我的 Linux 故事：在 90 年代学习 Linux
Linux

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> 这是一个关于我如何在 WiFi 时代之前学习 Linux 的故事，那时的发行版还以 CD 的形式出现。
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![](/data/attachment/album/202001/29/213829t00wmwu2w0z502zg.jpg)


大部分人可能不记得 1996 年时计算产业或日常生活世界的样子。但我很清楚地记得那一年。我那时候是堪萨斯中部一所高中的二年级学生，那是我的自由与开源软件（FOSS）旅程的开端。


我从这里开始进步。我在 1996 年之前就开始对计算机感兴趣。我在我家的第一台 Apple ][e 上启蒙成长，然后多年之后是 IBM Personal System/2。（是的，在这过程中有一些代际的跨越。）IBM PS/2 有一个非常激动人心的特性：一个 1200 波特的 Hayes 调制解调器。


我不记得是怎样了，但在那不久之前，我得到了一个本地 [BBS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system) 的电话号码。一旦我拨号进去，我可以得到本地的一些其他 BBS 的列表，我的网络探险就此开始了。


在 1995 年，[足够幸运](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Internet_usage#Internet_users)的人拥有了家庭互联网连接，每月可以使用不到 30 分钟。那时的互联网不像我们现代的服务那样，通过卫星、光纤、有线电视同轴电缆或任何版本的铜线提供。大多数家庭通过一个调制解调器拨号，它连接到他们的电话线上。（这时离移动电话无处不在的时代还早得很，大多数人只有一部家庭电话。）尽管这还要取决你所在的位置，但我不认为那时有很多独立的互联网服务提供商（ISP），所以大多数人从仅有的几家大公司获得服务，包括 America Online，CompuServe 以及 Prodigy。


你能获取到的服务速率非常低，甚至在拨号上网革命性地达到了顶峰的 56K，你也只能期望得到最高 3.5Kbps 的速率。如果你想要尝试 Linux，下载一个 200MB 到 800MB 的 ISO 镜像或（更加切合实际的）一套软盘镜像要贡献出时间、决心，以及减少电话的使用。


我走了一条简单一点的路：在 1996 年，我从一家主要的 Linux 发行商订购了一套 “tri-Linux” CD 集。这些光盘提供了三个发行版，我的这套包含了 Debian 1.1（Debian 的第一个稳定版本）、Red Hat Linux 3.0.3 以及 Slackware 3.1（代号 Slackware ‘96）。据我回忆，这些光盘是从一家叫做 [Linux Systems Labs](https://web.archive.org/web/19961221003003/http://lsl.com/) 的在线商店购买的。这家在线商店如今已经不存在了，但在 90 年代和 00 年代早期，这样的发行商很常见。这些是多光盘 Linux 套件。这是 1998 年的一套光盘，你可以了解到他们都包含了什么：


![A tri-linux CD set](/data/attachment/album/202001/29/213949fp1ecmtktm5v1pkr.jpg "A tri-linux CD set")


![](/data/attachment/album/202001/29/212907yrilr5ttfotko1i5.jpg)


在 1996 年夏天一个命中注定般的日子，那时我住在堪萨斯一个新的并且相对较为乡村的城市，我做出了安装并使用 Linux 的第一次尝试。在 1996 年的整个夏天，我尝试了那套三张 Linux CD 套件里的全部三个发行版。他们都在我母亲的老 Pentium 75MHz 电脑上完美运行。


我最终选择了 [Slackware](http://slackware.com) 3.1 作为我的首选发行版，相比其它发行版可能更多的是因为它的终端的外观，这是决定选择一个发行版前需要考虑的重要因素。


我将系统设置完毕并运行了起来。我连接到一家 “不太知名的” ISP（一家这个区域的本地服务商），通过我家的第二条电话线拨号（为了满足我的所有互联网使用而订购）。那就像在天堂一样。我有一台完美运行的双系统（Microsoft Windows 95 和 Slackware 3.1）电脑。我依然拨号进入我所知道和喜爱的 BBS，游玩在线 BBS 游戏，比如 Trade Wars、Usurper 以及 Legend of the Red Dragon。


我能够记得在 EFNet（IRC）上 #Linux 频道上渡过的日子，帮助其他用户，回答他们的 Linux 问题以及和版主们互动。


在我第一次在家尝试使用 Linux 系统的 20 多年后，已经是我进入作为 Red Hat 顾问的第五年，我仍然在使用 Linux（现在是 Fedora）作为我的日常系统，并且依然在 IRC 上帮助想要使用 Linux 的人们。




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via: <https://opensource.com/article/19/11/learning-linux-90s>


作者：[Mike Harris](https://opensource.com/users/mharris) 选题：[lujun9972](https://github.com/lujun9972) 译者：[alim0x](https://github.com/alim0x) 校对：[wxy](https://github.com/wxy)


本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出


OK
Most people probably don't remember where they, the computing industry, or the everyday world were in 1996. But I remember that year very clearly. I was a sophomore in high school in the middle of Kansas, and it was the start of my journey into free and open source software (FOSS).

I'm getting ahead of myself here. I was interested in computers even before 1996. I was born and raised on my family's first Apple ][e, followed many years later by the IBM Personal System/2. (Yes, there were definitely some generational skips along the way.) The IBM PS/2 had a very exciting feature: a 1200 baud Hayes modem.

I don't remember how, but early on, I got the phone number of a local [BBS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system). Once I dialed into it, I could get a list of other BBSes in the local area, and my adventure into networked computing began.


In 1995, the people [lucky enough](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Internet_usage#Internet_users) to have a home internet connection spent less than 30 minutes a month using it. That internet was nothing like our modern services that operate over satellite, fiber, CATV coax, or any version of copper lines. Most homes dialed in with a modem, which tied up their phone line. (This was also long before cellphones were pervasive, and most people had just one home phone line.) I don't think there were many independent internet service providers (ISPs) back then, although that may have depended upon where you were located, so most people got service from a handful of big names, including America Online, CompuServe, and Prodigy.

And the service you did get was very slow; even at dial-up's peak evolution at 56K, you could only expect to get a maximum of about 3.5 Kbps. If you wanted to try Linux, downloading a 200MB to 800MB ISO image or (more realistically) a disk image set was a dedication to time, determination, and lack of phone usage.

I went with the easier route: In 1996, I ordered a "tri-Linux" CD set from a major Linux distributor. These tri-Linux disks provided three distributions; mine included Debian 1.1 (the first stable release of Debian), Red Hat Linux 3.0.3, and Slackware 3.1 (nicknamed Slackware '96). As I recall, the discs were purchased from an online store called [Linux Systems Labs](https://web.archive.org/web/19961221003003/http://lsl.com/). The online store doesn't exist now, but in the 90s and early 00s, such distributors were common. And so were multi-disc sets of Linux. This one's from 1998 but gives you an idea of what they involved:


![A tri-linux CD set A tri-linux CD set](https://opensource.com/sites/default/files/20191026_142009.jpg)


![A tri-linux CD set A tri-linux CD set](https://opensource.com/sites/default/files/20191026_142020.jpg)

On a fateful day in the summer of 1996, while living in a new and relatively rural city in Kansas, I made my first attempt at installing and working with Linux. Throughout the summer of '96, I tried all three distributions on that tri-Linux CD set. They all ran beautifully on my mom's older Pentium 75MHz computer.

I ended up choosing [Slackware](http://slackware.com) 3.1 as my preferred distribution, probably more because of the terminal's appearance than the other, more important reasons one should consider before deciding on a distribution.

I was up and running. I was connecting to an "off-brand" ISP (a local provider in the area), dialing in on my family's second phone line (ordered to accommodate all my internet use). I was in heaven. I had a dual-boot (Microsoft Windows 95 and Slackware 3.1) computer that worked wonderfully. I was still dialing into the BBSes that I knew and loved and playing online BBS games like Trade Wars, Usurper, and Legend of the Red Dragon.

I can remember spending days upon days of time in #Linux on EFNet (IRC), helping other users answer their Linux questions and interacting with the moderation crew.

More than 20 years after taking my first swing at using the Linux OS at home, I am now entering my fifth year as a consultant for Red Hat, still using Linux (now Fedora) as my daily driver, and still on IRC helping people looking to use Linux.

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