Like many others I was born and raised on Microsoft operating systems. Actually, I was born on BASIC and the Commodore 64, but later it was all Microsoft. After some recent frustration with a new Microsoft product, I decided to make the leap to an open source operating system. The history of Linux is very interesting and instead of doing a poor job of rehashing it here I will refer you to the Wikipedia article.
If you are casual computer user, one who surfs the web, sends some emails, prints some pictures of the kids, etc... you would be well served by a free (cost), open source distribution of Linux. Your experience will no doubt be more stable, less vulnerable, more configurable, and cheaper! If there are very specific tasks you need to accomplish, or very specific software you need to run, you may not be well served by a Linux distribution. I know, I know... some hardcore Linux hacks will object to this and say that you can do anything with Linux that you can do with a Microsoft operating system. This may be true, but it also may be beyond the skill set of a casual computer user. That having been said, if you are like me, you will be incredibly impressed with the variety and quality of the distributions and the programs available.
Enter Ubuntu
There are many flavors of Linux. These "flavors" if you will are called distributions. A distribution is bundle of software and utilities with a Linux kernel. If you are looking to try Linux, you will need to find a distribution. The best place to get your feet wet in the world of Linux distributions is Distrowatch. Here you can find reviews and commentary on all the best distributions.
I picked Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a very popular distro based on Debian and using the GNOME desktop environment. It really is a great bundle and includes OpenOffice, Firefox and many other free and open source software packages. Countless others are available by simply clicking the Add/Remove software menu item.
Trying Debian
I just loaded a new distribution. Let me say this is one of the greatest things about Linux. Want to try a different distro? Go ahead! Don't think about it, do it! Back up your personal files and go for it. I'm trying Debian which is very similar to Ubuntu. It should be as Ubuntu is based on Debian and I am using the same desktop environment so it is very similar in look and feel.
Update
I went back to Ubuntu and I'm quite happy with it. Debian was okay but I felt there was less online community support and their strict adherence to open source/license philosophy caused some inconveniences. I find the online documentation and support for Ubuntu to be excellent and like the look and feel of it with the Gnome desktop. Here is what I am running currently...
My current release.
My current kernel.
Check This Puppy Out!
I started playing with another distribution called Puppy Linux. This is a very small Linux distribution that can be booted from a CD, or even a USB thumb drive. Did I say small? You bet! The latest version is 100MB, some of the others are around 80MB. It loads to RAM and runs fast, I mean really fast. And this thing isn't some stripped down terminal only kernel, it is packed full of preinstalled programs and utilities. You have to try this distro out. What? You are still using Windows? You already have Ubuntu or openSUSE installed? No problems, burn the .iso to disc and boot this "puppy" up. You can even save a file after the first boot that will save your downloaded programs and preferences. This file resides as a normal file on your hard drive or your thumb drive and you need never install Puppy Linux. Once you play with it though, there is no saying you won’t want to!
