1. What this site is
linuxinstitute.co.za is a free online resource for learning Linux. It's an educational publication. There is no commercial offer on this site other than our paid consulting engagement (Private Cloud).
2. What you can do with our content
Almost everything.
Unless a page explicitly says otherwise, all original content on this site — articles, newsletter issues, image alternatives, code samples — is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).
You can:
- Share it — copy and redistribute in any medium or format.
- Adapt it — remix, transform, and build on it for any purpose, including commercially.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — credit "The Linux Institute", link to the page you used, indicate if you changed anything.
- ShareAlike — if you remix or transform, you must license your contribution under the same license.
Full license text: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/.
3. What's not ours
Some images on this site are generated by a third-party AI image service. Those images are used under their provider's terms. Some content links to external sites (DistroWatch, Ubuntu, etc.) — those sites have their own licenses. Trademarks and distro logos are the property of their respective owners and are used here nominatively (to identify the products), not to imply endorsement.
4. Acceptable use
You may not:
- Scrape or bulk-download the site to republish as your own (you can quote and link under fair dealing; you can't clone us).
- Attempt to disrupt the site, probe it for vulnerabilities, or hammer it with requests.
- Submit form content that's illegal, abusive, or designed to spam someone.
- Use the site to harass, defame, or impersonate anyone.
We reserve the right to block abusive traffic. We don't otherwise police what readers do.
5. The newsletter
By subscribing to any of our four newsletters you agree to receive that newsletter at the cadence described on the Newsletters page. Every email contains a one-click unsubscribe link that takes effect immediately. We do not add you to other lists. We do not share your email.
6. Paid engagements (Private Cloud)
The paid engagements listed on the Private Cloud page are governed by a separate written agreement signed before any work begins. These terms do not apply to those engagements.
7. No warranty
This site is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind. We work hard to keep the technical information accurate and current, but Linux distributions change; we cannot guarantee that any command on this site will work in your specific environment at the moment you run it. Run anything you read here on a test machine first if you can't afford the consequences of breakage.
8. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by South African law, The Linux Institute and its contributors are not liable for any damages arising from your use of this site, including any data loss, downtime, or business interruption. The site is free; if that trade-off doesn't work for you, please don't use it.
9. Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Any disputes will be handled in a South African court of competent jurisdiction.
10. Changes
If we change these terms materially, we update the version date above and add a short note about what changed. Continued use after a change implies acceptance.
11. Contact
Email admin@linuxinstitute.co.za with any questions. We respond within 7 days.