Where to get Linux?

Does Linux need to be purchased on a CD or can it be downloaded legally free off the internet? If it can be downloaded please let me know where. Thanks.

http://www.ubuntu.com/download should work for you.

Thank You...is this a Linux OS? I'm afraid I am not very familiar with the subject. My primary PC recently had the HD crash and I do not have a recovery disk so I need to buy a new HD and get an OS. This should do the job?

Yes. Ubuntu is a linux distribution.

"Ubuntu is a complete Linux-based operating system, freely available with both community and professional support."

Here is a link to the "Absolute Beginner Talk" forum on the Ubuntu community site.

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=73

Welcome to linux!

Ami,

You can find a nice overview here: http://distrowatch.com/
If I were you I'd try a livecd first. If only to check the compatibility of your hardware.
A long list of livecd's you can find here: http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php

Have fun

I installed Kubuntu 2 days ago It says it's Ubuntu, plus KDE. Installing was a piece of cake, it runs out of the box, but then I had to install the Nvidia drivers. That's when hell started
I went through it step by step, but every time something else was either the wrong version, missing, not installed, wouldnt compile, left me with only the text console...
I reinstalled it froms scratch 2 more times, learning a bit more every time (install MC, coz I used that on prevous linux attempts, enabled and set a password for root, discovered that I had to enable Universe in Adept), and every time I got 1 step further, but also sooner or later I messed up so much that I couldnt get X running anymore.

Is there a Linux version that's somewhat easier to get my Geforce 6800 running?
I dont mind trying things, and I have quiet a bit of computer knowledge, but after 48 hours of installing, rebooting, reinstalling and looking for how-to's and walkthru's I'm about to give up...

[edit: ARGH! I just found out that there's a new Kubuntu released 2 days ago! I must have downloaded mine only minutes before they did that! I tried 5.10, and now there's a 6.06.. ]

[edit: ARGH! I just found out that there's a new Kubuntu released 2 days ago! I must have downloaded mine only minutes before they did that! I tried 5.10, and now there's a 6.06.. ][/QUOTE]

Not to worry, you can always upgrade through System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager without having to do a full reinstall. Might want to let the auto updates tell you though, it just went to beta it appears.

Try the Ubuntu live CD. Boots up without touching your hard drive so you don't lose data. Then you can play with linux and see if you like it. If you do there is an icon on the desktop that will install it to your machine. This should also help you check to see if your hardware is supported.

Ubuntu 6.06 is not yet out, it's just beta... Thought it already works very nicely. It'll come out int 2006.06 (that is June).

Binary NVIDIA or Ati drivers are not that easy to get up and running -- but they're needed for 3D.

But they're not that hard, too. In Ubuntu, be sure to use some packaged version, that's the easiest...

http://ubuntuguide.org/#installnvidiadriver
Just a few commands, AFTER enabling the restricted/extra package sources:


It's still some work...

Beware, while Linux is very usable and has a lot of programs that might suffice, it still might not suit your needs 100% and you still will have to invest some energy in configuring, figuring some things out. Some things are harder to configure, but once set, they run more stable than in Windows.

I recently installed SuSE 10 on an external usb harddrive hoping to be able to get the linux SL client to work on my latop (Dell Latitude 600) without messing with the harddrive (it's a work laptop). It didn't since the laptop's graphics card has only 32 Mb of ram on it. I tried booting a desktop with an nVidia card from the external disk yesterday. SuSE recognised the new hardware including the video card and through the update utility it offered to install the nVidia driver... The SL client works flawless in this setup.

Hope this helps

Zonax and Loki, tnx for your help.
I'm typing this now on Fedora5, took me half a day to install coz my DVD-player was too fast (disk 1 kept whining halfway the installation about me keeping the disk mounted. After some rebooting and googling I used an old CD drive and that did the trick)
Untill now I dont really like the look and feel of Fedora. I might go back to (K)Ubuntu, or Suse.

(and a tip for other noobs like me: install MC (midnight commander) and lynx (textbrowser) At least you dan do some things when X crashes)

This should help...

http://www.ctlsoftware.com/products/12101/

BTW, for newbie Ubuntu Linux users, I just found this:

http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/

If by the Look and Feel, you mean the fact that Fedora uses Gnome be default instead of KDE, then just use switchdesk - it allows you to choose your poison and it is a lot less hassle that a full OS install.

No, I installed KDE and unchecked Gnome.
I know, they are probably some settings somewhere, but even Firefox looked better on Kubunto, and Fedora feels slower.
Anyway.. I'm about to reinstall some other Linux version... I messed up my Fedora completely while trying to resolve the "could not find libgc-4" error

Been using Suse as a desktop OS since 6.3 and never bothered with the others. Od course, gotta use Debian for servers, but that's just cos I'm a sicko and need my pain fix from time to time.

Last distro I installed was Suse 9.1, and it was smoother and easier to get set up than Windows *spit* XP. All these people who think Linux is hard are using the wrong distros.

Oh, are they different? On my experience of Look& feel is the same on every Linux. Only difference is KDE, GNOME or something else. Most ppl wont stick to the default layout anyway.

Vinci

Ubuntu still seems much more polished and user-friendly, at least in my view. But tastes can of course vary.

For those new to window$ alternatives may I suggest having a look at FreeBSD. It is as good as Linux but in my experience (been using it daily for over 7 years now) a bit more coherent and less confusing. Installing stuff is a breeze with the ports system that is not unlike Debian's apt-get. You can even install the Linux compatibility package and install Linux binaries such as rpm's. The online manual is one of the best written out there and the mailinglists are very newbie-friendly.
Want to ty before you buy? Get the Freesbie or pc-bsd livecd's at http://www.freesbie.org or http://www.pcbsd.org

Just my two cents

Loki

If you've never used linux before, I'd recommend PCLinuxOS over kubuntu. It requires much less setup and config to get it working after install. But get the live CDs for both, and play with them, and decide which you prefer.