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babypooh:
Where can I download Linux?

Also, is all my software and hardware that is on my current OS going to be compatible with Linux?

Thanks for your help!

Calum:
okay. that's one big question.

You can get many different types of linux (and i think a BSD too) at http://linuxiso.org/

Your hardware is compatible with linux however all hardware requires a piece of software in binary form to drive it. This software must be compiled specifically for your operating system. Some hardware companies release drivers for their stuff but only for windows, some for only windows and macOS, and some release for a whole bunch of systems, including linux. Also, there are a lot of guys out there writing drivers by trial and error for hardware whose makers are too mean/dumb to release the drivers or the source code.

It's a similar story for your software. It depends on the company. Some programs have source code available. This means (in a perfect world) that we could compile that programs on any system, so the program would not be specific to one system or another. Most companies like to compile the source code themselves and only release binaries, and the problem is, they sometimes don't release binaries for all operating systems. Sound Forge is only available for windows, for example. Quicktime is available for Mac, windows, but not linux. Realplayer is available for all three, and possibly more besides.

on the other hand there are several projects out there all aimed at allowing you to run your windows binaries in linux, such as wine, which translates windows system calls into linux ones (this method is not foolproof as Microsoft like to keep even their system calls secret!) and win4lin which i heard emulates windows on a linux system.

The beauty of linux and hundreds (thousands?) of its programs is that it's free. Also, the source code is free, so if you or somebody else saw a way to improve the program, you could, just by editing the code and recompiling it on your machine. This also means that if you try it and do not like it, you have not lost anything (like that's going to happen...). Also, if you choose to have both linux and windows on your machine, linux is very friendly to the idea, it will let you open all your files in linux (there's usually a program to open most file types - quicktime is not available for linux, and neither is M$Word for example, but there's a quicktime emulation plugin for MPlayer and there's openoffice, both are free, and both allow you to edit and play your files), it will let you easily choose from a menu which system you want at startup, and it will allow you more control over system (hidden) files on your windows side than windows or DOS would ever give you.

The final upsides of linux are that it is shitloads more stable than windows, in that it will likely not crash or mysteriously not work so much, and usually an error message is NOT cryptic and can usually be sorted out by somebody (unlike Microsoft's error messages: "fatal exeption: 478392478 43927489 3274893274 8923XXXX37BY" who fucking knows what that means?) and it is a *lot* more secure than windows, meaning that your firewall will work properly and you will *never* get a virus which can damage your system files (so long as you don't use the administrator account for everyday use).

Good luck, hope you enjoy! it can be a bit of a bitch to set up (although tons of people seem to have had an easy time of it, maybe i'm just unlucky!) but it is well worth it, and it's also free...

sporkme:
you will need to do some reading, it is fairly simple but it is important that you understand just what you are doing.

you are always welcome around here, we are always happy to help a person free thier pc (at least halfway).  you can also go to http://www.linuxnewbie.com/ and search thier massive forums or help files.

you should probably start out with a windows-y distribution like mandrake or red hat.  mandrake saw all of my hardware just fine as did red hat.

as you jack with it you will learn a lot about computers (as well as how much m$ sucks, for some odd reason) and a lot about yourself.

good luck!  come on back!

[ July 25, 2002: Message edited by: sporkme / bob ]

babypooh:
Thanks for all your help!
I'm so glad I found this site!

Baby Pooh

sporkme:
we are happy to have you around

i feel like win tech support HA!

this is what linux tech support IS though (the best way at any rate) --  linux users helping for free, for fun.

be sure to read up!  make sure you can get back into your box!  one mundane detail ~can~ (likely won't) fudge the whole thing.

[ July 26, 2002: Message edited by: sporkme / bob ]

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