From: ronb02NOSPAM@gmail.com   
      
   On 2026-01-29, CrudeSausage  wrote:   
   > On Wed, 28 Jan 2026 23:31:45 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:   
   >   
   >> On 2026-01-28, CrudeSausage  wrote:   
   >>> On 28 Jan 2026 02:54:49 GMT, rbowman wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> On 27 Jan 2026 22:29:00 GMT, CrudeSausage wrote:   
   >>>>   
   >>>>> The numbers don't lie. Ubuntu was the catalyst for a great number of   
   >>>>> people giving Linux a chance and the free CDs weren't the only   
   >>>>> reason. Unlike most Linux distributions, both the installer and the   
   >>>>> installed product worked as they should and it made Linux easy for   
   >>>>> most people. That's not to say Debian and others weren't easy enough   
   >>>>> _before_ Ubuntu's release, but Ubuntu finally attracted the   
   >>>>> mainstream users who weren't as dedicated as we all were to getting   
   >>>>> the operating system working for us.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Leading to the Year of the Linux Desktop, right? You may have a better   
   >>>> chance of witnessing the second coming.   
   >>>   
   >>> It wasn't the second coming, but suddenly Linux was an operating system   
   >>> which could appeal to regular people as much as the geeks.   
   >>   
   >> Yep. Linux wasn't that easy to download in those days. You could buy   
   >> Linux magazines and most months they included a Linux CD but you could   
   >> just email Ubuntu and check off how many CDs you wanted and "voila" they   
   >> came in the mail.   
   >   
   > That's actually how I used to get it installed for people back then. I'd   
   > often have a friend or family member who got some hand-me-down PC.   
   > Obviously, they understood nothing about it and wondered whether they   
   > could get some life out of it. They wanted Windows, but it was always   
   > going to be too slow for them, so I suggested Linux. I'd then drive over   
   > to the closest magazine store and get a Linux magazine specifically for   
   > the installation CD.   
      
   There were a few of those Linux magazines. I'm guessing they're either dead   
   or limping badly as the Internet has pretty much killed them.   
      
   --   
   "Not just insane... Trump insane."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)