[Cialug] 10yr future of Linux and open source

[Dan Ramaley]

Circa 1994 i started on Red Hat (before "Enterprise" got added to its 
name). I think it was 1998 that i finally made Linux my primary machine 
rather than a duel-boot or secondary machine. (Spelling of "duel" was 
intentional--multiple OSes on the same hardware always end up fighting.) 
Somewhere around that time is also when i switched to Debian, which i've 
been on ever since. I did keep a Windows machine around for a few years, 
but think i got rid of it maybe around 2004-ish? Not sure, might have 
been earlier than that. Those last couple years i wasn't using it much, 
i think i used it solely to run Eudora until eventually i migrated my 
e-mail over to a Linux client.

To this day i use Debian for most things (desktops, laptops, servers, 
media PC, whatever). Been using it at work since the 90s too. (When 
interviewing for a new job, one of my standard questions is if i'm 
allowed to choose my own desktop distro or if they've already chosen 
something.)

I do keep a couple alternative OSes around at home though. I have 
OpenBSD on my firewall. And i usually have some sort of Apple machine 
running macOS, sometimes one i bought myself, sometimes one i got for 
free. The current one is a Macbook Pro that's pushing 10 years old so 
will have to be replaced soon. Laptops really aren't meant to run quite 
that long, but if you're careful with them it is possible.

On 2025-08-29 22:27, David Champion wrote:
> Curious how many of you daily drive Linux desktop?
> 
> For my personal use, I'm currently running mostly Ubuntu Studio distro, I
> like the look & feel of the default desktop, it's using KDE Plasma. It's a
> multi-media focused distro, I only use a few of those apps.
> 
> Have been running Linux on my personal laptops for years. After getting a
> Steam Deck and seeing how well it works,  I built a new desktop last
> January and installed Ubuntu Studio and Steam, runs most games great,
> there's a few that have issues. Glad to be able to ditch Windows for my
> personal gaming laptop.