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Did you start with Debian?

Here you can discuss every aspect of Debian. Note: not for support requests!

Was Debian your first distro?

Poll ended at 2014-08-14 17:00

Yes
13
19%
No
57
81%
 
Total votes: 70

Message
Author
User avatar
dasein
Posts: 7680
Joined: 2011-03-04 01:06
Location: Terra Incantationum

Re: Did you start with Debian?

#61 Post by dasein »

This poll is now closed. (Comments are, however, still open.)

With 70 responses, the poll has long since reached its likely peak in terms of statistical power.

The readings remain consistent and indicate that 80-85% of respondents started with a distro other than Debian.

Thanks to all who responded.

User avatar
llivv
Posts: 5340
Joined: 2007-02-14 18:10
Location: cold storage

Re: Did you start with Debian?

#62 Post by llivv »

going back even further
my first was actually a dumb terminal (POS) on an IBM mini, second was anothrr dumb terminal (POS) on an NEC min, than deskmate and DOS 2.11 on an i8088. Windows was still at version 1 and Howard Stern was also using OS/2. Unix? what's that? I've seen a vacuum tube https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_tube machine behind a glass display and keep hearing about adventures with punch cards, but I never actually asked a machine to punch one for me.
In memory of Ian Ashley Murdock (1973 - 2015) founder of the Debian project.

User avatar
dasein
Posts: 7680
Joined: 2011-03-04 01:06
Location: Terra Incantationum

Re: Did you start with Debian?

#63 Post by dasein »

llivv wrote:going back even further...
...(I) keep hearing about adventures with punch cards, but I never actually asked a machine to punch one for me.
I never actually manually operated a keypunch machine, but I can honestly say that I've handled a stack of honest-to-gawd punch cards (punched and everything).

User avatar
keithpeter
Posts: 502
Joined: 2009-06-14 08:06
Location: 5230n 0155w

Re: Did you start with Debian?

#64 Post by keithpeter »

Good heavens, nostalgia.

Teletype into mainframe with B.A.S.I.C when I was at school 6th form (1975 or so). The modem was a 19" rack with a dial on the front. We used the punched tape facility to record 'artistic' pictures produced offline.

University: Algol in batch mode on some Honeywell mainframe. There was a paperthrow command to print a blank sheet of line print paper (wide sproketed sheets just under A3 size with thin light green lines alternating with blank space). When we needed scrap paper for doing maths on we 'accidently' put a loop round the paperthrow command...

Postgrad: IBM/360 in FORTRAN with 80 column punched cards for batch runs overnight. Wonderfully *solid* machines those card punches. The readers where impressive as well. Yes, I dropped the filing draw containing the FFT routine. No, the cards didn't have numbers in pencil on the back. Important organisation lesson learned. There were terminals around but then we bought an Apple ][ with disc drive and worked out how to use it to log data and then drive the machines. There was also a PDP 11 in a rack that you ran programs on using a teletype reading a punched tape. All I did was read the tape in and press the big buttons on the front. Memory fades...

Microcomputer: Amstrad PCW green screen wordprocessor at teacher training institute a tad later on. Amazing, *personal* computing. Just pop your chunky 3" inch hard cased operating disc and data disc in and wordprocess or do spreadsheeting, save your work, pop your discs out and let the next one on. Then Apple Macs, and then BBC B+ and RISC-OS based Archimedes at College.

Strange isn't it. We are planning decades ahead now. Hardware seems to have stabilised.

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vrkalak
Posts: 267
Joined: 2009-10-08 03:43
Location: Santa Fe, NM, USA

Re: Did you start with Debian?

#65 Post by vrkalak »

I had been using MS Windows for years (bought my PC in 1984)

I started my Linux journey (9 yrs ago) with Fedora (6 months) and then, Sabayon for a (1 year)

... I went with Ubuntu for about 1 week, then LinuxMint ...then, I discovered Debian. I have not changed.

I have 2 partitions > 1 with Debian 'stable+backports' and the 2nd with Debian-Sid

sirfer
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Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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Re: Did you start with Debian?

#66 Post by sirfer »

Debian Sarge with KDE on 2 DVDs was my first distro....I was hooked from the first install

Had a brief affair with Ubuntu as rt73usb wifi worked out of the box, but once I figured out how and why, I was back on Debian and although I have tried other distros, I have always had a Debian partition. It works the way I like computers to work (my first PC was a ZX81) and it feels like home without any special foibles.

Now I write software for Windows 7 systems on Debian thanks to Geany and VirtualBox.

Debian and FOSS uber alles! :D

TonyVanDam
Posts: 67
Joined: 2013-05-17 19:22

Re: Did you start with Debian?

#67 Post by TonyVanDam »

Windows XP Home....Ubuntu.....Linux Mint.....Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE)....Lubuntu....antiX....Debian Unstable.....Debian Testing.

My primany distro (as of Tuesday, 10/7/2014) is Debian Testing (xfce, NOT Gnome 3!) with deb-multimedia repos. :mrgreen:

TonyVanDam
Posts: 67
Joined: 2013-05-17 19:22

Re: Did you start with Debian?

#68 Post by TonyVanDam »

dasein wrote:This poll is now closed. (Comments are, however, still open.)

With 70 responses, the poll has long since reached its likely peak in terms of statistical power.

The readings remain consistent and indicate that 80-85% of respondents started with a distro other than Debian.

Thanks to all who responded.
I would've voted "no" as well. So I think your poll is pretty spot-on. 8)

gnath
Posts: 34
Joined: 2009-01-18 07:27
Location: kolkata,india

Re: Did you start with Debian?

#69 Post by gnath »

Started with HP-UX on RISC for 7-8 yrs. Have to live with windows on professional ground. But started with 'etch' from testing at home box as a user on dual boot system. Till then I have enjoyed it for its "Debian = {freedom, reliability, stability, configurability, flexibility, security}" [from fellow member 'edbarx' ]. I learn from errors and form various forums. Now it is in a cross road. Only voting will not serve the purpose. This is a community base & transparent. Let us do our part and raise technical opinions & bugs for jessie/sid to establish its own reputation among other distribution. Desktop & ease of use for newbie is need of the hour. :lol:

cheers,
gnath

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