Often when people consider Linux they might ask the question -- Is it compatible with Windows? In all honesty, no. It's not. It's compatible with you, and your hardware. It's not Windows. Turn the equation around. Picture you've been running Solaris, or Linux, or BSD for some time now. For whatever reason you have decided to run Windows. Are you seriously asking if Windows is compatible with BSD? Seriously. Upon installing Windows you would be pretty upset to learn that it does not play nicely with others. It will not offer you the chance to use free space to install itself if you have only one large partition. If the installer routine finds an un-formatted partition you are free to use that but it will format your drive if it sees "unrecognized" file structures on your partitions. It will not recognize other operating systems on your disk -- it will not offer you scripts or tools to migrate your data. It will wreak havoc. How is the question "Is it compatible with Windows?" a relevant and important one when Windows just bulls through destroying all data in its path to install itself. Windows is that whiny, brat kid that takes his ball and leaves the playground when all the other kids suggest something to him that he doesn't like. Is that the type of compatibility that you seek? Honestly, this is no "rant", this is just facts.

If the compatibility that you seek is along the lines of - will Linux run Windows programs? -- then the answer is absolutely yes. However, it won't do this by itself, there are programs that you need to install to get this added benefit. One is free (Wine) one costs a couple bucks (Crossover Office). The opposite is true as well, you can run Linux programs within Windows, see Cygwin. This sort of compatibility becomes moot pretty quickly after running Linux for a little while. Unless the sole purpose of you having a computer is to run all the latest games (and this is changing), I bet that you forget about Windows pretty quickly.

Linux is just another operating system, it's true. It's a kernel (brain) with some tools attached and then it becomes a distribution when some group of talented people add collections of software and enhanced functionality to it. That was a big draw for me. I could download a file (my-fav-linux-distro.ISO) and burn it to a disc and the result is this entire operating system and software collection that fits on one CD and installs to my hard drive in anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. It runs fine on hardware that many consider to be ancient and useless (HA!!!! you have a family, that eats and lives somewhere -- you toss your money away to some company or spend it wisely keeping your family out of hawk?) to new monster game machines that are powerful enough to run a city. Linux might run your PDA, your refrigerator, your home security system.

Well, certainly nobody can doubt the power, flexibility, and freedom of running Linux. In fact, many people fear this "freedom". Know what? How crazy is it to question freedom? Really. It's terrific when government officials condemn a thing that enables freedom. Sheesh. However, this is no philosophical rant or dissertation, you do what you will with the freedom(s) that you have, or, you suffer the reverse with the freedoms stripped or never granted to you. With a Linux system you are free to set it up and run it as you will. You are free to use the tools contained within it to create or destroy. To nurture or oppress. But you are free to do so. I am an adult with ethics and morals. Are you?

Running a Linux-centric computer is just like running a computer with another operating system on it. You have your OS, services, interface, and programs. You have common tools like a software manager, services manager, etc., etc., etc. However, Linux was not designed by a company in the business of making money. No, Sir. Linux was built by a guy that wanted to get a job done. It continues to be built, enhanced, polished by people that want to get the job done. It is the OS reflective of the original promise of personal computers. It's no bullshit and you shouldn't settle for anything less.

With the freedom of Linux comes certain decisions that need to be made. Nothing daunting, nothing extraordinary -- just considerations. For instance, you are afforded the luxury of choosing a favorite tool to perform a task that you need done. Like an FTP program. Sure, we all know that there are zillions of software choices in the world of Windows, but you pay for that software or you download some free version that sucks -- or, worse, you download some version that comes with the extra-added-bonus of having malware attached. Ya -- that's certainly what I want. WOOHOO!!!! On your Linux machine you can choose between many FREE versions. Get used to that. Geeks and companies write the software available to you on a Linux machine. Geeks and companies that just want to get the job done. You can choose from a central repository of software from the comfort of your favorite chair. You can click to install 3 ftp programs, use them all for a while, decide on your favorite and dump the rest. The installs and removals will not corrupt your "registry". They will not corrupt your crucial system files or badger you with asinine "do you really want to remove X?" interruptions questioning your good sense. Linux is kind to your sensibilities by not second guessing you.

Earlier I wrote that Linux may not be for you. It's true. While Microsoft and Apple does its best to force things down your throat with accompanying licensing that would make the Marquis De Sade blush, Linux leaves this up to you. Sure there is licensing but it's the kind that enables instead of restricts. True - find out for yourself. However, it's not licensing, it's not the programs, it's not the install or management, it's the idea that Linux is an OS that may require a little "user intervention". This is generally what people fear. Hold on - this does not mean that you need to go back to school to run it. No. It simply means that at some point you may be required to actually configure something, or input a command. If you can tie your own shoes this never becomes a problem. I don't mean to insult you, but if you freak out on a Windows box when a window pops up, then you shouldn't be using any operating system. Let alone one with the power and functionality of Linux. But in 2007, there are many Linux distributions that not only will probably never require you to do a thing besides click, but if that rare situation arises, they will show you how.

There are "conventions" to consider here. Linux has a different file-system than other operating systems. It locks down certain directories and functions keeping them away from you and your trigger-happy curiosity. Sure, you can change anything you like -- but you won't because on a Linux box you need to be root or admin, to do this. On your Windows box you were always admin and this is why surfing the web sucks so hard today -- because the virus writers and other malware writers knew that you were root(admin) and they introduced all this crap that you installed and ran as admin, no matter that it was inadvertently -- it happened and continues to happen. Linux protects us all from this. Viruses don't run on a Linux box. You are a regular user on your Linux machine by default and the only things that you can mess up are the things in your own /home/you directory. How's that for foresight? Microsoft claims that it must either offer functionality or security -- you can't have both. Bullshit. Who you gonna believe, a company stealing your money and trust - or a group of fellas giving you freedom? On Linux, the software is open for anybody to look at, hiding functions within it doesn't happen.

On a Linux machine the file-system structure is different. There is no C:\ drive. Everything is a file. Everything can be modified to suit your needs. Don't like the way program X functions? No worries, open its configuration file and change it. No need to reboot.

On a Linux machine you don't have X-amount of services, or daemons as they are called in the Linux world, running after you install it. You don't have 45 wide-open doorways calling out the world -- "Here I am, connect to me!". You have a select group of daemons running based on the choices you made during install and these daemons have been configured for security. It's called secure out of the box. Listen, I'm not telling you that you are forever protected -- no, that's foolish to think. It's still a computer, it still runs programs and daemons, and it can still suffer. But for all intents and purposes, it doesn't. And your Linux machine will inform you when you need to install and update - which is likely a security update. It's different from a Windows box that thinks you're a crook -- uploading all this information about you and your machine whenever it updates; installing shit (and I mean shit) that you don't know about along with your crucial updates. No. It simply informs you that there is an update, and then when you click on update, it downloads the update and that's it. You can trust it.

On a Windows box you buy a new video card and pop a CD into your "cup-holder" to install the rivers. On a Linux box you just enjoy your video card. Certainly you may need to install drivers....click, click -- done. Nothing but drivers. No "offers", no "malware", no collection of software some company paid the video card manufacturer to include on their driver CD to install on your computer because "oh, how cool is it to have this...?". You like that? You're OK with that? More power to you, Linux is no for you.

Linux doesn't have forced updates that diminish your functionality. Linux doesn't have software that forces you to keep buying new versions of it every couple years, nor does it have software that breaks your old data, or prevents you from reading your old data.

My Linux desktop Interface

Take a look at this image, click on it to see the larger version. You can plainly see that it is my desktop interface. You can see this article I am writing, which is within my Opera web browser, and up top you can see my menu-bar. Sure, I have a button that equates to the Windows "start" button. I can click it and be presented with a menu. See the icons to the right of it? Those are shortcuts to programs that I run frequently, just like "quick launch". Further to the right, still in the menu-bar, you can see my "system tray" with some shortcuts to functionality -- the sound level, a clipboard monitor collecting all my copies and cuts, a screen shot taker, weather info, the date, and others. And how pretty are my fonts and icon edges? Ya. Nothing foreign or spooky.

On a Linux machine you have the choice of interface. Or, you can allow the distribution default interface to be employed. There are many, many Desktop Environments that you can choose from. On a Windows box you have Explorer. I run Xfce4. You may like Gnome, KDE, Fluxbox, or any of the many out there. Some are very spartan, and some come with so much damned functionality you may wonder why you stuck with Windows for so long.

To run a Linux based machine you will probably have to install it yourself. True, Dell is selling machines that come with Linux pre-installed, but you don't want Ubuntu. (But you can buy the machine and install what you like, even Windows.) It's got it all over Windows, true, but in the world of Linux, there are better. You'll want Debian, or Vector, or Mandriva, or Fedora, or...you may want to try 16 different distributions to decide upon one that's right for you. The point is: You can. You may like the idea of running your OS from a CD that you can take anywhere, so Puppy or DSL come to mind. You may want to carry your "computer" around with you on a memory stick, and you can. And....how cool is that? Regardless, you'll probably have to install it yourself.

I know that you didn't install Windows. Why worry? Installing Debian takes 10 minutes. Requires only some room on your box to install it to and a fast connection to download the stuff you want while it's installing. Then, maybe an hour to install the rest and set it up. Really. That's all. Linux distributions go the distance making the install routine as simple as having a thought. Or writing your name on the chalkboard in 3rd grade. If you can read (just a little) and click, or hit enter, then you're qualified.

Once Linux is installed you're gold and can leave it on forever if you like. In fact, you may never have to install it again because next-version upgrades are a click away. With Debian anyway, and some others. So you can see value already, you are not required to keep buying new hardware on some company's timetable. Do it when you want, or don't do it at all.

You can have a special purpose machine, like a dedicated firewall or web server, or you can have a general desktop enabling all sorts of crazy things. But the important thing to remember and appreciate is the fact that you can.

I'm stopping her for today. Please -- tell me how this article is going....tell me what you think is important that I include.....email me what you want included and let's make this a community endeavor. After all, this is what Linux is all about. Continue to user contributions...