Bought a copy of Mandrake circa 1998, (still have it). Then it was Zipslack, then Slackware 7.1

My interest started in the military at Fort Gordon when soldiers would talk of linux. So I would ask what is linux some would say freedom and others would say you wouldn't understand. So because I couldn't get a straight answer from anyone at the time. I began web searches until I found out what it was. Once I knew I decided I would try it one day. That is my evolution to linux,Ubuntu

Took me awhile to get used to it, and I'm a long way from an expert yet, but I like it much better than windows. Maybe even more than DOS, or CPM. Let's see --- that was about when XP came out.

I think it was 1998 a demonstration of red-hat 5 I install procedure and demo of X (that didn't work) i was mostly a computer technical novice at that time (in many ways i still am) my subsequent attempts to find out more led me to Debian most times though i used SUSI on and off until about 2005 when I switch totally to Linux and to Debian

Linux 2.0 kernel back then

james

I was working for IBM at the time. IBM asked employees to try Linux as an alternative to Windows XP. IBM had ported all of the critical applications to Linux, so I implemented a dual boot with Windows and a Fedora implementation of Linux. Eventually I used Linux exclusively at work.

I was interested in Linux just before XP first came out because was fed up with MS and BSoD.
A programmer assured me XP will be different and it was.

But since that time all these tablets and whatever is stuff I don't use.

When reading about reviews on Win 7,8 and 8.1, I thought; "oh ohh, here we go again, I don't have this time to waste with MS anymore."

So this is why I came back with refreshed interest on Open Source concept of things.

Thanks for being here.

I was given a computer running Windows 3.1 so that I could do some accounting, and eventually moved on to something running Windows 2000—six Gig of memory, and I could go online. Wow!
When finally I was ready to buy something new, I briefly considered Apple, but really everything made Windows the sensible choice: my experience, the programs I used, possible employers, lack of money. . .
This was when Vista was on the horizon, and the only debate seemed to be whether it would be very wonderful or utterly wonderful, so I asked a friend whether I should buy something with XP, or wait for the rapture. Fortunately, he told me that Vista would be buggy for at least a year, and that XP was a proven platform, so I bought a new tower running XP and it served me very well.
Then came the Vista debacle, and for the first time I began thinking about operating systems. I had been okay with the idea I had a choice between Windows and Apple, but not at all happy thinking that if my desktop died I might have to choose Apple as a replacement. I was an innocent at the time and didn't realize that the local dealers would be happy to install XP instead of Vista if it meant they could make a sale.
I had vaguely heard of other systems, so I began reading, and then began burning live CDs—I think Puppy was the first I tried.
It took a while before I was willing to install a system, largely because there did not seem to be a distro that could use my internal modem, and buying an external modem for an unproven operating system felt like a big step.
However, finally my desktop was dual-booting Ubuntu 9.04 and XP, and almost at once Ubuntu was doing almost everything, and XP was relegated to handling my accounting programs.
In the meantime, my friend waited a year, bought Vista, and it was still a mess—so he swears at me every time I thank him for his advice!

It was in colleague on a module about introduction to Operating Systems...it was like they opened the Pandora box for me!

Distribution if not mistake was Ubuntu 6.10

In 1991 I first used Unix and VAX VMS at the University of Kent; I liked the systems for their power and flexibility. Later I was talking to a friend who worked in computing and told him how I liked the Unix environment. He suggested I download FreeBSD and install it. From there I began looking round and investigated Linux - and now, here I am.

And provided sample code to run a multi-port serial board the company I was working for designed. Before that job, I'd been doing turnkey office systems with Unix based systems.

I didn't get into using that "operating system" until Slackware 2.something, and have had at least one Slackware system continuously since Slackware 3.3 was released. Other distributions have crossed my desk, but I keep going back to Slackware for personal use.

Heard about linux and did my first install over the Xmass holidays while I was in college. Slackware downloaded via telephone and modem using floppies. Never went back.

-Brooke

Xandros, which worked well until it got out of date without support. I Replaced and currently use latest Debian to stay up witht the joneses

I wanted a system that would not pick up every problem in the universe.

I was challenged into it , and now here I am , a linux and open source enthusiast

It was back in late 2007/early 2008. I was fed up with windows in every way one could imagine and I decided to give Ubuntu a try. After a month and a half I was fed up with Ubuntu as well (Unfortunately I have to use it at work now) and switched to Slackware, which is still my favourite distro.