Linux OS Thoughts?

scottalanmiller

@DustinB3403 said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

Learn linux - But with out the " "

Okay so let's break this down one more step. What about Linux do you want to learn?

If you looked at Linux like the day you go your learners permit, it's just learning what the tools are and how to use them. Is there something specific you are wanting to do with Linux?

looking at Linux Administration.

Oh, in the case, installing RHEL 8 is probably the best place to start.

DustinB3403

@scottalanmiller said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@DustinB3403 said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

Learn linux - But with out the " "

Okay so let's break this down one more step. What about Linux do you want to learn?

If you looked at Linux like the day you go your learners permit, it's just learning what the tools are and how to use them. Is there something specific you are wanting to do with Linux?

looking at Linux Administration.

Oh, in the case, installing RHEL 8 is probably the best place to start.

Spend money on RHEL, really? When we were just telling him to not spend money on Windows 10 Pro for his work provided computer.

In a lab/home environment, sure that makes sense, but this is discussing his career. Which I would lean towards Fedora as a jump point.

scottalanmiller

@DustinB3403 said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@scottalanmiller said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@DustinB3403 said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

Learn linux - But with out the " "

Okay so let's break this down one more step. What about Linux do you want to learn?

If you looked at Linux like the day you go your learners permit, it's just learning what the tools are and how to use them. Is there something specific you are wanting to do with Linux?

looking at Linux Administration.

Oh, in the case, installing RHEL 8 is probably the best place to start.

Spend money on RHEL, really? When we were just telling him to not spend money on Windows 10 Pro for his work provided computer.

In a lab/home environment, sure that makes sense, but this is discussing his career. Which I would lean towards Fedora as a jump point.

Meant to write CentOS 8.

WrCombs

@scottalanmiller said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@DustinB3403 said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

Learn linux - But with out the " "

Okay so let's break this down one more step. What about Linux do you want to learn?

If you looked at Linux like the day you go your learners permit, it's just learning what the tools are and how to use them. Is there something specific you are wanting to do with Linux?

looking at Linux Administration.

Oh, in the case, installing RHEL 8 is probably the best place to start.

what is RHEL8??

DustinB3403

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@scottalanmiller said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@DustinB3403 said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

Learn linux - But with out the " "

Okay so let's break this down one more step. What about Linux do you want to learn?

If you looked at Linux like the day you go your learners permit, it's just learning what the tools are and how to use them. Is there something specific you are wanting to do with Linux?

looking at Linux Administration.

Oh, in the case, installing RHEL 8 is probably the best place to start.

what is RHEL8??

He means CentOS 8 https://www.centos.org

RHEL is the "Business version" of CentOS

Dashrender

@DustinB3403 said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@scottalanmiller said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@DustinB3403 said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

Learn linux - But with out the " "

Okay so let's break this down one more step. What about Linux do you want to learn?

If you looked at Linux like the day you go your learners permit, it's just learning what the tools are and how to use them. Is there something specific you are wanting to do with Linux?

looking at Linux Administration.

Oh, in the case, installing RHEL 8 is probably the best place to start.

Spend money on RHEL, really? When we were just telling him to not spend money on Windows 10 Pro for his work provided computer.

In a lab/home environment, sure that makes sense, but this is discussing his career. Which I would lean towards Fedora as a jump point.

RHEL is still free (as far as I know) it's just a HUGE PITA to get your hands on if you don't buy support for it.

DustinB3403

@Dashrender said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@DustinB3403 said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@scottalanmiller said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@DustinB3403 said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

Learn linux - But with out the " "

Okay so let's break this down one more step. What about Linux do you want to learn?

If you looked at Linux like the day you go your learners permit, it's just learning what the tools are and how to use them. Is there something specific you are wanting to do with Linux?

looking at Linux Administration.

Oh, in the case, installing RHEL 8 is probably the best place to start.

Spend money on RHEL, really? When we were just telling him to not spend money on Windows 10 Pro for his work provided computer.

In a lab/home environment, sure that makes sense, but this is discussing his career. Which I would lean towards Fedora as a jump point.

RHEL is still free (as far as I know) it's just a HUGE PITA to get your hands on if you don't buy support for it.

Interesting, but is there really a value to using RHEL without support?

stacksofplates

@Dashrender said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@DustinB3403 said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@scottalanmiller said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@DustinB3403 said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

Learn linux - But with out the " "

Okay so let's break this down one more step. What about Linux do you want to learn?

If you looked at Linux like the day you go your learners permit, it's just learning what the tools are and how to use them. Is there something specific you are wanting to do with Linux?

looking at Linux Administration.

Oh, in the case, installing RHEL 8 is probably the best place to start.

Spend money on RHEL, really? When we were just telling him to not spend money on Windows 10 Pro for his work provided computer.

In a lab/home environment, sure that makes sense, but this is discussing his career. Which I would lean towards Fedora as a jump point.

RHEL is still free (as far as I know) it's just a HUGE PITA to get your hands on if you don't buy support for it.

You can get it for free through a dev account, but it's offered through CentOS as the free version unless you build it from source yourself.

DustinB3403

Yeah just found the link

https://developers.redhat.com/products/rhel/download

They do want a lot of details, but meh.

black3dynamite

Linux Distros ( Desktop/Laptop Use )
Each distro that I'm listing provides a Live images.

Fedora
Fedora Workstation default desktop environment is GNOME and uses Wayland has the default display server with an option to use Xorg. If you want to install a different desktop environment and get the latest updates during installation, you will need to use the Netinstall image.
Ubuntu
Debian (Non-Free firmware)
Live
https://cdimage.debian.org/images/unofficial/non-free/images-including-firmware/10.1.0-live+nonfree/amd64/iso-hybrid/
Netinstall
https://cdimage.debian.org/images/unofficial/non-free/images-including-firmware/10.1.0+nonfree/amd64/iso-cd/
Linux Mint ( Based on Ubuntu LTS )
Cinnamon is their pride and joy desktop environment
KDE
XFCE
Elementary OS ( Based on Ubuntu LTS )
Elementary OS design layout looks similar to MacOS.

Dashrender

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@Dashrender said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@scottalanmiller said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@IRJ said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

Stick to LTS versions (...hides)

what is LTS Versions vs. Bleeding Edge

That's not a comparison. They are saying Bleeding Edge in an attempt to discredit "Current Releases." Bleeding edge is something wholly different.

LTS: Long Term Support. These are OS releases that are selected (every major vendor does this... Windows, RHEL, Ubuntu, Suse, etc.) to get "support" for a really long time with a guarantee that the code versions won't change. It's a locked release that you can install and use and get "support" for a long time. I say "support" because it's not always what it sounds like. Ubuntu doesn't offer anything we'd call actual support for their LTS, it's all a marketing thing not a tech thing.

Current Release: This is the current product release from a vendor. Windows, RH, Ubuntu, Suse all offer these. Windows, RH, and Ubuntu all have a ~6 month release cycle for current. Suse alone uses a rolling release model. None of these imply anything like cutting or bleeding edge, those terms would denote a misunderstanding of what releases are. A current release can easily include software that is decades old, nothing about it implies a faster release of packages. And if it did, Ubuntu LTS is also "Current" every 18 months, so if bleeding edge is bad, then their LTS is also bad because they would overlap.

Current selections of both....

Windows:
LTS: Windows LTSB 1809
Current: 1903

Red Hat:
LTS: CentOS 8 / RHEL 8
Current: Fedora 30

Ubuntu:
LTS: 1804
Current: 1910

Suse:
LTS: OpenSuse Leap
Current: OpenSuse Tumbleweed

Actually 1909 has been released officially.

That's what I got on my new laptop.. weird.

why is that weird?

WrCombs

@Dashrender said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@Dashrender said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@scottalanmiller said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@IRJ said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

Stick to LTS versions (...hides)

what is LTS Versions vs. Bleeding Edge

That's not a comparison. They are saying Bleeding Edge in an attempt to discredit "Current Releases." Bleeding edge is something wholly different.

LTS: Long Term Support. These are OS releases that are selected (every major vendor does this... Windows, RHEL, Ubuntu, Suse, etc.) to get "support" for a really long time with a guarantee that the code versions won't change. It's a locked release that you can install and use and get "support" for a long time. I say "support" because it's not always what it sounds like. Ubuntu doesn't offer anything we'd call actual support for their LTS, it's all a marketing thing not a tech thing.

Current Release: This is the current product release from a vendor. Windows, RH, Ubuntu, Suse all offer these. Windows, RH, and Ubuntu all have a ~6 month release cycle for current. Suse alone uses a rolling release model. None of these imply anything like cutting or bleeding edge, those terms would denote a misunderstanding of what releases are. A current release can easily include software that is decades old, nothing about it implies a faster release of packages. And if it did, Ubuntu LTS is also "Current" every 18 months, so if bleeding edge is bad, then their LTS is also bad because they would overlap.

Current selections of both....

Windows:
LTS: Windows LTSB 1809
Current: 1903

Red Hat:
LTS: CentOS 8 / RHEL 8
Current: Fedora 30

Ubuntu:
LTS: 1804
Current: 1910

Suse:
LTS: OpenSuse Leap
Current: OpenSuse Tumbleweed

Actually 1909 has been released officially.

That's what I got on my new laptop.. weird.

why is that weird?

cause i was just about to say that also.

Dashrender

Back to the OP.

@WrCombs wants to things most likely...

a desktop environment to run in - So Fedora or Ubuntu most likely... and then a separate "server" box to install Linux Server OSes on to experiment with to do things like - setup FreePBX, setup NC, setup file server, etc.

WrCombs

@Dashrender said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

Back to the OP.

@WrCombs wants to things most likely...

a desktop environment to run in - So Fedora or Ubuntu most likely... and then a separate "server" box to install Linux Server OSes on to experiment with to do things like - setup FreePBX, setup NC, setup file server, etc.

yes.
I could even VM those, right? or no? - Forgive the newbness, but I'm thinking a Desktop and then run a VM Boxes with server OS's to do what @Dashrender is saying and thoughts on which ones to try.

scottalanmiller

@WrCombs said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

@Dashrender said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

Back to the OP.

@WrCombs wants to things most likely...

a desktop environment to run in - So Fedora or Ubuntu most likely... and then a separate "server" box to install Linux Server OSes on to experiment with to do things like - setup FreePBX, setup NC, setup file server, etc.

yes.
I could even VM those, right? or no? - Forgive the newbness, but I'm thinking a Desktop and then run a VM Boxes with server OS's to do what @Dashrender is saying and thoughts on which ones to try.

Boxes is weird, but yes. Throw Fedora or Ubuntu onto a laptop or desktop, install KVM, and virtualize anything that you want. You get a fully functional, and gorgeous desktop environment, but can test any server OS or alternative desktop OS that you like.

scottalanmiller

@black3dynamite said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

Linux Distros ( Desktop/Laptop Use )
Each distro that I'm listing provides a Live images.

Fedora
Fedora Workstation default desktop environment is GNOME and uses Wayland has the default display server with an option to use Xorg. If you want to install a different desktop environment and get the latest updates during installation, you will need to use the Netinstall image.

Ubuntu

Debian (Non-Free firmware)
Live
https://cdimage.debian.org/images/unofficial/non-free/images-including-firmware/10.1.0-live+nonfree/amd64/iso-hybrid/
Netinstall
https://cdimage.debian.org/images/unofficial/non-free/images-including-firmware/10.1.0+nonfree/amd64/iso-cd/

Linux Mint ( Based on Ubuntu LTS )
Cinnamon is their pride and joy desktop environment
KDE
XFCE

Elementary OS ( Based on Ubuntu LTS )
Elementary OS design layout looks similar to MacOS.

And Deepin, and Solus.

dafyre

I saw a couple of mentions of Laptops... Ubuntu 19.10 supposedly ships with NVIDIA drivers that play nicely with the Intel+NVIDIA type graphics setups. I haven't tried this... yet... but I am definitely planning on it!

notverypunny

All depends on what you want to learn and how much breakage you're willing to deal with.

Everyone on here (myself included) is likely to have a certain bias for their own preferred flavor. Check out distrowatch if you haven't already done so for reviews and information on any of the suggestions offered.

Linux has come a long way from when I started using Slackware back around 2002. From there I went to Kubuntu, Sabayon, Mint and now Manjaro (Cinnamon) on desktop / laptops. Work has been mostly Ubuntu and Debian with some centos and centos-based products (xenserver) in the mix.

To come back to your question, it depends on whether you're looking to learn from a work-skills perspective or personal curiosity. If you want to do a real deep-dive you could do Linux from Scratch, Gentoo or Arch....

My personal recommendation (bias included) is to run Manjaro Cinnamon and use KVM or VirtualBox to experiment with other distros.
Reasons:

Rolling release is awesome
It's close to bleeding edge, but still very stable
AUR is like PPAs but so much better.

black3dynamite

@dafyre said in Linux OS Thoughts?:

I saw a couple of mentions of Laptops... Ubuntu 19.10 supposedly ships with NVIDIA drivers that play nicely with the Intel+NVIDIA type graphics setups. I haven't tried this... yet... but I am definitely planning on it!

Pop! OS is another too. They provide two different images, Intel/AMD and Nvidia.

JaredBusch

The best thing is to run a full Linux desktop that makes every point and click the same as windows.

The point is to make the day to day tasks transparent in the change.