• TootSweet@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Huh. 20 years. That’s how long I’ve been using Linux as my primary OS. I hadn’t actually thought about how long that’s been the case until now.

    • BeigeAgenda@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Yeah its about the same for me, I started using Linux in earnest around 1997 when the local data magazine distributed Red Hat 4.2, but switched to using it full time around 2003.

      • mkwt@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        For me it was 2003. Debian Woody. On an EasyBytes CDROM. That I paid 5 dollars for. Replaced Windows 98. The boost to the usability of that computer was insane.

    • gizmonicus@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Funny, that’s how ling I’ve been using Linux too. It turned into a very lucrative career too, so there’s that I guess.

  • NegativeLookBehind@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    My girlfriend sent me a picture of her running her first Linux commands yesterday (she had to run a script to connect her Linux Mint laptop to a network). I almost cried 🥲

  • SatanicNotMessianic@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    My first install was around 1994 or so. I downloaded 18 hd floppies from Slackware over my university’s dialup. I loved that I didn’t have to run winsock to use the internet anymore.

    • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Same period. I ended up bringing by box to the office because there was always a floppy that died on me.

      I could suddenly run so much stuff at once…

    • state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 year ago

      1995 for me. I bought a copy of DLD, a long-since defunct distro at a store. This was before I went to uni and before I had internet, which made learning it very frustrating. And then I wanted to use a printer. Not quite happy memories.

      • SatanicNotMessianic@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        X Windows was my day 1 challenge. I loved having to change the monitor sync and hearing your monitor go “SNAP” when you start it up, then staring at basically a horizontal line. That, and the line in the Usenet posting on how to set up X Windows say “You can physically destroy your monitor here.”

    • bufordt@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      My first install was also slackware around the same time, but I just bought it from the computer store I worked at. Pat was an occasional customer, who sometimes brought in home brewed beer for the technicians.

  • SpookyCoffee@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Since 2 months I ditched completely win10 for Linux mint to become my main OS. It ain’t much, but am very happy.

  • aggelalex@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    8 years on Linux, and I sure as hell am not as enthusiastic as I was, but that freed me from the distrohopping curse.

  • TimeSquirrel@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Sorry to say I didnt get into it earlier like some folks here, although I could have. My computing experience started with MSDOS and Windows 3.11, and didn’t start using Linux until I installed Mandrake Linux with KDE in college in 2002. Back then, shit was pretty rough though. Getting XFree86 running was an adventure in itself sometimes. What drew me to it was the ability to do things like quickly deploy a fully featured web server with scripting and database for next to no cost and using it like a developer’s playground. Things I’d be spending thousands in licensing fees for in Windows.

    At first I was SSHing into my server from Windows to work on files, but eventually I just installed the full Linux GUI on my desktop as well, so I could use all the cool tools there too.

    • thelastknowngod
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      1 year ago

      Back then, shit was pretty rough though.

      Bro no kidding… You’d install and hoped your keyboard worked by the end of it.

      I stuck with it though… Well over 20 years for me now.

      EDIT: I actually remember digging through dbus configs one time for HOURS because I couldn’t get my mouse working. No joke I realized at like 3am it wasn’t plugged in. Hahah… It was such a pain in the ass back then you just assumed it was something insane.

    • WhipTheLlama@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I first installed OG Red Hat 5.2 in 1998, but my computer had a Winmodem rather than a full hardware modem, so I never got it connected to the internet, which severely reduced how useful it was to me. I got broadband a year later, and that changed everything!

      • Rooty@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I fiddled with a winmodem wrapper, actually bought a hardware modem that connected via usb (???), until I got broadband. It does change everything.

    • Trantarius@programming.dev
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      1 year ago

      If you’re installing Ubuntu or Manjaro, it’s honestly easier than windows. The options make more sense, and you get much more useful info on your drives. With windows, I have to identify them by capacity, which has led to me installing on the wrong drive before. And live CD installs even allow you to look something up for help right there.

      Arch is a totally different story though. No way I would have started using Linux if that was my introduction to it.

      • gizmonicus@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Correction: much more useful info full stop. Windows be like “an error happened, good luck shithead”. Linux be like: “error 37: here’s the full stack trace, we put it in a file so you can read in and copy/paste if need be, check the man page for details on how to solve”

    • 0ddysseus@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      What is your issue with installation exactly? I must have done 200+ installs of 2 dozen distros (not you Arch) and its always been smooth and easy. And quick. Like, the whole process only takes 15 minutes for most distros

    • PrincessZelda@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Yep. I installed Linux on my desktop. Worked great until I let it go to sleep, and it refused to connect back to my monitor. Then when I restarted it, it wouldn’t get past some terminal “can’t find video mode” screen or some shit

      I’m going to have to spend a couple hours at least today after work to sort it out.

      AMD 5600 XT btw

      • rockhandle
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        1 year ago

        I had a similar issue once and the problem was low storage space. Maybe you could try deleting some stuff?

      • 257m@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Maybe I can help you out. What distro are you using. Did you boot off usb and then install? How did you partition your SSD? Are you able to open a shell prompt?

  • noisypine@infosec.pub
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    1 year ago

    Eh, there’s always something new to learn. New distros, new programs, new ways of doing things. I think the latter happens from stagnation. Search out the new and interesting and you can always be an explorer.