TresCom Forums

But what is Linux anyway? lol I've never heard of it. is it another type of computer? Like windows and macintosh? What's different/special about it?

I believe linux is a type of operating system i.e., unix, windows, etc. From what I hear, it is a pretty good system.

Yes, Linux is an operating system for computers. In contrast to Windows and MacOS, on Linux one can have multiple, different desktops (=graphical user interfaces). Visit http://www.gnome.org/start/2.0/screenshots or http://www.ximian.com/products/desktop/screenshots.html to see what the Gnome desktop looks like, or http://www.kde.org/screenshots to see the KDE desktop.

Computers running on Linux are mostly used as servers (e.g.: web, email servers) because they are very stable and relatively inexpensive; however, as desktop environments such as Gnome and KDE became more sophisticated and user-friendly, Linux workstations became an alternative to the more expensive PC/Windows-XP and Macintosh/MacOS-X machines.

Also..

http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com ... 91,00.html

I am thinking about switching to linux any suggestions. {I have win xp I never have liked windows}
Also where can i get a copy of the newest version?


{red hats version}

As one who traveled this route more than a year ago, I've gained a lot of information about Windows users checking out Linux. Rather than diving into a full scale distro such as Red Hat, Mandrake, or Slackware, I would suggest trying out one of the CD based distros. I recommend downloading the Morphix Heavy GUI ISO, burn it to disk, set your Bios to first boot from cdrom, put the cd in and boot. You can download it from here...
http://morphix.sourceforge.net/modules/mydownloads/

A complete working O.S. of Morphix-Linux will boot for you to check out that will pose no danger to your Windows XP. After a thorough examination, if you think Linux might suit your needs, Morphix comes with a text based installer, (Fdisk) that's pretty easy to install Morphix to your hard drive.
I would listen to what Sky and Troodon have to say about all this before making a decision though. Let me know if I can help further.

DD's suggestion makes sense if what you wish to do is just explore possibilities and options.

When/if you decide you wish to switch to Linux I recommend you go for a fully-supported (=by the largest community of developers) distribution such as RedHat 9 or SuSE 8.x. I used to have the Mandrake 8.2 distro; whenever I wanted to install (free) software that was not part of the standard distribution I was unable to find installer packages (a.k.a. RPMS) for it; they were available though, in most cases, for RedHat Linux.

I would also recommend Red Hat if you decide you want a full service distro. Not only for the reasons Troodon mentioned, but also because you can install apt-get install, just like what is on the Morhpix cd. If you like Morphix though, and are comfortable with it, it's a fun distro with a lot of exiting developments which come down, sometimes daily. Whether you go with Red Hat or Morphix, apt-get install will make life with Linux a lot easier as it will find and install packages in a snap so you won't pull all your hair out like I have from "dependancy hell."

In a few years when you become a Linux Guru you can switch to Slackware!