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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I started on Debian with XFCE. I figured if there were so many distros based on Debian, then I might as well just use that so I'd be able to configure things myself and learn more about how the OS works.
Anyway, you know the section in the Debian wiki called DontBreakDebian? I did not follow that advice. It went poorly. I've since learned from my (many) mistakes and have been running Fedora KDE for a while now.
Knoppix 3.2 Live CD 2003
Ubuntu, and I've been using it for 10 years without trying anything else until this week, I use arch now.
(BTW)
Pop-Os in summer 2021, running Arch Linux with Hyprland now in 2024.
I think it was SLS. I know it took a pile of floppies. At some point I made a tape to make it easier to install. Why I needed to install that often eludes my aging memory but those experiences still pay to this day.
From the SLS FAQ:
Q: How do I upgrade SLS
A: If from .96, you don't. You must re-install from scratch. Otherwise,
read the ChangeLog file and download just the needed files manually.
Q: Can I install a new version of SLS over an old one?
A: Best not to. Save what you want somewhere and use mk[*]fs. SLS may
be best for base installs. Updates you can often get anywere on the net.
That is, unless you follow the upgrades to SLS religously.
Our speciations were slightly lower then.
To this day I still don't upgrade OSes in general and I even evangelize "rip and replace" professionally so loudly that it's now enforced via policy at my workplace. This must be where my ethos for this practice originated.
I'm pretty sure it was Debian in the early aughts.
IIRC it was Ubuntu 8.10
Mint of course, then Manjaro and MXLinux. The weird stuff people recommend. Then Kubuntu, KDE Neon, Fedora KDE and now various Fedora Atomic variants.
Zorin then AntiX I had a potato PC
I started with trying distros in live mode out of general curiosity. My machine had a ton of data and didn't support dualbooting so I didn't want to install something. Then my Windows license broke and I decided that pirating is not great so I wanted to install a distro. I liked Manjaro the most(I know I know but hey back then I didn't know about its issues) but couldn't install it because of a wrong boot device mode (lol I was an absolute noob then). So I flashed KDE Neon and installed it after finally figuring out the BIOS/UEFI stuff (was too lazy to reflash Manjaro lol). It wasn't much of a conscious choice. I just installed one of the KDE distros I liked pretty much the same after I couldn't install Manjaro but that probably saved me a few hours of troubleshooting so that's good. KDE was a requirement though. I did want a Windows-looking distro so my older family members could use it. After that I tried many distros. Now I'm on Cachy just because of the significantly smoother experience (optimization rules!). It's unstable though so I don't recommend it
Back Track 5. Now Kali Linux.
I had not suitably prepared. I was a Windows Vista power user who heard how I could crack some Wi-Fi and gave it a whirl.
My chips went into one basket and me, oh my, was the transition ever so uncomfortable. What was dual booting? Who knows. Long story short, I made a mess for myself. I went through a significantly steeper learning curve than most, though it introduced me to script kiddie tools, programming, and eventually exploits.
Now a decade or so later, I've settled away from Arch to Debian. Though I miss the bleeding edge, my update frequency has lost much of it's zealous edge.
Mandrake.
And then to Debian and to Ubuntu for a good time. Now using Arch mainly to avoid Snap & Flatpak.
For whatever reason it was Puppy Linux, it was kinda cool and small and ran off a 700MB CD.
Because my first computers were shitty, I started with antix as main system, Ubuntu or others were too laggy for my systems.
I think the first distribution I tried was Fedora on my PlayStation 3 around 2007. From what I remember, you had to use terminal a lot so I couldn’t do anything with it.
Then a few months later I tried Ubuntu on an old Dell computer from my father’s office.
Dual booted windows and Ubuntu for years until fully switching to Linux around 2021.
Now I’m only using Fedora with a few virtual machines for some specific needs.
SLS (Softlanding Linux System) was my first.
I ordered a laptop (five years ago) that had Ubuntu/Gnome preinstalled, but soon replaced it with Debian/Mate, mainly because of what I read about it on Distrowatch. My new laptop (one year old) shipped bare metal and runs Fedora/Cinnamon.
My first distro was Ubuntu because it is a beginner distro and it looked interesting.
The very first one was Fedora but it seemed very bare and I had no idea how to get apps etc.
So I switched to Ubuntu and used that for a while before distro hopping.
Now I've settled on Linux Mint Debian Edition
It was slackware 2.0.
It was the only distro I could get my hands on because who would download a distro on dialup. Also there were no CD burners nor USB sticks yet. So whatever your friend had on CD waa the option. I guess the only other possible option would've been red hat back in those days.
It was the only distro I could get my hands on because who would download a distro on dialup.
I would, I downloaded Slackware through dialup, sometime late 1994.
Ubuntu 10.10 on a Dell Latitude D505 with an intel core 2 duo and 512MB RAM running Windows XP. It was a school laptop that i cracked the admin password for and installed virtualbox. It ran like crap!. I knew it wasn't ubuntu's fault and later always booted from a nub sized USB that i always had plugged in with persistance. I can't remember the name of the OS at this moment, but it was made for low-end hardware and was specifically environmentally friendly with a green leaf as its logo.
It was some weird tablet like UI that I installed on a weak old laptop to use it again.
I have no clue which distro it was but I never came across it again
fedora 38 KDE Plasma. still using it today
I first installed mint on a pc, but only for homebridge. First distro I really used was openSuse tumbleweed and after that I shortly switched to Arch because I liked the way the AUR work (using yay) better, than the community repos of openSuse.
I still recommend openSuse TW to anyone that wants to try a rolling release distro. You don’t even need the Terminal in that distro.
Ubuntu, 2005
messed around some with slack 0.99.
but first one to actually see some regular usage was buzz, which progressed over time through to potato.
and the first to get its own dedicated box long-term was woody.
debian in 2007. still using it alongside mint
Fedora 6 back in 2007-8 as a part of my CompTIA A+ training. It wasn't required but my instructor wanted some of us more advanced students to experience a life outside of Windows.
Mint ig
Ubuntu 11 netbook remix. Currently on Fedora Onyx on my laptop and Kinoite on Desktop.
First full time distro was Manjaro. First exposure to desktop Linux was Ubuntu on a crappy school netbook. Now I use Arch (btw)
The first distro I used would be CentOS, followed closely by Gentoo. CentOS was installed on the computers in the computer lab in college, and Gentoo was on the computers in the library. I think I went to the computer lab first. I'm probably biased against those two now, since every time I was using them I was banging my head against the keyboard trying to get some programming assignment to work, or desperately finishing a paper before midnight. :P
The first I installed and used myself was Ubuntu, which I still use. I just bought a System76 laptop, though, and I'm debating if I'll just go with Pop OS or switch to Debian.
I had messed around with various distros in the mid 2000's but never more than a day. Just as a "this seems neat" kinda thing. Recently I wised up, tried Zorin OS was on that for a year, then went back to windows for a while. now I'm running EndeavorOS and there isn't even a windows partition on this machine, I will not be going back. Still debating setting up QEMU for the only windows only program I miss though.
Caldera linux 1.2.
Those days were magical.
I had just started my university days and I had two young kids who wanted to watch cartoons but we couldn't afford cable. I ended up scrounging parts from the garbage bins in and behind the computer lab to scrape together a workable desktop.
If I recall correctly it was 333 MHz. Originally installed Windows 98 SE on it. But media would stutter no matter what I did, even if all other processes were killed.
A monk friend of mine (my university was geographically attached to a Benedictine monastery) asked me if I had tried Linux as it should be easier on the system resources and still allow me to play most media.
The rest, as they say, is history.
I wanted to try Ubuntu on a live disk back in highschool (~2012) but ended up wiping the drive on my laptop. Had to ask a friend who knew Linux for help so I could actually use it. That was eventually followed by debian and Manjaro. Later I tried arch on my desktop, got tired of that and switched back to windows for a few years. I've been running nixos for a while now and have been really enjoying it.