Linux OS Recommendations

kenb99

Greetings:

I'm about to get started on studying for Linux+ cert. Can anyone recommend the best flavor of Linux to install?

Also, I'd like to run it in a VM because I'm cramped for space for setting up another computer. I have a 3.1 GHz Win 7 machine with 3 GB RAM but I'm thinking that may not be enough.

Someone recommended CentOS. In the past I've used Ubuntu a bit.

Thanks.

beantownmp

CentOS (Red Hat flavor) & Ubuntu (Debian flavor) is what I'd recommend as its what I'm using. You are expected to know both Red Hat and Debian based Linux.

kenb99

Thanks for the info.

Have you had any experience running Linux on a VM? I thinking about using Virtual Box.

beantownmp

Yeah its extremely simple. Virtualbox or VMware Player work just fine. Download the .iso of the distro and load it up in your VM program of choice. Basically you just next your way through the install and you're up and running. Of course there are a lot of options to possibly configure, but to just get it up and running its very self explainable.

Slowhand

I'm going to agree with beantownmp on CentOS, but I'd recommend you go straight for Debian itself, instead of a distro based on it. Since you're trying to learn the under-the-hood inner workings of Linux, a distro like Ubuntu that does a lot of hand-holding and is inherently user-friendly may not be a good choice.

Kinet1c

I was going to ask the very same question. I've been using Ubuntu for about 5 years now (server and desktop). I'm confident enough editing files in vim, navigating via command line, moving files, setting up lighttpd etc... should I stick with ubuntu or would my existing skillset (I use that term loosely) transfer to something like centos?

beantownmp

Kinet1c wrote: »

I was going to ask the very same question. I've been using Ubuntu for about 5 years now (server and desktop). I'm confident enough editing files in vim, navigating via command line, moving files, setting up lighttpd etc... should I stick with ubuntu or would my existing skillset (I use that term loosely) transfer to something like centos?

It would transfer extremely well. The major differences you'll notice is package management yum vs apt.

Kinet1c

beantownmp wrote: »

It would transfer extremely well. The major differences you'll notice is package management yum vs apt.

Great thanks, I'd prefer to tackle this cert with a distro that would be utilised more in a commercial environment.

kenb99

OK - Centos and Debian it is.

My thanks to all.

Slowhand

Most welcome, let us know how your studies go.

DoubleNNs

Personally, I had better luck using Debian on Virtualbox than I did Ubuntu. So I second (third?) the use of Debian instead of Ubuntu.

W Stewart

I'm taking the linux+ as a part of WGU and from what I've studied so far you're going to need more than one distro. You're going to need to be familiar with both redhat and debian package management. You're going to need to be familiar at least on the surface with a few different init daemons as well as grub 1 and 2. Fedora should cover the redhat package management as well as systemd and grub2. Ubuntu should cover upstart and debian package management as well as grub 2 and I would recommend Debian to familiarize yourself with the sysvinit daemon and grub1.

Bryzey

I have been using 3 virtual machines for my linux+ study:

CentOS - free red hat clone
Fedora - breeding ground for future red hat
Debian - so both yum and apt package management gets practices.

sunzeal

I mostly work on CentOS. Very stable O.S

ChooseLife

sunzeal wrote: »

Very stable O.S

Sure it is, all of mainstream Linux distros are

TechGuy215

CENTOS, RHEL, DEBIAN, and OPENSUSE.

twodogs62

I like SUSE Linux. Work with several distros to really see what Linux is all about.
Remember the kernel is Linux in all of them.
The difference is packages and tools packaged with kernel.
To make sure you are well rounded Linux geek, play with several distros.

have fun!!!!