If some of you had use linux back in the nineties, do you prefer the old school ways of doing things in linux? In those days, you really needed to be a computer enthusiast to use and install linux.

Back then, you really learn about linux because it offered little or no hand holding. You had to know what files to edit or configured that affected the system, the X window system, and the handling of package dependencies yourself.

I'm glad there are distros like LFS, gentoo, crux, arch and slackware available.

Hear hear.

Me too.

I started using ZipSlack(8?) & then RedHat 4.2/5.0 & Debian 2.1.
Sound was a major hassle to get working, as was X.

I do still use the CLI a lot, but I'm glad Linux has progressed.

To be able to use a 'base system' is still a challenge for a 'newbie'.
Some want to learn the basics, but others just want a reliable O/S to replace M.S. Windows.

There was a kind of "seat of the pants" feel to it that i kind of miss. I started in about 96 with redhat 5x and tried out mandrake and a couple of other distros. Its was maddingly frustrating at times and i remember getting pissed off about distros moving things around and deviating from what it thought was the standard layout.

Package managment was a nightmare, redhat had something called "glint" iirc that was absolutely terrible. I do still remember my enlightenment wm and gnome panel interface fondly though.

There were things you could do then interface wise that i dont think you could do today, there seemed to be alot more components for X that you could just build your own interface with. I dont however miss fvwm and afterstep .rc files

Different distros and their distro specific layouts is the main reason i ended up with slackware. Its nice when things are where they ought to be and havent been futzed with too much and you dont have to worry about hosing the system with every update.

Hardware support and functionality have vastly improved, i can still have my nice simple, functional interface, (currently fluxbox, rox, gkrellm, a few scripts that make it more comfortable, and the xfce panel) and know that just about anything i plug in will work with minimal config and just about anything i install will work with all the bells and whistles.

I suppose I'm a bit of a "fence-straddler" in that I am really glad that basic recognition and driver assignment now exists for hardware. I did not relish having to manually setup and configure items as basic as soundcards, modems, NICs, etc. especially when some were somewhat interactive creating a "Circle of Doom". OTOH I do most definitely despise systems that have that "underfoot Butler" thing going on trying to do every little thing for me and never as well as I would do it. Thankfully, there is Slackware

Yeah, you refreshed my memory about how awful some soundcard and modem set up could be I can remember studying modem init string codes and a time when ever new kernel seem to break my sound set up.