Linux is freely available, and no one is required to register their copies with any central authority, so it is difficult to know how many people use Linux. Several businesses are now surviving solely on selling and supporting Linux, and very few Linux users use those businesses, relatively speaking, and the Linux newsgroups are some of the most heavily read on the internet, so the number is likely in the hundreds of thousands, but hard numbers are hard to come by. He posts his counts to comp.os.linux.misc. Stay tuned to comp.os.linux.announce. At least the following anonymous ftp sites carry Linux.
Some sites mirror other sites.
At least SunSite.unc.edu and ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de offer ftpmail services. There are many BBS's that have Linux files. A list of them is occasionally posted to comp.os.linux.announce. Ask friends and user groups, or order one of the commmercial distributions. Getting started As mentioned at the beginning, Linux is not centrally administered.