linux

can i buy & download any version of linuxoperating system online or just download good free version

You can download most versions of Linux for free. I prefer to by a CD version accompanying a book so I have a copy on hand, though.

Just go here:
http://www.linux.org/dist/index.html
It will link you to all the downloadable distro's. Yes the download versions are free. Note: For most, you'll need a CD burner to burn the images to up to three CD's. Some are less some are more.

My advice to you is to buy a Linux distro since you are just starting to learn, SuSE comes with a lot of documentation. It costs money but it's worth it.

You can download it free from any one
of many locations.Go to Google. Type in "linux"

or you can find packaged distributions in software
stores.

Often, when you buy a good book at a book store,
it will also have the install CD.

It takes quite a while to download unless you
have a very fast connection.

Even if you pay for a package, the software is free,
inthe sense that it is legal for you to make as many copies
as you want, and give them away, sell them etc.
:cool:

btw
www.distrowatch.com is a good place to start.

thanx for the help.
to my understanding linux is a hard operating system to get use too is'nt it, and i have been doing computers about 1 1/2 years i first started on win 95 but i have done a reasonable amount of reading and heard that linux is powerful and i want to learn how to use it.

whats my chances ?

It all depends on how much more reading you want to do. If you read the FAQ's and HOW-TO's and do a lot of other reading as well you can get good with it fairly quickly.

I am prepared to read what i can to learn about linux but i am not totally sure where to start

You can try http://www.linux.org/docs/. It has the Faqs and How-To's for you