Operating System

What Operating System do you Recommend?

Bristol Wireless recommends operating systems that are free. Free in the context of free software means having a number of freedoms regarding the software. These include the freedom to copy the software for no charge and to improve it or change it to suit your needs.

There are a number of operating systems which fit these criteria. They include all the variations of GNU/Linux and BSD, which are the ones we would particularly recommend.

When choosing a free operating system you must consider:

• What computer is it for;
• What do you want to do with it.

You can always ask us for specific advice on software for a specific project.

This quiz will suggest which is the best one for you.

Debian

We promote the use of Debian Linux. We are developing a particular way to install debian, more information is available here

help page.

We can lend you a CD and explain all this if you drop into our lab on Wednesdays.

If you are interested in free software for any operating system (including MS/Mac), then look at our Software Guide.

Further reading

If you really want to get to grips with the inner workings of Linux then you may want to look at the command line page or this complete Linux book that covers just about everything.

Back to Frequently asked questions.