Personally I think that most users here on LQ belong to the very latest category (2014+) but the old timers and residents are more likely to post and vote on a poll like this, reminiscing, measuring appendages (sorry hazel, but you know it's true!).

Even though the statistic is mostly useless I enjoyed voting, because I think it's a good question.

About 1994/1995. I remember downloading Slackware onto diskettes (on a 26k dialup line, no less!!). There was an N disk for the network, and one for the kernel and so forth, but it would install a real 'nix system. Unfortunately, unless you were at a university with other users, you were pretty much on your own. You couldn't just pop into the bookstore to peruse a shelf full of Linux books. I was trained on AIX so I had the gist of how it worked, but as I remember there were still a lot of differences. And again, unless you were into C programming, or a developer, there wasn't a lot you could do with the early Linux.

My permanent switchover was about 2000 with the release of RedHat 7.0. That gave you a real desktop that could replace Windows with some success, although you still had to be a techie, especially if you tried to use their abortion called RPM.

(Warning, RANT!)
Install.
"The install has failed."
Install again.
"The install cannot be completed because the program is already installed."
Uninstall.
"The program cannot be uninstalled because the program is not installed."
*$#*&$^#!!!
"Hey, Joe. Tell me about that distro you found. Deebeeian or something like that, it is called?"

1 members found this post helpful.

This reminds me the adventure for the installation of a Unix system (Interactive Unix) around 1992-93.
I tried it with a more experienced colleague of mines. The computer was a 386 compatible, with a hard drive of 200GB or 240GB. The software package was 70 floppy disks. We started by partitioning the hard drive in 2 half parts, installing msdos in the first partition and starting Unix installation on the second one. 1.5 or 2 hours later after all floppies were copied, we did reboot into Unix to complete the installation, but reboot failed.
We erased everything, restarting fdisk, msdos installation and Unix installation. 70 floppy disks after, the problem persisted.
Next day, new failed attempts. 1 or 2 days later we found why it went wrong: we had to partition the hard drive by the Unix fdisk, not the msdos one as we did!

I think I started messing with it in the early '00's. Back then Windows was a mess. Well, still kind of is...

2005 - In the year following my retirement I encountered a member of VanLUG (Vancouver Linux User Group) and quickly adopted Ubuntu for my PC.

I needed Unix access/experience for the universities I worked for. Found and downloaded Slackware 1.1 to floppies, and was lucky enough to be using T-1. Figured out dual booting between Windows 3.11 and Slackware. Have used various distro's over time.

... Mark S.

1998 with a retail version of Mandrake. I hated windows from the moment I saw it in 1993 (underneath Packard Bell Navigator) and was constantly looking for alternatives, of which there were few, sadly. Used OS2 Warp for a time but we know how that ended.

I got my first home computer in about 1996 and it came with Windows 95. At work I use mostly main-frame computers running IBM software or General Electric software. I also had a minicomputer that I wrote the operating system for. I later started running UNIX, but did not like it. (But it was better than Windows 95.)

Anyhow, I could not stand Windows 95, and my nephew, who was a student at MIT at the time, suggest I try running Linux, so I got Red Hat Linux in early to mid 1998. I forgot what it was called. The last of those I ran was Red Hat Linux 7.3 or something like that. I then switched to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and have been running RHEL ever since. Since I hate upgrading, I do that every other big upgrade unless I change hardware. In that case, I use the current version. I am now running RHEL 8.4.

I started using Linux in 2006

The first Linux that I remember having any success with was S.U.S.E. Linux and I think that was about 1996/97.

Started with SuSE Linux, 1991 I believe

Working for Data General in the training department, teaching DGUX courses. We wanted to find a generic unix to load on PC's to use for a generic UNIX training curriculum. I was watching the news and email boards and caught this email exchange between Tannenbaum & Torvalds arguing microkernel vs monolith. Pulled the code down, Slackware, from UNH chapel hill, copied the targz files to 5" floppies in package sets (i.e. network), and installed it on an AT&T pc. In those days a kernel build pretty much took all day. Configuring X11 was a sobering experience and tedious. Loved IT!

1992 slackware on 3.5" floppy disks. Looks like I am an old fart.

94-95, but I was using Xenix on x86 platforms in 1985.

Started using Linux at home early 1995, but was using Gnu/Linux programs at work under SunOS/Solaris before that.

It's worrying that take-up has fallen so dramatically in recent years. I've noticed a movement towards the M/soft "point-and-grunt" culture in these forums, and that will be part of it, but maybe it's just a falling interest in all-purpose computers as the world settles for just comms devices (telephones, F/book terminals etc) and video players?