Handle With Linux

Handle with Linux is about Linux and Linux capable devices.

Linux is a free operating system, free in many ways. What is commonly referred to as Linux is actually much more then Linux alone. Many people refer to Linux when they are talking about GNU/Linux.
Linux is available in many versions commonly referred to as Linux distributions.
The actual name for Linux is GNU/Linux. The frase Linux does actually only refer to the Linux kernel, which is the most important part of the operating system.

There are many Linux distributions and they all have their specific qualities and purpose.
Handle with Linux is aimed at becoming a community site where people can share information about Linux, and devices which can be used with Linux.

Linux is free software, it's freely distributable and open source software. This has implications, most of them are positive, some are a bit uneasy. There are many reasons for using open source, one of them is definitely the price (freely distributable, so you can copy and share it for free). The problem is that many drivers which are needed to use hardware are closed and proprietary software and therefore not freely distributable, this is one of the reasons many people have experienced problems with using their hardware in Linux.

Many people have build their own drivers and the industry is changing slowly to provide better support for Linux. Nowadays Linux distributions are available which provide very good workarounds for using not freely distributable and not open source components. So the user base is growing and more and more people are experiencing that Linux is a great alternative to the other operating systems.

There are many reasons for using Linux, it's very stable and safe to use and if you use a modern package management system it's also very easy to find and install programs for Linux.
Not enough people in this world are aware of the great benefits they could achieve by using Linux.

One of the other problems with Linux is that not many manufacturers test their devices for being usable with Linux, they don't include Linux software with your new camera or your ipod. Therefore many people are not aware most devices can be used with Linux and almost every computer task can be achieved with Linux and free software. Not all of them, and there's still some problems with games for Linux, but if you are a regular computer user you'll be able to do your everyday tasks with easy in Linux.

This site is meant to become a platform where people can share information about which devices are usable with Linux and how difficult it is to do so. If you find an article on the internet about using a device with Linux, please post it here. If you find an article on this site which is helpful please rate it.
So someone else may be capable of making a more informed decision when they are thinking of buying anything. This I hope will eventually force the industry to start thinking of the fact that they can just with a small investment test their devices with Linux and print on the box that it's linux capable / aware.
Most usb devices can be used with Linux without problem, have you ever seen Linux as one of the compatible operating systems on the box of an usb device?

Maybe we can even force the manufacturers a bit in the direction of thinking about this market, by voting with our money.