David's Wiki

Linux distributions

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A list of some of the most popular linux distrobutions


Debian Based

Ubuntu

Probably the most popular and well known distribution.
Use the latest LTS version of Ubuntu if you don't know what else to use.
Many other distros are forks of Ubuntu such as Linux Mint and Elementary OS.

RHEL Based

The following distros are based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
In general, for desktop and workstation usage install Fedora.
For server usage, use CentOS.
If you want, you can create a Vagrant or Docker instance with CentOS to test packages before deploying to production.

Fedora

This is the variant of RHEL with the latest features. Fedora releases every 6 months and has a support cycle of 13 months.
There are no LTS releases.

CentOS

A very popular and lightweight OS great for server usage.
A lot of VPS services offer CentOS as their default distro.
Releases of CentOS have approximately 5 years of full updates followed by 5 years of maintenance updates.

RHEL

This is a paid linux distribution used by businesses and universities.   If you're a consumer, just use CentOS which is also owned by Red Hat.

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