: There isn't an official free version of Maple 17. However, Maplesoft does offer a free 15-day trial for new users to test Maple.

: Look for a .deb file or an installation script for Linux. Maple often comes with a Linux installer that can be run from the command line or through a GUI.

If you're having trouble installing Maple directly, some users have reported success using Wine, a compatibility layer that allows running Windows applications on Linux.