Linux

2005-ish I took an intro to UNIX course at my college (which was just Linux obv). Around 2007 I made the switch full time to Ubuntu.

2009 computer class in school. Buddy of mine was showing off these computers you could put together yourself, then showing me this cool operating system that has desktops with a 3d cube to change the workspace.

2024 laptop has Linux on it for the last 2 years, and I am waiting for the right excuse to migrate my desktop too.

I tried a long time ago on Mandrake or Mandriva, cannot remember. Didn't stick and eventually after trying to use Windows 10 on a HDD, Linux Mint welcomed me with open arms. Now duel booting on OpenSuse but haven't started Windows in 6 months. I just don't need it anymore. Thanks to the Wine and proton teams!

Must have been 2001 or 2002, and I started with the Red Hat CD that came in the back of my friend’s Linux For Dummies book.

First install was Fedora core 6 it came with like 5 or 6 cds. This would have been mid 2000s I was mostly using it offline and then reinstalled windows so I could game on the lan with AoE and cossacks. (I had 2 PCs beside each other)

The in 08 I installed Ubuntu , 4 years later was Debian and ive been at home with Debian since.

Its been great to see the improvements over this time particularly in gaming.

I still use Ubuntu in work.

Dabbled in it since 2006. About 2012 i had problems with my network card on windows, flipped out and just installed Linux on my main home computer and have not used windows at home since.

Started with Ubuntu and it's flavors, recently had problems with snap packages, flipped out and installed the first non Ubuntuoid distro that promised an easy install so I could get back to whatever I was doing at the time. I currently have Manjaro at home.

Fucking still at home

For a while in middle school I would spin up Ubuntu or something similar in a VM just to look at it, but never really used it. The first time I really used Linux was Raspbian on my Raspberry Pi 2 that I got in 8th grade. As I went on tinkering with Linux, I eventually replaced Windows with Ubuntu on my HP Stream since it ran better, and by my Junior year of high school I was daily driving it. Now I'm using Parrot OS Home on my laptop and GhostBSD (I know its not Linux, but Linux led to me trying it) on my desktop

Just started getting into it with the Win11 bullshit. I come to find that I can customize KDE to pretty much replicate every single thing I like (or just used to) about the Windows experience and toss everything else out. Fedora KDE has me hooked. No plans on going back.

overall - only a few years constantly - just a few months on mint now. I find I get frustrated at some things that I believe should be easy, but seem super convoluted. I'm sure its the years of windows BS beat into me thats making me show my bias, but im learning. I want it on my main PC but figured I would learn on a junker hp dual core pc first. I'm shocked at the amount of things I can now do on it where as with windows, it was useless. Only thing stopping me from putting it on my main pc is gaming. Once I learn more and figure out a good destro for gaming, i plan to switch everything over.

Started out with Mandrake in 1998 and got into Debian shortly after. I moved to Gentoo in 2002. In the later 2000s I only used my desktop for gaming and stopped dual booting for many years. My home server runs BSD and I was using a 2010 MacBook as my laptop. The only Linux box in my home was my HTPC, running Ubuntu.

When I heard of Proton I started dual booting again. In 2020 I got rid of Windows and the aging MacBook. Since then my desktop, laptop and HTPC run on Arch. The server is still FreeBSD.

Started more than 2 years ago with Ubuntu, now I'm on EndeavourOS.

Dabbled in Linux Mint in 2013-14. Recently started using Linux more frequently. Started out on Pop OS this past June/July but moved to Opensuse Tumbleweed as my main OS. I do still have my Windows drive but havent ran into any issues where I needed to boot it up.

I started using linux as my mac got unusable with macOS First touch with Linux I had in Work, i test our products which run on an embedded Linux yocto build.

Now, my phone and my buisness windows are now the only proprietary OSs I use (have a pinePhone, bit it is not daily drivable for me)

Now I have the old macbookpro5,2 running Arch and my iMac running openSuse TW. For my smart home, I have a pi Zero 2W running hombridge via hoobs. Ah yea and a router on a board that I got from a friend running on OpnSense. With him I have a proxmox server running.

1999. I liked fooling with computers and installed it just to see what it was. I went through several distros over the next few years, Mandrake, Suse, Red Hat, compiled Gentoo from scratch, and finally settled on Slackware. It was my only OS for 14-15 years until I started a business in 2016 and needed software that's only available in Windows. I only use Windows on my PC now because my computer does weird boot stuff that screws up dual boots and I don't really use the PC that much anyway. I still use Linux on small servers for media and home automation

I started dualbooting 12 years ago, never used linux. Started again dualbooting 9 years ago, never used linux. Purged windows 2-3 years ago

I'm on silverblue and I don't care about the system anymore because I don't interact with it. It auto updates and I've got a fedora distrobox. I'd probably do the same if I were on opensuse or arch, meaning nothing would change for me if I would distro hop.

Edit: I fancy with opensuse Aeon but I don't really gain much. Maybe I'll install it on my next machine

bout 20 years ago, i was using knoppix and dyne:bolic... then backtrack, then kali...
linux mint, kubuntu, lubuntu... ubuntu...
probably because i like programming and thought hacking was kool...
I think im gonna try Void Linux next... i've heard great things...
i've still kept my dual boot all this time, because of a couple programs... and a backup for when i brick my linux partition...

4 months now, Debian Gnome. Its on a laptop from work. Knowing what I want and how to secure things they gave me local admin rigths on Win11 to convert the device to dual boot. Slowly getting to know my way around.

About 2 years ago but I can't believe it's been that long tbh. I started with Ubuntu but switched to arch after about a year mainly because I enjoyed the challenge and learning involved in installing it through a command line. I understand my computer a little more because of it.

I chose Linux mainly for privacy reasons; I didn't enjoy having a spyware as my OS but my friends call me crazy for going as far as I have to avoid being tracked. Idk it just bothers me.

I started dualbooting W10 and openSUSE Tumbleweed in October of 2022, I got tired of Windows 10 and having to enter regedit to change basic things (they solved some things with winget tbh), using inconsistent UIs and submenus to change other ones. Also, I had constant performance issues, then driver issues that most people told me I'd have in Linux, but have been barely existent.

Since then I barely use Windows, I mostly start it for uni projects and to play Minecraft Bedrock because I get dizzy if I play in bigger screens. I also have less issues with my printer/scanner and the performance has been better. I also love customization and having the option to write small scripts to solve small issues nobody else cares about makes me so happy. There was some software I wanted to try too and couldn't because it was not available on Windows or it was unusable, like Docker (and WSL was uncomfortable to use; inconsistent file names if you don't use W10 in english don't help either).

It's been a great journey, I love troubleshooting and I've been able to solve all issues I found in Linux, while Microsoft Support only said to me: "Have you tried reinstalling Windows?". I'd say that using Linux daily has helped me to learn more about FOSS, containerization and operating systems, while also helping me develop more skills to solve problems by finding solutions or creating them :)

In highschool, back in 2007, I got my first taste of Linux in my highschool electronics class. The class was mostly focused on electrical engineering, however we had a computer in the room for research and for whatever reason, my teacher was a hardcore Linux guy. We talked about it for hours and eventually, I ordered a CD from Ubuntu by mail and installed it on my home PC, a computer that originally ran Windows ME. I've primarily used Windows since I do a fair bit of gaming, but I've always maintained a linux partition of some kind. On my laptop, I'm currently testing out the latest Ubuntu release, but before that, I was running Linux Mint DE in the Mate flavor with BSPWM as the window manager. On my main PC, I have a Windows 10 partition, and a Garuda Linux partition. Garuda is running Mate with BSPWM as well. The funny thing is, I'm not really a tech guy. I just like it and use it mostly just as a consumer. I can work my way around and fix most things when they break, but I'm more likely to just nuke my installation and spin up a new one when things get really bad. I'm planning a full PC upgrade soon and plan to go AMD instead of Nvidia so I can enjoy Wayland. The latest Gnome release feels really good and matches my rose tinted memories of Unity from way back when. Hoping to run that, but may still mess with a tiling window manager set up as well.

Around 1998 I'd guess. Some loadlin based setup on my friends Windows machine. Don't recall the name. I remember running Mandrake shortly after that.

I've hopped back and fourth between many distros, and gone back to Windows a few times over those years. But I've been using Linux as my daily driver for about a decade now. Currently using and enjoying NixOS.

Almost two decades ago, as a teenager, I decided to give Linux a try as a bit of fun and as a learning activity. I put Ubuntu 6.06 on an old Windows 95 desktop which was languishing in a cupboard having been long replaced. The install disc was, I'm fairly sure, a freebie that came with a magazine. I was amazed at how easy it was to install and how smoothly it ran, and had lots of fun playing around with it and learning the ropes.

Have had a Linux machine or two on the go ever since. At some point in the last decade I made the switch from using Windows as my main OS to using Linux as my main, and these days I only use Windows on my corporate-provisioned work laptops.

I'm still an Ubuntu user. I've distro hopped occasionally, and Debian has a place in my heart, but I always came back to Ubuntu. There's a lot of meming about Ubuntu being terrible, but the reality is that it remains an incredibly polished, high-quality, "just works" OS which largely keeps out of my way.

Over the last two decades I moved into software engineering as a career, although I've since moved out of the industry onto non-techy things. Linux continues to scratch my techy itch in my spare time.

2004 (Ubuntu) - 2024 (Arch)

I first installed Ubuntu on a laptop in 2016. I started using linux full-time in 2017 with Ubuntu MATE and I'm now on EndeavourOS after trying these:

• Ubuntu
• Lubuntu
• KDE Neon
• Antergos
• Manjaro
• Arch

I use Debian and Arch on home servers, and I want to install OpenSUSE Slowroll to replace my Arch server (it hasn't broken yet)

As far as I'm concerned it's still 2018 and the year of the linux desktop....

When I was 14 and got my second PC. That must have been around 2005 or so?

Installed Red Hat, printed a book about C and gave up rather quickly.

Ubuntu 6.04 or so (Dapper Drake?) Was the first one that I actually used for real.

2009 i started studying computer science. Having windows on my Laptop wasnt helpful when compiling c, that was my first encounter with Linux (especially Ubuntu). Was running Xubuntu most of the time because i didnt like Unity.

Stopped using Linux after finishing my degree, since Linux wasnt useful for gaming or my work.

Skip forward to 2020. Hadnt really used Linux for anything for years, then windows 11 was announced. Didnt like where this was going and tested out Manjaro, since gaming on linux was supposed to be "okay".

Didnt like Manjaro and tried out EndeavourOS. All games that mattered at the time ran good. Switched to AMD graphics, deleted windows completly from my drive and use Linux exclusivly for private usage.

Also installed EndeavourOS on my work laptop and use a Windows VM if needed.

I dont want to go back to using windows for daily stuff ever

Startet using Linux in 1999. Then I did a lot of distro hopping:

• Redhat
• Suse Linux
• Gentoo
• Sabayon Linux
• Debian
• Kdenlive
• Arch
• Ubuntu Studio
• Fedora
• Fedora Silverblue
• since 2017 NixOS

NixOS feels very contemporary and will stay a while. It is very advanced and usable in many diverse environments. In the past I did learn a lot installing and maintaining Debian and Arch – which has a great community.

About in 2008-2009. I was about 15 years old. One of my teachers installed ubuntu on school computers. Remember playing around with wobbly windows and desktop cube and having a blast.

I didn't use much linux at home though until college about 2013 when I put it on my laptops. Took until like 2018 to fully switch. I ditched the last windows VM with GPU passthrough when its boot drive died.

I broke the ever living hell out of I think hink it was Ubuntu 8 back in the day. I ended up giving up because I was constantly causing issues that I just didn't have time for while going to college. Started using again when Windows 10 wouldn't stop breaking itself and started using Ubuntu 20.04.

Circa 1993, at the age of 13. Took me weeks to download Slackware from BBSs and get it installed. Played around with Mandrake (got an installer CD on an event). Eventually settled on Debian (which took me another few weeks to download, then burn the CDs and install it).

Used Debian on all my computers for many many years. Eventually got a MacBook (around 2005 IIRC) and have been on Mac laptops since. My gaming desktop runs Debian (wrote a blog post about my setup recently: https://blog.c10l.cc/09122023-debian-gaming). My servers, VMs and containers are usually Debian or something directly based on it (Devuan on some containers, Proxmox on my homelab’s bare metal).

I’ve used many other distros along the way, either for work or to experiment. I have huge respect for Fedora on a technical level but still prefer Debian’s philosophy and the apt ecosystem.

I was in college. I was talking with a classmate how I tried to burn this OS called Linux that I heard of on TechTV, bit the stupid disc never worked. I leaned how to properly burn iso after that. Pretty sure he showed me some copy of Fedora or Mandrake, maybe SuSe. Didn't care for Fedora, bit found this other one that seemed real interesting everyone was talking about, Ubuntu.

15 years now. First few years part time messing around with ubuntu and mint. I've been full time 100% debian on all my servers and desktop/laptop for at least 10 years now.

Debian is the best

I was in college looking to avoid writing papers, and I installed Ubuntu Feisty Fawn (2007). Still run Linux PC s and servers. Work with Windows all day :p

I started because of ProxMox on my Server. I started about a Year ago with Linux Desktops because of Privacy. I wanted to only use it for Office and have a Windows Dual Boot for Gaming. Then i tried a few Games on Linux and realized that Proton is great. Then i only used Linux. Then i deleted Windows. Now i love Linux and Hate Windows

i started with mandrake linux in 2002, and now i use linux mint. i've tried and used a dozen distros in between.

1993 or so, before kernel 1.0. Slackware on floppies, then Debian, then Ubuntu, then Mint, now Pop!_OS.

I got a rather profitable career out of it: went into IT during/after college, then got hired into a big Silicon Valley company, stayed in that area for several years, then quit during COVID.

It was Red Hat Linux 8.0 (not to be confused with RHEL 8), I think, that I first dabbled in Linux, that was around early 2003, and then I moved on to Fedora Core 1. But I went exclusively-Linux with Ubuntu 6.06 (Dapper Drake) in 2006.

I've moved around since then but for the last 5 years I've ended up back on Fedora, where I've been since version 28, now version 39.

1998 - was working for a company using RedHat as a dev environment for AIX mini computer based software.

Started to dual boot my own pc of the time with Win95/8 and RedHat, then Mandrake Linux. Since then I've dual booted every PC I've owned with various distros.