Hi,
I work in a company where job security isnt too great at the moment, so I'd like to learn new things, the main one being Linux.

Talking to a tech guy at work he says the best bet to replicate an office environment would be Red Hat, so I would like to install Red Hat Linux Enterprise V7 but am finding it difficult to find an open source website offering a free download for it.
Does anyone have a particular website they get their Linux from at all please?

Also, excuse this very ignorant question, but I'd like to set up a server within my Vmware Workstation 10 environment, plus 3 desktops - would that need Linux Red Hat server plus Linus Red Hat desktop software?

If the above has already been answered then I will happily follow a thread that you could point me too please instead?

Thanks in anticipation,
Clank

Hi...

Welcome to the forum

I'm pretty sure this is a distribution that you will need to pay for. If you're willing to do that, you can start here. You can also try it free in a non production environment.

If you would like to save the money, from what I understand here on the forum, CentOS is nearly identical To Red Hat. Please see here. However, it doesn't come with the support that Red Hat does. I also found this article, if it helps.

Hope this helps...

1 members found this post helpful.

Pretty sure the "community" version of Red Hat is Fedora.

https://getfedora.org/

https://www.redhat.com/en/technologi...edora-and-rhel

Hi,
Thankyou both for the quick replies - they are very much appreciated

Fedora is the bleeding edge testbed for RHEL, it is not for server environments or any other environment where you don't want to reinstall the OS every 6 months to keep it out of obsolescence.

RHEL is not a free distro, there is a required support contract that costs $xxx per year. The free port of RHEL is CentOS, which keeps 1:1 with RHEL versioning and lifecycle and is 99 percent compatible.

There is no difference. RHEL is RHEL and CentOS is CentOS. The different "releases" just install different packages by default, but all packages are available on all "releases" via yum (the package management system on RHEL/CentOS/Fedora) once the OS is up and running. I usually just install the minimal release for size/speed reasons and then add on whatever packages I need/want from there. Just keep in mind if you go this route that the minimal version does not include a GUI, so if you want one you'd need to either install it after-the-fact or install a more "complete" version from the get-go.

Hi, thankyou for your detailed reply.

Based upon your advice I think I'll head down the CentOS route opting for the more complete install in the first instance, because a gui interface will be more advatageous for my learning as a newbie I think.

Hi,

Welcome to LQ!

You will not learn much just using a GUI. If you really want to learn the inner working of a Gnu/Linux then I suggest you learn to use the command line(cli).

Agree to that. Consider on purposely starting off of a minimal install. Having to set up everything from scratch will teach you a lot about how everything fits together...

It might also frustrate him to the point that he just gives up on it entirely.

Once you learn the cli, the differences between distro's begins to decrease.
But when I first decided to go "the real way" and install arch on a laptop with wifi access only... I got tired of that quite fast.

I suggest installing a "easy" distro like Ubuntu, Linux Mint or Debian and attempt to make extensive use of the command line. That way if the OP can't figure something out they aren't trapped in a tty only environment.

I can say I already had a couple of unexpected hickups with these supposedly "easy" distros. I would agree that they are easier to deal with for somebody who wants to point and click only.
However, I found that the added "user friendliness" adds a lot of complexity and sometimes leads to unexpected behavior.

If I was in the OPs shoes, and wanted to learn setting up servers and the like, I wouldn't waste time on learning the horrible Ubuntu GUI. But maybe that's just me being too command-line-inclined. I am getting a lot of teasing at work for my GUI-aversion... :-)

While learning multiple gui's isn't really worth it if you're not going to use them, learning at least one gui (gnome classic / mate, xfce or even Unity or Cinnamon) is smart since it gives you a fall back. Something to go back to if you just can't figure out a issue.

Right now, you probably know how to do a significant amount of stuff in terminal only. If something goes wrong, you can rely on previous cli knowledge to figure it out.
People new to the cli don't have that. I recall being new and commands like sudo apt-get install program were totally foreign. I would copy and past them from various blog sites.
Nowadays I make frequent use of terminator and work with multiple terminal screens all the time to do pretty much everything except browse the web.
But I definitely couldn't of done that in such a pleasant fashion if someone had taken Mint away from me and given me Arch or some other minimal install. (Nothing against Arch)

Hi,

Personally, I like to know the intrinsic aspects of something not having someone else doing the interpretation(s) for me. Sure, GUI are great for the short sighted but if you are always willing to let someone else decide how things should be done then by all means then use the GUI.

I like to look into how things should be accomplished therefore it requires me to do a lot of research on how to get it done. Been that way since when I first started with UNIX. Learn! Curiosity did not kill me! Dig deep to find the answers to my queries/questions. Back then we did not have the luxury of the web or forums. We had the luxury of having someone who were our mentor and would provide insight as to how we could get things done. Mentoring is fine art and you were lucky if the person who mentored you had been given the same by someone that saw the future to set things by providing good guidance.

I have been fortunate to have someone that cared to provide growth paths for me. Constructive growth by a cherished mentor has opened doors for me! One of my driving forces to hope to provide the same for others;

Hi Gary...

While I am in no way seeking to diminish your training, expertise and how you see Unix/Linux, I think it's also important for the Linux community to understand is that the vast majority of computer users out there, especially Windows users, expect that using a computer be quick and easy to understand as possible, with just enough knowledge needed to get the job done to their liking. If these folks had to learn a computer language and code to interact with it...well, I don't want to think what would happen to some of those poor computers!

And that's not necessarily a bad thing. They shouldn't need to. If I was forced to learn a bunch of code to use Linux, I would have stuck with Windows. One time, I did go back to XP because of how much of a headache Linux was for me at the time, with a lot of work and various fixes requiring a terminal. Most folks expect stuff to just work and work right without a lot of troubleshooting and time spent "under the hood." While I can say I learned quite a bit, that's not for everyone.

While I like many aspects of Linux, this is one of the reasons why I can't recommend it to my clientel in most circumstances.

I realize this thread is about using a server distribution but I think the community needs to examine some of its thinking and philosphy (as for as the desktop is concerned) if Linux is to get beyond the consistent 1 or 2 number of total OS users.

Regards...

1 members found this post helpful.

Hi,

I have no problem with turn-key Gnu/Linux. My exception is to the user that says "I want to learn Linux". GUI operations simplify operations but in no way teach one how to use the distribution of choice. When using a GUI that user is learning to use by means of a author's interpretation of how things should be done with that GUI app.

Sometimes the GUI app will fall short with not having complete operative actions that could be performed completely by the cli commands.

Just my ideals as to how one could/should learn usage of a Gnu/Linux. I do use GUI applications but do perform operations at cli to know that the computer OS will perform at the level I desire.

As to the lose of computers by ill informed owners. That's their problem, not mine. If they desire to use a turn-key Gnu/Linux then by all means that person should choose wisely. Not query as to how to learn Linux on that turn-key. No one is forcing anyone to learn code, it is derived from the desire to learn and at what level that user wants to delve into learning.

We as avid Gnu/Linux users do have the responsibility to help the growth of our UNIX-like OS. We do have several Desktops for users to select from. It's just like a Chevy vs Ford, you will have users that are slanted one way vs the other. Personal choices can be afforded to the new Gnu/Linux user but that too will require some fore thought & research on their part.

It's truly laziness on new users that post request that state; "What Linux should I choose?". Do some research, use DuckDuckGo or Google for available Gnu/Linux then do some digging into the choices presented. Matching one's hardware will be the dictating factor and there are several Gnu/Linux that will suffice for that user. Just because a Gnu/Linux is at the top at Distrowatch does not mean it would be the best choice for a new user. Yes, you could use their list for a new user to select potential distributions to try. But that user should still do some research on their part.

I think that Linux has grown and will continue to grow thus at some point in time be a valid alternative to other Desktop systems. Linux Desktop has improved over the past decade and continues with innovations that provide alternatives for new users. I do recommend Gnu/Lunix to new users all the time but I do provide list(s) such as: Newbie alert: 50 Open Source Replacements for Windows XP

A new user could use that list to choose from then do some reading about their choice(s). Thus making a personal decision. Sure that list is for recommendations for XP replacements but could be used by other direct replacements. Still a personal choice.

I do think our discussion is relevant to the OP request for a personal LAB setup since we are discussing Gnu/Linux choices for new users and potential usage within that LAB.
Have fun & enjoy!