How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

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mikeflan
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How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by mikeflan »

For me - about 15 years. I finally made the move about 3 years ago.

I cleaned out my DVDs and here are some of the Linux versions I tried, but never went to permanently due to problems with networking, or sound, or whatever:
  • 9/11/2004 - Redhat 7.0
  • 2/15/2010 - Fedora 12 - 7 Disks!
  • 3/3/2010 - Ubuntu 9.10
  • 8/4/2012 - Ubuntu LTS 12.04 - 32 bit
  • 8/8/2012 - Ubuntu LTS 12.04 - AMD 64 bit
  • 1/24/2016 - Ubuntu LTS 14.04.3 - 32 bit
  • 10/5/2019 - Ubuntu 18.04.3

Then I installed Linux Mint in 10/2019 and have never used windows since, except at work.
Thank you Linux for getting me out of a bad jam.
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by BenTrabetere »

My first attempt at Linux was in 1998 with Red Hat Linux 5.0. Within a year I had also tried Debian, slackware, SuSE, and Caldera OpenLinux. I managed to get all of them to install on an IBM IntelliStation X-Pro (Pentium Pro, 64MB RAM). I especially liked RH and OpenLinux, but not enough to stop using OS/2.

I fstuck with OS/2 until 2005, when I replaced that box with a "Made for XP" system. I used WinXP until it hit EoL in 2014. I installed LM 17.0, and the rest is history.
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all41
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by all41 »

I was experimenting with different Linux distros, then came rock-stable Mint Maya LTS 13.
Maya was my pathway to LInux only.
Been here ever since.
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by Moem »

Zero. I switched in 2015 and there was no trying involved.
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by exploder »

I had tinkered with Linux in the 90's but getting a modem to work back then was a nightmare. About 2005, I built my first dedicated Linux system. It was a Frankenstein system built out of old parts but ran Simply Mepis like a top Been hooked ever since!
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by kc1di »

I began using Linux on an old i386 machine that I built from spare parts. In 1995 or so with a slackware install that use 28 floppy discs to install got it working quite well. and Use it until the machine died. Was still using windows on other machines though. I switch in 2000 completely to Linux. and Started using Mint in around 2008 or so. I've tried most of the major distro and some miner one over the years. Here is a list of a few.
Slackware, Redhat, Debian, Mepis, Vector, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Mint, MX, and many others. Still like Mint the best although I was disappointed when it dropped KDE.

All in all been Linux for awhile now :)
Easy tips : https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/ Pjotr's Great Linux projects page.
Linux Mint Installation Guide: http://linuxmint-installation-guide.rea ... en/latest/
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by cliffcoggin »

My transition from Windows to Linux took several weeks in 2016, however I spent the previous nine months researching Linux and planning how to make the change, because I had an awful lot of business files to convert, and I was expecting it to be a one way process.
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by Night Wing »

I am not a power user. Just a non-technical user who decided to give the world of Linux a try.

My foray into the world with Linux distros began in October of 2012 when, in my opinion, Microsoft released the total train wreck of Windows 8. This finally put the nail in the coffin for me for using the Windows operating system as my main operating system.

I was still running Windows 7 so I started dual booting with Linux Mint 14 in January of 2013. More and more, about 70% of the time, I began using Linux Mint instead of Windows 7. Only when some of the programs I used in Windows 7 were not being supported anymore, this made me switch to Linux Mint full time and that was around January of 2021.

Today, I dual boot Linux Mint and MX Linux.
Linux Mint 21.3 (Virginia) Xfce
MX Linux 23.2 (Libretto) Xfce
Linux Debian 12.5 (Bookworm) Xfce
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by Hoser Rob »

My 1st install was Ubuntu 12.04 abut a decade ago. N problems. But I know a couple of guys who installed Linux in the previous decade and they had big problems getting the wireless to work. And they weren't computer novices, they damn well knew what they were doing.

The decade before that, all Linux installs were like installing Slackware or Gentoo is now. You had to build and compile the whole thing yourself.
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by MurphCID »

I started with Mandrake Linux in 1999, got run away from Linux until 2015 or so. Been on Mint since then.
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by vansloneker »

My first step into actually using Linux was running a FreeSCO router well over 20 years ago. At a certain time it even doubled as a FTP server.
The next I think was using Slax as a portable operating system.

I had several times tried to run a desktop using RedHat, Suse etcetera and also Mint but had not a long-term relation with them.

A big step was when I was having issues running Logitech Media Server on one of my better systems running Windows. For the heck of it I installed it on a Lubuntu test system, a Pentium or Celeron 1000 or so. This legacy system beated the much more powerful Windows system in boot time, and, the Logitech Media Server was available once it had booted. On the other system, after Windows had booted it then had to start the LMS what again took forever.
That's where I decided to change my music server from Windows to Lubuntu.

Later when I got a worn-out notebook from a friend I decided to run that with Lubuntu as a 2nd system next to my Windows desktop. When I got my first SSD I installed it in the notebook not in my Windows computer.

Next I had to help an acquaintance who had switched from Windows to Linux Mint installing a new hard disk. I installed the disk and cloned the old disk to it.
Hey, if this guy could install and run Linux I could do it!
So I started using Mint, first side by side with Windows but I made the switch to using Mint as the primary system with Mint 18.3.
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by ivar »

MurphCID wrote: Sat Nov 26, 2022 12:46 pm I started with Mandrake Linux in 1999, got run away from Linux until 2015 or so. Been on Mint since then.
Also started with Mandrake around that time , played with it and broke it in idle hours at work, lol!
Next try was Ubuntu 5.04 or something but didn't put much effort to it.

Then, in the winter of 21, my windows home laptop broke down and I decided to try out Linux mint on an old laptop from work, just to challenge myself and expand my skills.
The hardest thing was just to unlearn 30 years of windows muscle memory, lol :mrgreen:
Still running Mint for home use 95% , the rest is Win11 and ChromeOS Flex for testing purposes
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by twerq »

My introduction to Linux began with Mandrake in early 2000s. I had no idea what to do with the new system on my computer, though. Subconsciously, I did not realize why to swap win with lin. Windows was much comfortable and immediate. At the same time I had fun with Linux installation and OS exploration

A couple of years later I got a job related to Linux and my enthusiasm to this system was revived. My next job was related to windows unfortunately. But I managed to integrate Linux in my network infrastructure. I switched to Linux even on my workstation, because I was fed up with antivirus's CPU and disk i/o consumption

It was 2007 and apparently then I got carried away with this system enough to try different tastes. And even FreeBSD just before Gentoo. Why not FreeBSD? Just in case of hardware issues with the network adapter on my brand new laptop. It was annoying even to perform software update in that case. From 2007 to 2012 linux was the only system on my computers. Gentoo, Ubuntu and Slackware in about equal proportions

Then in case of tasks change for a few years I used MacOS X only. And in 2017 I switched to Mint. I'm not saying finally, though :-)

I believe migration to Linux is not about my (or yours) abilities and 'tries' primarily. It is about tasks and state of technology. That is, I switched to a new system immediately, when my tasks and the level of hardware support began to correspond to it
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by all41 »

imo Mint is seemingly misrepresented as a 'beginners' distro.
Why is that? It's just as powerful as other distros, yet new users come here for one reason--
Mint forums has exceptional support. Mint is a great entry into Linux--even for the nervous.

This camaraderie is not found elsewhere.
Everything in life was difficult before it became easy.
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by BenTrabetere »

all41 wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 1:14 am new users come here for one reason--Mint forums has exceptional support.
That was the deciding factor when I chose Linux Mint. I also looked at Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, and OpenSUSE, and none of their forums were as inviting to me as the Linux Mint Forums.
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all41
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by all41 »

BenTrabetere wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 2:28 am
all41 wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 1:14 am new users come here for one reason--Mint forums has exceptional support.
That was the deciding factor when I chose Linux Mint. I also looked at Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, and OpenSUSE, and none of their forums were as inviting to me as the Linux Mint Forums.
And in return you've been there for new Mint users over the years.
Family tradition?
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by vansloneker »

One decisive factor for me is that I want a thin vertical panel or taskbar on the left of my screen. I am not a friend of the more creative options of many other distros.
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by Jymm »

I played with Xandros at first as a dual boot with XP, and LILI was the default bootloader which often failed and and I would lose Windows and have to re-install. Then I played with PC linux gnome 2 for a while on a CD, but what drove me totally to Linux was Windows 8, I hated it. I installed Zorin and never looked back. I would guess it took me about 5 years to move to Linux totally. I quit dual booting when I realized the only time I went on Windows was to update it, and the virus and malware programs, which was just a waste of time. After Zorin I used the original Solus, that went away, then Ubuntu but left that over Unity (which I hated too), then Point Mate Linux, which also went away, then Debian Mate, and then Ubuntu Mate. Snaps being forced on me then brought me to Mint Mate. I also tried the Cinnamon desktop but preferred Mate, though if Mate ever went away Cinnamon would be my next choice. I never liked the Mint flat themes, but discovered the default Mate themes were in the repository so installed them and use my favorite Mate theme TraditionalOK. If you looked at my Ubuntu Mate Desktop and Mint Mate Desktop, you couldn't tell them apart. I also learned small one man developer Operating Systems can go away quickly, so now use well established more popular operating systems.
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by MurphCID »

all41 wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 1:14 am imo Mint is seemingly misrepresented as a 'beginners' distro.
Why is that? It's just as powerful as other distros, yet new users come here for one reason--
Mint forums has exceptional support. Mint is a great entry into Linux--even for the nervous.

This camaraderie is not found elsewhere.
Plus Mint is not infected to the same degree as other Linux distros as "If it is easy the unwashed masses will use it, and we can no longer call ourselves "elite", so let us keep Linux adoption hard so few people try it." There is nothing you can do on Arch, Slackware, Fedora, Gentoo, or others that you cannot do on Mint, the perception that it is an easy distro is just self delusion by those who want to be "L33t H@x0rs".
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Re: How Many Years Did You Try to Move to Linux?

Post by Moem »

all41 wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 1:14 am imo Mint is seemingly misrepresented as a 'beginners' distro.
Why is that? It's just as powerful as other distros
It is, but more of the options are available through the GUI. This does not make it only suitable for beginners, but it's certainly suitable for them.
For some reason, people think that beginners' distros are somehow limited. This is not the case. They're just easier to get into.
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