[sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user?

[Rick Moen]

1. Edward, how long _is_ your questionnaire?

2.  As long as you're plowing onward:

Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com):

> Question 2: How did you become a Linux user?

As stated, this question lacks context, i.e., we can't tell whether you
are asking _by what method_ each respondent became a Linux user, or why.  
The literal-minded interpretation of your question is the former one, i.e.,
that you're asking after the mechanics of initially installing and
running Linux -- but that doesn't make a great deal of sense.  Why on
earth would you want to know?  What possible use would you (or your
professor) have for that information?  Don't you also need to know
_when_?  If you do, why don't you say so?

And, actually, the question also fails to say what you mean by "become a
Linux user".  Do you mean "used a shell account on a Linux machine"?  Do
you mean "installed a Linux distribution"?  Do you mean "used in any way
a device that runs Linux"?

Hundreds of millions of people use devices that run Linux, including all
TiVo users, all Palm Pre users, all Google G1 users, all Motorola RAZRv6
users, all users of the Google search engine, users of many and perhaps
most of the world's Web servers, and pretty much anyone who's used
software that's done DNS queries.  Among others.


I first became _aware_ of being at that moment running processes on a
Linux machine in 1992, when I logged into a shell account on a friend's 
experimental machine.  I first constructed (i.e., software-loaded) a
Linux machine in 1993, using downloaded copies of H.J. Liu's boot and
root floppy images for constructing such systems.