Frequently, most sites display a "md5" checksum with the software or ISO files you download. If you download an ISO image of Linux, you should check the downloaded file to see that it is unaltered. Do this, on Linux with the "md5sum" command. Open a terminal window and type the following command:

md5sum

Example for a Fedora Core 2 ISO I downloaded:

md5sum FC2-i386-disc1.iso

This command will return a large number like this:

c366d585853768283dac6cdcefcd3a2d

You can compare this number with the one on the download site. If the two numbers match you are pretty well assured of a good unaltered download.

There are thousands of Linux applications available! Try www.google.com/linux and search for "linux applications". You will get about 2 million hits. Also, try these links...

http://www.linux.org/apps/index.html
http://www.linuxapps.com/

You don't need to buy Microsoft Office anymore!
http://openoffice.org/

http://www.gimp.org/
http://www.aim.com/
http://www.mozilla.org/
http://www.ximian.com/products/evolution/

There are so many to choose from, unlike Microsoft Windows. Here are just a few of the many Desktop window managers to choose from:

http://www.kde.org/
http://www.gnome.org/
http://www.enlightenment.org/
http://www.windowmaker.org/
http://blackboxwm.sourceforge.net/

I can't list them all but here's a few important ones:

http://www.reallylinux.com/
http://www.linux.org/
http://www.linuxdoc.org/
http://www.linux.com/
http://www.learninglinux.com/
http://www.linuxjournal.com/
http://www.linuxartist.org/
https://www.seifried.org/lasg/
http://www.ars-technica.com/

Aslo, come to a meeting and ask us questions.