blog-ahmza-com/content/posts/you-need-to-learn-linux.md

---
title: You Need to Learn Linux 🐧
date: 2021-12-17T19:16:50Z
author: "ahmza"
draft: false
weight: 

tags: ["Linux"]
description: "Ever wanted to learn Linux ? Well no better time than now to learn"
canonicalURL: "https://blog.ahmza.com/Page%28/posts/you-need-to-learn-linux.md%29"

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---
## **Introduction**
I say you need to learn _Linux_ because really there is no reason not
to. If you are pursuing a career in IT then you will without a doubt
come across _Linux_ and having even basic knowledge of _Linux_ will get
you far simply because it is everywhere. Many people struggle with the
OS simply because it's fundamentally different compared to the other
operating systems but give it a bit of time, you will master the
basics and understand how much control over the system it gives you.


## **But Why**
As mentioned before, there isn't reason not to. **Linux is everywhere**,
from data centres to your phone. **Understanding how to use _Linux_ is
great if you in or looking at a career in IT** because not many people
-relatively speaking- know how to use it, it sets you apart from others.
**I also believe _Linux_ gives you a deeper understanding of how your
system works** at a lower level which can be great when it comes to
troubleshooting. I think the most important factor is that **Linux is
open source** and so you have the ability to look at the code you are
running and with this comes full customisability of the system.

If you consider yourself a power user then _Linux_ is the perfect
operating system due to the aforementioned customisability but also the
command line. Many people are scared away from _Linux_ as they are
intimidated by the fact that they have to use the terminal, however if
you can overcome this "fear" then you have unlocked a great power and
from my experience will start finding GUI's cumbersome.


## **How can you start**
There are many ways you can start using _Linux_ and a lot of them don't
require you to use _Linux_ as your main operating system. You do need
to be committed to using Linux. Try not to fall back to Windows or
MacOS if you cant figure something out, **search for solutions.**
**Lastly try to get comfortable with the terminal.**

### **Install Linux as your main OS**
This is the **Full Send** option. This is a great option if you know
a move to Linux is something you want to commit to. I think this is the
best option as you have to start learning Linux to get things done so
you have incentive to keep going.


**Choosing a distro is fun but a huge time investment, you will hear the
term `distro hopping` which is installing different distributions of
_Linux_ and with the number of distros out there this can be daunting
for new users. A great Distribution that I recommend is 
[Manjaro with KDE Plasma](https://manjaro.org/downloads/official/kde/)
as it offers a heavily customisable desktop environment `KDE Plasma`
and Manjaro itself is a great as it is based on Arch Linux so it can
leverage the power of the AUR (Arch User Repository)

### ***MacOS*** **Terminal**
_MacOS_ is actually _UNIX_ based and so **if you have an _apple Mac/MacBook_
all you need is to open the Terminal** application and start playing
around. I used this option for a while on my work machine and it works
great. You get the best of both worlds with this option so if you have
a MacOS device then this is a solid option. Not recommended if you
don't have one of these devices simply due to cost 💸

### ***Windows WSL***
The _Windows Subsystem for Linux_ is another great option to get started
with _Linux_ as it installs the _Linux Kernel_ natively in windows and
allows you to play around with a real _Linux_ environment, before doing
a full send on my main machine this is the option I used.

### **Virtual Machines**
If there is a specific Distribution of _Linux_ you want to try without
doing a Full Send then this is a great option however if you want to
simply get to know the _Linux_ then choose the _MacOS_ terminal or _WSL_
methods as they are a lot lighter.