this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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If you weren't at a university it was generally a challenge to get hold of disks. Downloading at home took forever on a 28.8 or even 56k modem (ie. 56 kilobits per second).
Slackware and Redhat disk sets were the thing, in my experience. But generally that only gave you the compiled code, not the source (although there was an another set of disks with the source packages).
If you wanted to recompile stuff you had to download the right set of packages, and be prepared to handle version conflicts on your own (with mailing list and usenet support).
Recompiling the kernel with specific patches for graphics cards, sound cards, modems and other devices (I remember scanners in particular), or specific combinations of hardware was relatively common. "Use the source, Luke!" was a common admonition. Often times specific FAQ pages or howtos would be made available for software packages, including games.
XFree86 was very powerful on hardware it supported, but was very finnicky. See the other posts about the level of detail that had to be supplied to get combinations of graphics cards and monitors working without the appearance of magic smoke.
Running Linux was mostly a enthusiast/hobbyist/geek thing, for those who wanted to see what was possible, and those who wanted to tinker with something approaching Unix, and those who wanted to stretch the limits of what their hardware could do.
Many of those enthusiasts and hobbyists and geeks discovered that Linux could do far more than anyone previously had been prepared to admit or realise. They, and others like them, took it with them into progressively more significant, and valuable projects, and it began to take over the world.
"mailing list and Usenet support". Yeah. If you've ever looked up some weird issues and the only thing that you can come up with is some Debian message group that looks like it was typed on a typewriter, is extremely difficult to follow the response chain, and is apparently from before Y2K... That's what it was like to run Linux back then.
Slackware took like 40 3.5" double sided double density disks, and woe betide the poor soul who didn't label them because the stack was a foot high and you damn well would get them mixed up.
When doing it from home I would frequently run into issues that required me to completely reinstall dos and Telemate to go back to usenet and get help, print the help and then take another stab.
Dos and Linux had different opinions about SCSI chain termination so this usually involved full cover off to move jumpers on the hard drives and sometimes irq jumpers on the motherboard to get the modem AND sound card working right.
Then the fact that to get online once you had slackware installed required you to write your own SLIP/PPP dialup scripts because every ISP was doing their own thing.
Honestly it was a fucking wonderful time. Many happy memories.