I am new to Linux, as is in the title, and I was searching up the difference of the distros that are available. I was recommended to try Linux as I am new to programming and apparently it may be better/easier on Linux. That same person recommended I try Fedora, yet I have no idea what it is specified for. I would prefer a system that could help me learn coding and other stuff needed to become a programmer. Any recommendations? Oh and I plan on using it as a virtual OS on my win7 system. Is that bad for how I plan on using it?

Welcome to the forums! This question gets asked several times a day, so you might want to use the Search feature to read some previous threads on the topic.

I think Fedora is a fine choice for a first-time Linux user who is technically minded. You can read more about the top 10 distributions here: http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

Thanks, and as for the search function I didn't think there would be a situation exactly like mine, so I'd prefer to say my reasons for getting Linux, and see what people recommend. As for my research into it before I asked this question, I had heard Ubuntu was more user-friendly to windows/mac and Fedora for people who don't need that stuff. However, that was only in one thread so I wasn't sure. I'll check the link you gave right away.

Greetings,

I think for a first timer OpenSuse is a really great way to get started.

It has the Yast installer GUI interface which makes installation of the OS really simple and adding any needed programs just as easy.

Now here is a word of warning and not meant to scare you away from Linux.

There isn’t any perfect Destro of Linux and don’t try to make any associations between Linux and M/S Windows, they are just different. Some are really for advanced users.

Linux is supported by a huge user community who contribute fixes and upgrades to different OS’s and programs. The learning curve is reasonably more difficult than Windows.

The Linux help system which is built around the MAN pages are very often tough to get through when you need help so I would suggest the link I’ve included below. The help with commands is boiled down to be more user friendly.

Also, buy a book on Linux which describes Linux functions and programs and how to write C and C++ code. You will need to learn how to compile your code and execute it.

There are also user forums for the Destro you decide to install along with this site where your post appears. Pick a major main stream release to work with and install it a few times until you get it set up the way you like.

Good Luck.

http://www.computerhope.com/unix.htm#04

Ubuntu & Mint are MSWin like, Fedora is a bleeding edge R&D distro; I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner.

Tutorial http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz

Hey, I'm always up for a challenge. Been learning code by myself and can get some courses through one of my family member's work so I don't suspect it to be quite a problem, I just need a system that I can learn/practice my coding and hopefully one that doesn't go too easy on me; I prefer it like that. Just keeps my brain in shape.

As for a lot of the terminology used, I am not familiar with it, so a lot of this stuff you all are saying, I'm kinda just guessing at the meaning. Remember, only used Win, only familiar with Win, and (quite) a novice programmer. How novice? At the moment I am learning java script from Codecadamy. Just stuff to keep in mind when replying with stuff that all you Linux (just bear with me, I'm going to assume this is all Linux terminology) users are familiar with.

Back to your post swamprat, I shall check out your suggestions.

If I don't dive into the systems, how else am I supposed to learn? I'd prefer the hardest learning curve for the stuff I'd like to do; for me, a harder learning curve tends to help me learn faster.

Careful with that approach. "Hardest learning curve" in the Linux world means no GUI, all CLI, and hours of dependency resolution. If you don't want to be babysat by a Windows wanabe distro, I would steer away from Ubuntu and its derivatives (Mint, etc). I think something like Debian or CentOS might be right up your ally. They have GUI tools to introduce you to features, but do not isolate you from the CLI back end where you can really get some work done.

No.. GUI.. that's a new one(for me). I was checking out a list of cons and pros of several distros and CentOS says it only has 5 years of free security updates, I would prefer it to be free. There also seems to be a con with CentOS and Debian that they tend to be " Conservative - due to its support for many processor architectures, newest technologies are not always included." Also, the slow updates (1-3 years) seems a little.. behind unless the updates are massive. However that's coming from a win user, used to a lot of updates, don't know the requirements for keeping an OS up to date(as in programming it). However, I shall try out Debian, seems to be more my style with the "over 20,000 software packages" and it apparently supports more "architectures" than any other distro. That SOUNDS good, so I shall try it out right away.

5 years of updates is actually INCREDIBLY good in the Linux world...the norm is 1-2 years. I think you're getting caught up in the "free security updates" part of the sentence. CentOS is free, all of its updates are free, they're just going to stop providing updates after 5 years, they're not going to start charging for them. Fedora, which your friend recommended, only provides ONE year of updates, FYI. Debian only gives 3 years of updates:
http://wiki.debian.org/DebianReleases

5 years is about as good as you're going to get.

Both CentOS and Debian will lag behind the cutting edge. This is because they're "server" OSs, which means they wait until new versions of the packages are proven to be stable before releasing them to their users. While you fall behind the cutting edge, you also aren't going to have to worry about installing an update and having it break half of your system. This should have absolutely zero effect on your ability to program with the OS.

Since you're using in virtual machine you can try the easiest to the hardest, I would suggest installing the easier distro so that you have a working os & you can also see what's installed sort of a comparison.

Nothing wrong with that at all. I use VirtualBox all the time to test out other Linux distros on my current Linux distro, set up a Windows system on my Linux box (for Office and other Windows-only applications), set up Linux systems on a Windows box, etc. I love VirtualBox. The only time a VM won't work is when you don't have enough resources to handle running both OSs at the same time, or you need the VM to interface directly with some low level hardware (sometimes the VM interface can slow down or break the connection). For software development or testing out a new OS, VM software can be a godsend.

Agree with post #10; I think you've (OP) misinterpreted the doc you read.
The tutorial I referenced is cli based, not GUI.
Always remember that although you may install a GUI (& for a desktop it makes sense) you can open a cli terminal any time you like and work at that level.

I would start with Ubuntu. It is fairly easy to use, and there are a lot of beginner friendly tutorials for Ubuntu all over the net.
Here is a good website for getting started with Ubuntu: http://psychocats.net/ubuntu/

Once you get used to using Ubuntu, if you want more of a challenge, try Slackware. Read the Slack book first: http://slackbook.org/html/index.html

What d you want to lern? Programming, or OS? You cannot do both, because programming need stable OS beneath and if you try to learn OS then the best way is to break it and then fix it and then again break it and so on until you know your way around the OS enough to be comfortable. So do you want to become sysadmin ar application developer? Ive been both but you cannot be both at the same time if we are speaking as an occupation or daily job.

If you want to be Linux sysadmin, then I would recommend you not to stick to the single distro but try many many different ones until you find yourself a suitable one (I for one discust Ubuntu and love Slackware but thats just me).

If ypu want to be mainstream application developer, then the underlying OS does not matter. Depends on what you want to program. If you want to do Objective-C development, the best platform is OS X with X-Developer, if you want to do .NET develpment then the best platform is Windows using Visual Studio, if you want to do enterprise Java development then any platform will do just fine.

Linux is not a prerequisite for programming. It just brings its own set of issues to the table. There are lots of information in the web "why linux suck"