Ask HN: Does using Linux actually help you learn about how Linux works?
Or does it just teach your how to troubleshoot via Google and the docs?
Which distros are better for learning how Linux/Unix actually functions under the hood?
Which distros are better for learning how Linux/Unix actually functions under the hood?
If you install Ubuntu, for example, and do nothing but be an end user, no. If you install Debian or Slackware or Fedora, or CentOS and actually learn how the internals work by installing software, setting up networks, firewalls, proxy server, Web servers, then yes.
I started with Linux back in 1998 and it's still my primary desktop flavour (Debian). I prefer BSDs for servers being they are arguably more stable and nothing beats ZFS, the BSD notion of jails, and the TCP/IP stack.
Gentoo is a good learning experience, but only if you have a full weekend to start it. Last time I ran a stage 1 Gentoo tarball, it took 12 hours to bootstrap. Never again.
Slackware or CRUX Linux are great learning flavours. As is Debian if you do the expert install and make mistakes.
Go to a Linux Users Group when they have installfests. Have an experienced Linux sysadmin "break" your installation and try to fix it. This is how I learned. Going to my LUG and getting jobs where Linux and UNIX were prevalent. I'm making inroads with bosses where I work now to displace Windows. Slowly but surely. They see the savings and they see the stability. Win.
Several years ago, things were different. And it used to be that Slackware was the most hands-on distro for learning and using Linux. I believe that is still the case.