Almost a dozen CD-ROM based distributions of Linux are available. They differ in the version that is included on the disk, their organization, and the value-added features they have, such as new installation documents and utilities as well as supporting printed manuals. Of course, you also need a CD-ROM drive on your machine that will work with Linux. Don’t assume that any non-SCSI CD-ROM drive will work—many of them won’t!

The version you obtain should have a recent release of the Linux software (compare version numbers among CD-ROMs) as well as a complete set of accompanying utilities. It can be hard to identify the contents from the sparse identification on the cover of some CD-ROM collections, so you may find yourself unwittingly purchasing outdated material. Luckily, the CD-ROMs tend to be inexpensive. The CD-ROM included at the back of this book provides one of the most recent versions of Linux, along with many of the utilities and source libraries. With this CD-ROM, you won’t need to buy another version until you want to upgrade to a later kernel.

A few vendors have dressed up their Linux collections with added utilities or boot disks that make installation much easier. The addition of precompiled games, applications, and user utilities makes these CD-ROMs a little more attractive. Some CD-ROMs also include an accompanying manual. For the most part, these manuals are simply printed versions of files on the CD-ROM, although some vendors have taken the time to write very readable instructions for Linux. If you are a newcomer to Linux, this type of document can be very useful.