If you write software for Linux though you can pretty much do whatever you want, except, of course, you shouldn't. Because if you do re-invent the wheel every time you write for Linux, we end up with software that doesn't work or play well with other Linux software. That's where the LSB (Linux Standard Base) comes in.

There are so many Linux distributions out there it’s dizzying. Some are simply respins of various base distributions with a different theme or maybe one or two specific applications thrown in for good measure. And then there’s Uberstudent.

Live CDs do a great job of advertising Linux distributions. In addition to general-purpose live CD distributions, there are lots of task-oriented live CDs. Wouldn’t it be great if you could carry multiple live CDs on one DVD disc? Nautopia.net has put up a script that you can use to make a custom DVD to boot multiple live CDs.

Linux is Free Software. Generally the average person tends to think of “Linux” as simply one operating system, but it’s rather a family of systems. Think of Linux and the various distributions as branches on the same tree-trunk.

Novell has extended a set of development tools so they can be used to write applications and other software for rival Linux distributions, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux and CentOS.

I support Linux and the free software movement. I appreciate all the hard work that the community has put into free software. However, we need a solid base of what Linux is. Every distribution their own package management, file system structure, and set of tools that is different.

Some distributions make it very easy to add a complete alternative desktop with a single selection. Two that I have been looking at today are Fedora 13 and Linux Mint 9. Both of those are best known for their Gnome distributions, and both have alternative "spins" for KDE, Xfce and Lxde...

I'm a Windows user, and it has served me well. That being said, I play with a lot of Linux distributions and there are some applications that are just so much better than anything Windows can offer that I find myself wondering how long it'll be until I make the switch.

My "10 Best Linux Distributions of 2009" list drew a bit of disdain from some of my readers, so I thought I'd make it up to them by posting a list of Linux distributions that they like to use. 3. Hannah Montana Linux.