Choose a Linux Distribution (Operating System) That's Right for You

Learning to choose a Linux distribution may prove to be one of the best decisions you make in life. Where do you start? How do you narrow your choices? There are three questions you can ask yourself when considering a partial or full switch from Windows to Linux. Your answers will be your guide when you begin selecting from among free operating systems.

Do you have any familiarity with open source software? The Linux kernel which is the core of all distributions, also known as "flavors," falls under the GNU public license. It is free software. The word "free" does not refer exclusively to price, but also to freedom- the freedom to modify the source code (program) behind the scenes; hence it carries the name "open source." Linux distributions are the products of many years of work performed by an international community of computer programmers mostly in the C and Python languages. What does this mean for you? If you choose a distribution that's totally free of charge, you will not receive technical support provided by a company as is the case when you purchase Windows that Microsoft supports. Nevertheless, open source software, including free operating systems, are very well supported by hundreds of Linux Users Groups (LUGS), communities, and documentation that's usually written in various languages.

The disadvantage of this kind of support is that it isn't centralized, and with so many people involved, technical support is neither supervised by a corporation nor standardized. However, this can actually be an advantage because security loop holes in open source software tend to be discovered and patched much more rapidly than in the closed source software world. Again, the source is open, so when a problem is discovered, no user has to wait for a company to release a patch only after much damage has been done. How many computers running Windows XP were infected with the Sasser worm before Microsoft released a patch?

However, it is a good idea for businesses and corporations that choose Linux to opt for a distribution that has centralized and standardized technical support. Many major companies, including branches of the U.S. federal government have chosen Red Hat Enterprise Linux which offers company-backed technical support.

Believe it or not, thousands of committed Linux users answer that question in the negative. The days of having to use the cryptic command line to get work done are long over. This doesn't mean that it's not a good idea to learn to work within a terminal ("under the hood") of the system because this can be essential in some cases. However, how many Windows users know how to work with a command line? Not many.

If you have no interest in ever learning Linux commands, it's imperative that you choose a highly automated flavor of this open source software. This also means avoiding any distributions released earlier than 2005. It should have a very sophisticated desktop environment and graphical user interfaces for system administration.

Below is a screen shot of the default desktop in Ubuntu 8.04.1. Notice the icon that reads, "1.0 GB Media." Just as a USB drive "mounts" automatically in Windows, so it does also in Ubuntu and other distributions. However, unlike Windows, it must be “unmounted” in Linux before you remove it. Simply right click on the drive and choose the option to Unmount. The icon should then disappear and can be safely disconnected.

You'll want to be able to follow wizards to accomplish tasks such as installation and Internet connections. If you've never partitioned or reformatted a local disk, you'll appreciate having a distribution that will give you default options to choose to handle these requirements.