this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2024
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Linux

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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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Ever had a question about Linux but felt too afraid to ask? Well now's your chance, ask any question about Linux, no matter how noob or repeated it is, and I and others will help answer them.

Previous noob question thread: https://lemmy.ml/post/14261893

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[–] cyclohexane@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 months ago

For #1, I've made the realization that most distros are lightweight skins or addons on top of another distro. Most of the time, if you start with the base distro, all you have to do is install some apps, change some configurations, and suddenly you have that other distro. It is much easier than doing a reinstallation.

If you filter out all of these distros that only do a little on top of an existing, you're left with a quite small number actually. I'd bet it's less than 10 that are not super niche. Fedora, Arch, debian, gentoo, nixos are the big ones. There's some niche ones, like void Linux and Alpine.

So I'd say if you try all of those, you don't need to try any more 😁