Messing around with a Raspberry Pi was what got me over the threshold of learning enough to utilize Linux primarily, and then eventually exclusively.
Obsessed? No. Persistently interested though.
I communicate Linux as an option when the circumstance are appropriate. It is often not worth getting involved in other people’s tech decisions. My mother is now a satisfied Mint user, after she asked me if there was more pleasant and private way to use her computer. It has been great for me, because my providing tech support has gone to basically zero.
Self hosting. I was using windows to host teamspeak and game servers. I first got into linux by switching my homelab to linux and running everything in docker containers and VMs. Then from there I started using it on a desktop and laptop as well. Started on manjaro for years. Then went to arch for a year or two. And now I’ve switched everything over to NixOS.
Talk of advertisements in the Windows app menu was the last straw for me. I don’t use any programs that require Windows so I don’t have dual boot or anything - although I do have a KDE theme that mimics Windows 95/8 because that was what I grew up with and I’m super nostalgic for it.
That said, I’ve always been attracted to “third options”. My favorite phone was a Windows Phone, my motorcycle is from a small manufacturer, etc.
Microsoft anti-consumer shitfuckery. I’ve never had any problems with Windows on a technical level. It has its share of annoyances, but so does Linux. But the ever increasing drive to take away control from the user in order to squeeze out the last penny of revenue just got too much.
For me, I was a curious and inquisitive 15 year old that wanted to try out something different to Windows. I didn’t really have any gripes with Windows at the time, so I tried Ubuntu and it went from there. I mostly remember after that installing Xubuntu on everything because it was just so lightweight and to this day I still love Xfce.
Back in 1999 I came across a copy of this book. Not a great book, I wouldn’t recommend it even if it weren’t decades out of date at this point. But it came with a CD-ROM with Red Hat Linux 6.2 which I installed on the family computer and never really looked back. I haven’t had a Windows install since 2004ish.
I’ve never really been an evangelist about it, though. And I would say that I was obsessed at one point but that’s waned quite a bit in the last few years. I’m still Linux only but messing about with computers generally quite a lot less.
I was very curious about computing and trying different applications
I liked customizing and tinkering with my setup: Launcher, window manager, icons, etc.
I was a poor teenager
On the windows side, there were neat apps like Stardock Windowblinds, for the most part, everything was paid and expensive for someone with no disposable income.
Mind was blown when I realized everything I wanted was available for free! My first install was actually from a CD that came with a book I checked out from the public library
I wanted to see what the fuss was about after windows 11 came out, because I was sick of Windows intrusive UI and shady business practices.
I still use windows for some things, but now I duel boot to cinnamon and it is my daily desktop driver. I vastly prefer the clean interface and speed of Linux over windows, and I now play most of my games on it too. I was shocked when I realized that Elden Ring runs great, and looks better, on Linux while it was unplayable on windows at release.
I also installed Fedora to my surface pro after a windows update made it impossible to use without severe slowdown. I’ve had my surface for 6 years and it runs great on Linux.
The only downside to Linux is that, as am artist, the apps are limited. Blender is fantastic, Krita is catching up, but there is no way to use clip studio, harmony (toon boom, storyboard pro), or Zbrush (yes I can sculpt in blender but it is not quite there yet.)
The year was 2002. I was told about Gentoo Linux by a college. I saw it as a new, shiny toy and immediately wanted to try it out. I realized that it was better than Windows, so I stuck with it. (Not with Gentoo, but with Linux. I still use Gentoo sometimes today, but I also tried out many many other distros throughout the time and I don’t use Gentoo exclusively nowadays.)
are you an evangel
Yes, I believe that Linux is far superior to Windows and I tell people about it
Cost and price … I could never afford much in terms of tech purchases 20 years ago.
Always collected second hand systems, first learned to find and use cracked windows copies, then when that got too complicated and difficult, found Linux and have never looked back. The amount of money I’ve saved not to paying for proprietary software, went into buying better hardware that I used to install Linux and OSS software.
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