Hey! It's, like, Penguin shaped. (Linux in general)

Name: bigbtommy

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Send message to member

Product:	Linux in general
Date:	28.07.02 (195 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant

Disadvantages: Not many games.

So. Linux, eh? Wot do I write about dat? I hope to give you just a basic introduction and some weblinks to kickstart your interest in the Linux OS.

Firstly kids - it's an Operating System. I'm going to use the abbreviation "OS". Makes things simple. Operating Systems are the programs that run on your computer that let you run other programs - such as Mac OS, Linux and Windows. But - not all OS'es are created equal.

No no no no no. Some OS'es are better than others. And, the OS which is most popular, as with pretty much everything isn't the best one.

But - I'm here to tell you about Linux. Which is one of the better OS'es available to install on your PC.

WHAT IS LINUX?
Linux is a free operating system. Yep, totally free. It costs nothing (if you download it or copy it off a mate) or very little (if you buy a CD - usually around £15) to get a copy. You can legally distribute copies for free - lend them, copy them, read out the source code through a megaphone, print them out and stick them all over every public surface available.

Yep - it's not free as in "free lunch", as you usually have to pay money - connect charges, or CD replication fees, to get hold of it - but it is free as in "freedom" - you can change anything.

For a full description, see GNU's description of "freedom" here:
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

The Linux project is maintained by a group of people out on the internet, who modify the source code and distribute their changes for free. It is a wonder in combined intelligence - if someone makes a mistake or suggests something, there is usually another person who will make it better.

Plus, it saves a lot of programmer time. Two developers aren't reprogramming the same code - same programmer A is working on project A which is competing with project B. Instead of writing the code twice, t
hey can share functions and snippets of code between projects. Say I need a currency calculator for my open source project - a web-based set of mathematical tools - I can log on to a site like Sourceforge and see if someone else has written a function that will do that for me. Saves time, saves mistakes and furthers the software.

But, Linux is just the 'core' of the operating system - analogous to the engine of a car. Yeah, you can have an engine on it's own, but it's not always too much fun driving a car that just has an engine - you need to add the rest of the car. The chassis, the seats, the controls.

That is where the GNU project comes in. When you combine the fruits of the GNU project and the Linux kernel, you create a winning combination.

The other creations under the GNU licence include a lot of the software that you can run under Linux.

To paraphrase the GNU Mission Statement, the whole GNU and Linux project is brining programmers together as comrades rather than competitors. This must be good - people forming together to build a better product, that the corporates failed to do.

DISTRIBUTIONS
There is no such thing as Linux. You can't go to a shop and buy "Linux". You have to get a distribution - a set of programs fitted together to form a working system.

Each different distribution serves a slightly different group of users.
For example, Red Hat ( http://www.redhat.com ) is a popular 'all-rounder', wheras an OS like Lycoris ( http://www.lycoris.com ) serves users who do not have so much experience ('newbies').
Mandrake is another popular choice ( http://www.mandrake.com )
To see a pretty definitive list of some of the choices that face you when choosing a distro, go to http://www.distrowatch.com

Also, for other platforms, other distributions exist. Such as Yellow Dog and LinuxPPC for people running PPC (ie. Macs) computers.

W
HAT DO I NEED TO RUN LINUX?
A few things are required. One is a computer and a distribution. Those are the only 'material' things you need.
The things you really need is a bit of computer knowledge - the amount required is dependent on the distribution, information (I'd reccomend that you buy a boxed copy of Linux - it'll include a manual and CD), and preferably some contacts (perhaps a Linux user group?).

WHY THOUGH, WHY?
The GNU/Linux operating system has numerous advantages over a Windows system. The main one is reliability. Computers don't "just crash" for no reason, in the same way that cars don't "just break down" for no reason. There is usually a problem with the hardware or software that is causing the crash. And more often than not it's the software.

And that software happens to be Microsoft Windows.

It is multi-user. And proper multi-user at that. Unlike Windows. Yep, whether it be hundreds and thousands of users in an office, or just "mum", "dad" and "littletimmy", your Linux box can support many different people.

GO FOR IT!
Apart from games, everything on GNU/Linux is better. Really. It'll make life absolutely lovely.


RELATED LINKS
http://www.bbcity.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload &name=Web_Links&file=index&req=v iewlink&cid=9
I have included a lot of the links that I would keep in this article on this page.

Summary: