

Redhat 3.03 back in 1996 I think... Been with Linux every since.

[ddrichardson]

I installed a version of Slackware maybe 10 years ago that I still have on a box in my basement. There is no network card in the box because I was still using a 14.4 modem back then. Looking back my time would have been better spend trying to get laid.

I hope "spend" was a grammatical rather than Freudian slip. :)

[dblack]

Mandrake 7.2, then Libranet.

[mfarquhar]

First GNU/Linux Distro I tried out was Ubuntu 4.10 (Warty Warthog).

We were doing a short Linux unit in a computer class in high school, and that was the first one we experimented with. Others Distros looked at included Red Hat, SuSe, Mandrake, Knoppix, and Debian. Most of the class liked Ubuntu or Suse the best, while our sit in Linux Guru helping to teach was a hardcore Debian guy. I've been tinkering with Linux ever since. (though unable to ditch my Windows installs...)

Current Linux Distro: Xubuntu 8.04 (I've got an old machine)

[SunnyRabbiera]

Yoper linux, it was horrid.

[Corfy]

The first distro I actually tried by installing was Debian Sarge 3.1 (which was then "unstable", but that was just a few months before it went stable). I loved it... once I got it working, but it took me two weeks to get it to work on my computer.

I switched to Ubuntu with 5.10 later that year. It had no problem on my computer, so it had all the advantages of Debian without the disadvantages.

I "tested the waters" with Fedora 5, but it didn't like my computer, either, so I went back to Ubuntu.

However, if you count LiveCDs, then my first distro was actually SAM. I have also tried Knoppix, DSL, SystemRescueCD, Freespire and, most recently, openSUSE.

[kk0sse54]

Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon

[TheSlipstream]

Kubuntu 6.06

[cariboo]

Redhat 5.2 paid $50.00 for it, I got two cds, a manual and a sticker. I still have everything.

Jim

[solitaire]

not my first distro...
but the most successful :D (got a great score at College for this) :D


(Blast from the past!)
http://www.drinksmachine.uklinux.net/

[boof1988]

My first (and current) is Ubuntu 8.04.1. Installed a few days ago. I wanted to try linux and I stumbled upon Ubuntu. Didn't even know the difference between Gnome and KDE (still don't). I guess I'm using Gnome(?) and don't know what KDE is. While looking at the add/remove packages, I still don't know what a lot of the terms mean. Will eventually learn more.

I'm glad I found this place. It's nice to read other's stories and get some help.

Peace

:guitar:

[nairatinu]

Mandrake, then Mandriva of course, then Studio to Go, which of course naturally brought me to Ubuntu Studio!

[keiichidono]

Xubuntu 8.04 was the first I ever tried, it was on an old computer of mine. Linux Mint got me hooked but then I found Ubuntu and liked it more.

[Corfy]

Didn't even know the difference between Gnome and KDE (still don't). I guess I'm using Gnome(?) and don't know what KDE is.

Not to hijack the thread, but...

This can be a little hard to explain because people coming from Windows or Mac aren't used to having a choice, so it isn't noticeable. But with Linux, there are several different desktop managers (or desktop environments, or window managers, or window environments... there are subtle differences between environments and managers, but the differences aren't critical at this point).

The two most popular are GNOME and KDE. These are generally responsible for creating the graphical menus on your desktop, organizing icons, placing the wallpaper, things like that. To the untrained eye, and in my own opinion, by default, GNOME cosmetically resembles Mac, while KDE more closely resembles Windows. Now, you can radically change the looks of both of them to make either look like Mac or Windows or something completely different, but I'm just going by default.

Whole flame wars have been waged over which is better, KDE or GNOME. My opinion... it is almost entirely personal preference (with some consideration for your system's hardware). Both use the same underlying Linux system. There are differences between them, not just cosmetically, but also functionality, but they are still similar. By default, Ubuntu uses GNOME and Kubuntu uses KDE.

Of course, this is Linux, there are more than just the two. A third popular manager/environment is Xfce, which is also available in the *buntu family (it is Xubuntu). There are many others out there.

Again (for others), I don't want to start a flame war, I don't want to start arguments about the merits between them (you can find other threads on the forum for that), I just wanted to answer the implied question.

[bsharp]

My first was Feather Linux and it worked perfectly, I got bored with it and went back to Windows. Then out of the blue there was an article in Popular Science about Ubuntu (I think 6.10 had just come out) and I tried it out and have been using it ever since.

[david_lynch]

SLS in June 1993.

[Solicitous]

My first Linux distro was Red Hat 5.2, but 6.0 was the real turning point for me in opensource.

[nixscripter]

FreeBSD. Er, wait, you mean linux distro ;-)

Really, I first installed FreeBSD six years ago, moved to the even more kit-like NetBSD, and when I found it unable to do the strange, fascinating stuff I wanted (like bizzare floppy systems and netbooting) I found Gentoo linux after going through several other distros. Most notably RedHat (I think 5 or 6) made my screen appear to lose its vertical hold when I booted, and Debian (don't know what version) required me to select a brand new list of packages to install by 24-character tarball name -- no package name, no description, no clue about dependencies. And it came on 7 CDs.

I am assuming both have improved since then, but I still consider Gentoo my favorite OS (as evidenced by my avatar), since I am a kit builder and strange tinkerer.

Ubuntu was first suggested at an old job of mine administering UNIX, when everyone made fun of me for installing Gentoo on my work computer (and having to compile Gnome literally over night!). Since then, if I want a simple client box, Ubuntu's my choice. When Dell started shipping with it pre-installed, I couldn't resist.

[Grant A.]

Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, Dapper Drake.

[MontyFromSingleMinds]

SuSe , about ten years ago (?) . I bought a commercial box, which came with a huge manual. After trying to use it, I gave up quickly.

Then Knoppix came out, on a live disk, and I was impressed. A few years ago a friend gave me an Ubuntu live CD (plus install one) and I started to see that there might be a chance for a Linux distro to be conceptually valid for "Windows People".

I really do believe that Ubuntu may be the ultimate path for many to enter into the Linux/open software world. The people behind it have done a remarkable job in advancing Linux to a new plateau that can include both "hard core" computer users - and regular ones, while satisfying both worlds rather well.

With additional resources, like these forums, that can only get better and better.

[kernelhaxor]

I think it was Fedora 4 or Fedora 5

[vishzilla]

Ubuntu Dapper Drake

[Compucore]

Mine was with Suse 6 I think over here on a old Pentium 2 233. Never could get that xwin running properly back then. And that was in 1997 back then but it was a good learning experience with it. Thank god for ubuntu Hearty hedge hogs when it came along.

Compucore

[tigrezno]

ok ok let's face it, my first linux was not linux but minixx, i'm a true hacker you know

[Lord Xeb]

Ubuntu 7.10 was mine... I have tried like 23 different OSes but that was the first Linux based. Then after than I tried a bunch of others but kept on settling on Ubuntu.

[Chilli Bob]

I first tried Fedora off a CD on the cover of a magazine. It installed fine, but would not boot. I gave up, thinking that Linux was rubbish. It would have been another two or three years until I tried Dapper Drake and saw the light.

[bomanizer]

Fedora core 2

[girishsasikumar]

Started with Mandrake back in 1999, then moved to Redhat but it all got shot down with the new hardware ......... now finally settled to UBUNTU, though I try quiet a few others tooo Mandirva, Gentoo, SUSE, FEDORA, CENTOS ...........
Ubuntu 8.10 beta is gr8........ things that never worked before works out of box now, like MATLAB

[ddrichardson]

Of course, this is Linux, there are more than just the two. A third popular manager/environment is Xfce, which is also available in the *buntu family (it is Xubuntu). There are many others out there.

Again (for others), I don't want to start a flame war, I don't want to start arguments about the merits between them (you can find other threads on the forum for that), I just wanted to answer the implied question.

Real men use the command line, or TWM at a pinch. :)

[Sorivenul]

Slackware 8.1

[Canis familiaris]

Rhl 8.0

[gn2]

First tried: PCLinuxOS 0.92

First installed to hard drive: Ubuntu 5.10

[Linuxratty]

Ok,here is my short list.
Linspire OEM,Freespire,Klikit,Fedora,Mepis,Ubuntu,Cosmosis.

[rudihawk]

Dapper 6.06 was the first OS I installed to HDD.

The first other distro I tried was a live CD of Open Suse 9.1

[Deciduous]

Knoppix earlier this year, but I was dissatisfied because I couldn't connect to the Internet while using it...had the same issue with FreeBSD. Also tried openSUSE, which was ok, but I prefer Ubuntu. :)

[ginjabunny]

had a play with Redhat 5 about 10 years ago on a Dell P60 but gave up because I didn't know anything about linux, then a couple of years later started playing with Mandrake with KDE which I got into, then figured out how to build firewalls with Mandrake Corp server v1, still got one in the back of a cupboard somewhere.

[Jim!]

Ubuntu. It was reccommended to me on a forum, It was a good reccommendation.

[bartos]

Caldera. Was $10 with a $10 mail in rebate.Still have the disks too
Mepis 6 got me totally converted.
Now I have Lenny as my main.