I've added 2014+ to the poll.

--jeremy

2003

Hi, We started with Ubuntu I think 6 so that would be 2006. We have also tried the christian Ubuntu, puppy, and teen puppy. It was so that we could surf the net without getting all those nasty virus out there.

I started to use Linux (RedHat) in 1997 I believe.

A friend told me in 2007 about this amazing free operating system that this guy Linus from Finland had written, that he had been using, Linux. And when I came home I downloded disk's for Xubuntu, Edubuntu and Kubuntu. Didn't start to really use it until 2010 and that was Fedora on a Dell laptop and Ubuntu on my Mac laptop

I used a dual boot win/Linux in 1999.
I used Linux exclusively in 2005.

In 2009. I was in 9th grade back then and got an Ubuntu 9.10 ISO along with a tech. magazine I subscribed.

In 2000,

Was broke, thought I'd try a free system on my 1st PC. Never used Windoze

Caldera OpenLinux 2000, had to learn it on the fly as I was a newly hired manager who was told to "get a handle" on a system they installed that no one knew how to use! That started my Linux Admin duties.

First booted to the SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 install DVD December 27, 2007
First successfully installed it on the afternoon of January 28, 2008.

I don't have photographic memory - I only remember dates of significance.

I'm a newcomer- 2010.

Got my first 'puter in 1999. Had nev er used a computer before in my life- but I learnt of the existence of Linux literally within days of getting that first computer. I immediately was intrigued. The way I think, I figured "If Windows is the big popular OS that 'everyone' uses, and which comes pre-installed on every computer...it must really SUCK!". Boy, was i right! [That same mentality kept me from ever using AOL!! I was virtually a computer illiterate, but nerds thought I was one of them, because I had the sense to avoid AOL! Errr...uh...my thick glasses didn't hurt that image any, either )

I looked into Linux back then- but seeing all the foreign terminology- and with computing being new to me and all, it seemed way too advanced for me. I mean, I didn't want to start carrying a slide-rule and having nose bleeds...I just wanted an OS that would work. WIN98 didn't seem too bad...so I stayed with it, till 2007.

Then came the new computer, with Vista! That did it! After a few years of Vista, I said to myself that I'd either learn to use Linux, or I'd throw my computer out the window! Luckily, by then, many linux distros had become so user-friendly, that they were actually easier to use than Windows. I started with Ubuntu 10.04 and never looked back. Went Windows-free after a few months.

I've since abandoned Ubuntu, as it has become too much like Windows these days- with it's bloat and spyware. Have since used Debian; Crunchbang; Antix...and tonight I will be installing Slackware.

The way I see it, once you use Linux, there's no going back! I've never even set eyes on Windows 7 & 8.....and that's a good thing to be able to say, in my book!

started with Red Hat in 98-99 and took their class on how to use it , bought a modem to work with it :-), then red hat wanted 125 a year . took an A+ certification class to learn DOS memory management . learned WIN98instead . [98SE is still on some of my old hardware for Star Craft Broad War ]. got a AMD Clawhammer and resisted XP [had that hammer cruising better then my friends P4 on XP] then XP 64 bit came out . I found 64 bit PC-OS linux , it loaded and worked , but I did not know how to use it . alass , no other 64 bit linux would load and regular Ubuntu would not either . why????? , then poor clawhammer died :-( back to AM37 FIC mother board , Ubuntu still not working and others not easy to use , ,found in trash intel 945 chipset comp , tried Ubuntu 12.04 , whoo hoo , it works and CD Lubuntu 12.04 works on the AM37 FIC boards .
2 systems 945 =XP ,& Ubuntu12.04
3 systems FIC =XP ,& 98SE ,& Lubuntu12.04

Well, did he?!? ;-)

Hi,

I started using Slackware in 1993 when we had to create disk sets to do a install.

I have been using the best UNIX like distribution and the oldest active Gnu/Linux.

Have fun & enjoy Slackware!

I was a graduate teaching assistant (in finance, not computers!) back in January of 1998, As we "Boomers" and "Gen Xers" recall, Microsoft was under investigation for restraint of trade as a monopoly. Apple was on the ropes, and AT&T was in a fight with UC Berkley over Unix.

As an aside, while I can see why those who hate MS are upset at its opportunistic dominance, market dominance does not equal evil monopoly. If there are alternatives that can be freely chosen, there is no monopoly, and claims that there is one only induce consumers to not only FEELING stuck with Windows, but actually BEING stuck with Windows (If there are no alternatives, you ARE stuck!).

Speaking of alternatives, I was reading about them in business journals, which described this super-stable, super-secure OS. As I was tiring of the dreaded "Blue Screen of Death," I was intrigued that Linux would seemingly arise out of nowhere.

Soon, I was booting multiple versions of Linux with Windows. At this stage of life, I am unsure whether I bought Red Hat 5.0 or Corel Linux first, but I AM sure I booted both alongside Windows.

Today, I still multi-boot Linux with Windows, though it is Linux (Ubuntu, mostly) that is my main OS. I now use Windows on my home computers rarely--only when various factors make the Windows programme a logically superior choice to the open source equivalent--or when my work requires a Windows solution.