content types

	Advanced Topics [categories] [authors] [archive] [top rated] [top score] [recent]	1 item
	Not for absolute beginners, but possibly useful.
	Getting Started [categories] [authors] [archive] [top rated] [top score] [recent]	3 items
	Introductory articles to help you get started in your move away from Microsoft.
	Dear Mom: Advice to a Newcomer [categories] [authors] [archive] [top rated] [top score] [recent]	3 items
	This is the actual advice I gave my mother when she was shopping for a new computer.
	Linux Installation Stories [categories] [authors] [archive] [top rated] [top score] [recent]	1 item
	Stories of several different computers on which I've installed Linux.
	Our Own Product Reviews [categories] [authors] [archive] [top rated] [top score] [recent]	5 items
	Experiences we've had with different Linux distributions and Linux products
	Reference Information [categories] [authors] [archive] [top rated] [top score] [recent]	5 items
	Some lists of information that I keep handy.
	Securing Your Windows PC [categories] [authors] [archive] [top rated] [top score] [recent]	5 items
	If you must use Windows, you need to secure it against invasion and infection.

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The Big Board

Goodbye, Microsoft's Big Board of Linux Distributions

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Newcomer's Glossary

applications: The software that lets you do things with your computer (word processor, Internet browser, email, etc.). The programs you see and use.

distribution: Also called "distro." An operating system (usu. Linux) combined with a selection of application programs, in a ready-to-install form. Different distributions are customized for different purposes, e.g., desktop computing, music editing, Internet server, and so on.

FOSS: "Free / Open Source Software," a catch-all term. Sometimes F/OSS or FLOSS.

free software: Refers to free as in freedom, not free as in free beer. Specifically, the freedom to run, study, share, and modify the software.

howto: A short tutorial telling "how to" perform some task. See, for instance, the Linux HowTos.

Linux: Strictly, GNU/Linux. A free operating system, modeled on Unix, developed since 1991 by volunteers around the world.

open source: Refers to software whose source code can be examined, modified, and redistributed. Similar to but not exactly the same as "free software."

operating system: The software that manages your computer's hardware (disk drives, display, network connection, etc.). The stuff "under the hood" that makes your computer work.

repository: An on-line library of application programs for a particular distribution, in a ready-to-download-and-install format. In many distributions, programs can be installed from the repository with just a few mouse clicks.

Unix: A computer operating system originally released by Bell Labs in 1970. It is still widely used in several commercial variants, and in the open-source BSD Unix.

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Goodbye, Microsoft®

Take back the PC ^sm
A resource for those who wish to get Microsoft out of their lives... and off their computers.

content types

PayPal Donations

The Big Board

Web Links

Newcomer's Glossary

We Recommend

RSS Feeds

Welcome

Goodbye, Microsoft®

Take back the PC smA resource for those who wish to get Microsoft out of their lives... and off their computers.

content types

PayPal Donations

The Big Board

Web Links

Newcomer's Glossary

We Recommend

RSS Feeds

Welcome

Take back the PC ^sm
A resource for those who wish to get Microsoft out of their lives... and off their computers.