this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2023
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Linux

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[–] CheeseToastie@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

I got my first copies of Linux through magazines that came with sample CDs. Photoshop too

[–] AlmightySnoo@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Ubuntu used to ship free CDs too: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ubuntu_10.04_CDs.jpg

They stopped doing that in 2011.

[–] johsny@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yep, I have a set of KUbuntu 6.10

[–] 56_@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Are the forum and documentation links the wrong way round?

[–] johsny@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Sharp eye, I never noticed that in 20 years.

[–] aard@kyu.de 4 points 1 year ago

A few years before Ubuntu quite a few companies tried doing their own distributions. Back then it still was common to sell them in a proper software box - CDs or DVDs, manuals and some swag, at minimum stickers, but quite often also pins or some other stuff.

On exhibitions they'd often give away full boxes to get people to try - sometimes the current version, sometimes the last release. I still have a bunch of those in the garage - I think Corel (yes, the painting program guys) should be one of them.

[–] padook@feddit.nl 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Oooh memories, I can't remember the version number but mandrake 10 must have been close to my first linux distro!! ....it.didn't.go.well.

[–] d3Xt3r@lemmy.nz 10 points 1 year ago

Mine was Mandrake 6. RedHat 5.2 was my first, and I was surprised how much easier Mandrake was in comparison. But the one that really wowed me was SuSE (before they became OpenSUSE), I was blown away how polished and user-friendly it was. Windows 9x/ME felt like a joke in comparison at time. And some people still claim Linux isn't user friendly... and I'm like, bruh it's been user friendly for about three decades now...

[–] vrighter@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 year ago

mandrake was my first linux distro. I got it from a german magazine in 2004

[–] virtualbriefcase@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

Bringing back memories of my own. Mandrake in 2004 was a but before my time, but I'm sure I've still got my Ubuntu discs I downloaded at the local library and burned myself almost a decade after this Mandrake disk.