There's a large selection of free and open source (FOSS) operating systems available these days, and choosing the right one for any given circumstance can be quite a challenge. This article is intended to help you pick the best operating system for your needs and experience level. Although this article is geared primarily toward those who have little to no experience with FOSS operating systems, we've included some pointers for more savvy open source users – say, those who use a FOSS operating system at home and would like to deploy one on the job.

We've come up with five points to consider when selecting a FOSS operating system:

1. Intended use
2. Commercial support
3. Hardware compatibility
4. Software compatibility
5. Community

Intended Use

How you plan to use a FOSS operating system is a key point to take into account when making your selection. Many of the systems are quite flexible and can be used for different purposes, but it still pays to consider their relative strengths and weaknesses.

We've come up with three broad categories with which to categorize most FOSS operating systems: desktop, server, and special purpose.

Desktop Operating Systems