Linux For Beginners

This blog was started to assist former MS Windows users who may feel a bit lost.  Linux is open-source and mostly also freeware.  There is a myriad of different versions, called distro’s. Two such distro’s are Linux Mint and ZorinOS.  These two are the most Windows-like.  Many battle-proven geeks will try to influence you to rather switch to their distro’s, as each will promote what he/she likes best.  Best advice is to narrow your options and stick to what you really need and what had been proven as stable and user-friendly. Linux is not difficult and can even be easier than Windows, but it is much different.

 

In Windows, there is a system registry in which installed software get attached to the main system.  It uses DLL’s or Dynamic Link Libraries to let Windows hook applications to run them. Imagine it as adding branches to a tree, with every branch bearing a different kind of fruit.  Linux is different as software is installed not ONto the kernel, but INto it.  (This is a non-technical explanation and not a factual, scientific one.)  If applications are installed, it becomes part of the tree’s trunk.

 

This page, also the blog, is new and will be updated soon. For now, visiting the following pages may be helpful:

• ZorinOS – a most Windows-like experience, mature and polished. Linux has arrived!  Bundled with lots of useful software applications and you can choose desktop design to mimic Windows XP, Windows 7, etc.  Zorin’s user forum is a hospitable venue as well.  There even is a very nice ZorinPC!
• Linux Mint – user-friendly and stable, a trustworthy partner. Like Zorin, a comprehensive bundled software array.
• MakuluLinux – Makulu means “big” and so is Makulu. Sophisticated with easy-switching interfaces, comprehensive software bundled BUT beware!  Makulu requires some level of skill to install, as it asks technical questions during the set-up process.  Like Ubuntu, it is a product of South Africa.
• Ubuntu Linux  – Mark Shuttleworth and his organizations Shuttleworth Foundation and Canonical, did a lot to further the use of Linux.  Users in the developing world, where downloading something as big as Linux is not always possible, could order CD’s online and had it delivered by courier, FREE of charge, anywhere in the world.  I did receive various versions from Canonical in this way.  In South Africa, one could also collect a FREE CD at most of the public libraries.  Many distro’s are Ubuntu-based, even to this day.  One can order Alienware or Dell with Ubuntu pre-installed.

 

Nobody is a born geek.  It happens gradually and you may be surprised to  how fascinating a journey  discovering new avenues in Linux can be. Eventually, you may even ask why not all computers work this way. It is not harder than Windows, just different, remember?

 

Be sure to read this page on FREE Business Solutions that also work for the private user.