How long have you been using Linux?

MintSpider

A lot of shows, including Destination Linux and Big Daddy Linux Live, are asking the presenters their background in Linux, and I was curious how long it had been for me:
10 years & 4 days ago I declared my move from Windows to Linux here:
http://mintspider.blogspot.com/2009/03/i-linux-therefore-i-am.html
Prior to this I played around with Knoppix and other live-CD distros before going full install with Linux Mint 6, which I ran to 16, before moving to Solus.
It's been a wonderful journey which I continue!

Renard

MintSpider I have been using Linux since 2015.

The best part is that I have no regrets of ever switching to Linux.

dbarron

I've been using Linux since I was in grad school, that was probably around the release of kernel v1.0, which wikipedia says was 1994. It was a lot different then...twentyish diskettes downloaded from UseNet, Slackware distro.

irabz

dbarron

Harvey Hey, thank you for the quick response. My GPU is an Nvidia GT 920m, my laptop has an intel gpu too though. i did try out the 390 driver but it has poor performance and it's impossible to turn on Prime Sync (trust me, I tried so many things). i saw there's a glx driver called "current" in the software center, so I'll try to do a fresh install and try it out.

Harvey

Since redhat 5.2 (1998)

I would've been 14 years old. I actually bought a boxed copy of it after seeing a family friend running it. I had to have it, because of a screensaver of all things, which had snow falling on the desktop and I thought it was cool.

I got home and tried to install it straight away so excited.... for a fucking screensaver...

It asked me for a root mount point, I had no idea what it was and so couldn't install it. All I had to do was type / and press enter. 😅

Since that day I've had at least one computer running Linux. I've done the whole distro hopping thing, mandrake, slackware, debian, ubuntu, fedora, gentoo, archlinux, SuSE etc etc. Not Linux but, I also went through a FreeBSD phase.

Solus was the first time I've kicked Windows all together from every system I own (No dual boot or reinstalling Windows a week later). It's been maybe 2 years now. 👍️

GumbyDamnIt

Harvey

Wow, this brings back memories! I bought a red hat 5.0 box set (released December 1997) from the local Micro Center. I brought it home and I did what everyone else did and still does ... I installed it on an old Gateway i486 machine that was beginning to gather dust. My primary machine at the time was a shiny new Pentium, running OS/2 Warp. With Warp, I was anxious to learn something about Ethernet and networking, so I jammed a 3COM card into everything that moved and over time the i486 morphed into a combination router, print server and NAS. A second i386 machine acted as my gateway/firewall, which had a US Robotics 56K modem attached.

It was a fun time of exploration and kernel compiling ... which on a i486 took most of an afternoon! I must have read that Red Hat Linux Unleashed book, cover to cover, at least three times!!! 😀

If I'm truthful, I was late to the desktop Linux party. I didn't begin to use desktop Linux with any regularity, until Linux Mint 6 was released (December 2008). I remember installing it and then about a month later, Mint 7 was released. Since then I've used Linux on the desktop nearly exclusively, keeping a copy of Windows around only to play a few old favorite Windows games from time to time.

yursan9

3 years. But I use Solus since Solus 1 on March 2016.

brent

Almost 3 years and proud.
Short test runs: cinnamon, mint, solus mate.
You had me at Budgie...
So far almost 40 years to 6 years in this poll, cumulatively.
I think it'll all even out!

Justin

The irony is not lost on me that I have much less experience in linux than most. I basically got into linux around 2013ish playing with it but I was a gamer back then and nothing worked, placed in the too hard basket and back to Windows.

Tried again around 2014ish and got a bit more excited as games were starting to be a thing (beyond your standard tux kart, solitaire, etc) and dual booted Ubuntu with Windows.

Then I saw Budgie in some screenshots on an article and was intrigued so filed a bug report on the Github to see if I could compile it on Ubuntu, had some issues so gave up but came back a few weeks later or something and found out he was working on (then Evolve OS) Solus. Got excited by the idea of getting in at the ground level of a new project. The rest is history.

I learned A LOT of info about how linux works and probably caused Ikey more than a few grey hairs with my noob questions. Still far from an expert but my knowledge grew.

It's humbling to see how many people use something I helped create and while I don't have a lot of time these days to contribute it's fun to watch.

Edit: PS I still use Windows as gaming while it has evolved immensely in the last few years isn't as polished yet (I'm an Overwatch player). Plus I still use Windows at work because many tools that we use don't work on Linux sadly.

Fatih19

I have only use it for almost a month. I've only had a taste of Linux in December. I came here after distrohopping from Fedora, Ubuntu, and Elementary on my main system. I had some networking issue that I then decide to use a bludgeoning hammer to solve by "simply" reinstalling another OS. Turns out, I only need to restart my router by turning it off and on again.
It's neat here, so I have decided to stay. Everything I need is here, except Kdenlive doesn't really cut it for me so I might need to go back to Fedora 30 later if they have finished packaging ROCm for me to use DaVinci Resolve or maybe Lightworks.

nodq

Very long time now. But with some breaks in between, where I just used Windows. My first contact was with SUSE back in.. I don't know, 1998 or 1999 it was, not sure.

Then used Red Hat for a quite some time. I remember that I never liked the aesthetics of SUSE and I really loved those Red Hat Icons and style. Felt in love with it. The gnome foot and everything. I still love the branding of Red Hat today, it just looks cool. I never touched Debian at this point, I don't know why tho.

Then from like 2000 to 2004 I used Windows only. But in 2004 it was Ubuntu time. And yeah, I felt in love with it back then. This was the time, when I also started using Debian.
And we all know what happened after Ubuntu was released. Many good things happened for Linux.

I used Gentoo for a year IIRC. Around 2008 or 2009. But was quite annoyed by it after some months. Those of you who know Gentoo, probably know what I am talking about.

Then around 2013 or was it 2014? I tried Arch. I think it was after they changed their install routine or whatever.
Then it was more like Arch / Manjaro until 2018/2019.

For my Servers I always used Debian tho, sometimes Ubuntu Server. Nothing else.

kyrios

I started using Linux in 1996 with Slackware 3.x, I even found out that I still have the box of Suse 6.0 with many CD's in the box and a big manual book.
I used it as my main OS during all my studies in multi-boot with Windows (mainly for gaming). I used LaTeX to write my thesis after wasting time to fight with the document formatting on different printers with MS-Word and I finally came back one day home with the document corrupted and it's backup as well.
A few years after my studies I ended up by uninstalling Linux because I needed more space to install games and you know once you're on Windows, you don't feel like rebooting just to do basic things like chatting, listening to music, sarching something on the web...
Then I didn't use linux anymore aprart from time to time @ work for at least a decade until that day I had a crash disk and I was too lazy to search for the restoration CD of windows (that I probably never made). As a temporary solution, I downloaded and installed Linux Mint 15 on a bootable USB stick. I was surprised to see my wife didn't get any problem using it after I installed the apps she needed so I decided to install it on the new SSD I bought to replace the HDD that died. I used it until version 18 then I purchased a new laptop and I installed Solus 2017.01.01.0 on it and it's still the version I am using today. 🙂

Bouquins

I've been using Linux since Ubuntu Hardy Heron, it was 08.04 I think, so 2008.

downhill

Bouquins Ubuntu rekindled my interest in Linux.

rft183

Oh, I think it was around 1998 or 1999. It was before I graduated high school in 1999, I know that for sure. I found Slackware online, and they had a smaller version that didn't actually have to be installed - ZipSlack. I downloaded that and was fascinated. I ended up buying copies in book/software stores as I could. SuSE was my favorite. Tons of cds and a huge manual! I really got into it in college when, during my C programming class, I realized they were using Unix, and instead of going to the computer lab, I could just install Linux and do my projects in my room.

elfprince

I've encountered Unix in my university years at UofT in Toronto. I fell in love immediately, and wished to have one at home. At that time I was using Apple 2C, Apple 2GS, and later on Apple Mac Classic. In about 2000 or so, my dreams started to materialize, as I stumbled upon the BSDs. Used FreeBSD and OpenBSD and loved it. Except, no Netflix and no Skype, so the search continued. I discovered Linux around 2006. Tried out Mandrake, SUSE, LibraLinux, Debian, among others. Later on settled on Linux Lite for a few years. In the fall of 2018. I installed Solus 3.9999, as Linux Lite did not install on my Intel NUC (blame EUFI). Never looked back, all is running smooth and it is beautiful. Very happy.

cdorin

pff , i think i wanted to give a try to ubuntu 12.02 or ubuntu 14.04 long time ago, but found out (was a highschooler) that I was not able to play many of my windows PC games + was not patient enough to learn a new OS.

Didn't choose a linux distro because I wanted to try something new, but because I started to love the concept of FOSS and the power behind it. Preaching it while using Windows does not 100% make sense 🙂. So, I started with Linux Mint Cinnamon, the best DE for those who switch from Windows to Linux imo. Stable + resembles Windows XP. This was happening in 2014-2015. After one year, once I learned some basics, i started distro hopping. Ended up in 2017 with Solus Budgie. Meanwhile I use Solus Gnome because I like the way in which it "teaches" me how to be more productive.

So yea, 4-5 years of linux 🙂. Not an advanced user but can find my way around if there are issues + the linux communities (ubuntu, manjaro, solus - the ones I tried so far) are always welcoming newbies.

Neumie

Bloody hell! I thought "Ah not that long. About 7-8 years maybe". Then i looked up the release date for Mandrake 10.1 (my first distro...i got it on a DVD on a magazine cover). It was released in 2004. IM OLD! 😅.

I have always been more of a casual user though. Never really dug into the nitty gritty of it.

XerXes

Since 2004 probably. First version of Ubuntu. Then I moved to a Hackintosh for 10 years from Tiger to Mojave, moving from computer to computer and I had less problems with it than with Linux or Windows surprisingly.

But I always had dozens of various Linux USB's around, Linux on external drives and so on.
Kept and eye on Solus when it was still called EvolveOS and I saw great potential in it. So far I'm right.

Staudey

I'd tried various distros and live CDs over the years, but never installed Linux for more than maybe a couple months, then always went back to Windows-only. During my most recent time at university I wanted something different than the Ubuntu (VM) we were given for our Linux and Programming courses, so I installed Solus since I'd read a lot of positive things about it. That was, I think, October 2017. Ever since I've stuck to Solus, with a Windows dual-boot on my PC (though I hardly use Windows nowadays, except for occasional gaming sessions with Windows-only games), and just Solus on my laptop. Best experience with an OS I've ever had.

So, in summary, still pretty noobish when it comes to Linux, but definitely sold on it 🙂

[deleted]

Since 2005. Started with Suse back then, hopped around quite a bit (Kubuntu, Debian Stable/Testing, Mint, Arch) and landed on Solus now. The situation really improved over time. Much less fiddling (if any) needed in today's distros.

Still Remember the KDE 3 and Gnome 2 days. Looks so old-school today 😀

JonnyCodewalker

I am using this Solus installation since 2017-08-14 23:52. Before I ran elementaryOS for half a year _. I was distrohopping for a while, so all in all I would say since mid 2016 as my primary OS, before that only in VMs or on a secondary machine (my netbook had ubuntu 12.04(i think), got it mid 2012).

attackofhubris

Since late 1998 or early 1999. I started on a distro that ran inside a Windows partition called WinLinux 2000. It wasn't too long before I purchased a retail box of Mandrake and I've been here, at least dual booting, ever since.

[deleted]

I think I tried various distros, including Debian and Bodhi when seeking an OS that could be installed on my folks' old Win98 machine. I think they used Debian for a while on that. My own journey most likely started with Mint and various Ubuntu flavors (I've never used stock Ubuntu, however).

I think I've started toying with Linux distros back in elementary school, but I recall my first daily driver happened in dual-boot with Win8 preview on an old Athlon 64 machine (not so old back then, or well, it was old even then). For real I've used Linux as a daily driver for 1.5 years after acquiring an AMD GPU and finally switched to Solus Budgie and haven't looked back ever since. My folks had been using Xubuntu for a while (because I don't care maintaining Windows so much), but after I started using Solus myself I switched them to Solus MATE.