It's FOSSWe would love to hear! π§ β€οΈ
Sai Bhargav@itsfoss In our college the systems in labs runs Ubuntu. That's how I started with linux.
@saibhargav More colleges should do this!
@itsfoss yeah, I don't get why most of the colleges pay for windows while Linux is free and easy to maintain.
A.R.G. λ³@itsfoss
I began my Linux journey with Lycoris Desktop/LX, based on Caldera, around 2001. Very nice distro back then for beginners like I was.
After that came Ubuntu 4.10 (Warty Warthog), and many others till I found stability, for now, in OpenSuse Tumbleweed.
A very intense, interesting and learning experience βΊοΈ
loewenzahn 
@itsfoss A friend made huge advertisement and in the end convinced me to inform myself. Tried out kali in a VM, felt like a hacker and then installed Ubuntu on my PC
Django
Bubbedia@itsfoss Reading about Windows Recall and realizing it would eventually be crammed down my throat despite the backlash. Switched within the next few days and am kicking myself for not having done it a long time ago
@bubbedia Better late than never!
Massimo Luciani@itsfoss during the '90s, I was trying various operating systems. Sadly, they were mostly Microsoft products, except for OS/2, which was "full IBM" when I tried it. In Italy, getting my hands on a BSD was hard while Linux distributions started arriving during those years. In 1998, I tried a Red Hat. In the following years, I tried other distributions. My current desktop has Kubuntu.
@NetMassimo You have seen it all! π
@itsfoss I don't know about all, but I've seen a lot for sure! π
Conor Murphy@itsfoss I started with Ubuntu 6.06 LTS and backed and forthed with Windows till about 8 years ago when I switched full time on all my personal devices. I've used Ubuntu, Fedora and Arch based distros in this time
Doctor Mad@itsfoss A random encounter with a free Ubuntu install CD around 2006 or so π.
I've been on and off Linux for years (because of PC gaming mainly) but I went Linux-only about 4 years ago on many machines for both work and private use.
My private desktop and laptop are running Fedora 42 now, a solid and fun experience.
Back To AnalogAround 2010, I was sick and tired of Windows and how slow my computer was. So I tried Zorin, distro hopped for a while and settled on Arch based distros with KDE. Right now I am using CachyOS with Hyprland WM.
@backtoanalog Nice! π₯
raspbeguy@itsfoss by pressing the start button.
@itsfoss After experiencing Windows 11 on my work pc, I decided to never install it on my home pc. I had already watched and read a bit of Linux installation guides two times prior. First when the Recall feature was announced and again when I discovered that Windows 10 would hit the end of support already within 2025.
I still have some trouble with a few programs, games and features not working yet. But I'm not going back.
Linux seems to hastily improve since Proton & Steam Deck launched.
I still have some trouble with a few programs, games and features not working yet. But I'm not going back.
Linux seems to hastily improve since Proton & Steam Deck launched.
calvicii@itsfoss Got tired of Windows 11 bloat. Tried out Mint.
@calvicii Yep, Windows 11 is annoying as heck!
4bz@itsfoss buddy was running Ubuntu 7.04 with the compiz cube desktop and I wanted it. So I started dual booting. Been solo booting about ten years now
lemgandi@itsfoss I worked with various unixen, often in admin or admin-adjacent roles. So I always was a little scared when I was at a # prompt. I knew that the wrong command would find 6 or 7 angry people knocking on my office door.
Installed Slackware at home from a bunch of floppies in 1996. Ran through the instructions, it did its Thing, and there I was sitting at a # prompt. Suddenly realized I could do Anything I Wanted and worst case I'd have to reinstall. And I could do that. Epiphany.
@itsfoss puppy Linux back when it first came out was touted as a different kind of gaming setup so I threw one together for my young son to play with. Not long after that experience is when I found Kali and I've never looked back.
SouthFresh@itsfoss Didn't have much of a choice when working on hosting in 1995.
Slumber Prince@itsfoss while my password pin has been the same the pin could not be recognized and the pin registry was corrupted. So I just didn't have access. I got fed up and got Ubuntu and have had zero problems that I haven't caused myself lol
fch4ngπ³οΈβππ»@itsfoss was always interested and finally last month decided to format fully to ubuntu :)
also planning when buying a new desktop to have an ubuntu partition and use it more than windows
@fch4ng Lovely!
nexus$My reply was long, so I decided to send a screenshot instead:). EDIT: After parrot, I used rhino linux for a while.
moon77@itsfoss during junior high with Ubuntu πβ€οΈ at the age of 13π
@moon77 Good to see you got started with Linux early. π
Harm@itsfoss At work, while looking at IT systems. Started with Slackware 3.2. (other OS'es used were Windows 3.0, 3.1, Netware 3.11, OS/2 2.x etc.) Main protocol on LAN traffic was IPX. Used Linux as IP gateway.
StarSightMasksI started up an ISP in 1994 in Chicago. I got Slackware on a CD and bought a copy of "Running Linux" from O'Reilly and never looked back :-)
tpaau@itsfoss I used to be a Windows normie but then I heard Linux was better for developers... so I switched. And never regretted my decision.
@itsfoss although short-lived, I got started with Corel Linux then a few other mainstream distros and eventually settled on Ubuntu.
bazio101Tired of Windows (and searching for cracks and S/N for every famous app I wanted to install) back in 2009, I found and installed Ubuntu 9.04 from a magazine. At this time, to me as a newbie, Linux was Ubuntu.
What surprised me at first was the existence of Free (and Open Source as I later found) Software.
Then I discovered distrowatch.com, I made an unsuccessful atempt to use Slackware in 2010 and after Fedora, Salix and Crunchbang (RIP) I got stuck with Slackware from 2015 to today.
Murat Kendir@itsfoss w Pardus Project, 2008, Turkey
Possumantha@itsfoss after the fall of Amiga.
orga_space@itsfoss with my first raspi. It got me so hooked, I'm running it on my @frameworkcomputer laptop
ZeStig 
@itsfoss ArcoLinux and DistroTube
Annika Backstrom@itsfoss Ooh I haven't walked down that memory lane in a minute. Mr. Reed, our programming teacher in high school, let us install Red Hat Linux on a spare workstation in the computer lab. This was probably my sophomore year, 1997/1998. I... cannot recall at all what hijinks we got up to on that computer. cc @isaaccase @darkfrog
Daniel Artfors@annika @itsfoss @isaaccase @darkfrog RedHat 5.2 nerver gonna forgett the time hsync and vsync come toghether and shower my Linux desktop for the very first time. π
Sooraj Mishra@itsfoss haha, I just wanted to try something which would make me feel a first class citizen. My pc is a BIOS setup so Win 11 has abandoned me. So I am on Linux and I will love it even when I get a better machine capable to run Win 20 π
demiguiseA seat neighbour at university was using Linux Mint and I got curious
chalcocabana@itsfoss recommendations from @privacyguides
dabrorius@itsfoss a Knoppix cd in a local computer magazine π΄
Vladimir SaviΔ@itsfoss I used Xenix a bit, so trying Linux from the very beginning was an obvious step. But for everyday use, it was almost a perfect storm...
Trumpet Winsock was a nightmare under Windows 3.11, and I really wanted to enjoy the Web via the Belgrade University academic network. Also, the first commercial ISP in Serbia started operating in February 1996, so I installed Slackware 3.0.
I switched to Debian in 2002 and have been using Ubuntu for desktop since version 5.04.
grynnan@itsfoss 20+ years ago. Was studying network and webbserver management. Red Hat. And I hated it. Switched to, first slack, and later Debian.
ThomasStarted at university with programming Fortran on an
- IBM VM/CMS. Then DEC Ultix.
- With DEC OS/F and SUN Solaris the Internet age began.
At home
- OS/2, NT3, Delix (a german Slack Flavour)
all together on a 4GB U2-SCSI Disk.
- S.u.S.E. from 4.x to 7.2.
- Ubuntu since Warty Warthog,
- soon switched to Xubuntu, till now
- since early 90ies freeBSD, then PcBSD/TrueOS, DragonflyBSD, GhostBSD,
- I loved FuryBSD as install media
- NomadBSD as USB Live System
- β¦
Nova Cat@itsfoss my mother got a USB pendrive running Zorin OS 15 Lite and let me use it on my netbook (She still has no knowledge about Linux)
David@itsfoss It was 2015-16 or so. I think it was a difficulty in activating Windows which did it. I said, "If I can't activate like I used to with WinXP, I'll teach myself how to get a free OS from Linux. So with trial and error, I installed Linux Mint. I've seldom went back to Windows.
Zelgaav@itsfoss It was in the 90s. I came across a floppy with Linux and I loved the "colorful dir". Not much later I got two processor Pentium mainboard and started using Linux as my primary operating system. Windows 95, most popular desktop OS at this time wasn't even capable of using multiple CPUs.
Lain (noog)@itsfoss got annoyed with win11 so I wiped the drive and installed ubuntu (few months later I switched to arch btw)