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     Linux Overview: Introduction To Linux
 
  Yes, there are other operating systems besides Windows and MAC OS that most people don’t know about. Since when you buy a personal PC, the PCS come loaded with MAC or Windows operating systems, most people don’t know that there is another choice: Linux
  The scope of this section on linux is not to cover this operating system in depth, but to offer some personal notes, that I’ve accumulated overtime to add to your notes and resources.
  Many of the computers that are servers on the Internet are not Windows machines but linux machines. Your email service is probably from a linux machine and if you have a web hoster, most times your web site will reside on a GNU/linux machine or, more simply, a linux machine.  
  Linux is part of the Unix-like operating systems. Unix was definitely very much user unfriendly and quite expensive.
  So what does all of this mean to the home user? In the past, not much, for practical purposes, but many computer users don’t know that that situation has changed. The basic linux kernel or core of the operating system is free but there are many distributions; that is, either a commercial or community development of a linux system with basic kernel and their own added software. Many of these newer linux distributions can look similar to and function like Windows systems.
  Many of the notes here relate to Fedora core systems but there are over 300 linux distributions. Fedora is sponsored by Red Hat, Inc. The Fedora Project is the community-based project and this is what you would get for your home computer.
Ubuntu is another distribution which is particularly targeted to the home user and has a friendly interface (the graphic part).
  The purpose of Geekgrandma is just to let you know there are alternatives to the usual Windows or MAC operating systems and these alternatives can be quite a bit less costly. The scope has to be necessarily limited here, but, hopefully, will present an introduction and some useful notes for you.
  With linux, it is valuable to get more behind the GUI then you might with Windows because there is more back there and because you can have more flexibility and accomplish much more with a little more knowledge of linux commands and basic structure.
   On my linux desktop, I always like to have a terminal window open (somewhat similar to opening command prompt in Windows or a place where you can type in commands instead of clicking on something.)
   In the early days of computing, of course, you only would be typing in commands but the mouse and GUI has opened computers to everyone. Still, one should be aware that clicking is not all there is to computing. There is a "learning curve" that one cannot avoid with linux-but, still may be well worth your while because of advantages of linux.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Linux Compared to Windows
   So what are advantages of linux over Windows as an operating sytem (the software that keeps the hardware from just being a glorified paper weight and allows you to do what you want to do on a computer)?
  For starters, linux is more flexible and powerful than Windows. Also, the basic system doesn't freeze- sometimes forcing you to reboot- or pop up error messages at you. It has better security then Windows and you can manipulate it more (some compare linux to a tool kit. If you can't do something, just add another tool.) Linux is less demanding on a computer and it will run on older computers (somewhat depending here on how much GUI and other programs you have). Linux can be customized to whatever function you want; for instance, you can install as a server. The best part is that it costs much less than Windows. The source code and kernel are free but, if you want a desktop and other functions, then you have to pay for a distribution which is generally, much less than Windows.
  If you look at the desktop of current version of linux, it looks and acts very like a Windows machine There are disadvantages for average users so that is why you don't see many users with linux on their machines. If you buy a new machine, it's unlikely that it will come with linux as operating system. Most people are not familiar with programs of linux; although now you can get linux with many programs that are very similar to Windows programs.
Another problem is the fact that you might have to put even more effort into learning linux; you need to get beyond the mouse-clicking sometimes so time is need to handle this.
There are some hardware issues that could cause problems if you are putting linux on what was a Windows machine so you need to investigate this before you take the plunge. Winmodems, for instance, just won't work with linux machines. Still, more with more recent linux distributions, there are fewer hardware issues.
  Today, with a linux machine, you can do a lot through the GUI and with the mouse, and you don't really have to learn linux commands to manage basic home user uses of a computer. There are linux programs that are Office-like programs, graphical programs, games, multimedia programs, a browser, etc. Now you can do anything with linux distributions that you would do with Windows. Still, because of their lack of familiarity with linux (many people haven't even heard of it), they shy away from a system that seems intimidating.
  My main machine is still a Windows machine to simplify interaction with others with Windows machines but I do enjoy having a linux machine very much.
  If you are interesting in learning more about linux, you should pursue the social history of linux. This is more than just an operating system, linux has a social history. You will come to appreciate that Linux Torvalds who started creating linux as a free project that many programmers have contributed to over the years is a real hero for all of us.