Add linux flavour article
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Title: Choosing a Linux Flavour
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Date: 2020-10-31
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Category: Writing
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Summary: A recommendation on which flavour of Linux to run.
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[TOC]
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People often ask me which flavour of Linux they should install. In summary,
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choose Ubuntu if it's your first time. Once you are comfortable, install Debian
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the next time you need to install Linux.
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I run Debian on my computers and servers.
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## Linux Distributions
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When people refer to the "flavour of Linux" they are talking about a Linux
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distribution (distro). It mostly describes what software is distributed in its
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software repository.
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"A typical Linux distribution comprises a Linux kernel, GNU tools and
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libraries, additional software, documentation, a window system, a window
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manager, and a desktop environment." [Wikipedia]
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The major Linux distros are practically all the same. If you master one it's
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easy to pick up the others. The main differences you'll run into are which
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tools you use to install new software, and the desktop environment, which is
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what all the windows and buttons look like.
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I recommend two Linux distros, Debian and Ubuntu. Ubuntu is based off of
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Debian, so they are very similar.
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## Pros of Debian
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Debian is one of the oldest distros and many other distros are based off it.
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You can see a timeline visualization of all its derivatives here:
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<https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Linux_Distribution_Timeline.svg>
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This image is what originally convinced me to use Debian. Scroll down until you
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see it and zoom out so you grasp how many derivatives it has.
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Debian is also non-commercial and requires that all software in its main
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repository is free and open source. This is important because that grants you
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the right to study, change, and distribute the software and source code to
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anyone and for any purpose. They also follow a strong social contract you can
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see here:
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<https://www.debian.org/social_contract>
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It's also a very stable Linux distro since they freeze all software features on
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each release. This makes it great for servers because nothing will break when
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it updates.
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The main Raspberry Pi distro is nearly identical to Debian, so you'll also gain
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familiarity with it.
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## Cons of Debian
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Since Debian requires all its software to be free and open source, proprietary
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hardware drivers aren't included in its main repo. This can make installing
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Debian difficult if your hardware requires non-free drivers. You'll need to use
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a non-free installation image found here:
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<https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unofficial/non-free/cd-including-firmware/>
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The fact that Debian freezes software features can also mean that your software
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gets old until the next Debian release. If you want versions that are bleeding
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edge, you'll need to use Debian Unstable as described here:
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<https://wiki.debian.org/DebianUnstable#Installation>
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Don't be fooled by the name "unstable". I use it for my personal computers and
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it runs fine.
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## Pros of Ubuntu
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Ubuntu is incredibly easy to install. You can also try it out before deciding
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to install it. The distro pretty much just works on what ever hardware you
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have.
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It's very beginner friendly because it's so popular. Any problem you search for
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will reveal dozens of threads with people solving the same problem.
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## Cons of Ubuntu
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Unfortunately Ubuntu is developed by a commercial company, Canonical. The
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company's interests come first, before the users' and they have a track record
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of betraying their users' trust and privacy.
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Years ago Ubuntu had a feature enabled by default that would send your desktop
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searches to Amazon so they could suggest products for you to buy:
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<https://www.pcworld.com/article/2840401/ubuntus-unity-8-desktop-removes-the-amazon-search-spyware.html>
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Currently whenever you remote login to your Ubuntu machine, it phones home to
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Canonical and they collect info about your system:
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<https://ubuntu.com/legal/motd>
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While these reasons are fairly minor, they are quite frowned upon in the Linux
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community and are reason enough to switch to Debian once you are comfortable
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with using Linux.
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[Wikipedia]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_distribution
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