Which version of Linux

Question

New to Linux and wanted to ask which version is the best to learn Ubuntu?

This is what I see on the packages site: trusty (14.04LTS) trusty-updates trusty-backports xenial (16.04LTS) xenial-updates xenial-backports bionic (18.04LTS) bionic-updates bionic-backports cosmic (18.10) cosmic-updates cosmic-backports disco

Thank you for your help and appreciate your time! Bob

Possible duplicate of What's the difference between a Long Term Support Release and a Normal Release? and How do I find out which version and derivative of Ubuntu is right for my hardware in terms of minimal system requirements? — karel, Feb 03 '19 at 00:07
The releases of Ubuntu are in yy.mm format, so 18.04 LTS is from 2018.April, the 14.04 LTS is from 2014.April. LTS releases are long-term-supported (as already stated here, or on documentation) which means 5 years (longer if you switch to ESM and pay for extra support), or 9 months for standard releases. A standard release (say 18.10) will release-upgrade to 19.04, then 19.10 etc. Releases come out twice per year. Flavors have different DEsktops (or GUI), eg. XFCE is found on Xubuntu, MATE on Ubuntu-MATE, KDE on Kubuntu etc. Underneath flavors are the same (different GUI & gui apps) — guiverc, Feb 03 '19 at 01:56

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 03 '19 at 00:02

0

https://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop You should use ubuntu 18.04 (support for 5 years) or ubuntu 18.10 (support for 9 months)

answered Feb 03 '19 at 00:02

Jeryosh

745

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 03 '19 at 00:44

I think you should start with Ubuntu 18.04 Server, and than move to a Ubuntu 18.04 desktop which has GUI.

That, of course, depends on what you're planning to learn about Ubuntu. I think starting with a no GUI Linux flavour will kind of force you to get more confident with cli.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 03 '19 at 01:13

If you're new to Linux, the choice isn't really the versions - the newest versions are the way to go - just like with Windows or Mac. The real choice is which distro (Ubuntu, vs say Fedora, OpenSUSE, Mint, or Mandriva).

If you're chosen Ubuntu (it's a good choice, as are others, and it's easy for a beginner to install and use), then the real decision is which desktop you prefer. My advice would be just to try some - unlike Windows and Mac, you can install many desktops on the same Linux installation and boot into whichever you feel like at the time. It's not that any are really "better" than others - it's that one might appeal to you more than the others. Start by looking at some screenshots or videos of Gnome 3, KDE, Cinnamon, Matte, XFCE, LXDE, and Enlightenment.

That isn't an exhaustive list - but it's plenty to get you started. If you're installing Ubuntu on an older machine, go for the lightweight desktops so you get good performance. If you have a reasonably recent machine, just go with what looks good to you.

Which version of Linux

3 Answers3