Before you can install Linux, you need to have some idea of what Linux is, and more importantly what it is not.

What is Linux?

Linux is an Operating System, also called an OS. An Operating System is a piece of software that allows you to actually use your computer. More importantly, it allows programs to use your hardware. What good is a word processor, (the software), if you can't see what you're typing on the screen, (the hardware)? Without an OS on your computer, all you have is a paper-weight, albeit an expensive one!

Where did Linux come from?

Back in the 1970's, some researchers at AT&T (an American telephone company) decided that they needed a better, more powerful Operating System. This lead to the development of Unix. Unix was developed to be a very stable, multi-user, multi-tasking, OS. It was also designed to be very secure, and later we will be introducing the concept of "root" and super-users.

A multi-user OS is one that allows many users to use the computer at once. A multi-tasking OS allows those multiple users to run several programs simultanously. Because of these properties, it appears to the user that they are the only one using the computer.

Unix is mainly used on servers which are required to be operational for long periods of time, need to be very secure, and have a lot of other computers (clients) connecting and requesting information.

Then in the early 1990's Linus Torvald, designed a "consumer" version of Unix. He called it Linux. The he did something unthought of in the Operating System world. He gave it away, for free, on the Internet.

Why does this make Linux different?

What was more important than the fact that Linus gave his OS away for free, was the fact that he also gave away the source code for the Linux Kernel. The kernel is the core of the OS, it's what does the real work. When a programmer sits down and writes a program, he writes the source code. This source code is a human readable, english-like language. It is then compiled. Compiling a program translates it in to a language that the computer can understand, namely a whole bunch of 1's and 0's.

If you have the source code to a program, you can make whatever changes you want to it. It also makes it easier to copy and distribute. This is one reason why large software companies don't give away their source code. (Just call Microsoft and ask them can you have the source code to their latest OS and find out what they have to say). Software comapanies wouldn't make much money if anyone with some programming experience could update and upgrade their OS for nothing.

But releasing the source code is what made Linux so strong. Now independent programmers could look at the source code, and change what they want. With that amount of experience working on the Linux kernel, improvements came quick and vast. The OS became more stable, easier to use, and widely available.

How do I get Linux?

As the popularity of Linux grew, several companies saw that there was a business opportunity here that they couldn't afford to miss. Although Linux was originall released to the world freely, it was released under a program called the GNU Public License. GNU stands for GNU's Not Unix. Under this license, the source code is freely available, but it does not have to be free cost-wise.

Linux can be purchased from any of these companies, - RedHat, Caldera, Mandrake are just a couple. The advantage of purchasing a distribution (sometimes shortened to distro) like this is that you get all the manuals, email and telephone support.

Can can also download Linux from any one of several Internet and FTP sites. With these distros, you get no support, so this is only reccomended for people with some experience of Linux.

Check out the Links page for more information on the different distros available, both commercially and over the Internet.

Before you can install Linux you need to know something about the specifications of the computer you are going to install Linux on.

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