From: bowman@montana.com   
      
   On Wed, 28 Jan 2026 23:23:57 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:   
      
   > This was back before high speed Internet was everywhere. The CDs were a   
   > great idea.   
      
   I wish I could remember the name of the company but it didn't sound like   
   it had anything to do with computers let alone Linux, For $7 they would   
   send you a CD of any distro you wanted.   
      
   I could picture the operation since I'd bought a Compaq laptop from 4G's   
   Plumbing. The owner was interested in computers and that was his little   
   sideline when he wasn't unclogging drains.   
      
   'Free' CDs were the great idea.   
      
   https://archive.org/details/mandrake-7.2-power-pack   
      
   7.2 was released in September 2000. iirc the price was around $40, not the   
   $2 tag sale price. SUSE and others also had shrink wrapped offerings like   
   any other software being distributed in the late '90s early 2000s. The   
   experience was a little slicker than a CD from the back of a magazine and   
   they were readily available at BestBuy, FutureShoppe, circuit City, etc.   
      
   But FREE as in beer? Oh yeah!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)