Slackware back in '96 when It was the only option. Then tried everything else before settling on Mint and never having to worry about picking another distribution again.
this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2025
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I dual booted Ubuntu originally, but I never used it. Had to really make the jump when I installed Arch on my desktop in ~2020 because I heard it would run games better. I've stayed 100% on Linux since! After trying quite a few distros (Fedora, Debian, EndeavourOS, Garuda, Archcraft, more I'm forgetting) I have finally settled on NixOS... it's been over a year and I still haven't switched, that's gotta be worth something :)
Way back: Ubuntu live CD. More recent history: Pop!_OS > Zorin OS > Fedora.
Happily been running Fedora for like 2 years now.
My first steps were with Debian 2.0 and a Suse Version from about the same time. But that was not very successful so I went back to Windows for about a year and then really got into Linux with Gentoo. I had a year of not much to do, had to wait a year to get into University, and I decided to install the complicated Linux Distribution that I could find.
Reasoning was: It will break a lot if it is so complicated, due to this I am forced to learn while repairing it.
Dreamlinux :) 2.2 maybe.
Ubuntu, circa 2005ish I think. Played with all the *buntu derivatives back then, went back to windows for a while, then tried Manjaro, found it frustratingly unstable, and now I use PopOS.
Linux Mint XFCE, it was easy to setup and could run on my really old laptop.
BackTrack 5 because I was too poor to pay for my own Wi-Fi back then, so I had to become creative heheh
Corel Linux.
Gentoo, sometime in the early 00's
Whatever Ubuntu was available in 2015. I only dabbled in Linux over the past 10 years. More seriously switching over in the last year or so.
I have Unraid as a server OS (~~Debian~~ slackware based, running a lot of docker containers and a couple VMs). Debian on my laptop. And Bazzite (fedora based) on my Lenovo Legion Go.
Still need to swap my gaming PC from windows. May try Bazzite on that as well. I've also tried Mint, Manjaro, and Zorin
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I came in just about as Debian Woody was coming out, in 2002. (Main reason I can even date it beyond "Idk, about 20 years ago?").
Tried Mandrake a while after that, often recommended as pretty much the equivalent of Linux Mint at the time in terms of noob friendliness. I did enjoy that but stuck with Debian for my main system for years, though.
My first Linux was Gentoo. It took several tries to get code compiled and working on that Pentium 4, but I will say, the process taught me a lot about Linux in general. It was the ultimate crash course. I’d recommend Gentoo for all beginners who don’t mind digging in to the point of frustration, because it’s a great learning experience.
Bodhi Linux. It had to be something that could run on a 32 bit laptop, because that's what I used as a testing ground before committing to Linux.
Debian 3.1, but was not successful in getting X to work, but didn’t put a lot of effort into it. Then I got Mandrake running with X, but went back to Windows. On a small computer, I got FreeBSD running as a server but never used it, so that went away again. Knoppix a couple of times to recover data from failed Windows installations.
Yeah, it’s not until recently that I installed Debian 12 on a old work laptop and was very impressed. Now I’m on the fence of having a stable distribution or sumthin with newer packages. I love the philosophy of Debian and the wide usage on servers but Arch is personally also up my alley, however I have not used it at all.
Lycoris in 2002. It sucked. I think I tried it because it was pushed towards newbies. I tried Mandrake with KDE not long after and that is when I really became a Linux fan.
Ubuntu sometime around 2010. It definitely wasn't what I was looking for so I didn't try another distro until 3 years ago. Linux Mint's working well for me but I'm curious about Bazzite.
Installed Ubuntu back at 2012 on my Surface. Since then, I’ve hopped to CentOS, OpenSUSE, and Fedora. For now I’ve settled on Arch Linux!
Ubuntu 6.06 I always come back to Arch now-a-days.
I first got to try Kali Linux while getting my degree.
Still shopping for one when I make the switch. Mint looked pretty user friendly.
I am not a computer unfortunately, only a ungabunga caveman
Casual Deck owner here. Arch Linux is my answer.
SuSE, about 1999, although I didn’t really start ‘getting’ Linux until I tried Slackware a couple of years later. After that I’ve just been bouncing between trusty old Debian and different distros based on it.
Edit: I’ve also tried Gentoo, Arch and Mandrake briefly many years ago.
I guess Ubuntu? 10 years ago or even more? can't remember... Tried it for a bit but didn't stick at first and went back to Windows until 2020.
Installed my first homelab and selfhosted application on my old spare laptop with Debian (only over command line).
So I gave Linux desktop another try... Ubuntu for a few days => Manjaro for a few days => EndeavourOS !
Got hooked and are now a proud EOS user for about 3 years and never will I look back into Windows !
I'm still in the learning process, but in the long run I will probably switch to bare bone Arch.
Red Hat 7
Red Hat 9 in 2004
@midtsveen if I remember correctly, I think it must have been Ubuntu 12.04
My first steps into the Linux world - it's incredible to see how far the Linux desktop has come since. I've got a laptop that runs exclusively Zorin OS and I love it!
Lubuntu about 10 years ago, then Mint, openSUSE, and I've stuck with Debian for the past eight.
My first linux was Ubuntu 10.04. And I swapped to Arch only when Ubuntu added snap.
Knoppix on live cd which I installed later on hdd but a few days later switched to Mandrake, I think it was... 2001? Good times, good times. There has been a lot of distrohopping since then.
OpenSuSE that came with the Linux magazine
I think mine was gentoo, waaaay back in the day. It didn't go great lol.
I'm loving opensuse rn though!
Redhat 4.1 back in 97. I even purchased the CD from PC World, seems wild now to buy a CD/DVD of a distro.
First PC I installed it on was a work laptop, had to compile a bunch of kernel modules and then the kernel to get everything working but get everything working I did, Thinkpads being good for Linux even then.
One of the first slackware (so many floppies) on my mighty 486 DX 50. Linux wasn't at 1.0 yet at the time.
Linux (many versions) has been my daily driver ever since, with windows as a gaming backup a lot of the time. I still have it on a single machine in a small partition because of VR :‐/