(Sorry about the length of this, everyone!)
	I was running an online parts and technical support service for an importer 
of Chinese scooters and Quads (50+ e-mails/day). I had so much trouble 
keeping my Windows ME box up and running that I built a second computer just 
to back-up the first one. Even after running all the Anti-malware apps I 
could afford, and updating them several times a week, re-formatting and 
re-installing Windows was a monthly task on at least one of the boxes. I 
eventually bought a laptop running WinXP which I hated from the start because 
I kept running into problems converting files from one system to the other - 
I was essentially limited to rewriting all my repair manuals (including 
photos) in either RTF or HTML formats.
	While shopping for a solution at Fry's, I came across a copy of Suse 9.0 for 
$35, and I figured "What the heck... it's a fraction of what I'll have to 
spend on more M$ crap!".
	A fresh install of Windoze usually lasted 72 hours before picking up it's 
first malware requiring a reconfigure and re-boot. The Suse box stayed up and 
online 24/7 for over 6 months without any additional attention from me, and 
it already had all the additional software I needed. The only issue I had was 
one of my supplier's websites was written for M$ Exploiter ONLY, which forced 
me to keep one box running M$.
	That was about three years ago. I dumped the Chinese scooter business (and 
M$) a year later, and GNU/Linux became my new hobby (Debian, mostly). Even 
after all that time, I still consider myself a Noobie... there's always so 
much more to learn!
	Stu 

On Monday 26 June 2006 04:03, Wagner, Steven G wrote:
> With Betty posting about RH9 I got thinking about my first experience with
> Linux. RH6.2 (Cartman) on a dual boot Pentium Pro 233MZ with Winbloze '98.
> feh, last time I paid M$ for anything!
>
> Anyway, I'd be interested to hear about other member's first experiences
> with Linux and what you're using today. I'm now running OPENSUSE 10.1 on
> laptop and desktop (though desktop will be reverting back to hardened
> Gentoo as soon as I get some free time).
>
> Viva Linus!
>
> Long Live LAMP!
>
> www.gentoo.org
> www.apache.org
> http://dev.mysql.com/
> www.php.net/
>
> ...because Windows/IIS/MySQL/PHP = WIMP!
>
> Check it out:
> http://digital9ja.tripod.com
> --
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.4/375 - Release Date: 6/25/2006
>
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