Probably answered this but can't remember: 1998. I starting my computing journey with Windows 3.11 and Packard Bell "Navigator" in 1993 and hated the interfaces of both. A friend showed me OS2 Warp and liked that so used it for a while then found Linux and never looked back. Used Linux as my main desktop and Windows for gaming, via removable drive caddies, until about 2009 or 10 then switched to Mac because I grew tired of constant changes and breakages. In Linux's defense, I strictly used source based distros (Gentoo and CRUX) so I wasn't being easy on myself. Switched back to Linux and FreeBSD, mostly FreeBSD, around 2016 or 2017 and then gave up entirely in 2019 and went back to Macs. Not Linux's fault again: OCD drove me crazy because of the plethora of choices in distro and desktop/window managers. Could never decide which distro to run or which desktop, or even whether to run a desktop and just run a window manager.
Been a happy camper since but I still use Linux daily at work and in my home VM lab. It will always hold a special place in my heart because it, like me, is a rebel and exists despite commercial competition.
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