What was the first ever distro you installed and used? For me, it was Mint as I seemed like the closest thing to Windows minus all the forced updates and chappy changes.

Currently on Fedora GNOME now but what about you? What made you choose your first distro diving into the world of Linux?

I wanna hear your thoughts!

    • jhdeval@lemmy.world
      3·
      2 years ago

      Sounds like me. I ordered it from a magazine and installed it from 3.5 floppy disks also. After that it was Debian and i used that for years.

    • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
      2·
      2 years ago

      Slackware2 or maybe 3 in 95.

      RHL4.x from 1998 . Looked at debian, but a local snob convinced me halfway through explaining “the debian way” to steer clear. Didn’t even learn of the validation glitch in the .deb format by then.

      Now it’s Rocky. But if PCLinuxOS had a better installer (like a good kickstart) I’d be there in an instant. Its massive versatility in having so many versions of apps available without the appstream bullshit - it’s just Alternatives and proper naming - really makes it stand out.

      Now let me packer some templates and I’m SO done with ELs and the shit RH has done to their crown jewels.

  • limelight79@lemm.ee
    8·
    2 years ago

    Slackware in the late 90s. 3.x version. “If you want to know how Linux works, ask a Slackware user” used to be the mantra back in the day.

    I’ve been using Kubuntu on my desktop machines for at least a decade now. So, I’ve completely lost track of some of the things going on, like docker, flatpak, and so on. Which is actually a good thing: Linux has gotten so good, I no longer need to know how to administer my Linux system. I can just use it.

    I currently run Debian on my server and intend to switch my desktop to Debian as well. Haven’t gotten around to it…been busy. I also have to figure out how best to set up the nvme drive I have for it - GPT partition tables? Do I need a FAT32 partition? Etc.

  • the16bitgamer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    2 years ago

    Ubuntu Late 2000’s. I wanted it because of the CUBE. But left because the only game which worked was TF2.

  • Certainly_No_Brit@discuss.tchncs.de
    5·
    2 years ago

    I started with Pop!_OS, because it was pretty and I was told that it was made for programmers. I was overwhelmed with the options and couldn’t get Twitch to work properly (because of missing codecs), so I switched over to ZorinOS, which helped me to familiarize myself with Linux. Later I returned to Pop!_OS.

    Someday I got fed up with the major version updates, so I switched to Manjaro and later to Arch btw.

    • jfx@discuss.tchncs.de
      2·
      2 years ago

      I had the Mandrake Powerpack that came with two books. I basically memorized the entire console handbook while on the loo…

  • Murdoc@sh.itjust.works
    4·
    2 years ago

    Mine was an obscure, short-lived distro called LibraNet. It was well done though, by just a father and son team. Unfortunately that was also why it was short lived, because the father passed away.

    As for why I picked it, I didn’t really know much about how to choose a distro at the time, so I picked it based on the name, and its description of being easy to use and set up, which it was.

  • yobananaboy@lemmy.ml
    3·
    2 years ago

    Got fed up of Windows Vista, so I decided to try Linux. I was just a kid messing around, so tried some distros but Ubuntu stuck because I found it noob friendly. I think I went for Ubuntu 6.06. I started to get interested in PC gaming, then I dual booted Ubuntu and Windows 7 since gaming was not really a thing on Linux then. I found that to be a hassle so when Windows 10 came out I stuck with it.

    Then I jumped back to Linux when going back to do an IT degree in uni a couple of years back. Tried Ubuntu, but hated it. I tried Manjaro, but it broke my system. Then I discovered EndeavourOS and have stayed with that. Started to jump DE’s instead. Went from GNOME to Xfce and now I am going for Cinnamon. I have tried some distro jumping in VM. I really tried to get into NixOS, but it was just too much for me. I liked Mint though.

  • OldFartPhil@lemm.eeEnglish
    3·
    2 years ago

    Ubuntu 9.04, because of WUBI (anyone remember that?). Unstable as hell, but allowed you to run a near bare metal Linux install without the hassle of setting up dual-booting and a separate partition. Liked Ubuntu it so much that I soon replaced Windows completely. Currently running Debian, so I haven’t strayed far from the family.