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Choosing a Linux distribution can be a daunting task, a task made all the more complicated by an alien soup of terms and definitions that you know are important, if only you knew what they meant. Well, never fear, for before we get into choosing the right distribution for you, I will define some of the terms that you will need to know.

The first term is one that you have read here twice already: distribution. Linux is a core Operating System, and by itself does not come with (or need) any pretty windows that we mere mortals require to make our computer do something useful. A distribution (or distro for short) is a tailored version of linux. If you think of Linux as a car, then a distro is a particular make and model of car such as Ford or Chevy. They both have the essentials such as four wheels and a driver's seat, but vary in the details. And it's those details that will help you decide which distro is right for you. Most major distributions come with one or more desktops pre-installed, and so as long as you don't stray outside of the majors, you should be ok.

The two major desktop environments are KDE and Gnome. KDE is more Windows or Mac-like in it's approach to making your computer an environment that you can comfortably work and play in. Gnome takes it's own road, sometimes emulating Windows or Mac style interfaces, and at other times not. Switching between them is a trivial task in most major distros, so feel free to experiment and decide for yourself which one you prefer.

The next term that I want to highlight today is "packages". In a Windows environment, anything that lets you do something is called a program. Under Linux, they are called applications, but this is more than just a rose by any other name. Most applications that you run under Linux are actually a set of smaller programs (called packages) that work together co-operatively to let you do the job that you want to do. This set of packages is in turn called an application, or app for short.

There are three types of packages available: rpm, deb, and tar (or tarball). Each distro selects one type that it uses, and generally sticks with that. rpm is probably the most popular, closely followed by deb, with the hard core geeks favouring tar. If you are new to Linux, or a non-technical user, you would probably be best to stay away from tarballs, as they are almost exclusively the domain of the command line geek.

The next thing that you need to know about choosing your linux distro is one of hardware.

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