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It uses a BSD-style file layout and hands-on ncurses installation interface, is deliberately “UNIX-like” and, most notably, eschews Red Hat’s now-ubiquitous systemd, so you’ll be using init rather than systemctl commands to manage services. It also maintains several classic Linux features that other distros have abandoned, making it a popular choice with many old-school users for that very reason.
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That’s set to change soon with the imminent release of Slackware 15.0, which those who want the latest features can already access in the form of Slackware-Current.Īs you might gather from the slow release cycle, Slackware is built for long-term stability. Pop!_OSĪnother 1993-vintage distro, Slackware (no relation to the popular collaboration platform) is still very much alive and kicking, despite a website whose front page was last updated in 2016. For getting things to work easily, Ubuntu-based distros can be the best choice, though distros like Arch and Slackware encourage aren't without their charms. Best desktop distrosĪlthough desktop Linux is a comparatively niche use case compared to the operating system’s ubiquitous server presence, it’s also a rewarding one. Because they benefit from full-time corporate support and upkeep, these distros are often updated more frequently than at least some of their community rivals and may be better options for businesses that prioritise stability.Ĭhoosing the right Linux distro can be hard, so we've rounded up some of the best options on the market today.
#Top linux versions for beginners software#
One last point to note is that while all Linux distros rely to some extent on voluntary contributions from a community of developers for their continued development and stability, some distros are backed by large commercial software development organisations, with Canonical (which develops Ubuntu) and Red Hat being key examples. However, many of these distributions are closely related and the underlying Linux operating system means that - much like its Unix-compatible POSIX-compliant relatives such as OpenBSD and macOS - once you understand the fundamentals of using GNU/Linux, you can apply that knowledge to any other Linux OS and be confident that everything will work more or less as you expect.
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This can lead to complaints about fragmentation from both users and developers targeting the platform.
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