I tired Linux a few times in the past, but didn’t really start using seriously until 2019. I love poking around old OSs and distros, and I want to spin a few up in some VMs my next free evening.

Any suggestions? Open to any distro (or let’s be honest, DE). Any versions that holds a special place in your heart or that’s exceptionally novel? Really interested to see what’s out there!

  • lnxtx@feddit.nlEnglish
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    5 months ago

    Early versions of Ubuntu,
    Red Hat before RHEL,
    Mandrake/Mandriva.

  • Sinirlan@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Gentus Linux comes to mind, obscure distro based on Red Hat (not RHEL mind You) released by now forgotten ABIT, a motherboard manufacturer. I was daily driving it as teenager back in 2001 for couple of weeks until I learned by trial and error how to get windows 98 installed back. Another one would be Mandrake Linux which I was dual booting couple years later.

    • 0x0@programming.dev
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      5 months ago

      I read gentoo instead of gentus, found it awkward that someone would call gentoo obscure, did a websearch, came back to the post with gentus as a reply, re-read the post.

  • shiroininja@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I’m nostalgic for Ubuntu when it still had Unity as default, and Linux mint around 2014. That’s when I began coding, and that’s the time I liked the look of them more than the current modern offerings. Plus there was more ease of customization it felt like

  • Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works
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    5 months ago

    Just for curiosity, where do you get these old distributions?

    I might try the Ubuntu version which got me into Linux one of these days😇

  • hobbsc@lemmy.sdf.org
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    5 months ago

    RedHat 5.3 with fvwm (or fvwm95) is very nostalgic for me because it was one of the few walnut creek CDs I managed to get working. Mandrake and early SuSe were cute as well.

  • dallen@programming.dev
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    5 months ago

    Crungbang linux breathed live into some very wimpy hardware I’ve had in the past.

    Loved the minimalism.

  • Bilb!@lem.monsterEnglish
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    5 months ago

    Anyone else get free Ubuntu CDs shipped to their house? I think I had 7.10 (Gusty Gibbon) shipped to my house back in 2007.

    Otherwise, Mandrake Linux was my first “good” distro. I first tried one called Lycoris which claimed to be an beginner’s distro with it’s own DE, and it was impressive how well it handled setting up a dual boot installation and at the time it was a revelation that I could use a computer without Windows. I didn’t begin preferring linux until I tried Mandrake with KDE 3, though.

  • Murdoc@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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    5 months ago

    First distro I got to work was LibraNet. Easy to set up and use, ran by a father-son team. Died when the father passed away. 😥

    • LeFantome@programming.dev
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      5 months ago

      Uninstalled this recently as well. It is surprisingly slick for the time and way more modern feeling than you would expect.

      Linux was just not corporate enough for it at the time.

      In a different timeline….