Hello everyone! I've just joined this Forum because like many others here, I have questions about Linux.

I am a Windows 7 user, but would like to make one of the Linux or Ubuntu offerings my main Operating System. I am tired of bugs, viruses, spyware and all the rest of it. Apart from this, I refused to switch over to Windows 10, which is pure spyware

I want a system which is secure, private and safe. Also, I don't have to burn a hole in my savings to pay for a Linux O/S. I can just contribute what I am comfortable with, which is a vital factor

Welcome!

I think you've come to the right place!

I also think your far from alone in being tired of of viruses, spyware, etc. Linux is a very secure system and can be hardened even further if you want to. There are plenty of members here that can help you get started with Linux and offer advice about it. I don't know if you have read this yet or not, but this guide was written for people just like yourself. As it's not always easy to know which Linux distro to start with. I would avoid asking people to "recommend" you a distro, because what works for me, may not be ideal for you.

If you post any questions, the more details you provide the more help that can be offered. Also make sure that you state your issue(s) as clearly as you can, so those that know the answer(s) can "zero in" on your question and give you the best help possible with your issue(s). And also pick a good title that clear describes your issue(s), and not something like "help me!", because that says nothing about your issue(s). Therefore some members may skip your thread instead, as a lot of members here "skim" through the forums here and will only see the title and decide based solely on that, if your thread is worth reading or not.

Greetings Catnip.

I am very grateful for your immediate response, and for the advice you've given me. I hear clearly, the voice of long experience with the Linux O/S. I've saved your answer to a Word sheet on Windows, in a special Linux Learner file. I'm going to have to learn Linux the way I learned Windows - by saving every bit of guidance and how-to's and going back to them until I perfect the procedure. You have no idea how useful I've found such a file is especially when my Wi Fi is down! I have just two clarifications, before embarking on this journey.

I am not a techie, and I do hope Linux isn't just meant for people with the highest qualifications in the I.T. industry, such as those with Computer Science & Engineering degrees? If so, I've no business being here and wasting your's or anyone else's time.

Secondly, I'm terrified of something called the Linux Terminus. Will it stay quietly tucked away out of sight and allow me to work peacefully, or do I have to chat with it constantly? Does it pop up at one frequently, like a jack-in-the-box, demanding attention?

I don't know a thing about its language and I can bet my bottom dollar it doesn't know mine. Unless it speaks plain English. (British preferred), and can hold a conversation something like, "What do you want me to do?" "Open new file, name it Personal Pictures 2018, save to D Drive." "Done". However, life just isn't so simple, is it?


Catnip.

No, it's not just meant for I.T. Computer Science Engineers. You have to remember that these days Linux is everywhere. Google and Facebook just to name a few run on it. There's a good chance your router at home probably runs on it - the device's firmware. Smart TV's are another device you would find Linux firmware in, and if you own an Android device, your already using it. Without going into the debate of weather Android could be considered a "Linux distro" as such, I'm not convinced that you necessarily could say that. It is Linux though, as Linux itself is just an OS kernel, the "core" of the system.

To understand where and how Linux come about, you need to understand the history behind the UNIX operating system. To cut a long story short GNU decided to build their own system based on UNIX, but could not get their kernel finished before Linus come up with his own instead - the "Linux kernel".

And then, many people started contributing to Linux and developing software for it. Along with systems being build around the Linux kernel - "Linux distributions".

I would suggest you leave what you might know about Windows, with Windows. Often people coming from Windows, have a hard time forgetting that their using a completely different system. As Linux in general is fundamentally different to Microsoft Windows. When I first started with Linux (over 10yrs ago now), the hardest thing for me was to leave what I knew from Windows and MS-DOS with Windows and MS-DOS. Because that knowledge becomes in-grained in your head given enough time.

It would be a lot easier if you came straight from UNIX, as a lot of the basic fundamentals would still apply to Linux, to at least some extent.

Just remember, it didn't click over night for me either. I don't think there would be any members here that could honestly say they knew everything straight away.

Also, some of the major PC vendors sell PC's with Linux pre-loaded, you'll probably have to pay more but.

The bottom line is that Linux can be used for anything, in any context. SpaceX also uses it. Just take as much time as you need to get your head around the fundamentals of it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Unix

jsbjsb001 Thank you for your very quick response. So Linux can be used by ordinary people like me. Another letter I saved in my folder.
So you used to use Windows but then made the switch to Linux? Now you're an expert? Wow! There must be others like you also! Most encouraging!

There is really no alternative for me, unless I want to install Windows 10, which is pure A.I. spyware. A Cabal dream come true. Cortana, W-10's sexy A.I. "Assistant" is ostensibly there to assist users, but her actual mission is to play Mata Hari Superspy, and send a constant data stream of everything the user does / saves on the computer back to her creators - Microsoft, NSA, the CIA etc. Even password-protected files. She watches constantly. The whole darned system is "alive". It is beyond creepy.

I'm sure Linux people are well aware of this. I hope and pray Linux never ever does the same to us; I hear Canonical might have been forced to create a backdoor so those reptiles can keep a quiet watch. I pray this isn't true, because I'm downloading Ubuntu right now!!

Its horrifying how the human race has given away its power to a bunch of software programmers; nameless geeks in countries no one has heard of, quietly funded by the Internet's big boys, bashing out program after program to further entangle the human race in a world wide Orwellian web.