Linux

I have just installed Ubuntu because I need a linux system asap and Ubuntu seems to be easiest for that. But I plan on installing some other Linux distro's for a while (maybe on virtualBox too) so i can understand the inner workings of linux and especially more about unix. I know that alot of the stuff on ubuntu is automated for me, I would in the long run, prefer to slowly do it myself to understand everything better. I guess my main goal though, is to understand unix as much as possible, since i know even when I start working, i will be exposed to a unix environment. any ideas?

Then go with Debian, Red hat/CentOS or Freebsd. as you said they are not automating tasks for you and you must do most of the configuration yourself.

These are my opinion. Also there will be AIX, UX, ...
I choose them because there are much more tutorials out there to use and learn.

go for solaris... it's a real unix derivat and runs on x86 hardware!

I suggest Solaris as a first preference and Red Hat as a second preference.


I recommend you don't confuse yourself with so many distors, just pick up one distro and learn the administration tasks, then it'll be easier for u to deal with other distros...

I agree. For learning UNIX check outOpenSolaris OS | Free Open Source Software | OpenSolaris ZFS or Solaris Operating System - Get Solaris 10

for learning Linux I suggest Redhat/Centos.

thank you for the replies. I think opensolaris or solaris is a great way to start. isnt open solaris just the new version of solaris? i thought maybe its best if i just go with opensolaris? what is the advantages of using solaris over opensolaris?

also, last night i came across info on slackware and apparently (according to wiki), it is the most unix like linux. so would this be a good alternative?

Solaris 10 is used in many production environments, while OpenSolaris is not. Also they differ quite heavily, so if you are planning on taking Unix SysAdmin job path, then learning Solaris is a must. You might also choose Linux SysAdmin path, then learning some production Linux, like SLES or RHEL would be the best choise.