- It lacks a graphical interface. No X Window System, no KDE, no GNOME.
- It hasn't been updated since 1998.
- It is missing many other parts that most people expect to find in Linux.
- hal91 runs off a RAM disk. If you edit any files on the hal91 disk, or add any files to the disk, your changes will be lost when you shut your computer off. See section 5.2 of the hal91 user's guide for a way to avoid this.
- You must use the "mount" command to get hal91 to access your hard disk. The "mount" command can be hard to use. The "mount" command does not work for Windows NT, 2000, or XP users. Sorry.
- It will not run on a 486SX or a 386, as it requires a math coprocessor.

For Linux users:

1. Download hal91.img.gz to the directory of your choice.

2. Start xterm. Change to the directory where you downloaded hal91.img.gz. Type gunzip hal91.img.gz and press Enter to decompress the file.

3. Type dd if=hal91.img of=/dev/fd0 and press Enter to write the image to disk.

4. Reboot your computer and enjoy!

• If you have a problem downloading hal91.img.gz, try hal91-0.2.0. Rename the file to hal91.img after it's downloaded.

• If you're still having problems installing or using hal91, remember that there are dozens of other distributions out there - both tiny and full-scale. See the Alternatives section below for more details on some other distributions.

For Windows users:

1. Download and open hal91.zip. Unzip all three files to a folder of your choice, such as the desktop. If hal91.zip does not open, first download and install ICEOWS. hal91.zip contains the hal91 disk image. It also includes rawwritewin, a program that can write the disk image onto a floppy disk. You cannot use Windows Explorer to write the image. If you do, hal91 will not start.

2. After you've unzipped hal91.zip, open the folder you unzipped it to. Double-click on the rawwritewin icon. Put a 3.5 inch floppy disk in the a: drive. Everything on the floppy disk will be erased! In rawwritewin, click the small button with three tiny dots on it. Find hal91.img. Click on it once, then click Open. Click the Write button, then just wait as rawwritewin writes the hal91 disk image onto the disk. If you want, you can delete hal91.img, rawwritewin, and diskio.dll now.

3. With the hal91 floppy disk in the drive, restart your computer. Click Start, click Shut Down, and choose Restart from the list. Soon, you'll be running Linux. From there, you're on your own in command-line Linux - no graphics, just plain old text mode. You can read the hal91 user's guide if you want. A Beginner's Introduction to Command-line Linux is more useful if you don't know how to use Linux. Or see the Documentation section below. Enjoy!

• If hal91.zip does not open, first download and install ICEOWS.

• If you have a problem downloading hal91.zip, download hal91-0.2.0. Rename the file to hal91.img after it's downloaded. Download rawwritewin from John Newbigin's webpage.. Use rawwritewin to write hal91.img to the disk.

• If you're still having problems installing or using hal91, remember that there are dozens of other distributions out there - both tiny and full-scale. See the Alternatives section below for more details on some other distributions.

If you do not have a broadband (high-speed) Internet connection, also see How to Get Linux.

Details on the distributions mentioned above:

• Kanotix: bootable (fully functional) and installable CD, based on Knoppix, comes with apt-get, autodetects most NVIDIA and ATI cards for 3-D gaming (glx) purposes at bootup (unlike Knoppix 3.7).
• SimplyMEPIS: bootable (fully functional) and installable CD, comes with apt-get, supports most NVIDIA and ATI cards for 3-D gaming (glx) purposes once installed.
• Debian: installable CD, comes with apt-get, small install, very customizable. Poor hardware autodetection. I believe some Debian developers want the hardware autodetection to stay as it is.
• Slackware: installable CD, simple reliable package manager, small install, very customizable. Poor hardware autodetection. I believe the maintainer wants the hardware autodetection to stay as it is.
• DamnSmallLinux: bootable (fully functional) and installable CD, comes with apt-get, small, fast.

The Linux Documentation Project provides good, free documentation for Linux. There are the book-length Guides, the medium-length HOWTOs, and the short mini-HOWTOs. Everything is also available in PDF, PS, text, and PalmPilot-compatible versions on the Linux Documentation Project website. A lot of their work has been translated into dozens of different languages.

Books

Linux books range from well-written to fairly bad. However, since it costs a lot to publish a book, publishers don't publish books they find useless. I've found that books published by O'Reilly & Associates tend to be quite well-written. Their introductory Linux book is called Running Linux. I make a commission if you buy any books through my hyperlink to Amazon.com. An introductory Linux book will often include a full Linux distribution on CD-ROM attached to the back cover, although Running Linux does not.

As for bookstores, Abebooks and Alibris sell cheap books, both new and used, although they do not provide detailed descriptions of each book for sale. They allow booksellers to add their new and books to a database. You can search the database and order the books online. It's a good way to save money on books. Used books may be missing CD-ROMs that were originally included. Be sure to e-mail the bookseller and ask.