Free Software Foundation
“The Free Software Foundation (FSF), established in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users’ rights to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free software, particularly the GNU operating system, used widely in its GNU/Linux variant.”
They also run the Free Software Directory, containing over 4000 free, software packages, many for use on Linux systems, although quite a few applications have a Windows version too - see below for a couple of examples.
(Free in this context is free as in beer or speech, with no licences or subscriptions to pay, and all with a completely clear conscience too! 
)
Interested in giving any of this a try?
Well, your first port of call should be Linux Online, the Linux homepage. Here you can learn about ‘distros’, (distributions - the equivalent to operating systems in Windows), and find out which one is right for you. There are plenty to choose from, but some are more suited to the new Linux user coming straight from Windows, than others, which cater more for the seasoned and experienced Linux techies. There are also tutorials, links, forums and more…
And finally….
Would you like a copy of a free, fully functioning Office program that is totally compatible with all your Microsoft Office files?
If so, Open Office 2 is now available for download. You can also order a cd-rom very cheaply from a distributor near your home if you would prefer, perhaps because you are on a dial-up connection.
Open Office runs on both Windows and Linux operating systems, so even if you dont yet feel ready to make the move away from Windows, you can still benefit from this free software, (and several other applications too, like The Gimp for example, an open source graphics editor which is similar to Photoshop, and also runs on both Windows and Linux).
I am personally soon to set up a dual boot system of Windows and Linux, (waiting for a new motherboard to arrive), and am going to start with PCLinuxOS, which I have already booted from a LiveCD, and rather like the look of. I will be reporting back on my successes and failures over the summer months, so watch this space for details.
If any of you would like some more Linux links, you can find a few of the best in the Open Source section in the JWG directory.
Any comments on the above, always welcome.
