| I didn't have internet access, except for a 56 kB/s modem at school, to which I could use every 1-2 weeks for a few hours. Good memories. I started using Linux in 1994 when I was 12 (first attempt was in 1993, but our computer only had 2MB RAM then). Then started the tug of war with my younger brother how much of our 40MB hard drive could used for Linux and how much for DOS + games. We only got 56k6 in 1999 or so and DSL in 2004 or so. I first got Linux distributions on CD-ROMs distributed through magazines (lucky to get a CD-ROM drive in 1993) and later through Wallnut Creek or Infomagic CD-ROMs. Learned through an early Dutch Linux book that I found and by reading through all the HOWTOs. In 1998 a friend and I had a small business of ordering Cheapbytes CD-ROMs from the US and relabeling them and then selling them for much more locally. His parents had a credit card and they had internet at home, so we could do business :). Through some miracle (choosing free Tripod hosting), our website is still online in its 1998 glory, including screenshots: https://linuxlop.tripod.com The last straw for me was when they installed systemd everywhere instead of System-V init or BSD-style init. I disagree with the conservatism. A lot of new Linux developments are really exciting, e.g. NixOS has felt like a paradigm shift and part of it is made nicer by modern init. |
I ordered a few discs from cheapbytes in the US because it beat downloading ISOs on dial up...
Usually I'd just get the install CDs and then I'd rely on the package managers to upgrade to the next release, even though it took a long time. So I think I only ordered 2 discs from there.
But I wonder if you had access to a CD burner? They were common by 1998, you could have easily ordered 1 copy on cheapbytes and burned your own copies, might have saved you some international shipping.