‘ beyond its geeky interface lies a moral value ‘
The very first step for a developer today is learning how to use Linux. It has essentially became a developer’s platform coming with many in-built languages like Perl, Python. So I decided my first post should be dedicated to Learning Linux.
No, this is not a tutorial for “Learn Linux in x hours”. No one can teach you until and unless you try. However I do agree you do need to know how to get started. And that is what this post is about. To start i’ll tell you which distribution is for YOU!
Often I’ve seen the most difficult question a developer faces when making a transition to Linux or just starting to learn Linux is which distribution to install. Today there are so many distros available, thanks to the awesome open source contributing community, that people get lost deciding. I myself started from OpenSUSE 11.4 and ended up now using Debian 7. So I have a little experience of using different distros and will be telling you about them.
No distro or distribution is perfect or best. As the majority will tell you that choosing a distro for you is similar to choosing a wand in Harry Potter -Yes, choose the one that fits you best.
Lets take the course I followed:
This was the first Linux system I had installed in my own system. I started with 11.4 and very soon shifted to 12.1. Its YAST(Yet Another System Tool) was a pleasure that no other can provide. This is easily the most easy to use and understand distro. This is for people who want to learn more about using Linux while keeping it easy. Also OpenSUSE scores very high on graphics rating. For folks who want looks should go with the KDE Environment of OpenSUSE.
I had two different experiences while installing the two versions of CentOS. While installing version 5 it was a gentle experience but version 6 changed a little in the installation options. And I had to format my system five times in two days to finally get it up and running(add to the fact being I was trying to add a second distro). However the distro is one of the most stable I’ve come across but its definitely not for regular users. Its exclusively for servers although as with every distro you can tweak it to your needs and install the required packages(software).
Red Hat Enterprise Linux(RHEL)
Nothing much to say about this since CentOS is considered an unofficial clone of RHEL. Highly secured and dedicated for security systems and servers. Definitely not for the noobs. And hell yeah, its certainly among the best out there from security to stability.
Definitely for the ultimate pros. Starts in total command. Its package format also differs from the traditional .deb and .rpm formats. It has its own package type and a package manager called pacman.
Revered by Hackers. If you love networking then this one is to be used. Very few come even close to it when you need a system that requires network penetration tests. I did perform a few tests on this one with a few friends and results were outstanding for one of them.
I never had it installed as I was never a fan of Ubuntu unlike many others one of the main reasons being Unity Environment had been applied by the time I had tried Ubuntu and I was far from loving it. But I’ll try not being partial and tell you that it is a pretty nice distro for beginners. It has a lot of codecs ready and available. It also has the most active discussion communities. But if you are from the Geek planet this ain’t the right thing for you.
Linux Mint is said to be “Ubuntu made right”. This is my recommended distro all non geeky people willing to use Linux. It has almost all music and video codecs(the packages required to play music and video files). And it has some beauty. And when it came out with Cinnamon Environment, my love for the Linux Mint community just doubled. Linux Mint has both the looks and the ease of users for regular users and I see a bright future for it.
Although I installed fedora much later in my own system, this was my first interaction with Linux in college. Pretty geeky and the Gnome 3 Environment(themes as in “Bill Gates Users” language) released back then just blew my head off. Barring Ubuntu no other Linux distribution is marketed the way Fedora is. Its However, it was only around 6 months ago that I had installed it. It is a very well upgraded distro with the latest of packages but little buggy. It is considered the test-bed project for RHEL by Red Hat and hence has a community that is very very dedicated to its project.
Whenever I think of Debian, it makes me feel like Gandalf or Albus Dumbledore. There’s nothing you can’t do with Debian. It has the widest range of software available in its repositories(mirrors that host packages of software), Its known for its stability as well as versatility. Debian has three different releases available at any moment. Stable, Testing, Unstable, unstable providing the latest of softwares. Each has their own merits and demerits but being the most popular distro for Linux based servers you can certainly bank on its stability. Debian is relatively easy to use, highly stable and suitable for all kinds of users. The only demerit Debian has is its two year long release cycle where it is tested to the point of destruction, makes its stable version a bit obsolete.
The list ends here as I am yet to play with other distros but I do have little knowledge of a few others too so I’d like to mention them as guest appearances:
Scientific Linux: Based on RHEL, used at research places like CERN.
Gentoo: If you want to truly learn Linux and how it works, this is how you do it. compile individually and install.
Slackware: Developed by Linus Torvalds in 1991, it is very effective for running old hardware and is one of the oldest distributions available.
Mandriva: Formerly Mandrake, it offers a quite pleasant Linux Operating System.
Mageia: Made in France(not China), its forked out from Mandriva. Its an upcoming distro having come up in 2010 and is already very popular.
PCLinuxOS: Another fork of Mandriva, its popular for its support of wide range of video cards.
Puppy Linux: Originating in Australia, it is extraordinarily small and hence the name. Its so small that it’ll boot from a 256 MB USB stick.
Having mentioned so many, there are still hundred more out there. You just have to choose what fits you. I feel my experience might be of some help solving the question “Which distro should I install?”
Developer Times 
its been a pleasure to read ur blog .. U have truly written ur heart out .. 🙂
Thank You Sikandar. Its for helping people out.