SilverSurfer60 Posted November 25, 2005 Report Share Posted November 25, 2005 I am also an older guy, 61, and started with linux some 18 months ago. Settled with Mandy after trying debian. I had been working with windoze for about 25 years and crossed over with little problem. I changed because I like the freedom to choose what goes on my machine, being able to work for more than an hour without a crash, and, get at what makes it tick. I have a question though, why did you stop your selection at 35? I'm sure there are a good few who are over that age with very active brains. Cor I'm tired out now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qchem Posted November 25, 2005 Report Share Posted November 25, 2005 I started with RedHat 7.1, I guess I was 21 at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilia_kr Posted November 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2005 I have a question though, why did you stop your selection at 35? I'm sure there are a good few who are over that age with very active brains. Cor I'm tired out now. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The main idea was to check the popularity of Linux at younger ages, becouse as i can see now, it's not so popular. It doesn't really matter for me when you started using linux. Many users started at 30+. I think that Linux should be spreaded at younger ages in order to avoid that linux/windows transition and make linux more common. If linux was common, then maybe it'll push hardware produsers to support it more. Everyone will benefit, except M$ :D . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gul Dukat Posted November 25, 2005 Report Share Posted November 25, 2005 (edited) I started at the age of 36. Yeah, I know, too old. But you've got to start sometimes. :P Only wished I've started at a younger age. I enjoy Linux some much more then I did Windows. Don't ask me why. B) Edited November 25, 2005 by Gul Dukat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polemicz Posted November 25, 2005 Report Share Posted November 25, 2005 I started about 4 years ago when I was 60. Finally got a machine I didn't have to share with my kids, dual booted at first I started with Mandrake 8.0 and have continued up until 2006. I've also tried Red Hat, Fedora, Suse. I also have a Debian system (currently Etch) and have used Debian Woody and Sarge. My youngest son, who is 16, has now switched completely over to Linux, using 2006. Like Ix I dislike Microsoft's business practices, which was my main reason to get off Windows, but I also hated the instability of Windows, having started on 98. I must say, however, XP seems to be pretty stable. But oh those viruses, worms, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic Posted November 25, 2005 Report Share Posted November 25, 2005 I got my first taste of Linux in 2001 (Red Hat 7.2 enigma) at age... ummm... *countcountcount* 28. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlc Posted November 26, 2005 Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 (edited) 22 or so became a full time user within a year, yes I hate windows :) Started with slackware and redhat. Now I use: rh/fedora/centos solaris freebsd I work on red hat/solaris/aix/hp-ux edit: "oh I'm 29 going on 30 in a few"........ :P Edited November 26, 2005 by cybrjackle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aRTee Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 I first used Linux at university, back in 95-96 when I was in my early 20s; the first serious computer use I had was a few years before that, on the HP-UX system. So I used Unix before windows, and never liked the window management. For everything else I could get along fine in Windows. But I never had my own computer until a few years after I finished Uni - bit strange for an electrical engineer, but anyway,.. I did install Linux on my girlfriend's computer back in 98 - first EasyLinux, later Corellinux and then Mandrake. Did use MSwin until somewhere in 2002 I guess - for a total of just under 2 years, but Mandrake helped me kick the habit. I moved to Linux for ideological reasons (Free Software, MS' monopoly being a bad thing), for technical reasons (I'm an engineer, and I like the way Unix is made) and for personal preference / character (I like to control my stuff, don't need Win to do it for me, I just really like Linux) - and what also counts is the tremendous work done by Free Software/open source developers, which I respect through and through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chalex20 Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 To add my own 2 cents: I encountered Linux for the first time when I was 25, decided to try it ( got some RedHat 4.x disks) , installed it on my home comp, tried to use it in my typical desktop usage scenarios, discovered that it could do none of those with the same ease as Windows, and removed it. Later, I tried RedHat 5.2 and then encountered Mandrake. Having tried that, I was really impressed with the speed of its development ( the negative impressions of RedHat 4 were still fresh, and Mandrake was a lot more workable, though not perfect ), and decided to keep the system and not to remove. Since then, I've upgraded my system through all the releases of Mandrake / Mandriva, now running MDV 2006, and gradually advanced from mainly booting Windows with occasional use of Linux now and then, to single boot Mandriva machine with long periods of Cooker usage. I do keep Windows XP on our second machine, due to there being a lot of Internet sites crucial to me, that refuse to work with free browsers ( or don't work well with them), and use it occasionally to browse these sites, or to reboot my Linux machine when it hangs ( Cygwin is a good thing :-) ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavaeolus Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 (edited) Began with Mandrake 8.1 in 2001 and liked it, have been with Mandy since, although I have tried every Distro I could get my Hands on, but since I'm a gaming fan I still have a winbox (please don't shoot me :D ) forgot to mention: I was 26 when I started with Linux Edited November 28, 2005 by lavaeolus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonEberger Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 i started either my sophomore or junior year of college. that would make me probably 19 or 20. i can't really remember whether it was because of a course that i was taking in my computer science curriculum or because it was installed in a computer lab on campus. either rate, i learned it when redhat 6.0 was out. but i first installed (on my home pc) mandrake 7.0. (in fact, i found that disc two days ago.) i know run linux on at least 4 pcs now and love it. i loathe windows and try to avoid it at all costs. im no "guru" (see other threads), but i enjoy the linux. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulSe Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 I messed around with Linux a little when I was 16/17 with Slackware... but only started using it seriously around the age of 21. First distros.... Redhat 6, Mandrake 8.2.... and *cough* Corel Linux, which I bought out of the bargain bin at a software store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwnious Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 I'm 16 right now and I started about 2 months ago. I'm using Linux for servers on one computer and deving on another with Linux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest merlin73 Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 I started with linux when I was 25. Got sick of the look of M$. I found a shell called LiteStep, which I liked and later found it was based on linux. And like mystified I hate programs like outlook and IE that are part of the os. First distro was Corel Linux which came with 1 of those magazines. then moved to Debian, tried redhat, now on Mandriva 2006. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb2 Posted November 30, 2005 Report Share Posted November 30, 2005 i was working in a computer "repair" shop in 1999 aged all of 37 years and i just got fed up with all the machines coming in "not" running M$windows. i mean they had M$windows installed but not flipping working, they were screwed. Viruses, trojans, spyware, missing files, corrupted files, "this game won't work!" jeesh i just got so fed up with the constant barrage of whinging clients. so i thought there must be something better out there somewhere. i did a search on the infamous google and found suse 6.1. got it installed and running first time, by pure luck all the hardware in my machine was linux compatible, including my external modem. after that came a free magazine cd of mandrake 7.2, a copy of redhat 7.0 and then the big plunge i "purchased" the full mandrake 8.0 powerpack. and have stayed pretty much with mandrake / mandriva ever since, with occasional dips into other distro's. i am fortunate in that i have more than one machine (so i can play around on one whilst not messing around on my main machine). M$ business ideas leave me cold now, and so as far as i am concerned i am a "rebel" and shall remain so, "viva la revolution" go linus and the open source community, teach the world a better way "the way it oughta be" regards reb2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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