Linux.com

only about 4-5 months for me, I still have my (ubuntu) training wheels, I'm working on a switch to Fedora on a new box I'm building, I am really loving this stuff.

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Since September 2000 when I was looking for an alternative to Windows to play around with. First started with Definite Linux 7, then Red Hat 6.2, 7.0, 7.1 and then Red Hat 7.3.

Still using Red Hat 7.3 on a 7 year old machine because I prefer the older distros to the newer ones. It's the original 7.3 installation too! Still solid as a rock after nearly 7 years withouth having to reinstall, and customised just to my liking, which is probably why I haven't upgraded cause I'm just so comfy with the way its set up and working now.

No possible way I would go back to Windows, but must admit, GNOME is getting more and more Windows like and Linux as an OS seems to be heading towards becoming more 'mainstream' rather than as a techie alternative. So I'm not actually looking forward to upgrading my machine and distro, as I've tried them and found them wanting.

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* Disclaimer: Wishing to avoid flames, let me state up front that I'm going to use Linux to describe the platform and accompanying software, not just the kernel as I believe that was the intention of the author of the question. If you're a purist, please accept my humble apology as I try to address the audience that I think will most likely see this.

For better than a decade now. Not long enough :). Frustration with the waning control of windows as they pushed DOS further and further into the background, and awed by the power of Unix in college, I was determined to bring *nix to my home machine. I started with slackware 1.2 and some other less well-known compilations. Back then I ran FVWM, FVWM95, or blackbox for my window manager, when I used one.

Over the years I've tried a few different varieties. I really started using it with Redhat 5.2. Since then I've run Mandrake (though not long, it didn't work well for me), Redhat 6, 7, 8, WS 3 and WS 5, SimplyMEPIS (possibly my favorite), Zenwalk, Kanotix, Knoppix, Beatrix, SystemRescueCD, TomsRootBoot Disk, MythTV and Ubuntu.

I love using Linux. I love the power available. I love discovering how it works, and creating and building on it. I love how simple some things are. I love how diverse the software is that is available for the platform. I love the powerful tools that I can get and enhance. I'm very excited for the new crop of even better, more complex, software being created for desktop publishing, graphical editing, and media creation/management. I love the old stand-bys: apache, mysql, postgresql, php, perl, python, and bash, and the many applications that are implemented on top of them. I love the sharing that goes on in conjunction with the freedom offered by the platform. And, yes, I love not paying Microsoft any more money to beta test their software.

Linux is great. It is an OS and has flaws and limitations, but I've found that for most things that I do, it serves me well.

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Let me just add that I started dabbling with Linux in 1995...and it's been a long, fun ride since then... :)

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