Choosing a Linux OS for Beginners
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When you are approaching Linux for the first time and are not doing so to fulfill a current, existing job function it can be daunting when realizing that Linux is not an operating system, like Windows or Mac OSX, but is a family of distributions each being a unique OS and each having the potential to be quite different from the others. How does one choose which one to learn or to learn first when presented with such a situation?
The first step is to define why you are looking to learn about Linux. Thinking carefully this alone might answer your question. Don't think of Linux as a thing unto itself, this is a mistake that many beginners make. Think of the individual OSes as OSes. If you do this, does this answer the question? Are you learning Linux because you need to work or want to work on a specific device, product or scenario that already has a selected Linux distro in use? If so, use that one. For example, your job uses Linux and you would like to be more useful at work or move into a new role: go find out what distro(s) they run and start with those that are most applicable to your scenario.
If you lack that natural guidance then we should think about what it is that you want to accomplish:
Linux for a Career in System Administration: If this is your goal, inside the United States or Canada you should be learning CentOS Linux. CentOS is made by Red Hat and is identical to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL.) RHEL and CentOS rule the business space in the west by a massive margin. They are also generally the easiest to learn and have the best resources for them. If you are outside of the US and Canadian markets you will likely want to be learning openSuse Leap for Europe and most of the world or Ubuntu Server for China.
Linux for Desktop Usage: Start with Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop. Easy to use, attractive, very popular. This is the leading desktop distro and well worth a look. Even if you choose to try another leading desktop (openSuse Tumbleweed or Fedora) you will want to know what Mint is like before experiencing something else.
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Why does which continent I'm in effect which version I should learn?
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@Carnival-Boy said:
Why does which continent I'm in effect which version I should learn?
It's which continent you want to work in. Because Red Hat dominates the US market, Suse dominates the European market.
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Across the board, or are there just a small handful of European government's using Suse which bumps the figures up?
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Recommended Mint to someone the other day for a desktop OS.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
Across the board, or are there just a small handful of European government's using Suse which bumps the figures up?
Mostly across the board. Red Hat never made the big inroads and the government users are mostly recent.
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Interesting. I started with Red Hat, so have always stayed loyal to them. I can't remember why I chose Red Hat but I seem to recall it being the most popular. This was quite a few years ago, mind.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
Interesting. I started with Red Hat, so have always stayed loyal to them. I can't remember why I chose Red Hat but I seem to recall it being the most popular. This was quite a few years ago, mind.
UK is probably a mix. Suse is German so their continental usage has always been much higher. Remember that Suse is quite a bit older than Red Hat too, so had the European marketshare before Red Hat even got started.
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We use plenty of Suse in the US (like at IBM) and I'm sure that there is lots of Red Hat in Europe. It is just that their market positions are flipped.
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But everyone on SW said Ubuntu is best for beginners......
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@johnhooks said:
But everyone on SW said Ubuntu is best for beginners......
It's great when you get an explanation on that choice.
"Because other newbies use it."
"Because I heard that said somewhere."
"Because it is all that I ever used."And so forth.
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@johnhooks said:
But everyone on SW said Ubuntu is best for beginners......
I'm hoping that there is a sarcastic air there. Hard to tell, though. That's not a real concern, is it?
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@scottalanmiller said:
@johnhooks said:
But everyone on SW said Ubuntu is best for beginners......
I'm hoping that there is a sarcastic air there. Hard to tell, though. That's not a real concern, is it?
No of course not. Sorry, my sarcasm is hard to detect on the internet sometimes.
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Sarcasm Detected
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Can you imagine working like this?
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That guy, while valuable, is just a nutter.
