New To Linux: Part 1 - What is It and is It For Me? Many people,
when they hear the word Linux, immediately dismiss it as a hard
to understand, command line environment designed for hackers and
computer geeks. Images of scenes from the 1983 movie War Games
start to pop into their heads, with the green on black text
based computer systems. In reality though, it is not that
scary... in fact, you've probably used Linux hundreds of times
and not even known it. As the title suggests, this series of
articles will be directed towards people new to Linux, or toying
with the idea of making the switch. First, let's clear up the
name Linux, it is most commonly thrown into conversations about
computer operating systems like: ôDo you use Windows, Mac or
Linux?ö. The problem is that Linux is not an operating system
(OS), it is what is known as a kernel. So, what is a kernel? It
is the very base, the foundation of an OS. In the simplest
terms, it contains all the instructions and commands needed to
turn a collection of comp