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BigCoder
BigCoder

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Linux: An Intro For Newbies

The Linux operating system is one of the most widely used pieces of software in the world, though its open source nature means that most people don’t know this. You might be using Linux every day, whether you know it or not.

Linux (the core system) comes bundled with many software packages called a Linux distribution. There are many different Linux distributions available like OpenSuse, Ubuntu, Fedora, Kali and many others.

Linux server

Linux has been widely used in web servers for some time now. In fact, the majority of websites you visit are served by a computer running Linux.

The easiest way is to start a linux cloud vps on a service like Vultr or Digital Ocean. That gives you access to a Linux server. From there, you can use the Linux command line.

As a developer, knowing the Linux command line is a must have skill. Because so much software uses Linux: web apps, routers, embedded systems etc. Often times you'll have to login through a remote terminal connection (ssh).

Linux on desktop?

It’s also increasingly popular on the desktop, with users able to take advantage of its cross-platform nature. This means that Linux can be installed on almost any computer, whether Apple or Windows-based, and work exactly as it should.

There are many different graphical environments and there isn't a "Linux way" of doing things. In fact, when it comes to Linux usually there's a dozen ways of doing the same thing. There are many graphical choices like Gnome, kde, mate etc. Usually a Linux distributions comes bundled with all of them.

Given the Linux desktop share, it doesn't seem like there will ever be the "year of the Linux desktop" but nonetheless it's comfy system for doing software development.

Many development tools are available including VSCode, Vim (learn vim), Android Studio and loads of others. In fact, most developers I've met use either Linux or OS X all the time.

Install Linux

As you might imagine, installing Linux is a little more complicated than downloading an app on your phone. The good news is that it’s not actually that hard to install.

The general idea is to download the .iso file and write it on a bootable USB disk. Then boot from the usb disk using the bios. Sometimes it doesn't boot because secure boot is enabled.

After booting, you may find yourself in an installation menu. Some distributions however, just give you a terminal where you can type commands to install everything like Gentoo (those are only free if your time is worthless). However, most Linux distributions guide you through some kind of graphical installer.

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