Linux Brochure Quick Guide
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What is Linux?
GNU/Linux is a free and open source operating system with a full graphical window desktop. A Linux distribution comprises of three components namely:
- The kernel (core) which is developed by Linus Torvalds and thousands of contributors,
- The program tools to interact with the kernel, making the kernel accessible to software programs, contributed by the GNU organisation, and
- Thousands of other programs and applications, developed by lakhs of programmers worldwide.
For simplicity, we call it Linux. It is termed Free because the source code is open and reusable and is distributed under the General Public Licence (GPL) that gives total freedom to everyone to download its program code, use it, distribute it, modify it and redistribute the modified code back to society or other Open Source Licenses, the majority of which offer similar freedoms. Linux is an operating system that looks and feels just like the Windows(R) desktop and this allows you to migrate very easily to this new system.
Why Free and Open Source Software?
Free and Open source means that the program code which is written to create the operating system or any other software, is available to anyone to download, try out and correct. This results in the creation of a very robust and secure program or software. The original code is freely available for reuse, programmers from all over the world can create more and more software packages, thus adding increased functionality to the system. Open source also helps in modification of existing software into small customised versions for use in various electronic devices like mobile phones, PDAs, television set-top boxes, broadband ADSL modems etc. Opening the source of software has also helped in the creation of huge computer networks called 'farms' for making full length 3D animation films in the entertainment industry. Due to its design, high security is built in by default. Hence Linux is completely immune to most viruses, trojans and spyware that plague most of the Windows(R) systems. This is one of the most important reason why one should immediately switch to Linux. Data is too confidential and valuable and loss of data due to security problems can wreak havoc on an individual or organisation.
What can I do on Linux?
Anything that you can do on a computer. Linux is a full featured graphical desktop operating system therefore every possible activity related to the use of a computer at home, office, industry and education is possible. To begin, let's go through the most commonly needed applications like an office suite, an email program, an internet browser and a multimedia player. But before that have a look at the screen shots of the Linux desktops. Due to the open source and free nature of Linux, we have many desktop environments developed by software experts to suit our tastes and liking. The most popular ones are the KDE and GNOME desktop environments. And some futuristic 3 dimension desktops
This is the KDE desktop environment.
For detailed screenshots look HERE
This is the GNOME desktop environment.
As you can see from the above, it is so simple and easy to navigate through the system. A salient feature of Linux desktops compared to Windows(R) is that all menu items are indexed into various categories according to their function group, like Office, Multimedia, Graphics, System, Utilities, Internet etc. The Linux user does not have to fumble through a long list of mixed programs.
Open Office is the most popular and default office suite of most Linux distributions. It contains a Word Processor that is equivalent to Microsoft Word(R), a Spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel(R), a Presentation like Microsoft Power Point(R)], a Database like Microsoft Access(R)] and other extra packages. It can not only create documents in various open formats but also regular formats used in the Microsoft(R) Office suites. This makes it very suitable for data portability across various platforms. ODF is the new industry standard for creation and exchange of documents worldwide.
(Place screen shots of all four packages mentioned)
The popular email program in Linux is called Thunderbird and it can be used with any of your existing POP/IMAP and SMTP email accounts that you use in Microsoft Outlook(R) or Outlook Express(R). The joy of using Linux for mail lies in that you can freely click on any file in the mail without worrying about virus entering your system. Common viruses mainly affect Windows(R) systems and nothing harmful happens if they are clicked in Linux. The Linux desktop has its own Personal Information Manager software too just like Microsoft Outlook(R). For example, Evolution in GNOME and Kontact in KDE.
(Place screen shot of Thunderbird here)
Firefox is the most popular internet browser for all standard browsing needs. It has less security vulnerabilities and has a lot of plug-ins, add-ons and nifty utilities to pamper the net surfer. All this is possible due to its open source nature and contributions from voluntary programmers.
There are many multimedia players available in Linux to play audio and video files. Players like Xine, Kaffeine, Totem, VLC, XMMS (similar to Winamp in Windows(R)), among others.
(Place screen shots of the 4 here)
Apart from the commonly used and installed packages, there is an exhaustive list of software packages available on the internet through what are known as Repositories. These are servers that have a fully indexed list of packages suitable for your Linux distro. These packages can be simply downloaded and automatically installed using pre-installed packaging utilities like Apt or Yum depending upon your system. Some Linux distributions allow you to choose from more than twenty thousand packages in a very wide variety of categories from simple to very advanced applications. Image:Example.jpg
What is different in Linux?
Linux uses file systems that are different from the ones used in Windows(R). The commonly used file systems in Linux are Ext3, Reiserfs,. Unlike the Windows(R) file systems where C:\ is the root of the system, in Linux the root is simply a front slash '/'. All files and folders originate from this '/'. For example folders like /etc, /boot, /usr, /home. The Desktop folder in the home directory for a user called DashratPrasad would look like '/home/DashratPrasad/Desktop'.
To install the Linux operating system, you need to create minimum two partitions. One main partition that will hold your entire system including data and another partition called the Swap partition which is minimum, twice the size of the system's RAM. The main partition is formatted with the Ext3 or Reiserfs file system whereas the swap is left untouched as it is used as Extended Memory by the RAM.
An important feature of Linux is that it can co-exist with the Windows(R) operating system thus giving you a dual option of booting into Linux or Windows(R) at the system startup.
These differences only concern the advanced user. The ordinary user may happily use the Graphical Interface and his mouse without any concern or knowledge of what goes under the hood. The advantages of this type of file system are, that there is no need for frequent defragmentation of the hard disk and absolutely no worry about viruses or worms corrupting the system.
Is Linux widely used?
It is very popular and is very widely used, particularly on servers. It's just that there are many sources for obtaining a copy and hence makes compiling statistics very difficult. Since Linux is a community driven effort, it does not have as much paid media exposure and hype as other OSes. Nor does it have large marketing budgets. Linux is almost entirely driven by word of mouth and community publicity. However that is changing particularly in the highly profitable enterprise-software market. Companies like IBM, RedHat, H.P., and Oracle are pitching Linux as the preferred OS for their hardware and software. Also many hardware manufacturers are reluctant to provide open drivers or documentation as it would expose their systems' weaknesses. Remember, open source means full scrutiny. This scenario too is slowly changing and as Linux gains more popularity and support, many hardware vendors have started providing drivers for their products. Today a Linux distro can support most hardware that is available in the market. Another problem is that many data formats like audio and video are patented and require a licence fee to be paid to the patent holders for writing or distributing software that plays these formats. Therefore after installing Linux, you may have to manually download and install audio/video codecs and software. Pay attention to the licence while doing so. Another problem is that lack of awareness of Linux has led to many technology and IT service providers to provide support only to proprietary operating systems. However this is changing for the better as more and more people have used Linux and enjoyed its benefits.
Linux is not just software, it is a movement that was started to empower the people, to empower YOU with full freedom to create, distribute and use software without getting locked out until you paid for an 'upgrade' of your commercial software. Welcome to the Linux family. For more information here is a list of websites that provide you information starting from the basics right upto advanced usage.
(Place list of URLs with one line description of each) Image:Example.jpg
