[[Category:How-To]] [[Category:Computers]]
== What's so great about Linux? ==
It's free. It's fast. It's reliable, and not that hard to use once you have it installed. It is Linux''extremely'' is a fast, free, highly configurableoperating system that runs on many servers and increasingly on desktop systems. See the entry on [[Wikipedia:Linux]] for details. ==Students running Linux== * [[Evan Miller]] maintains Gentoo and Ubuntu systems in a ratio of 10:1.* Ben Cohen* Diana Davis ==Pros and Cons of running Linux on your computer== If PC spyware is ruining your life, or if you're serious about doing more with computers--with web pages, with programming, or with scientific computation--Linux is the way to go. BUT--you don't have to be a computer expert to find that Linux is a desirable alternative. You don't even have to commit to it all the way; you can use part of your hard drive to try out Linux, and if you don't like it just keep using Windows.
A few concrete advantages:
# It's not as purty as Mac OS X.
== So where do I go? Linux Install Parties==
Step one: Come to a Linux Install Party! [[Williams Students Online|WSO]] hosts one a Linux Install Party every month or so. Like other parties, there is food and drink. Unlike other parties, they take place in the afternoon, and everyone sits around installing stuff on their computer. Here's what you need to knowto attend one:
* Back up your important files first.
* Decide if you want to keep a Windows partition so you can boot into Linux or Windows, or if you want to go whole-hog Linux. If you're dual-booting, decide how much of the hard drive that you want to dedicate to Linux, and how much to save for Windows. The number and type of partitions on your hard disk will determine how you exchange data between Windows and Linux. If you store your data on a Windows NTFS partition you will be able to access your Windows files from Linux, but not the other way around. A lot of people leave space for their music on the Windows partition, so they can listen to it from either operating system. However, if you create a separate FAT32 partition for data then both Windows and Linux will be able to read from it and write to it.
Step two: Join the Linux listserve: ==Listserver== [http://wso.williams.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux]. We're here to help if you have problems, and if you're willing to spend time trying to figure them out.