Extended "How I got into Linux" posting...

Way back around 1993 I found QNX bootable 1.44mb floppy images out on the Internet courtesy an AOL (gasp) "connection". I believe I had to used a BBS to download. Once I had the images on 2 AOL disks :-), I was blown away at how a whole desktop could fit on a floppy. I did not know how to get it online at that time...

Then I went back to doing work, raising a family and then work again on a new project for another company. In 1999 I started remotely administering a Cobalt RAQ server running Linux. I honestly knew nothing about how it worked (all seemed like some kind of dark-art to me), but many of the updates and patches did not apply properly - I had to resort to using ssh to access the system. Again, nothing I was familiar with at all.

Once I saw the command line though, I was pretty much hooked and had to have Linux at home. I installed Red Hat Desktop on an old system and started working out how to share a Netzero "connection" running on (gasp again) Win 98 with my Linux desktop. Ah, the old days where modems sung to us! Don't you just miss those days?

I started trying out distros once I got them downloaded and burned onto discs - what a slow, painful process on a Pentium 2 with a 14.4k modem. Mandrake was quite fun though, as was SuSE, which I stuck with for a few years. I then learned Macon, France had 7 LUG members and just knew Macon, Georgia could muster more members if only we had a LUG. I went on to co-found MGALUG.org in 2003 with a certain Mr. Trae McCombs, et al.

I moved on to Debian until Ubuntu arrived on the scene; it was mostly good while it lasted. But, move my buttons to the wrong side of the window and I had enough. I had to find something better. I tested Debian again but found it too stable (:-D ), Siddux and then Fedora, which was just too "corporate". Besides, I was getting tired of the whole "nuke and pave" process all the previous distros offered. Sure, I kept a separate /home partition, but enough was enough.

I installed Arch Linux late 2011 on my Core-2 duo dell laptop and it still running today on my MSI whitebox gaming laptop. I also run Arch on numerous desktops, a media center and multiple Raspberry Pi; many clients and friends now run Arch installations as well.

nomasteryoda -
all your base are belong to us

It all happened at my previous work, when I was running into the limitations of the Windows machines we used there. I discovered Cygwin and the tools that were available there, and found myself needing to know more.

A brief flirtation with Ubuntu led to Mint, which led to Debian, which led to Slackware, and here we are.

my linux roots go back to my high school days, I took a c++ programming class from a nearby college, which was conducted at the time on a Novell Unixware server, the instructior at the time said the best way to do it at home without having to connect remotely was to install linux (which at the time i didn't have my own computer on which to do so, nor did i know where to find an ISO image to install from even if i could)

fast forward a few years and i was in college, i had a laptop (a mac powerbook G3 'Wallstreet' edition), which i could play with and I decided to replace the Mac Os with linux out of curiosity, at that time I didn't know much (read: nothing) about how to use Linux, and i lost count of how many times I re-installed linux, i actually became an expert on installing Linux on the thing, but once i started becoming semi fluent i eventaully completely removed Mac OS (minus the minimul system required to bootstrap a Linux install on the 'old world' powerpc mac systems) and haven't looked back since. Now any computer i get the first step is to format over an installed windows system and install Linux.

I started using computers back in the early '80's, using my employer's one and only computer. They were horrendously expensive for what you got. I bought my first PC, a DEC Rainbow, in 1984, running CP/M OS. Then along came Bill Gates & friends. They started a company called Micro Soft (later combined into one word).
When they came out with Windows and BS'ed their way into a contract with IBM, that effectively killed CP/M. I grudgingly traded in my Rainbow for a PC, which came with Windows 3.1. From the start, I hated Windows and still do. After years of shelling out money for the "new and improved" versions of Windows,(which requires a faster PC with more memory, etc.) I discovered Open Source and all the benefits of free software by the ton.
My first distro was Ubuntu 8.04. Since then, I've tried many others and finally settled in with Puppy Linux, mainly because it's compatible with older PC's.
No more support for the Cathedral. I'll stick with the Bazaar (borrowed from the article "The Cathedral and The Bazaar"). All I can say is Thank You, Linus Torvalds.

Don't forget Mr. Stallman{8^)

I bought an old computer and someone had install a Linux Distro on it. I thought it was some archaic form of a dos based system and did a little research on it. Only to find out that is was Ubuntu. I didn't know at the time that there was more than one OS available.
My first computer had windows 3.1 on it and I thought that Os was the only way a computer would operate. Now after 7 or 8 windows upgrades and building about as many computers I find that I have a choice and that all the bad things I had heard about Linux Os was greatly exaggerated. I would like to encourage all you pioneer code writing guru's associated with Linux development to
"ROCK ON DUDE'S"

My old computer teacher was always talking about Linus Torvalds, Linux, and Open Source in general. I liked the concept and put Ubuntu into my son's old laptop. It was clunky, but enjoyable until the laptop gave up the ghost. I'm running LinuxMint 15 Cinnamon on a 64bit Acer laptop now, and want to upgrade to LM17 v2. So far it's been great, and I'm learning. Thanks everyone's help.

Hello
I was totaly fedup with microsoft and i started looking for somthing betterevery programe gave me problems the only good one was vinlye studio
It was costing me £35 ponds every six months to repair the computer
So i look for better and found linux people were telling me that it was dodgey
but i found it relyable and didnt cost me £35 ervery six months
tiswas

What is Linux, Free Software and Open Source?

Linux (also known as GNU/Linux) is a computer operating system, like Microsoft Windows or Apple Mac OS. Unlike those two, however, Linux is built with a collaborative development model. The operating system and most of its software are created by volunteers and employees of companies, governments and organisations from all over the world.

The operating system is free to use and everyone has the freedom to contribute to its development. This co-operative development model means that everyone can benefit. Because of this, we like to call it Free Software, or Socially Responsible Software. Closely related is the concept of Open Source Software. Together, Free and Open Source Software is collectively abbreviated as FOSS. This contrasts with the proprietary (or closed source) development model used by some software companies today.

Many of the principles behind FOSS are derived from the axiom of standing on the shoulders of giants, most famously used by Isaac Newton, which has guided scientific and industrial development for hundreds of years. Transparency of the code and development process means that it can be participated in and audited at all levels. Software is just another form of information, and people have the right to have full control over that information. In the same way that you are free to share cooking recipes with your neighbour, you should also have the freedom to share and change software.

Linux has many other benefits, including speed, security and stability. It is renowned for its ability to run well on more modest hardware. Linux comes from the venerable UNIX family of operating systems, and so has been built from the ground-up with Internet-style networking and security in mind. Hence, viruses, worms, spyware and adware are basically a non-issue on Linux.

Really refreshing to be reminded that it is GNU/Linux.
All Hail Stallman/Torvalds!

Thank you,
Willy

^^^That was way too religious for me.

Yes, it is GNU/Linux. As Richard Stallman correctly points out, the Linux kernel is about 5% of the operating system. Of course, GNU requires th Linux kernel, but the OS we use and love is GNU, which exists because of (personal hero) Richard M. Stallman. Good old Linus Torvalds (needless to say, another personal hero) made it possible to use GNU with his Linux kernel, which he was smart enough to license with the GNU license (another brilliant creation by RMS), and those two genius coders have changed the world for the better.

BTW, some game companies have spread (possibly influenced by Micro$oft) the FUD about there being too many different distros for it to be practical to write games for GNU/Linux. Fie! Aspyr's port of Civilization V runs on SteamOS, naturally, but also on Ubuntu and its derivatives, all Debian derivatives, all Fedora derivatives, Arch and its derivatives, and, yes, Slackware. The bottom line is that no matter which distro you prefer, it is all GNU/Linux, and every GNU/Linux user has the freedom that Free Software provides, to use their preferred distro, and (and this is BIG), their preferred desktop. So much for that FUD.

Yes, we do have some SNAFU with sound (very occasionally), and ATI GNU/Linux users are looked on with pity by nVidia GNU/Linux users, but that's a corporate thing, with nVidia's programmers being better than ATI's (one assumes).

I have been a home computer user for over 30 years; I was one of the first people in my area to use an Amiga (which was the first time I had FUN with the OS) and one of the last people to give the Amiga up. After 10 years of frustration, malware and driver installation (and reboots. Always reboots) with Windows, I finally go smart and tried a live Ubuntu 8.04 disk. I had already used open source gems like Audacity, Open Office and GIMP, so it didn't feel as though I was doing something foolish. Booting that disk on a 2003 PC, I was able to go online AND print from the CD. I was convinced, and installed it, and suddenly, computing was FUN again. I haven't looked back, although I dual booted with my 2010 PC with Windows 7, for gaming only. These days, I deleted my Windows partition, because who needs Windows for gaming?

In fact, who needs Windows for anything?

I started with IBM mainframe, learned IBM's UNIX AIX, then SUN's Solaris. Finally Linux, Debian, Red Hat, Ubuntu, SuSe, ...

Oh dear, those where the days.

My first approach to *nix was a Mandrake that a friend and I tried to install, never got pass the partition screen, but that triggered my curiosity.

Then I had to learn C in Sun PCs and installed my very first Puppty Linux in a Pentium III (I think that was the processor)

It was when i am in 8th standard and i had pentium 4, 512 mb, ram nothing works on it even window shows bad sectors every now and then that time some one (not remember the name or relation ) suggested me the linux