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How To Get Started With Linux?

Probably the most common question regarding Linux is how to get started. Keeners will ask what distro should they use or what desktop is best. Perhaps they will start investigating many distributions and comparing the pros and cons of each. The simple answer alludes these people. The simple answer is the best way to get started with Linux is to get started. That’s it. Just grab a distro and get going.

A Couple of Good Linux Books

That said I’m sure those asking how to get started are asking what distro to grab and where. I’m going to assume you’re a desktop user. If you really feel the need to throw money at the problem pick up a good book. I personally recommend the Linux Bible for those wanting to survey the field of available distributions or Linux in a Nutshell for those looking for a succinct reference of commands and technology. But let me warn you now you’ll not get much from either of these offerings that you wouldn’t have in your hand if you took the first bit of advice (just download a distro install it and refer to man pages and help). In fact the only thing either really offers is a well organized presentation of what may seem like an overwhelming collection of impressive technology available to you once you’ve installed Linux.

An Overview of Some Popular Linux Distributions

I suppose the next question may be “but I want Linux to do ….”. Fair enough, you could go down the wrong path I suppose. You could do something like install a Redhat Server when what you really wanted was an efficient Linux office desktop computer. Personally I’d consider that a lesson well learned (and much needed if you’re prone to such errors) but then I’ve the benefit of age and experience. So let me try to push you down the path to a distro you’ll spend some time with.

Ubuntu Desktop – Use this distro if you’re looking for low maintenance and an abundance of free open source software (FOSS). Pretty much everything is available for Ubuntu and the majority of it is available by going to the add/remove menu entry of the applications menu. Normally I’d recommend using LTS (long Term Support) if you’re looking for stability and solid offerings but at the date of this writing Ubuntu is just getting ready to release a new LTS version (10.04) so, there is little difference between 9.10 (current version) and the next version of LTS (10.04).

OpenSuse – Use this distro if you’re wanting office productivity. In my experience you may not have as many FOSS programs available but the ones you do have and the developers supporting them are interested in seeing office productivity work in Linux. My experience with Suse is its never as stable as Ubuntu LTS in all areas but its very likely more robust in the office productivity areas. Installing random FOSS on Suse has caused me more grief than installing random programs provided by Ubuntu. The SUSE commercial offering, Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) is supported by Novell in case commercial enterprise support is a consideration.

Redhad Fedora – If you’re looking for resume material Redhat is probably the way to go. Its a little more work (consider it the cost of education) but pretty much anything you can do with Linux you can do with Fedora. There are a lot of large organizations running Linux servers and many are using Redhat. They may or may not appreciate if you’re a debian user and probably would consider your Ubuntu usage (a debian based distro) with some sceptisim since its possible to use Ubuntu with no technical knowledge what so ever.

Debian - I’m a Debian user. Ubuntu is a debian based distro driven by a commercial arm known as Canonical. Debian gives me the flexibility to grab all the FOSS in stable or unstable forms and doesn’t sugar coat it as much as Ubuntu. I’d say Ubuntu is 25% more polished than Debian. Debian makes me think more and work harder all of which I consider educational and worth the investment (though it has frustrated me and cost me some productivity when I really wanted to get something done quickly). At times I’ve taken to running Ubuntu in a virtual machine as my office environment while I figured out my Debian configuration. Being a Debian user carries almost as much panache as saying you’re a Redhat user but if you’re targeting a career in Linux I suspect most organizations would say a Redhat user can be brought up to speed on a debian system pretty quickly. Bringing a Debian user up to speed on a Redhat system will result in a lot of whining in my experience. More on that another day.

Xubuntu – Xubuntu takes the Ubuntu releases and applies the XFCE desktop. Use this distro if you’re thinking you’ll use some old hardware that barely runs Windows XP but don’t expect too much from something older. In my experience Xubuntu certainly does require a less system resources but there really is no replacement for a fast CPU and adequate RAM (probably 512MB is as low as I’d care to go, though I do have a local print/web server with less).

New and Specialized Linux Distributions

There are lots of derivatives and more trendy distros (mint comes to mind as one to try) and there are specialized distro’s (Boxee and XBMC for media players and MythTV for PVR technology for instance). I don’t have opinion on the former but in the case of the latter I’d take a full distro and install the SW on it to accomplish what I want before taking a pre-packaged specialized distro. To be honest I’ve never got Boxee or MythTV running to my satisfaction by downloading specialized distro’s but I’ve had both running to my satisfaction on other distro’s and learned a lot in the process.

There’s More To Learn by Using Linux Than Reading

There are many more topics and considerations, some of which I’m sure I’ll feel compelled to write about at some point in time. KDE vs Gnome and Debian vs Redhat for example, but I’d be hard pressed to recommend you do anything but experience these technologies. Choosing one over the other is very much a personal choice akin to choosing chocolate over blue berries or a practical choice akin to choosing a hammer over a wrench.

Thanks for coming by.