What is Linux anyway?

Ok guys here goes another one.

Linux
Linux is an open source Unix clone operating system. Today what that means is that the code is freely available and anyone can look at it. It is developed by both commercial and free(mostly) developers. Because the source code is so readily available, programming is easy to do in Linux than in Windows or another operating system. The biggest advantage Linux has is free and open source. - There are plenty of sites that tell Linux's history so I won't go into it. Google.

Can Linux do what Windows does?
Yes yes it can. Linux can go to any website Windows can. Linux has many clone applications of Windows ones. There is even a program called Wine that can run Windows programs in Linux. Not every program works, or works properly, but many do. You will use Mozilla Firefox in Linux - which you have in Windows to. I used to play Counter-Strike source in Linux under Wine. I also got Medal of Honor to work.

X Windows or Xorg
X Windows is the windowing environment for Linux. It manages, well Windows. You will need to select a Desktop environment/Windows Manager. You will select which one via the download or the install process. Two of the most popular ones are Gnome and KDE. These handle drawing window borders, buttons, fonts, and start bar clones. I prefer KDE as I feel it looks better. Which ever you use is simply a matter of opinion none is better than the other. For slow systems look at XFCE or Blackbox for a Windows Manger/Desktop Environment. If you where to imagine the WM/Desktop Environment in windows it would be that start bar/task bar and window borders(minimize, close, etc), buttons, fonts, etc.

Best uses for Linux
1. You want to learn Unix type environment.
2. File Recovery - I absolutely love Linux for recovering files, even off failing drives. DD is my friend I love DD. - I usually carry a Linux boot CD to do this type of onsite work.
3. SMB Shares - Linux can share files to Windows PC's in a small business and costs nothing compared to Windows Server. For as little as $500 dollars I can setup a nice server for a business.
4. Programming. Linux is a great place to learn to program, because there is so much code already available. Especially kernel coding.
5. Recovering broken raid 5. I've used Linux to restore broken NAS raid 5 setup's.

While I use Linux a lot, it is certainly not my desktop. To me Microsoft Windows is the most productive environment. I love the C# programming language, invented by Microsoft. Again I mostly use Linux for file recovery, which it is incredible at. Don't let this discourage you from using Linux though. I ran it as my desktop for over 5 years, and the truth be told I would never have gotten good at it, if I hadn't done that. Today I feel that the right tool for the job needs to be selected, otherwise it can cost you a lot of time. For me that tool happens to be Windows, but as you can see I use Linux heavily for file recovery.

If I didn't have Windows licenses all over I would probably use Linux for more of my older PC's, because it's free and does everything Windows does, just differently.

Hope this helps someone for their future Linux install. - More Linux tutorials to come.

The next couple of tutorials are just foundation. Then we will delve into Virtualbox and then we will tackle getting Windows+Linux to play nice.


Edit: Forgot to give my recommendation on Linux. For starters try Ubuntu for most computers it just works. Once you get more advanced I recommend Gentoo. Its my favorite of all of them. Gentoo is more advanced though. My second choice would be Fedora, but Fedora isn't quite as good at working out the box like Ubuntu. Gentoo requires a lot of knowledge about your hardware so don't try it until your advanced.

a reply to: lobograndemalo
Good stuff, just like your other threads. S&F for sharing your knowledge with the membership.

I just wish Microsoft would tighten their coding in Windows, and back up a little bit to what actually worked. I'm all for the evolution of the OS, but so far, Windows 10 still isn't impressing me. Running it is still clunky. Linux is faster and smoother, even on a mechanical HDD.

Thanks for this thread. It was interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

What version of linux would you recommend?, im thinking of installing it on my laptop, i had set up as dual boot with linux sorin( think it was called that!), but after a while i kept having crashing problems, so i went back to wind 7. I know my hardware is more than capable of running linux, just stuck on what version is most stable.
Cheers for the info in your posts over the last few days, very handy.
All the best.
B. V. H

It should be stated that Windows is just a unix kernel that you pay for.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

No no Windows is very very different from the Linux/Unix kernel.

@Klassified: Yeah Linux does generally run better if you know what you're doing, of course I don't have to tell you that! I think Microsoft is trying hard to essentially make the OS a semi-cloud based OS. For NSA Sake of course. That's why 8 and 10 are going to be fudged up.

@billyvonhelvete: Sorry I forgot to throw up my recommendation. Ubuntu is certainly the easiest and works just like all the rest. Gentoo, and Fedora are my go to. For your case I think I would give Fedora a try. Just make sure you download the cd with the desktop environment that you want. If your laptop is old get the XFCE environment.
XFCE Fedora Link

I'm doing this stuff for two reasons. One I like helping people, I do a lot of senior citizen free work where I live, and two I'm trying to improve my writing skills.

Thanks guys!

a reply to: lobograndemalo

Sorry, you're right. I meant Mac OS is based on unix. Got them mixed up.

a reply to: lobograndemalo

ive used about everything out there and linux can be a huge pain in the butt if you don't know what you are doing.....id recommend linux only to people that have old computers and want a light os or someone who really wants to get into linux...

it absolutely can not do everything due to hardware issues....ive tried many times to get get certain sound recording and music production hardware to work to no avail..

If you are a serious gamer id advise to avoid linux....if you just want to surf the internet and dont have a computer id get a chromebook.....if you want everything to run well but not have as many options id go mac. Oddly ive found all 3 os's to be good at something but not everything. I absolutely hate windows 8, I have no need for linux but do enjoy the kali distro but I just run it in a virtual box. Id agree with ubuntu or that mint one for new people.

The one cool thing about linux is its a kind of club...and so much is free inside it...however so is everything nowadays online.

I've been a Linux user for about 12 years now. These days I use the Ubuntu or Mint distribution.

Anyone who uses android will find an eerie similarity between them - because Google have based it on Linux too.