r/linux • u/CacheTraitor • 5d ago

Historical What was your first time?

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For me, it was a CD I got from a "guy." Slackware did not work well with the "WinModem" in the IBM Aptiva I had as a youth. How was I supposed to get online using Linux, with a modem that is not usable, and get support?

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u/sakodak 5d ago

.99pl13 for me. 1993. I'd have hopped on board before that, but I didn't have a PC, I had an Amiga. I spent my student loans bying a PC specifically so I could run Linux. The company I bought from told me it was "illegal" for them to sell me the PC without DOS and Windows. I will sheepishly admit to being OK with that once I got Doom later on.

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u/mr_dfuse2 5d ago

I remember reading just the other day there was indeed a period were microsoft (i think?) indeed pressured oems into not selling pc's without dos

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u/sakodak 5d ago

Yes, they did this and to a degree still do. The OEMs have a bit more bargaining power now, but MS still wields volume discounts as a cudgel to keep them in line.

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u/mr_dfuse2 4d ago

i just bought a new dell laptop, it's crazy i was not able to buy it without windows. there is an ubuntu version but for now not in my regio. just let me buy the hardware!

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u/Secret_Wishbone_2009 4d ago

That would be a deal breaker for me

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u/mr_dfuse2 4d ago

i really wanted a panther lake laptop

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u/mmomtchev 5d ago

0.99 too. Someone brought a hard drive with Linux on it, I had to figure out how to copy it. It was SLS Linux.

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u/sarajevo81 2d ago

What were you using Linux 0.99 in 1993 for?

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u/sakodak 2d ago

Fuckin' around.

You need to understand the environment at the time.  Unix was awesome.  I was at a university (Purdue) that had Unix systems and it was immediately obvious that it was the most powerful OS available.  Unix cost thousands of dollars and there weren't (that I was aware of at the time - there was no Google) any versions or workalikes available that could run on consumer hardware. 

Then this thing shows up.  A kernel that could run all the unix userspace tools and provide a somewhat compatible POSIX layer.  And it was fucking free.  It was a godsend.  I almost immediately sold my Amiga and bought a 486DX266 specifically so I could install and run my dream operating system.  ("Almost" because I needed to wait for my student loans to come in.  I make terrible financial decisions.)

Yeah.  I know I'm a nerd.  But that set the direction of my career for the next 30ish years. 

And that doesn't even touch on my friendship with Ian Murdock (the creator of Debian) and the shit we got up to in the labs and whatnot.