An operating system is a program (actually a collection of programs) that tells a computer how to run itself. Like a car without a driver, a computer can't do anything without an operating system. Windows is an operating system, so are DOS, Macintosh OS X, UNIX, and Linux. There are many others.

I can give you several good reasons, applicable to any distribution (see below):

Security

• It's hard to break into and take over
• Linux is immune to Windows viruses/worms/trojans
• There are hardly any Linux viruses - and likely never will be many; because of how Linux works, they simply can't do much damage; click here for a detailed explanation, or here to see the list of all seven

Stability

• It's rock stable - runs for months, or years, without a reboot (yes, I have seen this)

Versatility

• Most of the software for Linux is also free
• Most versions come with tons of software
• Most versions can be either a client (workstation), or server, or both (all the software comes with it)

And...

• You can't argue with the price - although some (notably Microsoft) claim it isn't really free; see below

Question: how often have you called Microsoft? IBM? Dell? HP? Compaq?

You see my point. You go to the internet, friends, family, the store. The LAST place you call is corporate headquarters.

Linux is free, and so will be about 95% of any tech support you need. There are plenty of web forums, newsgroups, chat groups, and mailing lists, full of friendly, helpful people. There is a Linux Users Group in Edmonton - click here. You will also find reams of documentation on the web - help files, tutorials, how-tos, you name it. Have a look at The Linux Documentation Project, or The YoLinux Tutorials, or this Guide to Linux for newbies. Google also has a specific page for Linux-related searches: www.google.ca/linux. Search there for "linux for newbies" - I get over 100,000 matches.

As for product updates, all the major distros provide updates on their web sites, also free. Note that you are never obliged to update or upgrade - that's entirely up to you.

With most of the major distros, you can configure your system for automatic updates, or something very similar (a few mouse clicks may be required).

On a related note, there is a recent invention called the "Total Cost of Ownership" argument. It's mostly a marketing ploy in my opinion, and an attempt to brand free software as evil.

In reality, you don't know how much something will cost to own until after you've owned it for some time. How can you predict how much a car will cost you to own? How can you know how often it will need repairs, what it will cost to fix? You can't. Same with software. But think: Linux is free, the updates are free, most of the applications are free, and most of the tech support will likely be free. How can Linux possibly end up costing more?

Read up on it for yourself. Search www.google.ca/linux for "total cost of ownership" to see lots of arguing on both sides. Bear in mind, neither side is what you would call impartial and objective.

You can run Linux and Windows on the same computer, no problem.

There are versions of Linux that boot and run entirely off a CD. Your hard drive will not be touched. You can play with Linux all you like, then just reboot to Windows. Click here to read more about one of them, or click here to see a long list of them. I can burn you a copy, if you prefer that. Send me an email.

You can also run both Windows and Linux on the same computer, from the same hard drive. This is called a "dual boot" configuration. When the machine starts up, you are asked what you want to use, Linux or Windows. For more info, click here, or search www.google.ca/linux for "dual boot". You probably don't want to try this on your own unless you are a bit of a geek. I'd be happy to help you out. Send me an email.

No problem.

Linux and Windows file and printer sharing is done with a suite called Samba. All newer versions of Linux (that I've seen) install Samba by default. Printers may be connected to either Linux or Windows machines, it doesn't matter. You can also use Samba to mimic a Windows Domain Controller - other computers on the network won't know the difference.

You may have to consult someone with networking experience (like me) to tweak the configuration in order to get everything working. This is not due to any shortcomings of Samba or Linux. This is due to the nature of computer networks. They can be fussy, finicky, and difficult to configure.

For more about Samba, try http://www.samba.org, or see my tutorials, here.

Newer hardware is preferable, but Linux is very forgiving about hardware. If you have a machine that will run Windows 98, it will run Linux. Many versions (even the latest) will still run on a 486 (but be warned: it will be very slow, and probably not fully functional). I would suggest:

For a box that just works (it may be so slow it drives you mad):

• Pentium 100Mhz CPU or equivalent
• 64Mb RAM (memory)
• 3Gb hard drive
• network card or modem (if you want a network connection)
• mouse, keyboard
• CD/DVD drive (at least to install)

For half-decent performance (at least it shouldn't drive you mad):

• Pentium II 500Mhz CPU or equivalent
• 256Mb RAM (memory)
• 6Gb hard drive
• network card or modem (if you want a network connection)
• mouse, keyboard
• CD/DVD drive (at least to install)

Good question. There are several good answers.

1. Many people have never heard of it. Since nobody really owns Linux, there is no central body doing promotions and advertising to spread the word.
2. It's widely perceived as being a) hard to install (not true), b) hard to configure (not true), and c) hard to use (not true). Linux is no harder to install, configure, and use, than (for example) Windows. It's just different.
3. People are suspicious because it doesn't cost anything - don't you get what you pay for? Not in this case. Linux is made, maintained, and supported by people who love what they do: working with computers. The bottom line is functionality, not profitability - not that there's anything wrong with making a profit, but that's not what Linux is about.
4. People are afraid there will be nowhere to get help if they have problems. See What about technical support?, above. While we're on the topic, think about this: how many times have you called Microsoft? IBM? Dell? HP? Compaq?

There is no such thing as perfect software. Linux is not perfect. It will not solve all your problems. It can screw up and do odd things (but not nearly as often, in my experience, as that other operating system).

• It can be broken into and compromised - but it's not easy
• Security problems, exploits, and bugs are always being discovered, as with any OS, but the Linux community is very quick (at least as quick as anyone else, if not faster) to spread the word and provide fixes - for free, of course
• At present there are few games for Linux compared to Windows - but that is changing, slowly
• It's not harder to use than Windows, it's different, and it will take time to get used to - a few days, a few weeks - depends how much you use it
• Linux developers, working out of the goodness of their hearts, try to keep up to date, but sometimes they fall behind. Many of them don't get paid a cent. When that brand-new, kick-ass video card comes out, it will ship with Windows drivers; but you may have to wait months before there are Linux drivers
• In the web forums/newsgroups etc., you will run across a few rude, pompous jerks, but they are a minority
• A lot of the documentation suffers from the perfectly-clear-if-you-already-know-it syndrome, but that is true of the Windows world too; if you can't understand one tutorial on a particular topic, try another; you have plenty to choose from

They are called "distributions", and yes, there are lots. I would suggest you try Ubuntu or Mandriva (Mandrake) or Fedora first. They are probably the easiest to install (but I haven't tried them all), and the most user-friendly. If you've ever installed Windows, you won't have any trouble installing Linux. I can make the disks for you, if you like. Send me an email.

Try here first, the Live CD List:

Or go to one of the main sites (above). What you will download is a big file (or several) with a long name that ends in .iso or .ISO, such as:

which you then burn to CD. Don't be surprised if the files are 600Mb+, and they may take 2 hours to download (each) if you have a slow connection.

Then, you can probably just double-click on the iso file name, and your burner software will know what to do from there. If it doesn't, you'll have to look into how your burner handles ISO files. Time to read the documentation.

The CD, or Disk 1 for mutli-disk sets, is probably bootable, regardless of the distribution.

All the distributions also have web sites, naturally, such as www.mandrake.com, or www.redhat.com, likewise SuSE, Knoppix, Peanut, Slackware, Debian, Gentoo, YellowDog, TurboLinux, CollegeLinux, Lycoris . . .