[Ham-Linux] A distro for n00b

[Nate Bargmann]

* Richard <richard.bown at blueyonder.co.uk> [2007 Jul 01 11:58 -0500]:

> I think Debian is still free,

Yes it is, from a licensing stand point and also free of charge
(although many entities do sell the Debian dsitribution on CD/DVD media
and often contribute a portion back to the Debian Project).  There
are several repositories for software.  Main contains only Free
Software in the sense that the licensing allows modification and
redistribution of the software.  The Contrib repository contains
software that is gratis with source available but has some licensing
restriction that keeps it out of Main.  Non-free is software that has
severe licensing restrictions and may not allow redistribution. 
Non-free often contains helper packages that integrate commercial
gratis software, like Acrobat Reader or a wireless kernel module, into
the local Debian installation.

Of course, this barely touches the tip of the iceberg.  If one only
installs software from the Main repository, they can be assured of
using software that does not restrict their use of the software or
their sharing the software with their friends.

You did a great job explaining many of the other variables of
distribution selection.  With hard drive space a cheap commodity, it's
quite easy to give a number of them a try and discover which is right
for you.

73, de Nate >>

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