I assume you are new to Linux & must be exploring other Operating system other than Windows. Before answering this let me tell you about kernel. This term you must be familiar through computer terminal or computer books. Kernel is core program responsible to handle Operating system works & communicate with hardware as per required instruction . That means there is someone who is in between operating system & hardware , who works 24×7 without knowing to you.
Therefore for windows or Linux or any other OS there must be one kernel who will act as intermediate . You can write your own kernel .So kernel which is specifically designed for Linux known as Linux Kernel.
Now let’s focus on distribution ..
There are some groups of community in world who considered that they have specific requirement in terms of performance , security , flexibility & scalability or any specific needs . So they decided that they will use Linux kernel but will customize operating system as per their need & each operating system will focus on specific things. These all Linux kernel based operating system know as Linux distributions. Each distribution has own package manager which manages all packages installed in system or package which is to be installed in system . Package manager manage , update & upgrade system from time to time.
Which one to use ….
Below Listed are popular distribution among user :-
- Ubuntu
- Linux Mint
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux
- CentOS
- Kali Linux
- Arch Linux
- Zorine Linux
- BunsenLabs Linux
Ubuntu
Ubuntu is most popular among all , it is widely used for personal & enterprise use . All data houses , data centers and embedded system has Ubuntu installed in it.
As per The 2020 HackerEarth Developer Survey on 66% of experienced developers prefer Ubuntu. That’s why Ubuntu supports the fastest, biggest and most successful digital operations.
Linux Mint
Linux Mint technically tries to get rid of what they think is unnecessary in Ubuntu while aiming to make the experience faster.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is an enterprise Linux operating system, certified on hundreds of clouds and with thousands of vendors. Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides a consistent foundation across environments and the tools needed to deliver services and workloads faster for any application.
CentOS
Community-driven free software effort focused on delivering a robust open source ecosystem around a Linux platform. It is more of mirror of RHEL base system.
Kali Linux
Kali Linux is mainly aimed for testers & penetration of any kind of system. It has per-installed all targeted packages.
Zorine
Zorin OS is the alternative to Windows and macOS designed to make your computer faster, more powerful, secure, and privacy-respecting.
Bunsenlabs
BunsenLabs Linux Lithium is a distribution offering a light-weight and easily customizable Openbox desktop. The project is a community continuation of CrunchBang Linux. Its is lightweight,capable to run faster on old machine with lower capability.
ErrBits 