Linux for Starters: Your Guide to Linux – Introduction

Linux Links ^ | 30 April 2021 | Steve Emms

[ShadowAce]

This is a series that offers a gentle introduction to Linux for newcomers. Let’s kick off this series with the very basics.

What is Linux?

The term ‘Linux’ strictly refers to the operating system kernel, a computer program at the core of a computer’s operating system that has complete control over everything in the system. The kernel manages the system’s resources and communicates with the hardware. It’s responsible for memory, process, and file management.

Think of the Linux kernel like a car engine.

Linux is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Anyone can run, study, modify, and redistribute the source code, or even sell copies of their modified code, as long as they do so under the same license.

How does Linux work?

When we talk about Linux, we are usually referring to one of the many hundreds of distributions (known as distros) that use the Linux kernel. A distro is analogous to an actual vehicle that houses the car engine.

A distro does the hard work for you taking all the code from the open-source projects and compiling it for you, combining it into a single operating system you can boot up and install.
While each distro has the Linux kernel at its heart, they differ in many respects.

A distro provides the user with a desktop environment, preloaded applications, and ways to update and maintain the system. Each distro makes different choices, deciding which open source projects to install and provides custom written programs. They can have different philosophies. Some distros are intended for desktop computers, some for servers without a graphical interface, and others for special uses. Because Linux is an open source operating system, combinations of software vary between Linux distros.

Popular distros include Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, Debian, Arch, and many more. Some distros are more suitable for newcomers.

Why use Linux?

There are many advantages that Linux confers compared to proprietary operating systems like Windows and Mac OS X.

We’ll focus on the biggest attractions that Linux offers.

Here’s 8 great reasons why you might want to try Linux.

As Linux is published under an open source license, you have the right to choose your own destiny. You can change and use your machine as you see fit without any restrictive licensing. Install Linux on as many computers as you want.

No charge. Most distros are available to download without any form of payment. Users are free to donate their time, expertise, or money instead.

Stability. Linux machines are often up for hundreds of days compared with the regular reboots required with a Windows system. The crash of an application is much less likely to bring down the operating system under Linux.

Increased security. Linux is much more secure than rival proprietary operating systems. The open source nature of the system means that independent experts can help identify vulnerabilities and fix them. There’s also a significantly lower risk of nasties. For example, there are only a handful of viruses that can affect Linux machines.

A massive range of open source software is available. To whet your appetite see our Best Free and Open Source Software.

Variety – each distro offers a different take on the desktop. Some use very modern user interfaces, others offer a more traditional desktop environment.

Hardware support. Linux runs great on hardware regardless of its age. Hundreds of millions of people rely on PCs that are several years old or even older.

An excellent environment for learning to program. Most Linux distros include a complete programming environment.

What do I need?

A computer that meets a distro’s recommended minimum system requirements. The system requirements for successfully installing Linux are surprisingly low. Even a computer built over 10 years ago will happily run many distros.

For Ubuntu 21.04 the recommended minimum is: 2 GHz dual core processor, 4GB RAM (system memory), 25GB hard-drive space, and graphics capable of 1024×768 resolution.

There are distros designed to run with lower requirements that are fully capable of reviving older hardware.

If you want a dedicated machine for Linux (rather than dual booting) but don’t have one spare, there are quite a few options. One option is to purchase a refurbished (mini) PC. Pictured is a refurbished Lenovo M93 Ultra Small PC. This machine’s hardware far exceeds Ubuntu’s recommended minimum system requirements and is available for around £200 / $200. Obviously, the better specified the system you use, the better experience will be.

USB stick or DVD disc

There’s the option of running a distro directly from either a USB stick (pictured) or a DVD. It offers a quick and easy way to experience Linux and how it works with your hardware. It doesn’t affect your computer’s configuration.

But if you’ve decided that Linux is for you, install the distro onto a computer via USB or DVD. We prefer USB installation. If you don’t have a spare USB key available, they are extremely cheap to buy. Don’t buy a USB stick with a distro pre-installed as they are almost always extremely poor value for money. Most distros need a 4GB or larger USB stick/key. Here’s a useful tutorial which shows how to create a bootable Ubuntu USB stick.

DVD installation requires a blank DVD-R disc, and you’ll need a machine that has a DVD Writer so that you can burn the distro’s image to the disc.

Internet Connection

An internet connection is not essential to install a distro although some require internet access to download things like restricted extras. In any event, an internet connection is essential to make sure your computer stays up to date with the latest updates and patches. You’ll miss out on so much of the goodness that Linux bestows without internet connectivity.

[ShadowAce]

I'm gonna be out of the house for a few hours today--just so you know I'm not ignoring anyone :)

[woweeitsme]

Ping

[Pollard]

Correct link to Free & Open Source Software; https://www.linuxlinks.com/best-free-open-source-software/

[Codeflier]

Always fun

[beancounter13]

Bump

[ThunderSleeps]

Linux runs great on hardware regardless of its age. Hundreds of millions of people rely on PCs that are several years old or even older.

I can attest to that. One of my systems I'm running Manjaro (KDE) on is a Sony Vaio PCG-61A12L (circa 2012) with an ancient i5 processor and 6 GB of memory. Manjaro isn't even considered a lightweight distro.

I don't use it every day but I could for routine stuff like email and web browsing. The HDD is nearing end of life. Even after it eventually goes I'll still be able to boot Linux from a thumb drive and use the laptop once in a while - mostly I just use it when I want to ssh into another machine but don't want to be at my desk.

[budj]

"LINUX" is an acronym: Linux Is Not UniX

[Poser]

Thanks for the link to the available software. I’m sad to see that there isn’t any GUI free accounting software on the list. The command line Ledger app is interesting for us DOS 3.0 and UNIX veterans but most users won’t find it useful.

I guess if you want good accounting software, you have to pay for it. I still use a 7 year old version of Quickbooks Pro in general journal mode. It’s clunky but effective.

[Eagles6]

Bttt

[Poser]

I’ll have to try SQL-Ledger for bookkeeping. It may be complete enough for small business general journal, A/R, A/P, etc.

[Pollard]

GNUCash

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GnuCash

https://www.gnucash.org (Appears to not be working)

https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/GnuCash

https://github.com/Gnucash/gnucash

Not as polished looking as the retail programs and maybe not as intuitive but it is full featured.

GnuCash 3.x is known to work with the following operating systems:

GNU/Linux — x86, Sparc, PPC
FreeBSD — x86
OpenBSD — x86
MacOS — Intel, Versions 10.9 and later

[Openurmind]

Thank you. :)

[Pollard]

Quite a few videos on gnucash including Intros; https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gnucash

[kanawa]

Give me a poke if you'd like to be added to the Ping List.

[johngalt42]

You can install WINE on Linux and be able to install Windows based programs. I used WINE to install my financial program, because they only had WIN and MAC versions.

[Openurmind]

You should be able to use your Quickbooks in a VM with Linux. And I haven’t tried it, But quickbooks might actually run in “playonlinux” Which boots a semi VM environment to run windows apps.

[Openurmind]

Yep... Wine + playonlinux has worked pretty well for a lot of windows apps.

[AppyPappy]

Our mainframe is Linux

[Openurmind]

The older machine capability is incredible. It can revive a machine that windows would consider a dinosaur. Don’t throw out those old machines... Load them with linux and make them like new again. I installed Linux Mint 18.3 and the full cinnamon package on a 2002 emachine with only 2 gigs of ram and it worked like a brand new up to date machine. Slow on graphics but it actually worked just fine for browsing and such.