Mine was Knoppix because back in the day Libraries used to let you borrow all sorts of computer software and games and that’s what they had and I was stuck on dialup lol

  • anhydrous@lemmy.world
    1·
    7 days ago

    Fedora Core 6. Package manager kept failing so I couldn’t update or install software. So I tried Ubuntu 7.04. That one worked. Had a bunch of animations and stuff that made windows xp look like a child’s toy. Been using Linux as my daily ever since

      • higgsboson@piefed.socialEnglish
        3·
        9 days ago

        No, but bonus credit. I went Vax VMS, DEC Alpha DUX, Slackware, slowaris (x86 Solaris), Redhat, then LFS, Gentoo, RHEL, Solaris 9, and then eventually a little of everything else.

  • dinckel@lemmy.world
    7·
    10 days ago

    Tried Ubuntu 8.04 when it was still new. Said egh, that’s cool, and moved on, until around 2015 I’ve installed Mint on more permanent basis, got frustrated with it a week later, and figured out Arch instead

  • klu9@piefed.socialEnglish
    7·
    10 days ago

    BeOS ;)

    I know, not Linux. But it was my first OS other than the one that came pre-installed.

    Can’t remember exactly which was my very first Linux distro but probably Knoppix or another early live one.

    My first “wipe Windows and install on bare metal” was PC-BSD. I know, again, not Linux.

    And again, can’t remember exactly the very first “wipe Windows and install on bare metal” Linux, probably Puppy or Ubuntu.

  • schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de
    5·
    10 days ago

    Debian because that was the one I had read most about. Then I tried many other distros, some for years, until now when I am once again a Debian user…

    • christopher@programming.dev
      2·
      9 days ago

      I still have a 9" netbook with Debian 12 Bookworm on it. Sadly, it’s 32 bit so won’t be getting Debian 13 Trixie. Maybe Void?

  • Lvxferre [he/him]@mander.xyz
    5·
    10 days ago

    My first “test” was Conectiva. I lasted a few days with it, then ditched it. (I think this was in 2002? Conectiva would eventually merge with Mandrake.)

    Then a few years later I went for Kurumin. It was a local Knoppix derivative, focusing on ease of use. Eventually Ubuntu became popular enough that Kurumin’s maintainer saw no reason to continue the project.

    • Gobo@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      8 days ago

      You beat me by 1 year. I switched to slackware when windows 95 came out because I liked cli from ms dos 6.22

  • ClipperDefiance@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    10 days ago

    It was Fedora. Most of the recommendations for beginners at the time were for Ubuntu or derivatives and I was being contrary just because I could.

  • tofu@lemmy.nocturnal.garden
    4·
    10 days ago

    I don’t really remember, I think Ubuntu? My girlfriend installed it for me in 2010 but I went back to Windows after a year or two. I think I started messing with Linux again around 2013 and have been on (K)Ubuntu for a while before eventually trying Arch. I’m on Endeavor now.

    Most of my servers are Debian

  • mohab@piefed.socialEnglish
    4·
    10 days ago

    Damn, how long did you stick with Knoppix?

    I had two firsts—I messed around with Ubuntu around high school or so, but I don’t count that because I was only curious and had no intention to actually try and use it for any decent stretch of time.

    Second, which I consider the “true first”, was Fedora, and man was it dope. It’s the distro that made me realize Linux is a lot more accessible than I had thought.

  • Ada@piefed.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    4·
    10 days ago

    It was probably Ubuntu Hoary Hedgehog, though it didn’t stick. I tried other versions of Ubuntu and even gentoo again over the following years, but none of them would stick. I would eventually tinker with something I couldn’t repair, and rather than re-installing and starting again, I’d just return to windows.

    Linux finally stuck for me last year, and Linux (Arch and then CachyOS) has been my full time OS for about the last 18 months

    • cRazi_man@europe.pub
      1·
      9 days ago

      The Ubuntu story is exactly what happened to me.

      OpenSUSE Table weed is what got Linux to stick for me though. Once I learnt enough with that to get started and my OS needed a reinstall, I ended up going with CachyOS too eventually.

  • kinetic_donor@lemmy.zip
    4·
    10 days ago

    SuSE 1992 (1995?) (don’t remember the exact number, but the year was on the accompanying paper manual), on some 1.3.xx Kernel, I think. Good times.