Considering Linux? Tips For Non-Techies

Want to dump Windows, but don’t consider yourself a “techie”? It’s almost possible: Linux is getting more user friendly by the day. Even if you have gotten burnt before (until recently, setting up wireless was a nightmare, for instance), now is the time to consider giving it another shot. You don’t need to be an expert to start using Linux, but you do need patience. And, you must to be able to read. You will be reading lots and lots of manuals. The reward will be great: you’ll be able to do almost everything you do in Windows, for free, forever. This means that every computer you purchase will be at least $100 cheaper, and pretty much all the software you will ever need will be free.

What follows a list of things the layman must learn before a the leap to *nix-land. This list is far from complete, so I definitely welcome suggestions and additions. If you personally want to switch to Linux and are confused, leave a comment and I will try to help you as best as I can.

• What’s a distro? What is the difference between RedHat, or Ubuntu, or CentOS? All of these, and dozens of others, are called Linux distros, or distributions. They all work more or less the same way, but differ in presentation, configuration, and some technical details not worth getting into (for fear of incurring unnecessary debate). Some, such as RedHat, are better suited to host websites. If you’re looking for a good personal desktop operating system, Ubuntu has my vote. Grab it here.
• How to burn an ISO. Most Linux operating systems are free and can be downloaded from the distro’s site as a .iso file. You will need to burn this file to a CD. Here’s how.
• How to install an operating system. If you’ve ever (re)installed Windows, you’re well on your way. You may also need to learn how to partition your hard drive, i.e. segment it into multiple parts to run multiple operating systems. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial for installing Ubuntu on a machine that will also run Windows. Here’s how to install Ubuntu on your Mac.
• What’s a root password? Linux machines all have a root user, or a superadmin who is allowed to install software, make system changes and so on. When you install Linux, choose the root password carefully.
• How to use the command line. If you have no idea what this means, and are on Windows, do this: click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK. You’ll get a nifty DOS window from which you can manipulate your computer in a number of ways. For starters, you need to know how to get from one folder to another. Try typing dir and Enter. You get a list of that folder’s contents. Do you see the names of any familiar folders? Now try typing cd dirname, where dirname is one of those folders. Then try dir again. You’re can see the subfolder’s contents now! Then type cd .. (That’s cd followed by two dots and Enter.) and if you dir you will find yourself in the original directory. On Linux, just use the command ls instead of dir and you are well on your way. Here’s a great tutorial about getting around the filesystem, which is only part of the many, many things you can do with the command line. This includes creating, copying and moving files and directories, searching the filesystem and so on. A graphical system like Windows does the same thing – it just piles on a slow, and buggy, interface.
• What’s a compiler? A bit of explanation is in order about how the software you’re using, from Excel to Firefox and Windows itself, has gotten there. The embryo of every software program is the code. It is the jumble of gobbledy gook that programers write in a language like Java or C++ and looks something like this. A Java or C++ program can then be converted to the executable, or the thing you actually run on your computer. To go from code to executable, you need to use something called a compiler. Why do you need to know this? Because a lot of the free software you’re going to get for your Linux box will be in raw code form. You will have to open a command prompt and compile it so it can run on your machine. You will most likely be using gcc; a tutorial can be found here.
• What’s a package manager? The good news is that 80% of the software you may want can be installed without a compiler. However, you will need to know how to use the package manager for your Linux distribution. On Ubuntu or Debian, this is apt-get. On other systems, it may be Yum. Additionally, in newer systems, you can often download an .rpm file for your system and install it by right-clicking and choosing “Install”.

So how do you actually start? I recommend downloading and giving Ubuntu a whirl. Ubuntu 7.04 has wireless suport built in, which means that at the very least, you can connect to the net, read manuals, and install whatever you need. You may also want to look at the Windows to Ubuntu transition guide, which goes into a lot of detail.

My biggest piece of advice for newbies is: DO NOT INSTALL LINUX ON YOUR ONLY MACHINE. You will need your Windows/Mac to go online and read manuals while you get the hang of your shiny new operating system.

When you have your operating system up and running, here are some open-source favorites you might want to grab first:

• Firefox. Only, oh, the best browser on the planet.
• Skype. Yes, you can run it on Linux.
• Gaim/Pidgin. This chat client will allow you to use your AIM, Yahoo!, Jabber/GChat, MSN and other accounts to keep chatting.
• Gimp. Hey, you know that Photoshop thing that takes forever to load and is slow and expensive? Gimp is a free, and faster, alternative.
• IE for Linux. Before you call me an idiot, allow me a preemptive excuse: this last recommendation is for web developers who, despite absolutely detesting Internet Explorer, must test their websites on this dinosaur of a browser which (Jesus Christ) most people still use. So, if you switch to Linux, rest easy: it is possible to run IE.

Happy dorking!