Book excerpt: Learn the pros and the cons of the most frequently used distros in order to find the one that is right for you. You will explore each distro step by step, so that you don't have to endure hours of web surfing, countless downloads, becoming confused by new concepts and, in the worst cases, reading complex and marathon installation guides. You will benefit from the author's long-term experience working with each distro hands on, enabling you to choose the best distro for your long-term needs. The first barrier that a new Linux user has to face is the overwhelming number of "flavors" that this operating system has. These "flavors" are commonly known as distros (from distribution), and to date there are more than three hundred active distros to choose from. So, how to choose one? You can choose the most popular at the moment, or take heed of what your friend says, but are you sure that this is the one that you need? Making the wrong decision on this matter is behind a good number of disappointments with this operating system. You need to choose the distro that is right for you and your needs. Linux offers us a wonderful open source alternative to proprietary software. With Introducing Linux Distros you can decide how to best make it work for you. Start exploring the open source world today. What You'll learn Review what a Linux distro is and which one to select Decide which criteria to follow to make a right decision Examine the most used Linux distros and their unique philosophies install and maintain different Linux distros Who This Book Is For Newcomers to the Linux world that have to deal with the myriad of distributions.