Q: I've heard about Linux, but I still don't understand how it can be free.

A: You're talking about the price tag, right? Well, first of all, one reason why it is free is because the people who work on it don't ask for money to do so. This probably sounds a little strange; someone working hard for you for free? It begins to make a little more sense, though, if you try to imagine something like 100 people working together for each other for free: one person contributes only the fruits of his own efforts, but benefits from the efforts of 99 others, in addition to his own. Of course, some people are paid to work on linux, but it is usually through channels such as sponsorship from companies such as IBM.

Q: IBM? No kidding? Those are big boys.

A: Yes they are. They aren't the only ones. The American government sponsors open source programmers too, mainly in the lower level technical things. Sun Microsystems contributes a lot too, as well as numerous European governments such as the German and Finnish ones. Brazil also is a heavy linux user.

Linux really is a revolution in progress. It is a global digital tidal wave which just keeps getting bigger, and that's why we have an Egyptian Linux Users' Group.

Q: If IBM and Sun Microsystems are in on Linux, how can it be free? Don't they have to make money?

A: Yes they do. IBM is a good example of a for-profit business adapting itself to the incredible world of free open--source software. The trick is shifting your revenue stream to services and hardware.

Q: Free, of course, means it probably isn't that good.

A: Quite the opposite. Imagine if you were a programmer with, for example, Microsoft. You would be getting paid to write programs, that is true, but you would be working on what the company wanted you to work on, not what you really wanted to work on. The programmers who write Linux software get to choose exactly what interests them and stimulates their creativity. This makes an incredible difference, and this is something you can only feel if you start using open source software like Linux.

Q: Okay, I like the idea. But I'm worried the things I use on windows won't be available on Linux. Things I use for serious work.

A: There's some good news and some bad news. The bad news is, they won't be available. In some cases, windows software will work on linux, but that is a different story. The good news is, you might be able to guess, that there are substitutes for almost everything available on Linux which are usually better. In most cases, it will not be a problem of finding a replacement for, say, Microsoft Word, but rather a problem of which one of the substitutes to use; OpenOffice? KWord? Abiword? KWrite? &c.

Using Excel? Try Gnumeric, Openoffice Calc, KSpread. Do you absolutely need Photoshop? For that there is The Gimp. And while you try Gimp, check out Cinelerra and Film-Gimp too, movie editing tools. And you might as well drop 3D Studio Max for Blender.

If you're programming under windows, you're most likely using Visual Basic. For that, there's Gambas, though this document is really too short to list all of the programming languages you can use under linux, or all the development environments. Windows programmers who move to Linux usually feel like they have died and gone to Heaven.

Why don't you ask someone from the Linux Users' Group for a demonstration of the substitute for your favorite windows software?

Q: Wow. OK, all of that must require a really powerful computer.

A: This isn't windows. All of these choices and all of this power doesn't have to cost you massive resources. A barebones linux installation will run quite happily in 4 Mb of RAM. For real-world desktop work with a graphical user interface, you should be fine with 32 to 64 Mb a a minimum. And you don't need the latest of fastest processor either; anything from a 486 up will do fine.

Linux isn't greedy.

Q: So it's free, it's powerful, it has lots of software, it does't need an expensive computer. Are we missing anything?

A: Yes. You get free access to the source code (the recipe) of the software just in case you feel a need to modify anything and know how to do it.

Q: This is obviously too good to be true. I don't believe you. There is a trick. What do you want from me?

A: No trick. No catch. We do want something from you, though; we want you to become a Linux user. It's a little bit like when you hear a nice song, and you tell your friends about it -- does that gain you anything? No? Then why do you do it?

Q: Alright, I'll become a Linux user -- but wait, what happens when I get stuck? Who'll help me?

A: Just like Linux is made in a wide and decentralised way, support is also available in a way which is just as unique as the way the programs are made. There are communities of Linux volunteers on the internet who are always ready to help you out with any difficulties you might be experiencing. We, the Egyptian Linux Users' Group, is one such community. There is help available 24 hours a day 7 days a week on web message boards, on IRC chatting channels, through e-mail lists, &c.

When you get stuck, there is always a helping hand -- free and knowledgeable.