There is the old phrase "you dont know what you dont know". It always facinates me how we all tend to lead our lives in relative isolation, doing the same old same old. We tend to prefer familarity  to change. maybe it's the in-built aversion to risk and the need to be safe that defines our lives.

Computing is like that also. Ken Olsen who used to run Digital Computer, once the largest mini computer company in the world, once said that Unix was "Snake Oil". Ultimately Digital was acquired by Compaq computer , now owned by Hewlett Packard. Sun Microsystems was so successful with Unix that even the worlds largest Computer company IBM was forced to adopt it.

Bill Gates once said that no one needs more than 640k of memory and now even my laptop is most happy with 1GB. The point is that change, like death and taxes is inevitable. So if you are on the verge of giving Linux a try, hopfully this website will encourage you to make the journey. It is different, but you might also just enjoy the ride.

Here then are some pointers to help you along the way.

Desktop Environment
Unlike windows, Linux offers multiple choices for your desktop environment. Most users will settle between either the Gnome desktop environment or the K desktop environemnt , KDE for short. This website makes use of KDE. You can easliy switch between desktop environments, but when you install SuSE Linux for the first time it will prompt you for the default environment.

Where do I get Linux from
There are currently many hundreds of different flavours of Linux available. You can download the source code for the Linux from Kernel.org. You will need to compile this yourself and assemble a CD/DVD that you can boot your machine. This can be quite tiresome. The good news is that there are both commercial and non commercial companies out there that have already done this for you.  These are referred to as Distributions. Novell with its SuSE distribution being one of them.

Novell have also donated the vast amount of their work to the Open Source community under a project called openSuSE. OpenSuSE is a collaborative effort to build a leading distribution of Linux by both Novell and the wider Linux community, and typically includes much more advanced technologies that the corporate market would find to be too new. The current release of openSuSE is version 11.1 and you can download it from OpenSUSE .org

Creating Installable CD's or DVD
The CD or DVD ISO images can be downloaded from Here
You will need to burn these to DVD or CD recordable media using your favourite burining programme.

For openSuSE 11.1 there is an option of a CD or DVD. The CD comes in two flavours. one with Gnome Desktop the Other with KDE Desktop. If you would like to have both available on your system, then you will need to use the DVD.

There is also a commercial dual layer DVD version that can be purchased, which includes many proprietary software such as Real Player and Adobe acrobat.

Software Packages
OpenSuSE keeps all its software in a Format called an RPM. This is an industry wide format oringinated by Red Hat. The above CD's essentially contain thousands of these RPM's. RPM's can be installed and uninstalled with few clicks of the Mouse.

Where do I get Linux Applciaiton Software from
Unlike the Windows world, Linux comes with thousands of applications that you can just download and use. So where do you get these from? First of all SuSE includes just about everything you need on the distribution media including Spreadsheet, word processors, MP3 Playback, drawing programmes etc. Additonal applications are available from various Repositories (Repo's) on the Internet.  To get access to these applications you just download them and SuSE will install them just like Windows.

Here is a List of Repositories

Installing Software
OpenSuSE Linux includes an easy to use System Administration Tool called YaST.  Yast is like Windows Control Panel, and lets you both configure and manage many aspects of your computer

Steps to building a complete System

1. Boot your machine using the CD's or DVD
2. Install the Operating system choosing the default desktop environment.
3. Set up your wireless networking
4. Update your Graphics Drivers
5. Update your system with the latest Updates and Patches
6. Install Multimedia software



Setup your perfect Desktop using this guide Here