I was spring-cleaning this month, and I found a stack of install disks from years ago.

I tried each of these operating systems at one point. Several of them hardly left an impression. Several were delightful. Ubuntu ended up being my most used, with Mint and Puppy close behind.

Around 2007 and for the next few years, I had two desktops which were both used Pentium 4s in various states of decay. I had limited computing resources. An operating system that was efficient and ran in as little memory as possible was amazing, not to mention the price tag of free was great. Nostalgia strikes again.

I’m still using Ubuntu (Kubuntu variant mostly), and I’m starting to use openSUSE too now. I use Windows at work and for occasional gaming with friends at home. In general, I prefer Linux for my personal computers.

Notable Linux distros I’ve used for an extended period include the following list. I’ve arbitrarily defined an extended period of use as installed and used on a personal, non-server machine for over 4 months, which is a pretty good shake-out time for me to be comfortable.

• Ubuntu
• Kubuntu
• Puppy Linux
• Linux Mint
• Elementary OS

I lean heavily towards using popular distros in order to benefit from large amounts of public documentation and to be able to easily work from an installation with the least amount of change required.

I use as many possible non-proprietary data file formats in order to minimize dependence on software.

If there’s an existing application installed on a computer that can do a job, I usually stick with that installed application and accept it unless an alternative available is so much demonstrably value gained better. I don’t always have access to install a new application on a server or someone else’s computer, and I reinstall operating systems often enough on my own machines that I tend to minimize new computer setups. Further, if I’m talking someone through something, not having to install extra applications to support my mental workflow is more convenient. This entire choice is only clearly subverted by GitKraken and JetBrains subscriptions of which I use both.