this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2026
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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If you want to learn Linux, install Gentoo. That'll give you a pretty good understanding of what's going on. It'll be an intense process though.
If you just want to install and use Linux, pick one of the usual suspects: Mint, Fedora, openSUSE Leap/Slowroll, whatever. If you come from Windows, picking KDE Plasma as your desktop environment (DE) is a good choice. Mint's Cinnamon should be good too. Picking a popular distro usually means troubleshooting is easier, since someone else out there most likely has the same issue you have, and documentation is more comprehensive.
Remember that many distros provide a live environment you can run from a USB stick. Try a couple with different DEs and see what fits your needs. Honestly, the distro doesn't matter that much, they all do the same thing, more or less. Maybe try to pick your DE first and then just go from there.
If you want a simple answer, pick Mint.