Which Linux OS?

[Kenji4861]

I've been through some job interviews and they always seem to ask "Hows your Linux Experience."

So I thought I'd install it at home and get myself use to it.

Which Linux OS do you guys use at work or/and recommend to use?

Thanks for any tips.

 

[Platypus]

If you want to learn: Gentoo
If you want a hand holder that teaches you nothing (perfect for whatever job asks you about linux experience that isn't sysadmin or required for the job), redhat/fedora/mandrake/suse or any other BS operating system like that.

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

How about a lifelong windows user who just wants to say he's had experience using it? 😛

 

[bmacd]

knoppix for the "just wanna try it" user. It's bootable off the CD, so there's no need to mess with partitions or chaotic installs.

-=bmacd=-

 

[BlueWeasel]

Originally posted by: JustAnAverageGuy
How about a lifelong windows user who just wants to say he's had experience using it? 😛

I think your best bet is to download and one of the good Live CDs -- you can boot directly to a Linux desktop and you don't have to worry about installing it or configuring partitions.

Some of the more popular ones -- Ubuntu, MEPIS, PCLinuxOS, Slax, SUSE

 

[SLCentral]

Here is a good distro.

 

[BrokenVisage]

SuSE

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: SLCentral
Here is a good distro.

:thumbsup:

 

[Willoughbyva]

PClinuxos is pretty good. It's a live cd that lets you install it.

 

[suse920]

SuSE

 

[tami]

i use fedora core 4. been using it since redhat 7. it went through a few reinstalls and upgrades, but it's a very nice distro 🙂

btw, click here to choose your linux distribution. GREAT tool!.

 

[tami]

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation
If you want to learn: Gentoo
If you want a hand holder that teaches you nothing (perfect for whatever job asks you about linux experience that isn't sysadmin or required for the job), redhat/fedora/mandrake/suse or any other BS operating system like that.

i beg to differ, but it all depends really if you use command line versus X. i never use X. i always SSH into my box, actually.

 

[thirdlegstump]

I've been using Debbie and it's been quite fantastic.

 

[Platypus]

Originally posted by: tami

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation
If you want to learn: Gentoo
If you want a hand holder that teaches you nothing (perfect for whatever job asks you about linux experience that isn't sysadmin or required for the job), redhat/fedora/mandrake/suse or any other BS operating system like that.

i beg to differ, but it all depends really if you use command line versus X. i never use X.

Why do you beg to differ?

Can you build Fedora from the ground up based on your exact processor?
Does Fedora teach you how init works? Does it teach you about networking, filesystem mounting, fork/exec, shells, etc? Don't think so.

I mean I've known how all that sh!t works for years but if he wants to learn then what I recommended is the perfect solution, not a GUI.

 

[Josh64FX]

Lindows is pretty good too

 

[tami]

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation

Originally posted by: tami

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation
If you want to learn: Gentoo
If you want a hand holder that teaches you nothing (perfect for whatever job asks you about linux experience that isn't sysadmin or required for the job), redhat/fedora/mandrake/suse or any other BS operating system like that.

i beg to differ, but it all depends really if you use command line versus X. i never use X.

Why do you beg to differ?

Can you build Fedora from the ground up based on your exact processor?
Does Fedora teach you how init works? Does it teach you about networking, filesystem mounting, fork/exec, shells, etc? Don't think so.

I mean I've known how all that sh!t works for years but if he wants to learn then what I recommended is the perfect solution, not a GUI.

actually, it does, just not in depth like gentoo. i actually tried to use gentoo and it was not really my kind of thing. i disliked how it took 3 days to install because it had to compile EVERYTHING. ugh.

btw, you do see that i said that i NEVER use X, right? i only use command-line (i actually edited my post to say i SSH into my box only, but you had already quoted me, i guess)

 

[Praetor]

I use Gentoo.

If you really want to learn how to use linux, start off with Linux From Scratch. That will teach you the building blocks of the operating system. Once you get that down, then try any other distribution and enjoy how easy they make linux compared to doing it completely on your own.

 

[Platypus]

Originally posted by: tami

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation

Originally posted by: tami

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation
If you want to learn: Gentoo
If you want a hand holder that teaches you nothing (perfect for whatever job asks you about linux experience that isn't sysadmin or required for the job), redhat/fedora/mandrake/suse or any other BS operating system like that.

i beg to differ, but it all depends really if you use command line versus X. i never use X.

Why do you beg to differ?

Can you build Fedora from the ground up based on your exact processor?
Does Fedora teach you how init works? Does it teach you about networking, filesystem mounting, fork/exec, shells, etc? Don't think so.

I mean I've known how all that sh!t works for years but if he wants to learn then what I recommended is the perfect solution, not a GUI.

actually, it does, just not in depth like gentoo. i actually tried to use gentoo and it was not really my kind of thing. i disliked how it took 3 days to install because it had to compile EVERYTHING. ugh.

btw, you do see that i said that i NEVER use X, right? i only use command-line (i actually edited my post to say i SSH into my box only, but you had already quoted me, i guess)

Who cares if you run the X server or not? So where in Fedora's GUI install does it have you create an /etc/fstab or a /etc/hosts or compile your own kernel, or /etc/resolv.conf, or /etc/init.d... etc etc I could go on and on.

Point is, it does it, and you don't.

 

[tami]

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation

Originally posted by: tami

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation

Originally posted by: tami

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation
If you want to learn: Gentoo
If you want a hand holder that teaches you nothing (perfect for whatever job asks you about linux experience that isn't sysadmin or required for the job), redhat/fedora/mandrake/suse or any other BS operating system like that.

i beg to differ, but it all depends really if you use command line versus X. i never use X.

Why do you beg to differ?

Can you build Fedora from the ground up based on your exact processor?
Does Fedora teach you how init works? Does it teach you about networking, filesystem mounting, fork/exec, shells, etc? Don't think so.

I mean I've known how all that sh!t works for years but if he wants to learn then what I recommended is the perfect solution, not a GUI.

actually, it does, just not in depth like gentoo. i actually tried to use gentoo and it was not really my kind of thing. i disliked how it took 3 days to install because it had to compile EVERYTHING. ugh.

btw, you do see that i said that i NEVER use X, right? i only use command-line (i actually edited my post to say i SSH into my box only, but you had already quoted me, i guess)

Who cares if you run the X server or not? So where in Fedora's GUI install does it have you create an /etc/fstab or a /etc/hosts or compile your own kernel, or /etc/resolv.conf, or /etc/init.d... etc etc I could go on and on.

Point is, it does it, and you don't.

i actually have a completely edited /etc/fstab since i have multiple harddrives and want to use it for mounting. i also run a number of samba shares that i also mount using fstab.

i have modified all of the aformentioned files as well. the thing is, if you want to learn linux, you will depending on whether you have gentoo or whether you have fc4. you CAN compile your own kernel -- it's just not something enabled by default.

this is why i'll go on to say that fc4 is good for a beginner, but if you want to go ahead and try something more advanced, you can do gentoo. for my needs and lack of patience, though, fc4 is fine.

lastly, i'll say that i rarely see any enterprise/corporate servers using gentoo because it doesn't offer the same level of support as redhat enterprise or redhat advanced server. it's good for personal use, but i don't see it as a corporate distro.

 

[Platypus]

Originally posted by: tami

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation

Originally posted by: tami

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation

Originally posted by: tami

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation
If you want to learn: Gentoo
If you want a hand holder that teaches you nothing (perfect for whatever job asks you about linux experience that isn't sysadmin or required for the job), redhat/fedora/mandrake/suse or any other BS operating system like that.

i beg to differ, but it all depends really if you use command line versus X. i never use X.

Why do you beg to differ?

Can you build Fedora from the ground up based on your exact processor?
Does Fedora teach you how init works? Does it teach you about networking, filesystem mounting, fork/exec, shells, etc? Don't think so.

I mean I've known how all that sh!t works for years but if he wants to learn then what I recommended is the perfect solution, not a GUI.

actually, it does, just not in depth like gentoo. i actually tried to use gentoo and it was not really my kind of thing. i disliked how it took 3 days to install because it had to compile EVERYTHING. ugh.

btw, you do see that i said that i NEVER use X, right? i only use command-line (i actually edited my post to say i SSH into my box only, but you had already quoted me, i guess)

Who cares if you run the X server or not? So where in Fedora's GUI install does it have you create an /etc/fstab or a /etc/hosts or compile your own kernel, or /etc/resolv.conf, or /etc/init.d... etc etc I could go on and on.

Point is, it does it, and you don't.

i actually have a completely edited /etc/fstab since i have multiple harddrives and want to use it for mounting. i also run a number of samba shares that i also mount using fstab.

i have modified all of the aformentioned files as well. the thing is, if you want to learn linux, you will depending on whether you have gentoo or whether you have fc4. you CAN compile your own kernel -- it's just not something enabled by default.

this is why i'll go on to say that fc4 is good for a beginner, but if you want to go ahead and try something more advanced, you can do gentoo. for my needs and lack of patience, though, fc4 is fine.

lastly, i'll say that i rarely see any enterprise/corporate servers using gentoo because it doesn't offer the same level of support as redhat enterprise or redhat advanced server. it's good for personal use, but i don't see it as a corporate distro.

See this wasn't really about your experiences though, he stated he wanted Linux experience, he's not going to KNOW what to edit if the gui does it for him. If he has to manually do it himself, he will remember it. I understand your point, I mean obviously all distros allow you to edit the filesystem, but NOT by default.

As far as your last point, you are correct but it doesn't really matter the distro.. if you understand the OS you can figure it out yourself. Starting with something like redhat enterprise you will learn nothing, which is what he wants.

 

[brxndxn]

I like Mandrake

 

[mobobuff]

Linspire.

 

[Pepsi90919]

I like Mandrake

-------------------------
Flying Pepsis!

:thumbsup:

 

[tami]

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation

Originally posted by: tami

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation

Originally posted by: tami

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation

Originally posted by: tami

Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation
If you want to learn: Gentoo
If you want a hand holder that teaches you nothing (perfect for whatever job asks you about linux experience that isn't sysadmin or required for the job), redhat/fedora/mandrake/suse or any other BS operating system like that.

i beg to differ, but it all depends really if you use command line versus X. i never use X.

Why do you beg to differ?

Can you build Fedora from the ground up based on your exact processor?
Does Fedora teach you how init works? Does it teach you about networking, filesystem mounting, fork/exec, shells, etc? Don't think so.

I mean I've known how all that sh!t works for years but if he wants to learn then what I recommended is the perfect solution, not a GUI.

actually, it does, just not in depth like gentoo. i actually tried to use gentoo and it was not really my kind of thing. i disliked how it took 3 days to install because it had to compile EVERYTHING. ugh.

btw, you do see that i said that i NEVER use X, right? i only use command-line (i actually edited my post to say i SSH into my box only, but you had already quoted me, i guess)

Who cares if you run the X server or not? So where in Fedora's GUI install does it have you create an /etc/fstab or a /etc/hosts or compile your own kernel, or /etc/resolv.conf, or /etc/init.d... etc etc I could go on and on.

Point is, it does it, and you don't.

i actually have a completely edited /etc/fstab since i have multiple harddrives and want to use it for mounting. i also run a number of samba shares that i also mount using fstab.

i have modified all of the aformentioned files as well. the thing is, if you want to learn linux, you will depending on whether you have gentoo or whether you have fc4. you CAN compile your own kernel -- it's just not something enabled by default.

this is why i'll go on to say that fc4 is good for a beginner, but if you want to go ahead and try something more advanced, you can do gentoo. for my needs and lack of patience, though, fc4 is fine.

lastly, i'll say that i rarely see any enterprise/corporate servers using gentoo because it doesn't offer the same level of support as redhat enterprise or redhat advanced server. it's good for personal use, but i don't see it as a corporate distro.

See this wasn't really about your experiences though, he stated he wanted Linux experience, he's not going to KNOW what to edit if the gui does it for him. If he has to manually do it himself, he will remember it. I understand your point, I mean obviously all distros allow you to edit the filesystem, but NOT by default.

As far as your last point, you are correct but it doesn't really matter the distro.. if you understand the OS you can figure it out yourself. Starting with something like redhat enterprise you will learn nothing, which is what he wants.

well, all in all, it depends what the work environment wants. it would be very good in any specific instance for the job description to refer to what distro of linux is being used -- just in case it's an issue of redhat vs. gentoo. i actually was hired, based on my experience, at askjeeves, and they use debian.

so it really varies. any specific linux administrator should know basic linux (naturally), as well as more advanced issues such as ones we've discussed. other advanced issues would include iptables, as well as configuring DNS, DHCP (in a server environment especially). i've been asked those questions at job interviews and didn't quite have much to tell them. but as a sysadmin, those are critical components to actually doing the job well.

so i guess we're both agreeing in the end. if one wants to learn linux, it could start with a system as simple as redhat/fedora, but to get to the next level, it would require major work at learning how the kernel works and what fstab does (and how to modify it) and grub.conf (or whatever bootloader you use) and files of that sort.

 

Debian

Once you apt you never go back!