RHLC May Challenge: What is the first open source product you discovered?

[Deanna]

We will be hosting a monthly challenge where community members who engage and contribute have the chance to win unique badges in the Red Hat Learning Community!

May challenge: Reply to this thread with the the first open source product you discovered. Feel free to share how this discovery has impacted your career and interest in open source software!

Good luck.

[EmanuelHaine · Accepted solution]

In my case, it was Linux, where a friend of mine presented to me and he convinced me to uninstall my Windows and install Linux. Since then, I've been using Linux. For the first 6 years, I was acting on a user level and after that, I started to work as a Linux Analyst.

[lauriano]

In my case it was Ubuntu,
after i got a browser hijacking virus,
a friend of mine recommended me to use some gnu-linux system, I just abandoned windows.

[DavidOBrien]

Linux, specifically Mandrake. We were mostly a Windows shop but I was mates with the sysadmin who did everything on Linux, and he got me set up with Mandrake in a VM on my Windows machine. I soon switched over to Linux at home and by the time I joined RH in 2006 I knew my around pretty well.

[JG_Kootstra]

Linux, a gift of the IT training class mates. Metro Linux (a clone of slackware).
At the office the next encounter was Red Hat Linux.

[dennisk · Accepted solution]

SDF Public Access UNIX System .. Est. 1987 which provides Free Software advocates with a free UNIX shell account and all the tools of the trade.

[Tracy_Baker · Accepted solution]

Linux here, too. A friend introduced me to Red Hat Linux 4.0 (not Enterprise) ~1996.

Then there was WWIV BBS software (written in C) going back to 1984. Technically, this wasn't "open source." However, if you purchased the software, you got the source code. You could develop your own modifications - "mods" - and distribute them freely. A lot of people did this, including yours truly (to this day, if you know what search terms to use, you can still find many of the mods I wrote). So while you did pay to get the source code, the spirit of open source was there.

[AmeyaSathe]

Mandrake Linux along with its packaged GNU tools back in 2004.

[BRIANWALLACE · Accepted solution]

For me it was Linux. Back in 1999 while doing a certification course in web software.

I can't remember the OS version then but when I saw all the cool software Linux came with such as Apache's text editors and spreadsheet software, I was turned on to it. No subscription required!

Programs like Thunderbird, Pidgin, Shotwell all evolved in my tool box and were so useful. I could say I grew into Linux, as in the beginning the fear of the terminal was ever present.

Many of us can attest to that fear of crashing the OS by careless entries into config files. And crashed the kernel I did a few times! I learnt that experience comes by epic failure. Had plenty such failures. These gave me the desire to dive deeper into Linux and the confidence grew as I gained understanding of how to manipulate the OS better.

One of the coolest parts of Linux for me is the ease of compatibility of the KVM software and the ease of setting up virtualization. The other is the ease of adding printers due to the flexibility of CUPS.

Thanks for allowing us to share on this topic! It's meaningful!

[Deanna]

@BRIANWALLACE this is a great story - thank you for sharing!