@theresnotime my first distros came on a couple of CDs i ordered for USD 2.00 apiece from... actually i don't remember. maybe walnut creek or something was involved? someone who specialized in selling cheap install media. i think i had to make a boot floppy to do the install.
nobody is going to out old-timer @liw on this one - who as i recall got his first linux because linus wanted somebody else to try it out...