From: crude@sausa.ge   
      
   On Fri, 30 Jan 2026 07:31:05 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:   
      
   > On 2026-01-29, rbowman  wrote:   
   >> 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!   
   >   
   > I bought SuSE from Best Buy. Corel Linux from (I believe) CompUSA. And   
   > Caldera a couple times from... I can't remember where for sure, but I   
   > think it was at the computer stores that used to be in Barnes & Noble...   
   > Software Etc. I also bought books that had Fedora and Red Hat CDs   
   > included. And there was another commercial Linux distribution — can't   
   > remember its name — but it's the one that had to change its name because   
   > it was too close to Windows. I'm sure there were some others that I   
   > can't remember.   
      
   You're thinking of Lindows. I remember installing that for my mother on a   
   used computer I bought her. It did the job, to an extent. In the end, it   
   wasn't very good. You're much better off with a Linux distribution which   
   isn't trying to copy an established operating system.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)