I went to ther Redhat website and you have to spend $100-3000 depending on version. Please someone clarify this for me because I thought Linux was free. The ISO download links for Redhat 9 don't work so how else can I get it without spending Red$$$.

There is no assurance that all versions of Linux will be free---but many are.

RedHat offers Fedora free:
http://fedora.redhat.com/

Redhat 9 is obsolete.

Also, go to distrowatch.com for LOTS of other choices.

well, honestly Red Hat is a corporation, that sells to corporate customers. They have a community run edition, Fedora, that I believe would suit your needs. And it's free. Fedora isn't *officially* supported by Red Hat, but it is kinda like a testing ground for what goes into the more stable and costly RHEL. The Red Hat Enterprise Linux is designed for corporate customers who need support and all that jazz. here's a link for Fedora Core
http://fedora.redhat.com/

--Drew

CentOS is RedHat for no cost.

You've misunderstood it. Linux isn't supposed to be free, but open source. Most programs are licenced under GPL (some version) or similar; you should read the licence trough, it states more or less clearly what can and cannot be done with programs licenced under it (Linux is actually just the kernel, then there is a load of GNU GPL'ed programs and maybe more). Basically they can sell the product as much as they like, as long as they provide the source code with the release. Here is a good place to learn that open source does not mean free of charge, or necessarily free by any other means, and often no such thing as 'free' exists at all.

There used to be free versions of RedHat in the past, up to version 9, but after that the thing as changed a bit. Nowadays "RedHat" products are those you buy from them; Fedora Core, then, is basically the same thing except that it doesn't cost you money (except for if you order the discs from somewhere, they might charge you shipping and/or disc creation cost) and it's a kind of "testing ground" for RedHat. It has been said that RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) version n is basically the same thing as Fedora Core Linux version n-1; for example, Fedora Core 5 has been (or has been said to) used to test stuff, and when it became stable enough, RHEL 4 was created on the base of that. RedHat probably has an official line about this, but I think it's fairly said that the free-of-charge Fedora Core reminds of those older free-of-charge RedHat Linux', and though they're not (usually, or hopefully) quite as stable as RHEL products are, they are pretty much the same thing. Except, of course, that with RHEL you get (or can get) paid support and a guarantee for updates and so on..

It's very important to understand that Linux, or any GPL'ed software, does not mean that people could not sell it. That kind of software would probably soon die, because it wouldn't interest the commercial industry. However by permitting selling it (for example) it gets more interest, and still shaping the licence so that the product can't be "locked" (source code must be given), it's made sure -- as far as it's possible -- that nobody later steals other people's software or pieces from them, and then start asking for money from the original creator because of patent violations or something alike that Microsoft does (and apparently Novell is going to in the furure too).

I really encourage you to read trough a GPL licence; you should easily obtain one, if not from a GPL'ed program's source package, then from the web; Google probably finds you one sooner than you yourself visiting the site where the licences are. It's not that long if you're interested, and in case you later plan to start selling something, or create software under GPL licence, or just generally use some, it's a good idea to know what you're dealing with.

Basically if you buy RH you are buying support. If you want the same product but don't want to pay for the support, go for something like CentOS which is RH without support and badging/logos, but otherwise is the same distro

Why REDHAT isn't free? because if you want the support, they want the money. it's that simple... if you believe you can do it yourself, then go with Fedora and probably CentOS.
Fedora is a pop distro and there is a lot of support forms on the internet that covers the support part.
CentOS is a free distro based completely on REHAT enterprise linux for more complex tasks.