Just curious when did people start using Linux. By start using Linux, I don't mean just burned it on a CD and tried it 10 years ago or so. What I mean is that you are currently using Linux either dual booting or as your primary operating system. Also this poll is for laptop or desktop computers only and not routers, cell phones, tables, phablets, refrigerators or anything else. I started using Linux about 7 months ago (August 23rd).
3 years to 5 years ago I replaced Windows XP with Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 out of necessity. The netbook I bought from craigslist had bad sectors on its SSD. Therefore FAT32 doesn't work (didn't try NTFS), but Linux filesystems that spread across the entire disk does. It served me well over the years (updated to Ubuntu 12.04), until I accidentally dropped it. Now I have a newer netbook running Linux Mint 13 XFCE. So far I've had no non-fixable problems for around a year now. Everything runs fine, except slower than I'm used to with my Windows 7 gaming laptop. Hoping to upgrade to Linux Mint 17 XFCE smoothly.
I should have read the thread first LOL I voted more than 5 years ago but after reading the first post i think made a mistake.
Ditto! I've been only testing it (dual booting with Win Xp) 6 or 7 years ago. Now I use only Windows. Regards, hqsec
Started using Ubuntu in a dual boot configuration with XP, 3-4 yrs ago. Currently using Zorin OS 7 in a similar setup.
First installed Slackware back in 1998/1999 - was primarily to run a QuakeWorld server for our student house at University. Used Linux on and off for a number of years (but sticking to Windows as my main desktop), but mostly from a shell from Windows when I did (most of my University course was Linux based). Started developing and admining Linux servers (mostly LAMP setup) about 2003/2004 in my spare time and I finally found I could run a Linux desktop at home full time about 2008/2009, quickly settling on the default Ubuntu desktop. A year ago I became a full time Linux based developer (new systems mostly Linux, legacy mostly Windows with some Linux), so been running Linux fulltime at work and home for the past year
Switched from Windows 7 to Arch/Xfce last month. Had to swap a scanner and audio card due to a lack of drivers, but other than that it has been a relatively smooth transition. I did a lot of homework prior to the switch and I know that helped immensely. One major highlight is how much faster backups with Grsync are compared to SyncbackSE. Downloading is faster too, but not as much. Using TOMOYO as my MAC / Application Firewall has been a very good experience. Discovering that I could use TOMOYO the way I am is really what sparked the change. Overall, my only regret is not dumping Windows sooner.
Interesting how people started using Linux. Personally I started testing with Live CDs back in college, maybe 2004 or so. I was into gaming back in those days so Linux didnt stand a chance. Last year June 2013 I got myself new Thinkpad X230 which came with Windows 8. I wasn't really happy with the UI and the dicotomy of the operating system. Then the Snowden leaks motivated me to get out of Windows. I installed Ubuntu towards the end of August and then Linux Mint. And interestingly it was easier for me to migrate UI wise from Windows 7 to Linux than Windows 7 to Windows 8. It really shows how badly Microsoft has flopped with the UI aspect of their operating system. Im still running Windows 7 on my netbook.
The first time i used Linux (Ubuntu to be more specific) was back in high school and just like you, i used to play tons of games back then so it didnt last a week. Then after that i had Windows and Ubuntu in a dual boot setup but after like a month i felt there was no need for it and i ended up removing Ubuntu. Since then i've "tried" Ubuntu a few times but never more than a day, usually i just boot it from a flash drive.
I started distro hopping way back in 2005 and enjoyed it a lot, so kept doing it over the years, even today. I still run both Win and Linux though. I find it hard to give up Win 7 completely for a few reasons (video issues in linux mostly), but I still may get there and eventually go linux full time. We'll see.
i started since fedora core 3, and redhat linux 7 and ubuntu 7.04 i guess as permanently stick with fedora till 14 after that i switch to scientific linux and ubuntu i am still using as well linux mint best distro so far for me is still fedora 14 or fuduntu ubuntu 10.10 they are best so far pity they stop it
The same here! I still have several distros in dual boot including Win7 but I hardly use it anymore. I use it for football (silverlight!) and other sports event but mostly I don't connect to the internet while using Win7.
Replaced that Linux Mint netbook with a Chromebook. Although the specs are similar with the only major difference being physical dual-core instead of virtual, it runs much smoother. For example, 720p video is not a problem, while 480p drained the whole system before. No more repeated 1-sec lag playing Angry Birds Chrome. And I can open more than 8 Wilders tabs without the system stalling. Bought it used for the same prices as well, fancy that (and I had to upgrade RAM on the replaced one). Overall an excellent bang for my buck.
When I decided to max out my old Pentium III/socket 370 system. I still had it running Win98 (from 2002-2007) and was wondering what I'd do with it after I had built my first gaming rig around the time Vista first came out. (I had skipped owning an XP system for the most part in all those years) So I decided to try Ubuntu on it as everyone had recommended it being the easiest for first time Linux users. I had used Firefox, along with Pidgin and a few other well known open source type things for a while- so seeing them included with Linux made me feel more at home with it. Then I remember the first few times running a system update and seeing all the packages that got auto-updated (compared to Windows Update), and I was blown away by that. It all being free I had a "Why did I or anyone buy Windows?" pseudo enlightenment for a year, and soon after learned the reality when certain things (drivers, software, games) weren't available for Linux. Around 2008 I think, I switched to Fedora, cause I had heard Red Hat being an older well known name and Linus Torvalds used it. And I ended up liking Fedora. I've even had it on my actual main rig a few times duel booting, but never kept it. Sometime I want to try duel booting again. Now I'm getting into Debian having gotten used to it through using Tails. That's the way I'd recommend people learn Linux though. Just throw it on a secondary computer and go from there. Then if you want it on your main computer, first try switching most your programs to those that'd be available under Linux (like Firefox, VLC player, Gimp, etc).
Don't remember exactly when (I guess few months pre fedora 7) but I remember my first encounter with Linux with pure joy and it was the coolest ever; comparing it with Windows 2000, XP it was secure, fast, foss etc. I've tried the major and popular distros such as Fedora, Sabayon, Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian, PCLinuxOS, Archlinux, also OpenBSD, but I noticed finding myself spending more and more time & efforts tinkering with my system to make it work, rather than using the system. I found the problems often being related to arbitrary decisions (<- in my eyes!) resulting in major system config changes / migration (such as systemd) that demanded much work for the userbase and I felt my interest and enthusiasm began to suffer. But I loved it while it lasted. Now I exclusively use Windows 7 - just set it once and forget. Who knows though, I feel there's a tiny Linux itch that I cannot ignore. I will most likely setup a Linux system should I ever get tired of Windows or get my hands on a spare pc.
more than 5 years ago: but it was always my second OS in dual boot. And not for all the time: in some times I have only Windows. ( I don't know if this answers correctly to your poll ).
Since only 2 months (and a few days). I was definitively upset by windows (un)security and bored of understanding nothing. If windows is about computing, Linux is about something else. Just another world where I can understand something. No more Microsoft, thanks ! You can set something very secure (I mean : at least, much much more secure than with Windows) for free and Apparmor is really a incredible tool (even when you do not understand everything !). Windows will stay here just for rare professionnal applications I need for my job.
Started using Linux 2000 or 2001. I was interested in overcoming problems I was having in XP. I was one of the millions who obtained the early XP evil version. I learned a lot of neat things like transfering some Windows files using a Linux LiveCD was sometimes 3-10x faster than through windows. I was using trays in my tower to swap out cloned drives. Was using dialup and no Distro supported my modem so I bought an external modem. The Ubuntu forums were VERY n00b UNFRIENDLY at the time, downright MEAN & SNOBBY. So I learned 99% percent of my basic Linux knowledge from the PCLinuxOS forums. Even the head developer Texstar answered my queries. I was shocked & pleased by Texstar's helpfulness, kindness & humility. Then I learned from PCLOS how to make a personalized LiveCD. And the biggest laugh of my Linux experience was booting to my LiveCD (exact copy of my installed PCLOS) with no HDDs in my tower. I was visiting all my usually sites, doing everything I normally did without a HDD. It blew my mind & I laughed hysterically for 5 minutes or so. I was hooked on Linux.
Started using elelmentary OS Freya on a spare machine set up a few days ago. First time owning a desktop in a long time, but so far I'm liking it. Performance may be worse than the Chromebook lol, but still usable.
I started in 1993 with Yggdrasil. O/S2 was my primary OS at that time and perhaps cannot be counted. I switched to Slackware in 1995. I still use Slackware. The have been times in those years where OS/2 or Windows took the primary use spot, mostly work related, but Slackware has always been top dog as for as primary use operating system.
