Today, I am going to talk about starting Linux.

I can no longer consider myself a newbie on Linux, but I still have much to learn.

But if you are a brand new user to Linux there are a few things you should know.

I suggest you get Mint Linux or PCLinuxOS because they both are internet ready.  They have the flash and java already installed.  Most of Linux "YOU" have to install the flash and Java.   One thing about Linux is there are thousands of programs for you to download and install.  You can't use Windows.  So programs that end with .exe are usually Windows and unless you have Wine (free) and a wine support program (That costs)  You just might be able to run that program on Linux.

I started off with Debian.  I downloaded the entire Debian distro.  It was like 14 cd's of programs.  You don't have to do that.  You can just download one of the two above and go to the software download section and download the programs you want.  There is almost everything you can think of available to download. 

Education, Games, Graphics, Programming, Video, Sound, Internet, Office and Science thats not counting the system tools and accessories.  Thousands of programs. 

Another feature of Linux is the different Desktop programs.  The two powerhouses are Gnome and KDE.  Gnome is going through an identity crisis at the moment.  But there are many more desktop programs to choose from.

Not only that then you have virtual desktops most of the distros give you 2 to 4 but if you download Debian you can have up to 32 different desktops.  That is if you have enough memory.

Once you get started with Mint or PCLinuxOS and you feel comfortable you can move to Ubuntu.  I have Ubuntu on one desktop computer and it found my web cam, camera and printer with no disk required.  My printer is one of those multifunction printers and it made sure I had scanner software and printer software for MY printer. 

If you are wanting to just surf the web, play simple games and chat with your friends Linux is the best.   

Another benefit of Linux I don't have to purchase a anti-virus, 



Best of all it cost nothing. 


Okay I had to purchase a cd to burn the distro to.



Now if you don't want to burn a cd you can purchase a magazine with a cd/dvd in the back or a book with a cd/dvd.

Now I mention cd/dvd because some older systems don't have dvd drives.  So if you  purchase this make sure you can use it.

Another feature of the cd/dvd is that you can run most of these distros right from the cd/dvd drive.  Nothing is written to your disk.  Another option is getting a flash USB thumb drive that is 2 gigs or higher and install Linux on the flash drive and you will also have the ability to save any work on the same flash drive.



Now can you do that with Windows?  95/98/2000/ME/XP/VISTA/and / or 7?  Or how about Apple?

By the way the newest Apple OS is actually a crippled version of Linux.  That way you can't do everything Linux can and Linux can't do what you are doing on Apple.

I hope this gives you some insight as to where Linux is, and is going.   I like Linux for many reasons.  Games, Office programs, Internet, Programming and the price.  When the word free is used its free as it doesn't cost you any money but also free because you can change and modify it for your own personal needs.  You are not stuck with an out of box this is all you get and paid huge bucks for program you need to install and hope it runs on Windows.  Not saying that Linux is bug free.  But any bug you find and submit will get you a fix in a few weeks to days or even hours.  With Windows you have to wait until enough bugs will fill up an update for you to download and wait, wait, wait. 

You will see some sites charge for Linux.  Actually they are charging for the disk that they are going to ship to you if you ordered it that way.  Some are pretty pricey.  But if you have Linux installed you can download distros and burn disks.  You can even Virtually install it and run it from memory.  Again that requires that you have plenty of memory.  Once you are feeling very comfy with Linux you can download almost any source code and modify it, recompile it and run it on your computer.  That includes Linux itself.  But that is a long way away.

I think I am rambling on so if you haven't tried Linux, give it a shot. 


By the way, if you are going to be using this on a laptop, right now most Red Hat Distros will read and run your software wifi.  If you have a wifi that you can  turn on or off only after the operating system is installed then, that I call a software wifi.  If your wifi can be turned on even when the operating system is not installed then you have what I call a hardware wifi  and you can use Debian or Slackware  based distros.  But that I will save for another day.  For right now just look up on the internet what distros are Red Hat/Fedora based.  You may have problems playing music or watching movies because the programs needed to run music and movies are not usually installed on these versions of Linux.


Have fun....  I know I covered alot.  Just play and it will fall into place.  Next will be the several branches of Linux and Unix. 

The Joy of not having to use Windows.

I can tell you that not having to put up with Windows and the S L O W computing that comes with Windows is a true joy.

I can honestly say that I have had a few problems with Linux but, I just get online and visit the home blog site and look for my problem and if I can't find it I just put in my problems and email I will get an answer within 24 hours.

Not days, months, or even years that happen with Windows.

Fun on the computer

I am enjoying the computer ever since I moved from the defective Windows operating system that you need to purchase spyware, anti-virus to us on the internet. I am very happy to use Linux on a daily basis. True that Linux does not have the mega software that Windows has but you also don't have to pay thousands for this software and having to repurchase it after a new (broken) Windows OS comes out. If you had picked Linux way back then the software you got would still work.

Commodore 64 games

I grew up with the Commodore 64 and I was reviewing some old games.

There were some great graphics done on a simple 8 bit system.

The games were not all that great but the graphics to get you to purchase the game was awesome.



I found some web sites that had old Commodore 64 games on it and was taken back in time.

Ubuntu working on a collapse.

Ubuntu has changed Linux in a small way and now it wants to do it in a larger way. It wants to get rid of all the desktops. No more Gnome, KDE just unity. There will no longer be xubuntu, kubuntu, maybe mythubuntu. Just ubuntu without Gnome.

Will ubuntu survive? I don't think so. Many people including myself have tried unity and frankly it sucks. Making unity another desktop option would be fine, but to make it the only one is completely nuts.

I am having to move to another distro without ubuntu. I like Gnome, I like KDE, I like the choice of being able to switch anytime "I" want.

Linux on the Radio

Yesterday I was listening to a local radio station. The show is called Tech Talk and it's a local computer repair company that does the show. They were talking about Linux, but they talked about how great Linux is but then they jumped in and said that Linux was just for Hobbyists.

Of course they had to.... They make their money repairing Window machines and selling Windows Software. So if everyone moved to Linux where you don't have the problems that most people have with Windows, and tons of software available with your distribution that came with your distribution or you could download. With Windows pull out your wallet and if you purchased in Windows that you get with Linux you would be Broke in no time flat.

Most Computer software companies won't or don't support Linux. They feel that Linux (or any Unix like Operating System) is not worth supporting. If you look at Unix the cost of Unix is massive and the software that companies purchase for those Unix systems are also massive cost.

You go out and purchase a Windows machine. It's usually buggy and prone to viruses and if you are online you will be viewing the blue screen in death at least once while you have Windows on it.

Every few years Windows needs to put out a new OS so they can make money. If you look from Windows 95 on you will see 95 that was so buggy it was not ready for the public but it was new and looked better than Windows 3.1. Windows 98 was a fix to 95 but it still had lots of problems and so Windows 98 Second Edition was put out. This was to fix 98. They finally had a halfway working OS but they were losing money cause no one was purchasing software or OS's. So out came Windows 2000, and a few others. Windows 2000 was decent. Then Windows XP. Here is where we the people got screwed. Windows XP will not run Windows 98 software so you have to buy all new. The home programmer could not keep up with the new OS went out of business. Then a few years later out came Windows Vista and again XP software would not run on Vista. Vista was like Windows 95/98. Very buggy. So several years later Windows 7 was put out to fix Vista. With each OS you had to purchase new software to work on the new OS.

Now let's look at Unix/Linux. Way back in the 60's a few monster corporations got together to come up with an OS that would work on Several different systems. As it was back then each computer made had a different OS. That venture failed but a few of the programmers who were part of that project got together and went back to work on it. They made it work. A few years later they rewrote the entire OS using C and at that point Unix could go on almost any computer.

Those programmers left and move to colleges and universities. They took Unix with them. Then BSD Unix was created. After MA BELL was broken up AT&T wound up with Unix. They charged everyone massive amounts of money to use Unix. Move up 20 years from the birth of Unix to find the birth of Linux. Linus was a Computer Science Student in Finland and he had a Unix like OS to learn OS's. Linus wanted it on his home computer so he could work on it. Nothing was available. So he created one. Using his name he called it Linux.

Today Linux is turning 20 years old. Unix is over 40 and in some cases you can get Unix for FREE just like Linux.

So to call it a hobbyists OS is a disgrace. It's got about 14 years above anything Microsoft has. Bugs are fixed within weeks vs years with Windows. You can learn how your computer works and best of all. You have control of your computer. With Microsoft if you read the fine print on the OS. It's states (Generally) if you Install Windows on your computer you give Windows the right to control your computer. You LOSE CONTROL of YOUR Computer. With Linux YOU have CONTROL.

Linux the beginning

One question I get all the time. How hard is it to learn Linux?

Well, being fairly new to Linux myself I would have to say "Using the Graphics mode like Windows - not hard at all" Now the truth "To do things you can't in Graphics mode much harder"

Now there are so many things you can do with Linux that learning it, and what it can do would take several years. To use it with the freedom that Microsoft products don't offer - PRICELESS.

The very first thing you need to do is get several different copies of a live Linux CD/DVD.

Play with each one and find which ones you like. Some will come with codecs installed and most won't. Finding a way to install the codecs.

Once all the non-free software is installed you have a Windows like OS. Fun to use and great to surf the Internet and many more features.

That is just for starters.