I tired Linux a few times in the past, but didn’t really start using seriously until 2019. I love poking around old OSs and distros, and I want to spin a few up in some VMs my next free evening.

Any suggestions? Open to any distro (or let’s be honest, DE). Any versions that holds a special place in your heart or that’s exceptionally novel? Really interested to see what’s out there!

  • AlexanderESmith@social.alexanderesmith.com
    7·
    20 days ago

    My first distribution was Slackware 7.1 when I was in high school. It took a week to download the .iso on dialup, and I had to use a download manager (GetRight) so that I could resume the partial download any time the connection dropped (usually because someone had to use the phone).

    I’m old o_o

    I still vividly remember not being able to figure out how to install new packages, or knowing how to compile from source.

    • LeFantome@programming.dev
      2·
      18 days ago

      I still fondly remember sitting in the Sun Lab at University downloading SLS disk by disk.

      SLS 1.0.x still had Linux kernel 0.9x on it.

      Just getting X at all on your own PC was like a magic trick.

      • AlexanderESmith@social.alexanderesmith.com
        2·
        18 days ago

        The number of hours I put into figuring out what X was, the difference between XFree86 and X.ORG , fixing resolution and DPI issues, installing video card drivers (mostly nVidia)… I think all that tinkering prepared me for my career as a systems admin.

        I think Slackware came with KDE, which is probably why I leaned toward it for so long. I’ve been using XFCE for many years, now.