Episode: 1487
Title: HPR1487: How I Found Linux
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr1487/hpr1487.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-18 04:00:20

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Hello HPR, this is Lyle, better known online as X1101, coming to you from North East
Linux Fest 2014, where I did a live interview, where I promised to do my first episode.
So here is the obligatory how I got into Linux.
Now, 2002, I started using a bunch of different live CDs on already aged hardware.
I remember damn small Linux and noppicks, and I may have even had a slackware install on
a really old beige box tower from the time.
And I used those often on for instant messaging and some web browsing.
I didn't really know what I was doing, but used it anyway.
Then did whatever, you know, high school aged geek at the time was doing and built myself
a computer, had Windows XP on it.
Unfortunately, it was not a legitimate version of Windows XP and stopped working.
So, you know, having this excellent computer with no operating system on it, I talked to
one of my buddies, who was a Linux user at the time already, and found out about it,
and he handed me a new Ubuntu CD.
I've done some digging, and I think it was Ubuntu 506 that maybe even earlier than that.
Use that often on for year or two, went to college, got another computer and fought often
on, getting Fedora working on that, always had little bit of trouble with the X display
on Fedora, not recognizing my cursor at boot, and so had to do the reconfiguring X to make
it work.
But, you know, not too bad.
Through college, I used Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, did a little bit of work with Backtrack,
and still do booting to Windows for some required coursework and gaming.
I hadn't really figured out why, and at the time, why wasn't around, wasn't very good.
And then, you know, graduated, got a job, supporting Windows, wasn't doing a lot with Linux.
At least not in my professional life.
About that time, I started, pulled up a pod catcher, hadn't heard of podcasts, wasn't listening
to any podcasts, decided I wanted something Linux related to keep me going, pulled up,
and it was G-Potter, looked at the suggestions list, and found Linux outlaws, and that's
kind of how I found the wider free and open source community of which I'm really, really
glad I did.
I've met some of the best people I know, and some other people, there.
Since then, I've added a bunch of other shows to my list.
Of course, Hacker Public Radio, I've been listening for about a year now, and decided
I owed the community a show.
Not that long ago, about two years ago, I made the Switch to Arch Linux, and so now I've
got Arch on all of my computers.
I'm running it on a desktop that, again, I built.
I am running it on an ASPIRE 1.
I'm running it on my Raspberry Pi, and I'm running it on my newly refurbished MacBook.
So I'm definitely an Arch user in my personal life.
I'm also a Linux engineer, and have been for about four years.
Done a lot of work with Red Hat and Red Hat family distributions, supporting things like
Astrisk and DNS, and all kinds of services, more than I can even really remember.
That's really about all of how I got into Linux.
Stay tuned.
I may record future episodes on other things that may be of interest to hackers.
Until then, this is X1101, saying stay free, stay open, and misbehave.
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