Linux is a long enduring operating system. Some would say, long suffering operating system. It began with some guy named Linus Torvalds meeting and falling in love with the GNU System and after a bit and a bob, debut an operating system after his namesake in 1994: Linux.
Since then, it has been the standard bearer for the Free and Open Source Software philosophy to computing. As the title dictates, FOSS is, one, free and two, open sourced, which means everything is laid back for all and sundry. The ideal, a world where someone comes up with an idea, shares it and the world, connected more and more each day, build upon it.
Thou shall not mention “freeloaders” but that another topic for another day.
Anyway, Linux remains the standard bearer for the FOSS community. Freely available to all. There are ‘paid’ versions of Linux but there must always be a free version available.
Likewise, as a slightly more complicated example, there’s Google Chrome and Chromium. Both are free but Chrome’s premium is that it’s tied to Google who will shackle you and raid every bit of your existence and more for their nefarious, money generating purposes. Allegedly.
Chromium is free and is the base code for Chrome.
Anyone can take the Chromium code and build a browser with it, which gave rise to the “Chromium Virus” where many a browser is offered, some still suspiciously called Chromium but is actually build to exploit the gullible as much as possible.
Anyway, back to Linux.
For someone wanting to get into Linux, the easiest way is to download a distribution.
You see, plain vanilla Linux is nothing but a command line.
This generation will probably not realise it, but years ago people used something called DOS or Disk Operating System. When you fire up DOS, all you get is a command line, the infamous C:>. Of course, computers weren’t as powerful back then but behind that C:>, there’s a bit of instructions waiting for the next set of instructions to get things moving along.
Windows, Windows 3, Windows 95, 98 and the misunderstood Millenium Edition, were all built on top of that C:>. The first Windows to be truly “free” of that for the everyday user was Windows XP.
Linux comes in many distributions, and within the distributions you have spins or flavours.
Popular distros include Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Peppermint, Fedora, Manjaro, Puppy Linux and so on, so forth.
Ubuntu is a popular distribution. Ubuntu itself comes in many flavours (their terminology) like Kubuntu and Xubuntu. Linux Mint, on the other hand, takes Ubuntu and spin it into a distribution of its own.
Let me point you to this great website: Distrowatch.
For the purpose of this blog, let’s stick with Ubuntu. Personally, I use Peppermint OS, which is a spin off of Linux Mint which is a spin off of Ubuntu. What that means is that, whichever you end up using you can refer to any Ubuntu guide to resolve an issue.
Check out the huge world of Linux out there. See something you like? I’ll cover basic Linux installation in an article to come.
TL;DR – Linux is a free, great alternative to other paid operating systems. You can even install it on a Mac, although Apple may have a hit squad out on you. Get your Linux by downloading a distro (distribution). Popular ones are Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Peppermint OS (my choice), Fedora and please don’t lynch me if I didn’t mention yours. If you’re running Windows, get a USB creator. Same thing if you’re running a Mac but prepare for the MacZealots (TM).
GeekerBytes 