Jan Hrach, 2008

➔ just another operating system such as MacOS X, Windows or FreeBSD

➔ free (like free speech) ➔ open source ➔ everyone can change it ➔ free (price) ➔ many distributions available freely ➔ many distributions cost up to $ ➔ technical support

➔ customizable (hardware) ➔ runs on (almost) everything

➔ customizable (software) ➔ from command-line interface to 3dimensional desktop

➔ security ➔ no viruses, spyware, malware (really!) ➔ signed and tested software ➔ full-disk encryption

➔ easy to use ➔ configurable and intuitive user interface ➔ virtual desktops (very good, you have to try it :-) ➔ The Great Clipboard :-) (copy and paste with mouse wheel) ➔ easy software management ➔ various hardware drivers ➔ localization into many languages ➔ very fast work in command-line interface

➔ of course you can do everything you do on other operating systems ➔ office suite ➔ web ➔ ➔ graphics ➔ videos

➔ I've found only 2 disadvantages ➔ on Linux don't work some Windows software, especially some games ➔ some exotic pieces of hardware (such as plotters) don't work ➔ But if you are not using unsupported hardware or Windows-only software, you will not have problems.

➔ LiveCD ➔ special CD with Linux ➔ Linux runs only from CD and doesn't write on your hard disk ➔ insert CD ➔ reboot ➔ now Linux is running ➔ take off the CD ➔ reboot ➔ used for testing and presenting Linux and for rescuing a broken system

➔ A complete Linux operating system with applications, installer etc. is called “distribution”. ➔ There are many distibutions ➔ for beginners: Ubuntu, Mandriva, openSUSE ➔ for advanced users: Debian, Gentoo, Archlinux ➔ and many others ➔ start with Ubuntu (Ubuntu Live-CD also available) – it's very good for beginners

➔ - basic info ➔ - Ubuntu homepage ➔ - community portal ➔ - Linux magazine ➔

Jan Hrach, 2008