You Ubuntu folks are hilarious...

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Came with a book "The Linux Internet Server" and Linux Unleashed with full multi-tasking and 32-bit support!

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Although my oldest GNU-Linux installer is on floppy diskettes, I am sure I've not yet located the oldest CD I have The oldest one I've found is an Australian Personal Computer magazine CD set from April 2001 which has a full version of Debian 2.2r2 (kernel 2.4.3) but my webcam cannot provide a high enough resolution image for it to be worth uploading.
While hunting for old CDs, I even found an original W95, still in its shrink-wrap! Not to mention many old games my children (now all grown up) used to play. I'd forgotten how long CDs have been around. No wonder people give me funny looks when I say, "Oh, I've got that on a floppy somewhere".
Nevertheless, Jeremy, you've inspired my to install some of these older versions on a few of my elderly computers and see if I have better success using them than I did when they were new. They will make great exhibits in my proposed Technology Museum.

I had initially considered having a separate thread for floppies, which is why I specified CD, but feel free to post floppies as well.

--jeremy

Also, as an update to the original rules: The oldest still gets to pick any item out of the LQ Merchandise Store, but any older than my initial post will be upgraded to Contributing Member for one year (I'm hoping I'll find my original Yggdrasil CD and if I do I'll post it, but the date to beat will remain the one in my initial post).

--jeremy

Why are you limiting the earliest Linux installation to CD's? I have several versions of Yggdrasil c. 1993, 1994, which were distributed on floppies.

As I posted earlier in the thread: I had initially considered having a separate thread for floppies, which is why I specified CD, but feel free to post floppies here as well (as with copied CDs, copied floppies will not count toward the prize because they cannot be validated, but feel free to post pictures).

--jeremy

first install of linux i ever did was slackware 3. I think 3.3 or 3.5
I dont have the cd anymore though i think it was around 1996 or 1997 though. actually maybe even later then that.

according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slackware#Releases
it was the summer of 97 - 1997-06-11
or summer 98 for 3.5 - 1998-06-09

it took me forever to get a successful install too. like 4-5 days! lol
probably because i was installing it on a 486 or pentium 75!!!
dodgy ISA i/o controllers!

I have Linux Slackware Version 3.0 2 disc set dated 1995.

Ed

As I am a (very senior) newbie and my oldest cd is of ubuntu 9.10 released in 2009. I don't know how to attach an image of the cd and cover.
I was really ignorant of computer stuff at the time(and did not even know a lot about computers, let alone operating systems)so I did not install it, just looked at it. I have progressed however and am now a huge fan of Linux mint.
Have fun, regards, Johanna

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...1&d=1441162270
I know this won't win anything but this is where I got started about 10 years ago. Since then I haven't looked back. Currently running Lubuntu15.04 on an older computer since my main unit had a total hdwr meltdown.

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I've lost my Debian and Suse CD's but that doesn't matter anyway, Slackware was my oldest. Next year I went over to Slackware permanently and I never looked back, have been running versions of Slackware ever since. As a bonus I add Running Lunix, 2nd edition, 1996.

The oldest cd I could find was an old InfoMagic 6CD Developers Resource set from 1996
from the days when I had to send away for cd's

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I am reasonably certain this CD made it into the recycle bin when I moved in 2013, but if I find it survived the move I'll post the image even if I miss the deadline. I had Yggdrasil Beta 0.99.5 on cd from early 2003 when my wife and I worked for a CD-Rom distribution company.

I have a complete boxed set of Mandrake 6, from May of 1999. It has a 3 cd disk set and an "a drive boot disk", along with an installation manual and an operatonal manual. I am new to the forum and unfortuantely have not found how to post a photo of the cd's or the impressive packaging used back in 1999.