this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2024
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Linux

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago
  • repeat the “Don’t sweat it.”
  • Ubuntu is a perfectly fine starting point (the other “beginner distro” that’s commonly recommended is LinuxMint)
  • »AFTER« you become comfortable with what you have:
    • try familiarizing yourself with the command line
    • get overwhelmed with all the distro choices available
      • get bitten by the distro-hopping bug (“Gotta try them all!”)
        • and then try Distrobox (“ALL the distros at once!”)
  • »THEN« take a look at immutable distros
    • “immutable distro” is a catch-all term that embraces several concepts
      • immutable – the root filesystem is set to read-only – makes it harder to mess up your system
      • declarative – your hardware and packages and configs are declared in a master configuration file
      • atomic / transactional – updates are checked as they’re applied, if it fails, it gets rolled back to a previous “safe state”
      • container / sandbox – ex. Flatpak or Docker or OCI – apps are isolated in their own sandbox and not allowed to mess up anything else