My first Debian install was 2.0. I ordered the CD's (there were 2, as I remember) from an on-line shop that sold burned CDRs with linux images. I wish I could remember their name...
My first was Debian 4. Ran it on a 550mhz PIII.
The client went away, and so did I.
Then some month ago, the client came back. The Debian 5 is still online and still running (but we plan to move on a new infra with a Buster soon).