What was your first Linux distribution and version of that distribution?

OP
f33dm3bits

f33dm3bits

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I know not everyone is going to remember their version Distribution and version, however I'm sure if you can remember the distribution and version that you can lookup the wallpaper.
 


camtaf

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Zipslack 8

It was loaded & run from on top of Windows 3.......yep, it was quite a while ago. ;)

No Windows for me these days though, I've been running Linux full time & sometimes BSD since 1999. :)
 

kibasnowpaw

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Back in the late 90s or early 00s, I had a Linux distribution, possibly Ubuntu, in a text-based format. Being quite young at the time, I didn't have the necessary knowledge to navigate and utilize it effectively. Although I gave it a try, I eventually gave up and moved on. However, I still vividly recall the distinctive packaging—an orange paper folding box—and the fact that it was available for free online, with the only cost being shipping fees. It's interesting how certain memories from the past stick with us, even if our initial experiences weren't entirely successful.
 

sphen

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I haven't used Windows in about 13 years and truthfully, I don't miss it.

Are you running Linux now?
Yes, but my primary desktop is Mac. Its future replacement is likely to be a Linux desktop. Don't ask me which distro.

I run virtual machines on the Mac. They include a Linux desktop (currently Linux Mint Cinnamon). There are also a variety of Windows, Linux, Mac and other OS desktops and server virtual machines related to previous work and current projects. The selection of virtual machines changes often. Right now, it consists of: 6 Linux, 5 Windows, and 3 Mac. (A Debian server virtual machine has 5 separate snapshot threads going right now, but I counted it as "1".)

I also keep a few personal servers on the internet. They run Linux.

I rent two virtual private servers (VPS) for a few dollars a month each. (You can find small ones for $1 a month if you know where to look.) I like to have at least one VPS available on the internet. One VPS expires next month and I won't renew it; the seller kept raising prices year over year.

I have been experimenting with Oracle Cloud Free Tier for the past few months to gain experience with using a large cloud provider. I have four free Linux servers with Oracle - two 1GB AMD and two 12 GB ARM. Each pair runs Ubuntu 22.04 and Oracle Linux. They are slow, but run well. They are currently idle, risking termination by Oracle. (Note: In my opinion, the aggravation of the sign up and "instance" creation processes makes Oracle Cloud Free Tier not worth the effort. You would be much happier spending a few dollars a month for a paid VPS, and save yourself dealing with much extra complexity, too.)
 

bwingbob

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Mandrake Linux 8, I think, I bought my copy at Sears.
 

Alexzee

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Yes, but my primary desktop is Mac. Its future replacement is likely to be a Linux desktop. Don't ask me which distro.

I run virtual machines on the Mac. They include a Linux desktop (currently Linux Mint Cinnamon). There are also a variety of Windows, Linux, Mac and other OS desktops and server virtual machines related to previous work and current projects. The selection of virtual machines changes often. Right now, it consists of: 6 Linux, 5 Windows, and 3 Mac. (A Debian server virtual machine has 5 separate snapshot threads going right now, but I counted it as "1".)

I also keep a few personal servers on the internet. They run Linux.

I rent two virtual private servers (VPS) for a few dollars a month each. (You can find small ones for $1 a month if you know where to look.) I like to have at least one VPS available on the internet. One VPS expires next month and I won't renew it; the seller kept raising prices year over year.

I have been experimenting with Oracle Cloud Free Tier for the past few months to gain experience with using a large cloud provider. I have four free Linux servers with Oracle - two 1GB AMD and two 12 GB ARM. Each pair runs Ubuntu 22.04 and Oracle Linux. They are slow, but run well. They are currently idle, risking termination by Oracle. (Note: In my opinion, the aggravation of the sign up and "instance" creation processes makes Oracle Cloud Free Tier not worth the effort. You would be much happier spending a few dollars a month for a paid VPS, and save yourself dealing with much extra complexity, too.)
My nephew works for Oracle.

Never had a Mac, heard they were really nice.
Good information, thanks!
 

MikeWalsh

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I still have a laptop with GhostBSD (the sexiest of the BSDs).
Errmm.....how on earth do you describe a computer operating system as being "sexy"? Huh??

(I've heard 'em described as a lot of things over the years - often, highly uncomplimentary! - but I don't think I've ever heard "sexy" used. At least, not in this context.....) :p


Mike. ;)
 

MikeWalsh

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It was April 27th, 2014. The first ever Linux distro was Ubuntu, annnd....."Trusty Tahr" 14.04 LTS had just been released.

Having downloaded it during the morning, using Chrome under XP, I wiped Windows outta my life that same evening, and installed "Trusty" in its place. From that moment on, I started enjoying myself for the first time in years on a PC.....

(Well, that's MY excuse, anyway. An' I'm sticking to it...!)
rofl-small.gif


6 months later, I set-up my very first fully-functional Puppy. Been there pretty much ever since... :p


Mike. ;)
 
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wendy-lebaron

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For me it was Ubuntu, which came on the cover disc (DVD) of Computer Music Magazine, British, music technology. Don't know which version, maybe not "Warty Warthog". Ubuntu Studio didn't exist at the time. I burned the ISO into a CD and booted it from the flimsy CD-ROM/DVD-RAM drive of my Toshiba laptop. It was nice and something different. There I discovered OpenOffice-dot-org was upped to v2, after extensively using v1, and there became such a thing as Open Document Format. In the Writer, for example, I saved to SXW suffix, but on OpenOffice-dot-org v2 the recommended format suffix became ODT. (I'm not sure when Libre Office started happening, but keep reading.)

The very first distro I downloaded all by myself, but I was never able to install was Debian v7 "Wheezy". That was with the "new" GNOME, a lot of white background with black letters. It came with GIMP and Inkscape which was fun to play with. I had to use the live mode for a computer with a dead hard disk. I did many other things with it. With this one I discovered there was a Libre Office besides an OpenOffice.

About a month later I accepted Ubuntu Studio LTS v12.04 "Precise Pangolin". It wasn't until last year that I discovered it was a "stable" release. I was able to install that to a 16GB external USB disk and use it for at least two years on the same laptop which had Windows7 and its hard disk failed.

The first 64-bit Linux distro I installed officially was Ubuntu Studio LTS v22.04 "Jammy Jellyfish", a huge disappointment. Somehow with about 1.5GB less of content Kubuntu was very good. There might have been a tie between "Jammy" and Fedora 35 GNOME but now I don't remember. I do remember I had Fedora 35 for about three months but I needed for data backup the 64GB USB disk that I dumped it into. :/

LOL almost forgot to indicate that my very first Linux distro should have been the original Red Hat, circa year 2000. I saw a packaged copy with DVD's and user's manual on CompUSA. Too bad I don't remember what it costed. It was the very first time I went to that store near where I live. :)
 

KGIII

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Errmm.....how on earth do you describe a computer operating system as being "sexy"? Huh??

Install it and see! Or just use the live instance. Of all the BSDs, it's the best looking and most well put together (graphically). It's downright sexy! (Like, say, a '57 Corvette or maybe a Saab Sonnet.)
 

wendy-lebaron

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It was that poor support coupled with the disappearance of commonly intuitive Windows user interface elements that made Windows 8 so abysmally bad. Users were desperately confused. Preferences and system configurations were split between the old Control Panel and the newer Settings. Some settings could be configured through both interfaces.
In 2014 on somebody else's computer I stumbled upon the "two different versions of Internet Explorer". Because the "radical" one was the beginning of Edge, ROFL. It looked no more than a screen where the user throws the mouse cursor left to get one menu, or throws it to the right-hand side to get a different menu. Otherwise the user still needed the keyboard to tell it to which web address to navigate to. Nope, I wasn't going to use any on-screen keyboard for it.

It came with other "apps" like MZip that didn't even work. Whose idea was it to turn the Start menu into an entire screen, trying to force a personal computer to behave like a portable phone or like an iPad, without consulting the users?

Also what the OS upgrade to Windows8.1 did to a few of my files and that of the computer's owner. :O
 

wendy-lebaron

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I ignored the OP's post, but that screen was very close to the very first Linux OS that I tried. :D

I didn't go deep enough with my trial of the GNOME Flashback for Debian to see if that could be themed away from sad black and white.
 

MikeWalsh

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@KGIII :-

Oh, God. A Saab Sonnet? (splutter...)
facepalm-small.gif


Some people are just beyond help.....
giggle-small.gif


(I'll agree with you about the '57 Chevy.....up to a point. Ya want "sexy"..? THIS is "sexy":- )

Screenshot-298.png


I'll annoy legions of die-hard E-type fans now, by stating that, IMHO, the original XK120 is THE prettiest, "sexiest" automobile ever conceived by the mind of man.....and then put into production. Even prettier than a series-1 3.8L hardtop E-type.....which for 'back-of-the-fag-packet' concept engineering, didn't need that much tidying-up from William Lyons after all!

("Fags", in this case = Brit slang for cigarettes!)

And then went on to become a legend....

Others will doubtless have their favourites, but the XK120 takes some beating. These things even got praise from Enzo himself.....and praise from that direction was praise indeed.


Mike. :D
 
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KGIII

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the original XK120 is THE prettiest, "sexiest" automobile ever conceived by the mind of man

It's a pretty sexy car. I'm not sure that I'd say it's the sexiest, but it's a very nice car. I do not own one.

Alas, it's subjective... I'd find a '57 BMW 507 better looking, though the XK120 predates it (as memory serves).

Speaking of which, I won't be around much this coming weekend. While I'll be both home and online, I'll be spending 24+ hours awake to watch the N24.
 

MikeWalsh

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@KGIII :-

Yeah, you're right, of course. It's all VERY "subjective".

I've always loved swoopy, curvy, streamlined shapes. It's probably why Spen King's P6 Rover appealed to me so much.....and why I love the little Ford Ka we now have. Angular, "squared-off", with lots of sharp, straight lines.....nah. Doesn't do a thing for me.

"Organic" shapes, yes. "Artificial" shapes....no.

But that's just me. A lifetime of graphic design has had this effect on me.....


Mike. ;)
 

KGIII

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I've always loved swoopy, curvy, streamlined shapes.

I have a collection of cars, something I try to not talk about as it's pretty much never on topic. They're investments that appreciate - and investments that I appreciate. I can find something nice to say about pretty much any car.

The wedge cars aren't always my favorite, though I do appreciate their purposeful design. They're good financial investments because so many young males coming of age had a picture of a Countach on their wall.
 


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