Paul,
Well, so an install would be your first step.
If your hobby is PC building I'm guessing that, like me, you've got
more than one computer laying around, huh? Pick one to play with and
install some flavor of Linux on it.
Now, I'm a little biased since I'm pretty active in Ubuntu's Indiana
Local Community (LoCo), but I think Ubuntu is a great starting place.
Are you comfortable downloading and burning CD-ROM .iso images? If so,
head on over to <http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download>. If you're
in Bloomington, you'll most likely get the fastest possible download
from the "ftp.ussg.iu.edu" option.
I think, like me, that you'll find that installing Ubuntu is a LOT
easier and faster than installing XP. Not to mention, it comes
pre-loaded with a lot of the software you'd end up having to install
yourself after a Windows install.
Plus, you don't need to worry about setting up virus scanners, malware
removers, or a firewall except in special circumstances (e.g., we have
a virus checker running on our file server and mail server at work not
so the servers are protected from virii, but so our users running
Windows are).
A note on hardware, especially since you build your own:
Unfortunately, most hardware manufacturers only worry about making
sure their hardware runs on Windows and the open source community is
left to their own devices as far as getting it to run on any other OS.
This means that some of the latest hardware may take a bit of extra
work to get running, or is functionally limited, under Linux. So most
of us who build systems with the intent of installing Linux on them
need to do the research to know what is and isn't supported yet.
(Nothing is more irritating that buying a piece of hardware, plugging
it in, and finding out that you aren't getting full functionality out
of it right now.)
On the other hand, for 95% of the hardware out there you won't need to
go find drivers for it, since it'll be supported right out of the box.
On Ubuntu, there's a "restricted drivers manager" (under System ->
Administration -> Hardware Drivers) that will go out and automatically
download and set up the extra drivers that are unable to be included
automatically due to intellectual property concerns, covering another
4% of the possibilities.
It's in that 1% of cases (or more, if you like buying on the cutting
edge) that this can be a real pain.
(NOTE, the percentages here are vague, biased, hand-wavy estimates
based on personal experience, not real statistics.)
So jump in the pool, swim around a bit, and when in doubt, ask questions.
Take care!
Simón
On Sun, Sep 21, 2008 at 1:16 PM, Paul Proctor <proctor710@comcast.net> wrote:
> Hi Simon,
> I am comfortable with Windows but a good bit of my income and my hobby is
> from building PC's. I would like to use an OS that is more open.
> I understand something new would be a chalange, no problem. I just need some
> material to experiment with.
> Thanks,
> Paul
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