Ask HN: What Linux-distro to learn about Linux?

[schtog]

I want to learn about Linux. I am a fairly experienced programmer that can program in Python, Java, C/C++, a little LISP an Ruby and very minor experience in other languages(for example Pascal!).

anyway i want to try out Linux, maybe program a little and surfing but mainly test out the OS.

so what distro is small and easy to play with? and free as in gratis.

and about installing. is there a good guide that takes you through everyhting from partition the harddrive to installing Linux to basic stuff you can do?

[olefoo]

Are you looking to learn about operating systems, or are you more interested in current linux desktops?

If you want current Linux Desktop distros try both Ubuntu and Fedora and whichever one you feel more comfortable with will work.

If you're more interested in going deep under the hood with a server operating system buy a copy of Unix in a Nutshell and Unix Power Tools (O'Reilly) and get a copy of FreeeBSD or Gentoo.

[davidw]

Ubuntu's pretty good, and can be used both on your desktop and as a server, meaning you get to run exactly the same code in both places, which is very nice for testing purposes.

[graywh]

Almost every Linux distro is free as in gratis and libre.

Start with something easy to install and maintain like Ubuntu and go from there.

[ahold]

Try archlinux. It's in the middle.