Get Started

Learn more about resources for educators, including Red Hat Academy and many other initiatives to help with educational adoption of Linux and open source for educational IT/IS and classroom computing:

Open Source Now mailing list

If you have questions and want to ask someone directly, try our mailing list. This list is frequented by Red Hat staff, educators, and members of the open source community. Not only will you learn about what's going on in issues surround open source in education, it's probably one of the best free sources of expert technical support you'll find.

But the simplest way to get started with Linux is to try it for yourself. Find a computer you're not using and install Red Hat Linux. The graphical interface walks you through the entire process, which usually takes about 30 minutes. And you'll have plenty of software applications to try right from the beginning.

Note: Although Linux does run well on early Pentium and even 486 computers, Linux support in older hardware might not always exist. Check Red Hat's Hardware Compatibility List and other Linux compatibility lists first.