I was 12 years old in '94 and I loved playing Doom at my friend's house back then.

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Free cds with computer magazines, Mandrake and Knoppix, soon got into Ubuntu and been there ever since. Dual boot three machines with Win 10 that only gets used for a couple of Windows only programs.

A friend told me about it while I was complaining about w98. The week XP hit the streets I had a Linux disc and a month or so later I deleted w98. I have been using PCLINUX since 2007. The only windows in my house are glass. John

Redhat and mandrake were some of the first ones.

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Wanted to use a server for email first, then later for files. Can't recall where I heard about Linux, but I joined a computer user group in Olympia WA and got someone there to help me with a server project. We used OpenSUSE and I learned a LOT in the process of doing that project--my Linux friend was a good teacher and exceedingly patient. We now have 25% Linux machines running Ubuntu or LinuxMint, and I wish it were more. People can be hard to wean away from Windows if they have someone else to figure out the problems Personally I would never go back.

Was making my way though a CompSci degree, unsuccessfully using a C compiler for the Amiga. I was told that Linux would allow me to use GCC, which was compatible for coursework. Acquired Slackware (3.5) and have used GNU/Linux over since.

It was late 1998, we had been developing an Intranet application for the Naval Aviation Depot in Jacksonville, FL. Our Intranet ran on Windows (NT 4 at the time), but the applications were Netscape Enterprise Server, Netscape LDAP, and Oracle on the back-end. Some genius noticed we had an unused HP K-9000 server, and realized that all of our software could also run on that, so we were told to make that the backup server.

None of us had a clue as to what Unix was, so I bought Red Hat 5.1 to install on an old 486 DX4-120 I had, so I could learn Linux (and Unix), and the rest, as they say, is history.

I'm still addicted to Linux, and use it for home and work.

Hi,

Memories are gentle on my old mind! Takes a nudge to bring back some good ones.

Back in 1993 when PV first released Slackware. I was in the University ME Computer LAB and some students were downloading. The log showed the downloads and periods so I was very interested so I investigated. They (students) were very apologetic and explained it was a hassle to download via their modems. I told them they should come back after normal LAB hours and I would permit their downloads. Well they showed up to do the downloads.So I got copies of the disk sets and proceeded to allow their downloads with the condition they would copy the disk to my disks(which I provided to keep things fair). After that I installed and admin the installs on my systems at my personal LAB(@home). I come from UNIX and found that Slackware did look promising. Eventually we would use it whenever possible.

You do appreciate a LAN vs a modem and at the time even Thick Ethernet was better than any modem. I continued the students authorization to perform downloads after LAB hours. Plus I got some free labor to get my disk set copies. Once we got a T1 things were even better.

I've been a Slacker ever since the first release and continue to support the Best Gnu/Linux UNIX-Like distribution. Get yours at Get Slackware Linux

Fun..Fun...Fun....

Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!

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I discovered Linux through a co-worker. I needed to develop an automated test environment for a product I supported. I had a Unix background but couldn't justify the cost of deploying a Unix system. A co-worker suggested Slackware Linux. It took several evenings downloading the floppy disks. This was around 1995-ish.
I installed Slackware and it was perfect for my needs. I have been a Slackware user ever since.

Worked on UNIX systems since 1985 (my first personal computer was a Motorola MVME-1000), HP/UX, a stint with VMS (second time), then various UNIX systems (Apollo, AIX, Tru64, SunOS). In 1991 started work with SunOS, UNICOS, IRIX... A co-worker mentioned it in 1992. As soon as SLS 1.2 (about 1992) was announced, started using it on a PC (which previously had DOS on it). Went through the floppy distribution til SLS 1.4 (after which it closed). Fortunately Slackware was up to 1.2 (1994) and I switched to that. Work started switching to PC based systems running Red Hat 3 - it was 3 or 4, don't clearly remember now - I was using Slackware specifically for network control/firewall use.

Work had a high security requirement - and no Windows system could be made secure. RH provided a good working environment that also matched the UNIX capabilities of the computer center (a DOD supercomputer center), thus provided a high degree of compatibility. If the software ran on Linux, it would also run on the Cray supercomputers or their supporting systems (SunOS/Solaris, IRIX and later AIX), only requiring a recompile.

Every home PC of mine after the first 486DX has been built specifically for Linux.

Much more secure and reliable than ANY Windows system ever was.

I was in a Radio Shack trying to buy a retail boxed Windows cd and they had none but did have a magazine in the clearance rack that included a Debian cd. The clerk recommended I try it so I did. Since that day all of my personal computers have had one distribution or another of Linux.

I have been forced for employment reasons to maintain at least one Windows computer at home and stay up to date on maintaining them but have had Linux on every one of my own machines and use it almost exclusively for personal use.

Once upon a time there existed a precomphrehensive list of compilers and interpretors. (It still exists somewhere, but last I looked no longer updated)

I analyzed it to find out which OS had the most free compiler interpretors.

Linux, even in those pre Linux 1.0 days, won.

Therefore I decided to explore linux.

I was introduced by my friend, Gene Holland aka Beta Guru, In 2005. I have been running mostly Ubuntu ever since.

I
Browsing in a bookshop in 2005, I flipped through an introduction to Red Hat and on the same day an article in the Australian PC User magazine piqued my Interest. Living in a rural area we only had dial-up internet at that time, so I emailed Ubuntu who sent a CD with version 5.04 which I installed to dual-boot with Windows XP. I have subscribed to Ubuntu magazine since issue 1, but it was Rickford Grant's 'Ubuntu For Non-Geeks' (No Starch Press) that got me hooked. I switched to Linux Mint in 2011 as I found Unity limited my productivity. We now enjoy 50Mps Wireless Internet via the Australian National Broadband Network and I have just installed Mint Cinnamon 18 Sarah to dual boot with Windows 10. We need Voice-t0-text in our household so until Nuance ports Dragon Naturally Speaking to Linux our PCs we will have to continue dual booting.
I have installed lightweight Linux distros on the laptop or desktop PCs of friends who were using Windows XP and can't afford a new machine. The latest was LXLE on a 2004 vintage laptop with a Celeron processor without PAE. The improved performance and amount of included applications delighted the owner.
Vivre le Linux

By curiosity only. I use Windows, Mac, Linux whatever.

I downloaded the 17 or more Slackware DSDD disks and that started my journey