Main Area and Open Discussion > General Software Discussion

Linux - Freeware or Shareware?

(1/2) > >>

alecjw:
I've had linux reccomended to me several times by friends because I absolutely hate microsoft and anything vaguely microsoft related (eg. windows). They say it's freeware. I tried looking on www.linux.com but it was all too confusing for me and I couldn't find my way around. So is linux freeware or shareware? If it's freeware, is it compatable with anything?

AbteriX:
> So is linux freeware or shareware?
Not the one and not the other.
It's OpenSource, so more then freeware you could even modify the code
an make your own operation system, but you have to give away your own
work for others too.


>  If it's freeware, is it compatable with anything?

comparably ??
It's like (and very near) UN1X.
And so completly differently from W1ndows(TM)


There are "Live-CDs" on some computer magazins
so you could test "Linux" without modify your current W1ndows system.



sorry, i miss the right words to tell you more.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux


.

Josh:
Linux, itself, is freeware. The kernel is what I refer to when I say linux. However, various companies have their own distribution of linux which they charge for, E.G. Redhat's enterprise workstation. However, you can find various free distributions that are free to download/burn to cd (They also sell various cd's that usually come with very basic documentation at the various websites) such as Ubuntu, Suse 10 Pro (best in my opinion), Fedora Core, Gentoo, or slackware. Now, for compatibility. The various distros include a tool, WINE, which is a windows emulation layer that allows you to run various windows programs from within linux (for those that need to do so). This program isnt perfect, so you might not get every piece of software to work. But, there is an open source app for pretty much any application you need (openoffice for office suite, gaim or naim for instant messaging, thunderbird/k-mail for email, firefox or opera or konqueror for internet browsing, etc). I really recommend getting an old PC off of ebay or from someone who is looking to upgrade, and install a couple of different distros, try each out for a month or so, and get the hang of it and choose which one works best for you. Ubuntu and Suse 10 Pro (suse if you're willing to pay) are both very good distributions and provide easy software management solutions that allow easy installation of applications and upgrading patches on the system. Anyways, if you have more questions, let me know.

alecjw:
So could I install it so that when I start up my computer, windows boots but I could easily switch it to linux. And would it run on an NTFS hard drive?

mouser:
i think as stefan mentioned, a "live-cd" is your best way to experiment with linux - you just pop the cd in your cd drive, reboot your computer and tell it to boot into linux using the cd.  no files on your computer will be harmed..

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page