# Introduction: What is Linux?

{% hint style="info" %} <mark style="color:blue;">**Who is this guide for?**</mark>

This guide is written for anyone getting started with Linux for the first time. Some basic experience using a Windows or Mac computer may be helpful, but the goal is for this guide to be accessible for any level of tech knowledge.
{% endhint %}

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to read through this guide! Learning something new is always tough, but I believe that learning the basics of Linux is well worth the effort.

**Operating systems** are tools that let humans communicate with computers. Whenever you use a laptop computer, a smartphone, or other devices like gaming consoles, you need an operating system to turn your clicks and taps into computer code that the hardware in your device can understand.

Computer operating systems like Windows or Apple macOS and smartphone operating systems like Android or iOS are the bridge between **hardware** (like circuit boards) and **software** (what appears on your screen).

Although most people use Windows or macOS on their computers, **Linux** is another operating system that is growing in popularity. Unlike Windows or macOS, the computer code that runs Linux is completely free—anyone can make their own copy of it and modify it for whatever purposes they would like. This flexibility has allowed people to make versions of Linux that can run on nearly any piece of technology, from tiny $4 Raspberry Pi computers the size of a credit card to the world’s biggest and fastest supercomputers.

<figure><img src="/files/LDXcTkuGu8FLPAGtKEwg" alt="An image of a Raspberry Pi Pico computer. It is a small circuit board about the size of a credit card." width="375"><figcaption><p>A Raspberry Pi Pico computer. Image credit: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/green-and-black-circuit-board-yC_7U1g3Kvs?utm_content=creditCopyText&#x26;utm_medium=referral&#x26;utm_source=unsplash">Vishnu Mohanan</a></p></figcaption></figure>

Since Linux’s creation in 1993, thousands of customized versions called **distributions** have been released by individuals and companies. Many distributions have been made especially for laptop and desktop computers, including the distribution I will be introducing called **Linux Mint**.

Here's a preview of what Linux Mint running on a computer looks like:

<figure><img src="/files/SfqIMWrRIwsW54ht55Ik" alt=""><figcaption><p>Linux Mint 22 displaying a web page in Firefox (top left), a text document in LibreOffice Writer (right), and an open source building game Luanti (bottom left).</p></figcaption></figure>

Click the link below to continue reading about Linux Mint!

{% content-ref url="/pages/8ukzgoyJ9Wypp4HDooGY" %}
[Getting Started with Linux Mint](/linux-mint-guides/getting-started-with-linux-mint.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}


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