What is Linux?

The computer operating system that I use primarily.
See also: The Linux Operating System (WikiPedia entry).

Why not just use windows?

• Because windows is expensive, is inflexible, and has limited capabilities.

  Adding a bit of text to or transforming each line in a text file in linux, for example, is a single command, whereas you can only do that in windows by adding special software, or by programming.

• It's easier for well-intentioned software to tamper with the operating system (and break things), because of windows' quite delicate global system registry.

  Even where the versions of windows that have any notion of separation of usage from administrative operations. On those versions, most programs must be installed using administrative access, for the very purpose of altering (and potentially breaking) pieces of the operating system.

• Windows offers little protection against viruses and malicious activity.

  Virus scanners available do not in general prevent damage: they are mechanisms that help control damage that has already occured and may still be occuring. A number of viruses now take actions to disable scanners, and scanners can only detect viruses that the scanner maker has been able to get a sample of.

  Although unix does suffer from some flaws in the design of its security system (like windows, it assumes that individual users fully trust any program that they run), Linux still wins rather easily over windows in terms of security.

Some linux links

Mandrake Linux Mandrake is a linux distribution.

Mandrake is what I would recommend to anyone getting started with Linux coming from a non-UNIX background, because it is in general easier to setup and work with than others for people more comfortable with GUIs.

Their site also has links to other linux information.

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