The words "Linux" and "install" seem to cause massive amounts of fear when put together in a sentence. In my experience, the same computer techs who will fearlessly debug and fix up a Windows machine will hesitate to even touch a Linux CD, much less install it on a machine. It's true that Linux has, in the past, been something of a nightmare to install. Users had to know how to navigate a text-based installer, partition their hard drives, boot with specific options for their hardware, find drivers (well, that last part isn't so different from Windows)... it was a headache at best and an absolute terror at worst. Oftentimes it would take two or three hours just to get a Linux distribution to actually install!

Thankfully, however, people noticed and did something about it. In the past few years, Linux installers have improved leaps and bounds in their usability and user-friendliness- some modern distributions have installers that are comparable to Windows XP!

So for those of you who want to install Linux but have never done it, take heart- it's become a fairly easy process, and I'm here to walk you through it! We'll be using Ubuntu Linux because of its user-friendly install- other distributions have different installers, some harder than others.

Step 1: Download the latest Ubuntu version (8.04 "Hardy Heron" as of this writing) and burn it to a CD.

Step 2: Restart the computer and boot from the CD. Different computers boot different ways- you may have to enter a boot menu or change the BIOS to boot from the CD-ROM drive first.

Step 3: Ubuntu will load itself to a menu (be patient- this may take a little while). Choose to install Ubuntu.

Step 4: The installer will load, and it will ask you for your time zone and your keyboard language. For both of these, choose the appropriate setting and continue.

Step 5: You will reach a screen that asks how you want to partition your hard drive. Don't worry! Ubuntu has made this easy for us, and you don't need to know anything about partitions in order to continue. Select the first option- "Guided resize and use free space". Beneath it is a bar showing Windows and Ubuntu. This shows how much of the hard drive each one is taking up- adjust the slider, and when Ubuntu is as big or small as you want it, press next!

If you don't have Windows or want to remove it, simply select "Guided- use entire disk".

In either case, a warning will pop up making sure you want to make the changes. Review your settings, and once you're satisfied click "Continue" to proceed!

Step 6: The next few screens will be prompts asking you to create a user account and whether or not you want to migrate settings from Windows (if explicable). Create your account and import whatever settings you like, and then continue.

Step 7: The final screen will have an overview of what settings you have chosen for the install. If you're satisfied with them, click "Install" to continue. The install can take anywhere from fifteen minutes to over an hour, depending on the size of the hard drive and partition choices.

Step 8: When the installer has finished, click "Reboot now" and remove the CD from the drive when prompted to do so. As the computer is booting, you should have an option to boot from Windows or Linux (or just Linux if you never had Windows or got rid of it in the first place). Select Linux and press enter.

Congratulations! You will be presented with the Ubuntu login screen. Log in and be glad- you've just installed your first Linux distribution!

Learn more about this author, Alexander Lourenco.
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