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

[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!