Why choose GNU/Linux? The three F's and more...

1. Freedom to use
2. Freedom to modify
3. Freedom to distribute.

Please do note here, I do NOT mean monetary freedom (nor do GNU). GNU/Linux is designed to allow users to use their operating system in the way they desire. It allows them to change the source code to meet their requirements. It allows them to distrubute all GNU copylefted software to anyone they desire, and pass on the same rights provided to them.

An important thing to understand here, is that not all distributions of GNU/Linux provide all three of these freedoms. That is because, along with GNU Free Software, they sometimes add commercial components, or any other software that is not copylefted. Such software restricts its usage. However, you may have the liberty to remove such components from the distribution(uninstall) and use the rest of the OS freely. Whether this can be done varies from distribution to distribution.

Besides the 3 F's, here's why you might want to use GNU/Linux:
-> It is highly customizable
-> It can be made to run on a very wide range of hardware configurations
-> Easy support is available for it online at forums and websites.
-> The updates to software can be made very regularly. You can stay at the cutting-edge of software development
-> Many distributions are also cost nothing. Costs are generally for transfer of media, or maybe support, and not for the product itself.
-> An amazingly large variety of software is available for GNU/Linux.

I could go into details of each of these points, but this will suffice for now, I hope!
Next article will be on How to get GNU/Linux...

GNU/Linux Intro: The whats and hows...

Here's my first post on my blog dedicated to GNU/Linux and Open Source Software. The URL may mislead you to think that it's about a new distribution of Linux, but that is not the case. It's basically an attempt to reach out the newbies of GNU/Linux and guide them on what GNU/Linux is, why it is, and how to make use of it.

I'd like to make a mention here... I'm not deep into GNU/Linux myself. I use only GNU/Linux on my system, and seek out solutions for everything I do... there's a whole world out there. Since I use the OS and its software the way I do, many of my friends have asked me in the past for brief intros to it, and where to start up. So this blog is an attempt to address such matters.

To start with, GNU/Linux is an Operating System. It could be installed as the sole OS on a harddisk, or could be installed along with another OS, such as DOS, Microsoft Windows, MacOS, etc. with a dual-boot menu appearing whenever the computer starts up.

Everytime I refer to GNU/Linux, it implies two major components:

1. the Linux "kernel", which handles the core interaction with the hardware(and includes core operating system functions such as scheduling, memory management, I/O, etc. as well as device drivers for the hardware)

2. The GNU Software which allows actual user interaction via the shell and/or a graphical user interface(XWindows)

Conventionally, when you need to acquire GNU/Linux, you have to get a "distribution" of it. These are like different "flavours" of GNU/Linux. In other words, different companies or organisations put together the Linux kernel, different choices of GNU Software and other software under different forms of licensing. They make their flavour available under a name, some freely, and some for a cost. Typically, the cost is either for the media through which you receive the OS, or for support that they will provide for their flavour.

Some common flavours are:
1. RedHat Enterprise Linux
2. Fedora Core Linux
3. Mandrake Linux
4. Ubuntu Linux
5. SuSe Linux
6. Xandros Linux
7. Debian Linux
8. Progeny Debian Linux
9. Knoppix
10. Damn Small Linux

There are actually hundreds of distributions of GNU/Linux currently available. My next post will be on the whys of GNU/Linux