this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2025
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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I really wish that I was born early so I've could witness the early years of Linux. What was it like being there when a kernel was released that would power multiple OSes and, best of all, for free?

I want know about everything: software, hardware, games, early community, etc.

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[–] floo@retrolemmy.com 107 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (13 children)

Honestly, it sucked. Like most computing at the time. Everything came on a ton of floppy disks, it was impossible to update online unless you had a good connection (which nobody did), and you had to do everything by hand, including compiling a lot of stuff which took forever. I mean, I’m glad I got the experience, but I would never wanna go back to that. It sucked.

[–] d00phy@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

Remember when packages like RPM were first introduced, and it was like, “cool, I don’t have to compile everything!” Then you were introduced to Red Hat’s version of DLL-Hell when the RPM couldn’t find some obsure library! Before YUM, rpmfind.net was sooo useful!

[–] floo@retrolemmy.com 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Shit like that was the last straw for me and I ended up bailing on Linux for, like, 10 years until I got back into it around 2006.

[–] scott@lem.free.as 0 points 2 months ago
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