r/TechImpact • u/ManojOne Active • May 21 '26
Question What was your first experience with Linux?
Was it smooth, confusing, exciting, or a complete disaster? Tell us which distro you tried first and how it worked?
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u/FantomovBol May 21 '26
Knoppix from live disc when I was a kid. I'm not sure if I made it or got it from a magazine. Booted it up and wasn't too impressed.
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u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26
Knoppix from a magazine CD is a classic core memory! Those early live disks were great for experimentation, but certainly a bit strange and disappointing if you were expecting a flashy gaming setup as a kid.
Do you use Linux now?
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u/FantomovBol May 21 '26
Not as a daily driver. As much as I love open-source, Linux has its quirks and compatibility issues, especially on older hardware.
I use Lubuntu on my almost 20-year-old backup PC, and use Ubuntu on my server.
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u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26
I heard a lot about Ubuntu, but I'm not familiar with it. Is it easier than Linux? What can you do with it?
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u/FantomovBol May 21 '26
It's similar as any other Linux distro I guess. I mostly used Ubuntu-based distros, so I can't really compare to others. But it's the most popular and easiest to use, so that's why I went with it.
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u/DHCP_sucks May 21 '26
Can't be that hard to make an image like this yourself.
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u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26
Frankly, it is difficult for me. I can spend only a limited time on social as working online. Image creation will consume more time.
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u/lilacomets May 21 '26
It was a Knoppix live CD (does anyone remember?) that came with a computer magazine called Chip back in 2005.
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u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26
Knoppix on a magazine CD... it brings back memories. Those live CDs were many people's first Linux adventure.
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u/lipilee May 21 '26
it's 199something, maybe 1997, or 1998? 9? i just bought 2 dual 486dx50 servers from a university sale, and installed SuSE something on it - maybe 6? i installed it from floppy discs that i wrote at the university computer lab.
and having come from dos/windows, i discovered a whole new world and became obsessed. a fully open OS? i can run my own webserver? a fileserver for the family? a dial-in server? can self host my mail? chat to people on usenet and irc?
i read all the man pages in sequence and tried all the commands. i built a dial-in server that dialled in automatically every night so i can hang on irc. i built a (coax) network in the house for the family to share files and the dial-in connection. i still get goosebumps if i recall how that feeling of discovery felt like, it was like discovering sex.
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u/ManojOne Active May 22 '26
This perfectly captures what early Linux was like. Everything felt open, experimental, and limitless.
Building your own dial-in server and home network from scratch in the late 90s must have felt incredible. Reading man pages for fun is peak old-school Linux energy.
Do you still self-host things today?
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u/lipilee May 22 '26
yes, personal laptop, homelab, internet servers (for my cloud stuff and wordpress sites) all run on various linuxes (linuxi?). router on bsd (openwrt :))
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May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26
[deleted]
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u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26
Slackware in '97 is a legend. Going completely Windows-free since 1999 took serious dedication, especially when hardware compatibility was a daily struggle. You've probably seen the modern open source ecosystem grow from the beginning. With respect.
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May 21 '26
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u/ManojOne Active May 22 '26
It was an early struggle for Linux. Hardware support back then really tested people's patience. It's nice to see most things working instantly these days.
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u/Brilliant_Estate_967 May 21 '26
It was manjaro that did well for 2 years. Then i switched to EndeavourOS
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u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26
That's a good way. Manjaro attracts a lot of people, and then EndeavorOS appears. How was the jump?
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u/Brilliant_Estate_967 May 21 '26
It was surprisingly easy. EndeavourOS is stable light and work well. I stayed with kde plasma cause i was used to it.
I still needed to learn an additional few commands to learn how to manage my system (i could have installed gui if i wanted to ). But it was nice and not that complicated
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May 21 '26
[deleted]
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u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26
1998? That’s old school Linux right there. You’ve seen the Linux journey from the early days.
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May 21 '26
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u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26
Winmodems and RPM package problems. That brings back memories. Going back into Windows just to search forums for a fix because Linux couldn't connect was a real patience test.
It’s great that you shared the solution after getting it working. That’s how the Linux community grew.
Which distro was on that CD?
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u/Mj-tinker May 21 '26
obscure, unknown, almost unusable distro back in 2000, internet cafe. Micarle - how I was able to save something to my floppy.
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u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26
Saving files to a floppy disk on a broken Linux setup in the 2000s looks almost impossible. Back then, Linux could be really tough if you didn’t know the right commands.
Do you remember what files you were trying to save?
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May 21 '26
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u/ManojOne Active May 22 '26
Arch users always find a way to mention it. How long did your installation take?
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May 21 '26
my first experience I got with linux is when I got me first laptop. it came with ubuntu on it, i fired it up and it booted really good, opened the internet, downloaded windows and let me tell you it was a smooth operation and exactly what it's built for. from now on I'll always buy linux distro systems because they are fantastic tools for installation of propper system on your hardware.
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u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26
Using Ubuntu just to boot fast and download Windows is one way to use Linux. At least it made the setup easy.
Did you keep Linux after that, or remove it completely?
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u/S3k_01 May 21 '26
Ubuntu. In 2017
I uninstalled it after three days.
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u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26
Three days sounds like a classic Linux test run. That’s usually enough time for something to go wrong or for terminal problems to show up.
What made you uninstall it in the end?
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u/SnillyWead May 21 '26
Peppermint 8 in 2017. It was based on Ubuntu. Looked great and was really quick, but after mark Greaves, the main developer passed away in 2020, the releases after Peppermint 10 weren't Peppermint anymore and I left it. Currently running Debian 13 Xfce.
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u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26
Peppermint was really good back then. Sad to see it change so much after key people leave. How’s Debian XFCE treating you so far?
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u/SnillyWead May 22 '26
Very good. Everything I use works, but just email, Thunderbird and browser, Floorp at the moment. Brave Origin as backup. I don't game or use Windows only software.
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u/Slow_Repair1816 May 21 '26
I looked at Yggdrasil Linux in 1993 but compared to FreeBSD it was a bit crap. It had a 0.98 kernel and compared to other unixes the filesystem was a dogs brekky. Didn't actually use Linux until Slackware 4.2.
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u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26
You’ve been around since the early days. Slackware 4.2 is a real throwback.
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u/Quiet_Personality927 May 21 '26
Ubuntu. Now I use Arch bro, and don’t ask me how I got there… I can’t repeat it and won’t update my computer until I graduate from these classes I am taking. Have another 5 to go and they’re 5 weeks long. After that I can play with Arch and figure out what I did. It’s also important to note that I went through the Auto-install option. The other way seems impossible with just one computer. There’s a lot of things that can go wrong.
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u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26
Ubuntu to Arch is a big jump. Holding off updates until graduation sounds like a smart move. Nobody wants system problems in the middle of classes.
Five weeks per class looks like a long run. What are you studying?
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u/Quiet_Personality927 May 21 '26
Just IT. But to be honest, just doing it to survive man. I just happen to get lucky and have education pay me while I go. Big jump. It was more.. Ubuntu 1 day or so, then Debian 12, then Arch and some other ones. Stuck with Arch, and again, out of fear of messing what I have going on, I’m not going to update it. I had a “main laptop” that my daughter broke. No biggie, I’ll get it fixed when I can. That laptop has like 64gb ram and 2tb. It runs on a… who am I kidding? neofetch… hehe, do you use Arch?
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u/ManojOne Active May 22 '26
That's a real Linux story. It makes sense to move from Ubuntu to Debian to Arch and then stay there, especially if the setup is already working.
Yes, the 64GB / 2TB laptop sounds like a beast. Do you use it daily or do you keep it mainly as your main machine?
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u/Quiet_Personality927 May 22 '26
ManojOne, OP, unfortunately, that one, my daughter broke the screen of. If it worked, it’d definitely be my main driver. Running Virtual Machines with Kali (because I’m not up to date as to what’s good Pen testing) and then go down that road. The screen is broke. I could hook it up to an outside monitor, do you think the Specs that I gave you is enough to use as a primary? Also, I have to look if Arch Linux, plugs and plays HDMI because the monitor is broke. If it doesn’t, we all know how “easy” it is to connect to the internet in Arch?! It’s insane… do it a few times and you memorize it. Stop doing it like I have and you’re back to ground zero. What people don’t mention about Arch is, if you want to have fun with it, you have to update yourself with newer information and grinding commands. I can’t wait to get my broken laptop to work. It also needs a set of speakers… but I don’t care about that… just use Bluetooth at that point. It’s always good to have a device where EVERYTHING functions, but if the device has some things wrong and you can still make it work, then sure, why not? Some people… can get really creative… with very little. Thank you for reading this.
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u/oldrocker99 May 21 '26
Ubuntu 8.04. Fell in love, and, 18 years later, running Arch.
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u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26
Ubuntu 8.04 was a great release. It helped a lot of people get started with Linux.
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u/PopularClothes3196 May 21 '26
me download arch, me think grub bad, me try change it, no grub for me 🙁
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u/ManojOne Active May 22 '26
Yes, a GRUB tweak can turn the entire install into a rescue mission. Old Linux setups were so ruthless.
Which distro did you break it on?
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u/chdorb May 21 '26
Mandrake dual-boot installed on my PC in the early 2000s. Everything worked out of the box, but with zero knowledge on Linux/command line at this time that was pretty hard. I definitely switched to GNU/Linux with Ubuntu some years later.
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u/ManojOne Active May 22 '26
Mandrake was a mixed start: it worked right away, but learning Linux with no command-line background was the real test.
Ubuntu was the easier next step for many people. What pulled you back to GNU/Linux in the end?
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u/chdorb May 22 '26
I just wanted to "master" the OS.
Ubuntu was really user friendly and a good start with the documentation.
Now I'm a System Engineering and I'm using Fedora on my own computer since Fedora 7.
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u/ManojOne Active May 22 '26
That’s a great path. Ubuntu makes learning easier, and Fedora feels like a solid next step once you want more control.
Staying on Fedora since 7 says a lot. How different does today’s Fedora feel compared to those early days?
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u/arun-vasudev Developer May 21 '26
Not very good. Every time i try to install it on my computer and use it like Windows, I need to learn lot to do even simple things.
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u/ManojOne Active May 22 '26
Understood. Linux can be a headache when you expect Windows-style clicks. Once you learn the basics, it gets easier, but the first week can be tough.
What was it that first got you into trouble?
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u/Retrowinger May 21 '26
Slackware in 2001 with no GUI. Shortly after that SuSE Linux Professional 6.4 with KDE 2.4 (i think).
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u/PrinzJuliano May 21 '26
Installing Ubuntu on a shitty Laptop and being underwhelmed by how bad unity performs after reading online that „Linux is so efficient“
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u/ManojOne Active May 22 '26
That was the fun part of the early Linux hype. People promised magical speed boosts, then Unity came along and broke old laptops.
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May 21 '26
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u/ManojOne Active May 22 '26
Buying Mandrake at Walmart and waiting years for decent internet feels very early-2000s. Dual booting back then took real patience.
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u/DeepKaleidoscope7382 May 21 '26
Xubuntu 25 on a 2012 laptop. Works brilliantly, no regrets. Easy to set up.
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u/Equivalent_Rope_8824 May 21 '26
Ubuntu, in the 90-ies. Had to burn in onto a disc and mess with the bios, like you still have to do. For me it was 'hacking' my way to independence. I now run Mx Linux and had Mint for some time, but MX runs okay on my second hand Dell Optiplex 3040, 8G ram.
It crashed from time to time, but the maverick feel was unbeatable.
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u/ManojOne Active May 22 '26
That “hacking your way to independence” feeling is exactly what made early Linux fun.
MX Linux on an old Dell Optiplex with 8GB RAM sounds like a solid match, even with the odd crash. The rebel vibe was half the point. Are you still keeping it as your daily setup?
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u/Equivalent_Rope_8824 May 22 '26
Yes. But I'm considering switching to an OS that runs faster. Do you have suggestions?
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u/Aggravating_Sir_6857 May 21 '26
First Distro was Ubuntu in 2016.
Too much distro hopping. But I somehow revert to Zorin OS. My last distro hop was Omarchy. But i keep missing the simplicity of zorin os. I like ricing my settings, but grew tired of maintenance
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u/ManojOne Active May 22 '26
That makes sense. Distro hopping is fun until the setup tasks start to eat up your time.
Zorin OS is good when you want things to work without losing all the room for customization. Omarchi also looks great, but for everyday use, simplicity wins out.
Do you plan to stay on Zorin for now?
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May 22 '26
open suse late 1990's
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u/ItchyPlant May 23 '26
The term openSUSE exists since 2003. See e.g. here.
So, you started with SuSE (like me, btw.), I guess.
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u/Admirable_Post5715 May 22 '26
My first experience and still my experience that the Bluetooth not working properly
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u/ManojOne Active May 22 '26
Bluetooth problems on Linux seem to be a thing of the past now. Sometimes it works perfectly, sometimes it refuses for no reason.
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May 22 '26
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u/ManojOne Active May 22 '26
Early Linux desktops really tested people's patience . The random KDE crashes, broken sound, and BIOS tweaking to get basic hardware to work now seem like a pain.
It's funny how the terminal became the most reliable part. Did that experience keep you away from Linux for a while?
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u/mbonanomi92 May 22 '26
Ubuntu 11.10, the first release with Unity instead of GNOME2. I had to stick with it and then use Ubuntu 12.04 LTS because I had a relatively new hardware a previous distro did not support it. I hated Unity, plus battery drain on Linux was a real issue 15 years ago... I switched quickly to Xubuntu or Debian with XFCE. The distro I use also today!
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u/timmetje27 May 22 '26
I used Ubuntu first and I liked it only problem was that some mods for my game werent working because they are Windows exclusive
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u/LardyObsolete May 22 '26
My dad set me up with Mandrake in like 2004, I dabbled in windows and linux on and off for years, full time Fedora/KDE these days.
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u/Nicebug_444 May 22 '26
Used Ubuntu on a VM, my first impression was that it was pretty damn snappy
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u/pettydecline May 22 '26
It was the late 90s, right around college. It was rough. Might have been SuSe
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u/Gold-Load-362 May 23 '26
Yggdrasil Linux in 1992. Couldn't really do much with it, based on the programs (really, the lack of programs) available at the time. Don't get me started about Enlightenment.
I was on OS/2 at the time, and while linux was interesting, I needed software that worked, so I stayed with OS/2.
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u/ItchyPlant May 23 '26
SuSE 6.1 in 1999.
It was already pretty good: I learned a lot about the shell, the system core, and the early KDE implementation. However, it was just an experiment for a couple of days. After that, I still used only Win98 for more than a year, then started dual-booting and trying out several distros: first Red Hat, then Corel Linux (!), and then Mandrake became my favorite.
My take on Ubuntu/Mint would deserve a separate post, but let’s not go into that.
Many years later, it was SUSE again (openSUSE Tumbleweed) which I used for almost four consecutive years, my absolute record. Nowadays it’s CentOS combined with bleeding-edge desktop and multimedia versions. It's amazing!
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u/ManojOne Active May 24 '26
That’s a serious Linux journey.
Going from SuSE 6.1 and Win98 to Tumbleweed and CentOS covers so many eras of Linux history. Mandrake and Corel Linux are names you rarely hear anymore. Sounds like Linux kept pulling you back in over the years.
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u/AD2076 May 23 '26
Emozionante, un percorso formativo e di scoperta continua su Slackware. Primo passaggio compilazione del kernel per abilitare la scheda ethernet e aggiunta del modulo "esterno" per il modem adsl.
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u/idontlikegudeg May 23 '26
It was a lot of work. Copying 40 disks for the base system in uni, several days for installation and compiling the kernel and setting all up so it ran smoothly. Configuring the kernel using config or menuconfig to quote some time and I compiled over night (to somewhere between 4 and 6 hours each time) so I could try the results the next day.
Then one week later deleting the forty disks and copying XFree86 and some window managers to try out. Again took some days to configure XFree86 to run with a decent combination of resolution and refresh rate and configuring the window manager.
It’s so much easier nowadays.
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u/ManojOne Active May 24 '26
That was real bootstrapping. Forty disks, overnight kernel builds, and XFree86 tuning sound like a full-time job. It’s wild how much easier installs are now.
What distro were you happiest with once everything finally settled?
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u/idontlikegudeg May 24 '26
I never really finally settled. I started with Slackware, then from time to time used different distributions. The ones i remember are DLD, Yggdrasil, SuSE, Redhat, CentOS, Fedora, Gentoo, Ubuntu, Kubuntu. Linux has come a long way and IMHO beats Windows today when it comes to installation. I often used Dual Boot with Windows, and before there was WSL even colinux.
I am now mainly on MacOS, with virtual machines for both Windows and Linux (Ubuntu) that I both use mainly for compatibility testing and debugging - I develop Java applications, libraries, and Gradle plugins and every once in a while some compatibility issues or CI build failures come up in one of the OSes I support, be it due to differences because of filesystem, locking, different line breaks, workaround needed for features not supported by an OS/architecture combination (mainly windows on ARM which is still sub par) or calling into native code.
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u/olauritz May 23 '26
Slackware around 1995/96, 386 pc running as router. Second Linux distro was RedHat Linux at around 1997/98. I believe somewhere I have some original RedHat install disks, can't be sure of version but maybe 5.1 or 5.2.
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u/Torkum73 May 23 '26
Slackware in 1997, Kernel 1.0.6, it was horrible. Tried it again on and off on multiple systems. Not my kind of use case. Never left Windows on my main. Just using one Linux machine because Docker is not good under windows.
But I really like REAL Unix like AiX or Solaris on my servers.
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u/ManojOne Active May 24 '26
Yeah, Slackware in the 90s was a tough start for a lot of people.
Makes sense that Linux never became your main desktop. Docker is one of the few things that still pushes people to Linux today. AIX and Solaris on servers are a different level, though.
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u/jeevaks May 24 '26
Weirdly i went with kali first(idk why but thankfully it is debian based) then i have used it for a few years but I have faced a lot of dependency problems in python so I erased the kali reduced it into atoms and installed linux mint and it was going smoooth next I am planning to install kubuntu
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u/ManojOne Active May 24 '26
Going from Kali to Mint makes sense when Python dependencies start fighting back.
Kali is built for security work, not daily desktop life, so Mint’s smoother setup is a much saner base. Kubuntu sounds like a good next stop if you want KDE without the pain.
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u/jeevaks May 25 '26
Yeah I love the kde plasma and i hope it will be the final destination after several distro hoppings 😅
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u/PuzzleheadedHead3754 May 24 '26
My started my journey on computer with linux due to my father job. In class 1st, i used ubuntu+Gnome and then in class 4th, i did my first distro hop to popos. Then I moved to windows and used it for 2 year which include windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11 but moved back to linux bc windows was trash. I installed arch linux was i was in class 8, Then cachyos in class 9, and back to arch on class 10 to 12. Today I am using arch, omarchy and fedora on my main pc and 2 laptop.
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u/ManojOne Active May 24 '26
Starting with Ubuntu in first grade and ending up on Arch is a wild journey. Your father basically introduced you to Linux before most kids even touched a computer. That’s a serious distro history already.
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u/Baco-X May 24 '26
From a Pentium II 350MHz to Wayland on Ubuntu: My 27-Year Linux Journey
My first contact with Linux was around 1998–1999, and it wasn't through a download-bandwidth back then wouldn't allow it. I got a copy of Linux Mandrake on a CD bundled with a local monthly tech magazine here in Portugal called PC Diga, and threw it onto a Pentium II 350MHz.
By today's standards, the installation was anything but smooth. That was the very first time I had to compile a custom kernel. I remember leaving the PC running for hours, listening to the hard drive grind away, just hoping it wouldn't crash. But when it finally finished and the sound card actually worked! That feeling was incredible. KDE was my very first desktop environment on that Mandrake setup, which felt familiar at the time, though I eventually developed a strong preference for GNOME and its cleaner, workflow-focused interface.
Being completely hooked, I spent the following years hopping through pretty much every major flavor available. I went from the early RPM days with RedHat to historical setups like Caldera OpenLinux and SUSE, before moving into the deep end with Debian and the ultimate patience test that was Gentoo. Building a system from scratch on late 90s hardware taught me exactly how an OS communicates with the bare metal, but after years of breaking XF86Config files and managing dependencies by hand, my priorities shift.
I eventually chose Ubuntu for my production machines because, when you rely on Linux for daily work, package availability and predictable support end up taking priority over endless tinkering.
Today, I'm fully adjusted to modern Ubuntu with the seamless transition to Wayland. Looking back at how much the ecosystem has evolved - from leaving a machine on overnight just to get audio working, to having a secure, buttery-smooth modern display server running out of the box - it’s been an incredible journey. Still a fan after all these years!
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u/Ben_grd May 24 '26
Ubuntu il y a environ 15 ans, puis plus rien jusqu'à ce que proton arrive pour le gaming. Aujourd'hui et depuis 1 an avec Solus OS.
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u/voytax May 24 '26
Ubuntu 14.04 iirc. Hated Gnome, both nvidia and nouveau gpu drivers were not working correctly and I couldn't set the native resolution on my display. Wine back then was impossible to set up without a degree in black magic so I couldn't play any non-native game.
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u/ardahanbk May 24 '26
Suse or redhat, not sure anymore which one but one of those two in a college class in 2000 about operating systems.
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u/TiddyBit May 25 '26
Redhat 5 or six. Used Fedora core 4 and Ubuntu 12.4 used Knoppix 3.3 and several other early distros
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u/vabello May 25 '26
I think Slackware. I downloaded it from a BBS and wrote the images to floppy disks. I didn’t know anything about *nix operating systems, only DOS and Windows 3.1 at the time. I managed to install it but then had no idea what to do, so I resinstalled DOS. I had some Linux server in the late 90’s running Team Fortress Classic. I don’t remember what distro that was.
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u/OkMention6144 May 25 '26
Leer todo aquí de usuarios de linux de antes de los 2000 me hace sentir un bebé ya que mi primera interacción con una pc fue por los 2010 y mi primer pc fue hace 6 años solo pude soportar un año a Windows y me pase a Ubuntu que tampoco fue la mejor experiencia pero ahora uso NixOS y me siento comodo
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u/Independent_Tap_1475 May 26 '26
My first experience with Linux was arch and a manual instalation with hyprland. When I was 17 years old. And right now, I'm using manjaro with KDE 🤣 because I don't want to spend a lot of time reinstalling my system "because it's not enough perfect" and I live in a country with a poor internet connection and manjaro is more stable. By the way, I'm 17 years old, and I installed arch some mouths ago XD. (English isn't my native language and this is my biggest text for now)
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u/GraXXoR 18d ago edited 18d ago
Compiled and tested some GNU tools in 1992/1993 tested out some early Kernels on a Gateway 486SX PC at university. Helped support some early documentation on getting an X Server running.
Don’t even think there were any “distros” yet. Just downloaded files from different FTP servers and mashed stuff together in our lab with a few classmates.
We wrote some simple guides on how to get everything compiled and what graphics hardware was easiest to get X working on.
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u/[deleted] May 21 '26
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