Are you tired of Windows crashes, spyware, viruses, and vendor lock-in? Are you frustrated with licensing fees and software activation demands? Are you dreading the arrival of Windows Vista, with its increased hardware requirements? Are you willing to try something different?

Linux is a free and open-source operating system that has seen tremendous growth in the past several years. Linux is stable, secure, and very powerful. It is also has tremendous capabilities, far beyond those available with other operating systems. I believe that Linux has arrived as a viable option for most people. That is the Linux reality.

Linux Reality is a podcast aimed at the new Linux user. The episodes start from the very beginning, and take it slowly. It helps Windows and Macintosh users learn about the history of Linux, the importance of the principles of free and open-source software, and the exciting Linux community. It also aids users in understanding the differences between Linux distributions and helps people with choosing the right distribution with which to experiment. The podcast demonstrates how users can try Linux without disturbing their Windows operating system at all, and also walks people through a Linux distribution installation for those that choose to take a more permanent step. In short, the show explains how it works — in plain, simple, and non-geek terminology.

This podcast is for you. Join the adventure to a new computer reality — the Linux Reality.

The host of Linux Reality is Chess Griffin, a computer hobbyist and enthusiast whose first computer was an Apple II he received as a gift in the late 1970’s. In between playing Olympic Decathlon, Choplifter, and LodeRunner, he learned to code in assembly language on an Apple II+ and Apple IIe. During high school, he learned to program (?) in Pascal while taking an AP computer science class, and wrote a teacher gradebook program, which was never actually used by anybody. Other computers he has owned include the amazing Sinclair, the legendary Commodore 64, the precocious Atari 400, and the monochromatic first-generation 1984 Macintosh. During college and graduate school, he moved away from computers and now works in an unrelated field, although he maintains his passion for computers and technology by spending too much time on geek stuff such as web design, learning php, Python, and bash scripting, and working with his Linux boxes. He started using Linux in 2001 with Mandrake Linux 8.1, Debian 2.2 "Potato," and Red Hat Linux 7.3, the latter of which he still considers one of the best Linux distributions ever made, except for the one he uses today. Linux is now his primary operating system at home. He lives with his wife and two young children in North Carolina, where they pay no attention to ACC men’s basketball (ok, not really).