Hello guys,
I am a completely new to Linux, I want to learn it for fun/development reasons. i thought it would be nice to have a decent understanding of Windows, Mac-OS and Linux. I want to become some sort of software developer, and it could't hurt to at least know my way around. So where should I start, I am completely new to Linux, i want to use it for development eventually, need to learn my way around first, Ubuntu, i have played with before, normal stuff like playing around with a browser kind of deal. I know everyone has a preference about what distribution they like, but where is the best place to start and why? It will be running on a Intel dual-core running at 2.3Ghz with 6GB of RAM ( older laptop keyboard is dead, just going to turn it into a Linux box)
Mint 18 is a great starting linux distro.
Interested in this too actually, never used Linux before.
Ubuntu, why? it is the most user friendly Linux you can get at the moment. When you are comfortable with Ubuntu learned to use the Terminal, then look for something more challenging.
1 Like
Start with all of them!
Do a round-robin style with all the top 20 distributions. Installing linux is great practice and you'll learn a lot about what makes a linux tick. Who knows, you may even stumble across a particular one that tickles your pickle.
Don't limit yourself to just one distro! The variety of linux is beautiful and to get the linux experience you need to try at least 4 different ones. lol.
Maybe use one for several weeks, then pick a new one and install that one.
Resources:
--- http://distrowatch.com/
--- http://cli.learncodethehardway.org/bash_cheat_sheet.pdf
--- http://www.tldp.org/LDP/intro-linux/html/sect_03_01.html
Super user friendly:
- Ubuntu (... and ubuntu varients and derivatives like mint)
- Debian
- Fedora
Insanely customize-able: (not for the faint of heart)
I tried Ubuntu Mint is a few flavours just burned the ISO to dvd and installed them to an old hard drive. Did not like them
When I found Manjaro that is when I found the right distro for me. Did not find ubuntu or mint easy to use just frustrating.
Thats the nice thing about linux go to distro watch web site and see all the distros download the iso and put on a usb or dvd boot the usb/dvd and see if you like them find the 2 or 3 versions of linux you like and install them play with them for a few day or week till you find the one you really like and go with it.
I have Manjaro on a 80 gb hard drive and am doing my testing, so far it has be great nice clean os. Getting help is always out there.
Good luck with the distro you find.
alright then that is a really good point, it not like I would loss anything. Would a duel core Intel at 2.3Ghz have any problem running any distro of Linux, say if i found i really liked the more complicated flavors like arch or results may vary kind of deal.
1 Like
naaa... you're good.
The biggest differences between distros is only what packages they choose to bundle into the installer and repo it's configured to download from.
I switched from windows to ubuntu about a year ago. 14.04 LTS version with unity desktop. It was super smooth transition, no crashes, no bugs, everything worked perfect for me and its my daily driver now, using it everyday 8+hours. I have ubuntu on both my desktop and laptop (dell inspiron) and everything is smooth and great.
I would suggest try any distro with LTS version and see what works for you, thats it!
For a new user i would suggest:
-Mint 18 Cinnamon
-Zorin OS
(both ubuntu based so everything that works for ubuntu works here too)
-Manjaro
If you like the Mac aesthetic then also
-Elementary OS (also ubuntu based)
If you are comming from Windows then there are a few good starter distro´s.
- Chalet OS 16.04 = Basicly Xubuntu but with a Windows7 like interface.
- Ubuntu Mate 16.04
- Linux Mint18