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02-27-2017, 04:24 PM   #1
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You command line, I command line, we all command line for Linux. (^o^ ) <3

I started with RedHat in the mid '90s & eventually moved on to Debian in the late '90s & started using Fedora since it first started in late '03 or so. I still use Debian, but lately I've been using Fedora even more. I can use just about any Linux system out there, but I feel most comfortable with Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, Linux Mint, Ubuntu & CentOS the most. I can dnf, yum, zypper, & apt my way around any of those 6 distros quite easily.

If I'm not at work or doing work related things using Windows, I'll most likely be on a Debian or Fedora box.

How about you? Since when did you start using Linux? What's your favorite distro?

02-27-2017, 04:31 PM   #2
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Not sure on my favourite...

But one thing I am planning on doing is making an LFS system, just haven't found the time yet.
LFS Project Homepage
02-27-2017, 04:37 PM   #3
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I started playing with Red Hat and Mandrake on a spare machine back in the late 90s. I started actually "using" linux around 2004-05 with PCLinuxOS - dual-booting with Windows. I left MS behind for good around 2006. Started using LinuxMint in 2008 or so, and stayed with it. I'm running the Ubuntu-based 17.3, but looking at switching to the Debian-based rolling version. I've also played with Anti-X and several obscure distros on spare older machines.
02-27-2017, 04:49 PM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by The Squirrel Mafia Quote
when did you start using Linux?
Judging by this, probably in '98 or '99. I was given a bunch of CDs for a Redhat distro, but trying to do a dual boot installation badly messed me up and there weren't any applications I wanted to use. So I tried Corel Linux next, which gave me a more user friendly setup, but I was using Wordperfect on Windows already and I soon got bored booting into Linux to play Tetris. In 2005, I set up a Debian home fileserver/firewall/router on an old AMD Socket 7 computer in my basement and that's mostly what I use Linux for now.

02-27-2017, 05:04 PM - 1 Like   #5
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My opinion of FOSS is that you get what you pay for.

I would rather have my toenails yanked out than use any of it for any length of time.

My first Linux distro was Red Hat in '98 or so. I've run LinuxPPC, Debian, Red Hat, Ubuntu, PCLinux. Probably others. I've run OpenSolaris, but that isn't Linux...

I'm much happier running the best Unix available, Mac OS X.
02-27-2017, 05:46 PM   #6
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I've tried several as clean installs on an old laptop but really didn't get comfortable with it so i gave up. (I'm just as uncomfortable with a Mac.)

Recently, I needed to do an install to modify a NAS box but it needs Linux to do it. So I thought I'd do a dual boot install of Ubuntu onto my Win 10 Pro 64-bit. I got no where again. This time it just won't install. It gets so far then aborts. I've forgotten the error message but it's something to do with the boot up - something about UEFI mode if I recall correctly.

Last edited by p38arover; 03-04-2017 at 09:16 PM.
02-27-2017, 09:09 PM   #7
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Been using Solaris for years... A couple of years ago I got bounced over into some work on Centos and RHEL machines, and ended up using an old laptop as a learning platform. It has Centos 7 installed at the moment.

Mixed opinion on Linuxes. Fine for servers, technical applications, number crunchers, etc. Fine for geeks who love to fiddle around with their computers and customize them and enjoy the process. Ranges from "minor pain in the ass but usable" to "Oh F*CKING HELL NO!!!" when it comes to Joe Average User who wants a machine he can use with minimal work to set up and maintain in usable condition. Same can be said of the various attempts at desktops for Unixes, of course. The best *nix user interface I've ever tried is the Mac.

At work I mostly do command line stuff in xterms, at home its more browsing, email, etc, (Win7 & a couple of Macs), and photo editing on Win7.

02-27-2017, 11:26 PM   #8
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Started with SuSe 9.1 and went on with openSUSE, I did install stacks of distros over time, even some of the BSD's (and various desktop managers, kde etc.), but went for and staying with a .deb style in LinuxMint, I like the simple design and layout of Cinnamon.
I'd like to try SolydXK and Elementary.
02-27-2017, 11:45 PM   #9
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Started around 2005. Been using it ever since. I started with Ubuntu then moved to Linux Mint. I'm running Mint 18 XFCE edition now, and I use it for everything. I was thinking of trying FreeBSD though, just for fun. Before that I used Windows as it came with the computer, and I still use OS X from time to time as it is on my work computer, but I'm most productive on Linux. Just the thought of using a WM without window shading makes me shudder. And I love package management!
02-28-2017, 07:32 AM   #10
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I don't remember exactly when in the 90's but that was my first exposure to RedHat. I was just a kid but my older cousin was studying network administration and had brought home a modem-connected Linux "terminal." I learned my way around X and the RPM system from spending time with him.

Later I tried several distributions on my own. Mandrake and Slackware are two of the earliest that I remember using. Then I dabbled in Gentoo for a while and compiled my whole system from source code. Also tried SUSE.

These days it's split between CentOS, RHEL, or Oracle (at work) and Debian or Arch (at home). Ubuntu does double duty on occasion, but I'm not sure why. Just out of curiosity I guess. Same with Mint.

If I had to pick one it would probably be Debian.

Dabbled in FreeBSD as well, but I had no specific need for it. Again just curiosity and learning.
02-28-2017, 07:41 AM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by RoxnDox Quote
The best *nix user interface I've ever tried is the Mac.
You don't need the *. OS X is real Unix. It has been since 10.5
02-28-2017, 08:13 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by boriscleto Quote
You don't need the *. OS X is real Unix. It has been since 10.5
True. But *nix includes all the Solaris, Data General, and Linux flavors I've tried at one time or another...

Jim
02-28-2017, 11:23 AM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by RoxnDox Quote
Mixed opinion on Linuxes. Fine for servers, technical applications, number crunchers, etc. Fine for geeks who love to fiddle around with their computers and customize them and enjoy the process. Ranges from "minor pain in the ass but usable" to "Oh F*CKING HELL NO!!!" when it comes to Joe Average User who wants a machine he can use with minimal work to set up and maintain in usable condition. Same can be said of the various attempts at desktops for Unixes, of course.
Yes indeed. There are way too many distributions that can be overwhelming. Some are harder to use than others. I've run Slackware, Gentoo, Arch Linux, & other distros that seemed a bit more complicated for me to use. Some require too much configuration. It gets annoying after a while, but I can see where some people like that. At the same time that can turn off some other users from trying Linux.

QuoteOriginally posted by beachgardener Quote
Started with SuSe 9.1 and went on with openSUSE, I did install stacks of distros over time, even some of the BSD's (and various desktop managers, kde etc.), but went for and staying with a .deb style in LinuxMint, I like the simple design and layout of Cinnamon.
I'd like to try SolydXK and Elementary.
QuoteOriginally posted by automorphism Quote
Started around 2005. Been using it ever since. I started with Ubuntu then moved to Linux Mint. I'm running Mint 18 XFCE edition now, and I use it for everything. I was thinking of trying FreeBSD though, just for fun. Before that I used Windows as it came with the computer, and I still use OS X from time to time as it is on my work computer, but I'm most productive on Linux. Just the thought of using a WM without window shading makes me shudder. And I love package management!
I usually tell first timers to run Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop or Ubuntu. I think Linux Mint is the most polished Linux distribution out there. It's really clean & very well designed. It's probably the closest thing to Windows as far as being polished goes. Everything works right out of the box. It comes with just about everything you need. I think it's more complete than Ubuntu. It's easy to keep it updated too. The update manager window makes the process easy & initially asks the user what kind of updates they want.

Then there is the option of using sudo apt-get update, sudo apt-get upgrade, sudo apt-get dist-upgrade, sudo apt-get autoremove at least once a month to keep everything in check. One has to pay a little bit of attention to the Y/N/I prompts as they come up in the updating process. Sometimes a sudo update-grub might be required to make sure that the grub is correct if one decides to update it with a new version.

QuoteOriginally posted by lightbox Quote
These days it's split between CentOS, RHEL, or Oracle (at work) and Debian or Arch (at home). Ubuntu does double duty on occasion, but I'm not sure why. Just out of curiosity I guess. Same with Mint.

If I had to pick one it would probably be Debian.

Dabbled in FreeBSD as well, but I had no specific need for it. Again just curiosity and learning.
I like Debian for its stability. I think Debian & RHEL/CentOS are the supreme kings in that category. They are too stable. Hahaha! The stability does come at a cost of using older software that is heavily tested, though. This is where some issues start to arise when trying to use it with newer hardware or when you want the latest version of a specific software when using them as desktop environments. I think CentOS is a little farther behind in that respect. At least you can get backports on Debian, but even then, some of those backports are still a few versions behind.

As hardware & software are advancing, sometimes I get hiccups on Debian when trying to install it on a brand spanking new machine. I've had a hard time running Debian on my ASUS M32BC machine. It either loses the WIFI connection when getting the required software during the install or it loses the connection after everything is installed. Even running the latest firmware doesn't really help & I've tried just about everything. I don't have any issues whatsoever when running Fedora on that machine. That's why I have been using Fedora a bit more now. So far it has been very stable, doesn't require much configuration, & it comes with the latest version of Gnome. I guess I prefer the Gnome desktop over all others. MATE & Cinnamon are my next 2 picks. I have all the software I need on it & I only dnf update --refresh & dnf autoremove once a month. Heck! Even my wife loves the simplicity of it. She thinks it's more streamlined than Windows 10.
02-28-2017, 11:52 AM   #14
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Fedora is nice (and I love the name of the distro upgrade utility- "fedup" ), but I find it kind of a pain to keep up with their frequent releases.

I like Debian stable because it doesn't change often, and then only for good reasons (ditto RHEL/CentOS). You can opt for Debian testing or unstable branches for more recent packages, but with appropriately increased risk of issues. It's usually not hard to find 3rd party repos with builds for Debian or just compile & install it yourself. Thankfully a web browser accounts for 90% of people's needs these days.

Arch is the exact opposite- it changes almost hourly and breaks at least every few months. But it has the very latest everything and is awesome for development and tinkering.

Regarding hardware compatibility- these days all of my Linux installations are virtual machines, so that's a non-issue for me. Windows is still my main OS.
02-28-2017, 12:26 PM   #15
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Fedora has come a long way. The software catalogue will now automate the distribution upgrade for you. It'll get all the required updates & ask you when you want to do the upgrade. I still prefer doing it all manually with fedup & other commands, but it's nice to see that progress is being made. It used to be harder a while ago, but it still wasn't that hard then. Most of the common distros automate the updates & system upgrades now. Good stuff.

I do run Virtualbox just to test out random distros or do all kinds of testing on distros that I use often to see if I can break something.
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