The Grass Roots OS

"Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches"-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer interview with the Chicago Sun-Times on June 1, 2001.

Linux Distros has become the largest collaborative development project in the history of computing. My first ever experience with Linux was probably around the year 2000, Epic Games he developer of Unreal Tournament, had a deal with Loki Software to maintain and support the Linux version of Unreal Tournament. I tried to install Slackware's Linux Distro that same year but honestly just couldn't figure it out. Despite my original negative experiences, the positives about the Linux operating system made me keep an eye on it. When I looked on the internet to know more I learned there were hundreds of Linux distributions. I also found out the reason why developers keep creating and distributing  different and unique Linux-based OSes is everything is free. The Linux kernel is free. The apps are free. The resources to create a whole operating system on top of the kernel are free. Gnu is free. Everything is free. 

The year was 2003, I remember like it was yesterday it was very first time I booted into the Linux desktop. The distribution in question was Lindows (later renamed Linspire) 4.0 live CD. I was blown away by the concept of the live CD.

For those who don't know, a live CD (also live DVD, ) is a complete bootable operating system which runs directly from a CD-ROM into a computer's DDR RAM, rather than loading from a disk drive. 

 

With the live CD, I was able to take a look at Lindows 4.0 without installing it.. with no commitment. There was no doubt that Lindows was designed for the novice Linux user. The user interface was very recognizable to Windows users. Over the next few years I did keep my eye on the progress of Linux the desk until Slax Linux and Linspire 5.0 appeared on the scene. Both distros convinced me that an open source operating system could replace Windows XP on my personal computer.

As of 2022 hundreds of Linux distributions are available. Distros, or distributions, are simply different “flavours” of Linux that have different contents in a specific part of the operating system. Technically, Linux just refers to the kernel, when used strictly. The actual term for the operating system is GNU/Linux, where GNU refers to the operating system and Linux part refers to just the kernel. Most distributions come ready to use, and includes a package management system, or packet manager, which is used to install, uninstall and manage software packages. People have different criteria to decide what is good in a distribution. For most people it's stability and ease of use.

Recommended distributions for new users.

These distributions include a software repository, which allows you to browse for software you want or need, click on, and have it install. 

Pop!_OS distribution is developed by System76. It is primarily built to be bundled with the computers built by System76, but can also be downloaded and installed on most computers. System 76 provides two ISO images for download: one with AMD video drivers and another with Nvidia drivers.

Linux Mint was created to provide an out-of-the-box experience to the newbies. Cinnamon desktop is very similar to Microsoft Windows as they both have the start menu on the bottom left.

Nobara Project is a modified version of Fedora Linux with user-friendly fixes added to it. It has 3rd party codec packages such as those for gstreamer, 3rd party drivers such as NVIDIA drivers.

MX Linux is a Linux distribution based on Debian stable and using core antiX components. With the welcome MX Tools screen, you can launch any one of the apps to make configuring and using your system even easier.

Final thoughts....

Gnu+Linux is truly a grassroots operating system. It is a great alternative to Windows for home users. Some think the Linux Desktop is too hard to learn- it’s not. Others say Linux Desktop doesn't have any useful programs-it has many. Most Linux Distros are open source and free to download. They don't have paid promotions. Those developers don't actually have much much money. They are running their community with the good people donating money for their work.  Windows and OSX are backed by the world's two of the top three biggest tech companies. That's why you see them everywhere. 

Officially Windows 11 support ends with Intel 7th Generation and AMD Zen 1 processors. In other words CPUs from 2017 will not be supported by the latest and greatest Windows version.

 The latest and greatest Linux Distros can easily be installed on PCs that have CPUs from 2008. Don't throw away your old PCs, switch to a Linux Distro today.