This page is a brief introduction to Linux for people who know little or nothing about it. Hopefully it will help guide some of them onto the path to becoming Linux literate or even a Linux guru. It is divided into the following sections. What is Linux. 2 Why Study Linux. Prerequisites for Studying Linux. How to Study Linux. Installation. 6 After Installation and. Alternatives to Installation. What is Linux Linux is a high performance, yet completely free operating system that closely resembles UNIX. An operating system is the main software that operates on a computer. UNIX was originally developed by Ken Thompson at Bell Labs, the legendary research arm of AT T the former U. S. telecommunications monopoly in 1. University of California at Berkeley UCB during the 1. Install Openoffice Linux Using Terminal Commands' title='Install Openoffice Linux Using Terminal Commands' />Many variations were subsequently developed, and they are collectively referred to as Unix like operating systems. Unix like operating systems are widely regarded as the best operating systems ever created in terms of several criteria, including stability, security, flexibility, scalability and elegance. Linux was started in 1. Linus Torvalds, then a student at the University of Helsinki in Finland, because of his dissatisfaction with MS DOS and his desire to obtain a free version of UNIX for his new computer. Linux quickly became a global project with programmers from around the world participating in its development via the Internet. How To Install Speech Recognition Engine Download. Its performance has improved continuously, and this has been paralleled by the swift growth in its usage around the world by individuals, corporations, educational institutions and governments. Linux is superior to other Unix like operating systems in several respects. One is that it is completely free, in contrast to the costly proprietary i. UNIX. It is free both in a monetary sense i. Software that is free in all of these senses is referred to as free software or open source software. MakeUseOf is proud to present to you A Newbies Getting Started Guide to Linux Youve probably heard about Linux, the free, opensource operating system thats. This freedom is made possible by the fact that Linux is released under the GNU General Public License GPL. The GNU project was begun by Richard Stallman in 1. Unix like operating system. It has provided many of the most critical utility programs for Linux, and thus it is sometimes suggested that the most appropriate name for Linux is GNULinux. C351' alt='Install Openoffice Linux Using Terminal Commands' title='Install Openoffice Linux Using Terminal Commands' />Serial Terminal Realterm is an engineers terminal program specially designed for capturing, controlling and debugging binary and other difficult data streams. For your security, if youre on a public computer and have finished using your Red Hat services, please be sure to log out. Log Out. LibreOffice is an open source and much powerfull personal productivity office suit for Linux, Windows Mac, that provides feature rich functions for word. Weve made a comprehensive list of 16 most used Microsoft office alternatives for the Linux platform in this article most of which are cross platform too. Another advantage of Linux is that it can operate on a much wider range of hardware than most other operating systems. It can run on notebook computers, desktop computers, workstations, mainframes, supercomputers, handheld devices including some cell phones, game machines, industrial robots and even a wristwatch Microsoft Windows is still the most widely used family of computer operating systems. However, Linux offers also some important advantages over them, and thus its worldwide growth rate is much faster. These advantages include the facts that 1 it is free, 2 it is extremely stable i. Microsoft Windows. A more complete list of advantages can be found in the article 2. Reasons to Convert to Linux. Why study Linux There are several good reasons for becoming familiar with Linux. They are largely the same as the reasons for studying about computers in general 1 it can be very interesting, 2 it can make life more convenient, 3 it can save money and 4 it can enhance ones career or business and thus help make money. Becoming familiar with Linux can result in a substantial financial savings because the software both the operating system and the application programs is available for free and because Linux can run on older and cheaper computers. In fact, most people who switch to Linux soon realize that they will never again have to purchase any softwareWith regard to careers, it is becoming increasingly valuable to have Linux skills rather than just knowing how to use Microsoft Windows. This is because the role of Linux will continue to expand and many industry experts expect it to become the dominant operating system for some, or most, types of applications. More and more computers, ranging from the lowest cost and simplest to the most powerful and advanced, will be running Linux as 1 its ease of use for ordinary people continues to improve 2, more businesses and individuals become aware of its numerous and compelling advantages and 3 more professionals with good Linux skills become available to support Linux systems. For people studying to become computer professionals, having Linux skills is already highly desirable, and it could, in fact, eventually become virtually mandatory. Moreover, Linux skills are becoming increasingly important for many other fields as well, ranging from business to biotechnology to industrial design. On Monday, we learned that Microsoft was killing off the iconic Microsoft Paint program after 32 years and replacing it with Paint 3D in its upcoming Windows 10 update. Technology keeps you connected everywhere you go, helps you capture every moment makes your life a bit easier stay uptodate with tips tricks from eHow. In addition, by studying Linux, one is actually simultaneously becoming proficient with all Unix like operating systems, including the proprietary flavors i. UNIX such as Solaris and AIX, and Mac OS X whose underlying operating system is a Unix like system called Darwin. This is because of the great similarity among these systems. Proficiency with the proprietary Unixes has always been considered valuable, and it is well rewarded in the job market. Prerequisites for Studying Linux. There are no prerequisites for studying Linux, except perhaps the most basic of computer skills, such as knowing how to turn a computer on and knowing how to use a mouse and keyboard. It also helps to know how to access the Internet and be able to do basic web searches with a search engine such as Yahoo or Google. This is largely because there is a tremendous amount of helpful and free information about Linux available online. It is also important to have a computer, a copy of Linux itself and a strong desire to learn. A good introductory Linux book can also be useful, but it is no longer absolutely necessary. The computer does not have to be an expensive, state of the art model. There is no problem with using an older computer, for example, an elderly 5. MHz Pentium PC with as few as five gigabytes of hard disk space and 1. Moreover, even older and simpler machines can be used to study Linux without a graphical user interface GUI, i. Although initially intimidating for many inexperienced users, using an all text mode, also referred to as a command line interface CLI or a shell, can provide valuable experience for those who want to become truly proficient at Linux. Moreover, the computer does not even have to be a standard PC with an Intel compatible CPU central processing unit. It can also be a Macintosh or almost any other type of computer. The reason is that versions of Linux are available for almost any type of computer. A CPU is a small but powerful semiconductor device that can be considered as the brain of a computer. How to Study Linux. Linux is a topic which is equally suitable for study in the classroom such as at a university or a specialized computer school or at home. Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages. Studying in a classroom environment can be the best choice for people who 1 prefer classes to self study, 2 do not have their own computer, 3 are lacking in motivation or study skills or 4 receive some type of tuition assistance or other grants to cover the costs of the classes. However, classroom study can have the disadvantages of 1 requiring tuition andor other fees, 2 requiring costly andor time consuming travel to get to the classes and 3 not moving at an appropriate pace i.