I am 18 years old, been using windows all my life. I want to learn to use linux. Does anyone know a free/cheap way to learn to install/use linux for someone who knows absolutely nothing about it?

because i have dial-up, i just buy my Linux CD's here http://www.edmunds-enterprises.com/linux/ this a good site for buying books at very good prices, much better than Ebay. I buy them used & often times they are brand new condition. http://www.alibris.com/

Go to http://www.distrowatch.com. That will give you links and info regarding an assortment of different distributions, most of which, you can download for free. If you have a modem connection, you probably will find it too time-consuming to download. In that case, you can have distrowatch burn a distribution to disk for you. I believe it costs $1.99 per cd + shipping. If you want to learn Linux, I recommend Slackware, although most will tell you this is not a good choice for beginners. But, it will force you to learn. For a beginner, who would rather get the system up, and then learn at his/her pace, I recommend SuSE. You can order the 7-cd set of 9.0 for $10.99 at DistroWatch. Keep in mind, there will be differing opinions concerning a good beginner version of Linux.I think SuSE is good because it contains a wide variety of programs, has a very good update tool, is easy to install, and performs relatively well. Others may tell you Mandrake, Fedora, or whatever. They could be right. It just depends on what you find suits your needs best. For additional research, there are plenty of online docs, although some may be a little outdated. You can also thumb through the user-level documentation that comes with about any distibution. There is always the man pages, too. If you are fortunate enough to have a MicroCenter Retail store near you, try checking them out. They always seem to have a wealth of information available in the clearance section at the $3 - $6 range.

I thought I would add one more thing that may help you learn linux. Jump on over to http://www.gnu.org. Check out the GPL licensing and the overall philosophy surrounding it. The Windows approach is basically, "Policy, not Tools", where the Free Software stance is "Tools, rather than Policy". These differences may not seem significant, but they can build a barrier if you are not familiar with Open Source, and are migrating over from Windows. I always tell people to spend a whole month duing nothing but Linux. Don't even go into Windows at all during that period. Then, after a month, boot Windows and make an evaluation between the two. Good books to read: 1. Free Software, Free Society, Richard Stallman 2. Just For Fun, Linus Torvalds 3. Free As In Freedom, Sam Williams 4. The Cathedral & The Bazaar, Eric S. Raymond #1 and #3 are available online to read.

Regarding licenses, it's important to mention that the GPL is only one of a pantheon of open source licenses. Open source also does mean or imply free software (free as in speech, of course). The only way to really get Linux is to start out with installing and just trying to accomplish tasks. You will learn best by challenging what you know. Set up your email, then use an email program from the shell. Follow a guide to securing your system. Move around in the shell: search, make and delete, kill processes, change permissions. Maybe configure your machine for routing, NAT, or a proxy. Later, try configuring a web/ftp server and hosting a few things. Upgrade/patch/recompile your kernel. As you go, you will learn countless things. At the end of the day, go into X-Windows (or load Knoppix if you've screwed something up) and enjoy the GUI. If you can, try to start doing some of your regular computer tasks in Linux. One strong point in Linux is documentation. Usually user created, there are myriad guides to any number of things. Many guides are older, but if you are interested read through them. You will find that hidden in old mailing list archives, forum threads, FAQ's, howto's, etc. are uncommon pieces of information which will add to your understanding. There is a lot of influence from the past in Linux, which when put that way sounds bad. But it actually reflects the community, the technology, and even the future of kernel and platform. Welcome to the community and RTFM before some has to tell you to. (One of many hacker-influenced quirks).

I ran across something called "Artistic License" once. I believe it was for the EasyEditor program. The most common one you'll run across in Linux will be the GPL, though, since Linux uses Stallman's operating system. I find it the best example in defining Free Software. It is extremely thorough and tends to make the strongest statement. I always enjoy reading any RMS statement regarding proprietary software. He doesn't pull any punches. The BSD license is another popular one. Some argue that this is more "free" than the GPL. I don't know. I lean more toward the GPL line of thinking, myself, even though I favor BSD over Linux. I guess it all comes down to this: Free = Good Proprietary = Bad Free > Proprietary su password: # killall Proprietary No matching processes were found :)

The Simply Linux Book is a good intro- http://jetblackz.cjb.net/ -You can download it for veiwing offline.