Linux

No one company "owns" Linux, which was developed, and is still being improved, by thousands of corporate-supported and volunteer programmers all over the world. Not even Linus Torvalds, who started the Linux ball rolling in 1991, "owns" Linux, which is licensed under the General Public License (GPL) so it can be freely modified and redistributed however you like, as long as you share any modifications you make to the Linux code base with all other Linux users and developers.

(However, the trademark "Linux" is owned by Linus Torvalds, so if you call something "Linux" it had better be Linux, not something else.)
 

When you "get Linux" you are usually getting a "Linux distribution" that contains not only the basic GNU/Linux operating system, but also programs that enhance it in many ways. Anyone who wants to put together his or her own Linux distribution is free to do so, and we know of more than 200 different Linux distributions that fill special "niche" purposes. But we advise new users to stick with one of the five or six most popular general-purpose Linux distributions until they know a little about what Linux can and can't do.
 

The more you know before you try to install Linux the first time, the easier the process will be. Your first experience with Windows, if you use Windows, was probably with a computer that came with Windows already installed on it. Sadly, it is not easy to find manufactured computers with Linux pre-installed, a problem many people say is due to restrictive licensing practices by Microsoft. So, like it or not, and whether this is or isn't Microsoft's fault, you will probably need to install Linux on your own, either alone or with help from experienced users.

It's easier to install and learn how to use Linux if you have a little help. Linux is not hard to use, but if all your computing experience is with Windows or Mac, it is different, right down to the names of the programs you will use. And before you ask, no, you will not be able to use most of your Windows or Mac programs with Linux. You will usually use different ones, not necessarily better or worse, just different.

The heartbeat of Linux and Linux support is the Linux Users Group, commonly called a LUG. There are LUGs in almost every country in the world, where you can get Linux advice and help from people who live near you, speak your language, and are willing to donate their time so that new users (like you!) can learn about Linux without going through any more head-scratching than necessary.
 

One very good reason to make contact with a LUG before you install Linux, or even decide which distribution to use, is that your nearest LUG's members may have accumulated experience with one particular distribution and may be most helpful with that one. If this is the case, you would be wise to choose the distribution most popular with local LUG members, because you will get better and more accurate answers to any questions you may have.

So please, try to find a LUG and ask your questions there, because that is what a LUG is for. You may also find that a LUG in your area holds "installfests," which are special events where LUG members will sit down with you, in person, and help you install Linux on your computer if you LUG it with you to the LUG meeting location. (Maybe this is why they're called LUGs, eh?) This is the absolutely best and easiest way to get Linux going. If there is a LUG near you, and they do not have an installfest scheduled, ask anyway. Many LUGs will help you with an install at any meeting, anytime.

 

Linux Distributions

Windows and Mac only have a few current versions each. Linux is about freedom and choice, so you have plenty of freedom to choose -- and until you have some experience with Linux, it is almost impossible to decide which of the many Linux distributions best fits your needs. All we can do here is give you a basic list and some information based on Linux.com staff members' own experience with different Linux distributions.

RedHat

This the best-known Linux distribution, at least in the United States. It is the one most likely to be supported by large server hardware vendors like IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell, so it is probably the best choice if you are going to first make use of Linux as a server of some sort in a corporate setting. You can download Red Hat Linux free from the Internet, but if you buy a "boxed set" from Red Hat or an authorized retailer, you will get the right to ask Red Hat employees for help directly as part of the deal. The amount of support and the length of the support period depends on which version of Red Hat you buy. As you'd expect, the more you spend, the longer the free support period you get. But even if you download Red Hat free, you will find many free "help" resources on Red Hat's Web site if you dig around a little. Several Linux.com workers use and love Red Hat, while others have had frustrating experiences with it.
 

SuSe

This an up-and-comer, probably a little more oriented toward the needs and desires of home and small office Linux users than Red Hat, especially people who are experimenting with Linux for the first time. SuSE has several small quirks that set it apart from Red Hat; some say these differences make it better, some say they make SuSE worse. We at Linux.com are not here to boost one distribution or another, so we will make no judgment, but we'll admit that several of our staff members use and love SuSE. SuSE also offers support for large-scale servers and has special editions for Mac hardware and other hardware including (in case you happen to have one lying around) the top-of-the-line IBM 390 series. SuSE's Web site offers many support options ranging from free up into the sky, depending on whether you are an individual or running an industrial-scale server farm or even a Linux cluster running as a single "Beowulf" supercomputer.

Mandrake

This a distribution often pointed to as the easiest one for new Linux users to install and learn. It has its quirks, but most of them are lovable, not harmful. We are sometimes accused of being biased in favor of Mandrake, because it is the distribution used by more Linux.com and NewsForge people than any other. Mandrake is downloadable for free, but the boxed sets come with support and a set of manuals that are more than worth the price of "boxed" Mandrake.
 

Caldera OpenLinux

This produced by a company with many years of Unix experience. It can be either downloaded free or purchased on CDs, with professional support provided to paying customers and "user helping user" free support available to all others. Caldera has other enterprise-level Linux and Unix products available, including a messaging server they say is nearly a direct replacement for Microsoft Exchange, which may be of special interest to corporate users thinking about switching to Linux (although there are other "Exchange replacement" products in the market, too).


TurboLinux

This an enterprise-oriented distribution, generally not as suited for home or small-office installation by new users as most others. Linux.com staff has no direct experience with Turbolinux, but we have heard many good things about it from readers, especially about its application deployment utilities that make it easy for a systems administrator in a large computer facility to add programs to many computers at once. Again, there are other utilities from other software developers that do the same thing, but Turbolinux is rapidly accumulating a fine reputation.

Debian

GNU/Linux is not a commercial distribution. It is maintained by a worldwide, all-volunteer organization, and it's 100% free. Several Linux.com people and a number of workers on other OSDN Web sites love Debian and would not use anything else. There is no "company-sponsored" support for Debian because there is no company, but Debian users say the Debian online documentation, combined with help they get from other users, is all they need.

Slackware

This is "the original" Linux distribution. It does not pretend to be easy to install and use, and it isn't. But if you are determined to learn the inner workings of a Linux computer system, possibly with an eye to becoming a professional Linux or Unix systems administrator, Slackware may be your best bet. Slackware is probably the "geekiest" of current Linux distributions. It will take you longer to learn how to control Slackware than any other distribution, but in return you will have a computer system that is totally yours, customized exactly the way you like it right down to the placement of every script and program component. Some people say "Slackware is a hobby, not an operating system," which isn't a slam. It simply means that people who love to play with their computers all day tend to like Slackware.

The Linux operating system itself is not of much use to a beginning user, especially one used to Windows or Mac. Software that works with or on top of the operating system is what makes Linux useful for most of us. Distributions package many Linux tools and programs together so that you can install all of them at once and be assured that they will all work together efficiently without worry or any great effort by you.

While you can download and install Linux for free, and many do, the convenience of a distribution on CDs, including manuals, generally makes your first installation so much easier that it is well worth the money, and even if you pay full retail price for a Linux distribution, you will still get an incredible value. One Linux.com editor tried to figure out how much he would have had to spend to get Windows software equivalent to the software that came with his USD £60 Mandrake 8.0 "PowerPack Edition," and stopped counting when he reached USD £1,200. He was only adding up the desktop software he used every day, and didn't count the server packages that were included and he didn't need. If they had been included in his tally, he probably would have concluded that his USD £60 investment in Linux was the equivalent of £3,000 or more in Windows and Windows software.

And when comparing Linux to Windows, don't forget that Linux is a better match for "commercial grade" Windows NT or 2000 than it is for "consumer grade" Windows 95, 98, ME or XP when it comes to stability and networking ability -- except that Linux is generally more stable than Windows, and will run on less expensive hardware than current Windows versions
 

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