Every Linux Distro Simply Explained in 12 Minutes! — Transcript

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1. 0:00Most people think Linux is just one
2. 0:01thing. It's not. Linux is actually a
3. 0:04kernel, the core part of an operating
4. 0:06system that talks to your hardware. But
5. 0:08on top of that kernel, different teams
6. 0:10have built different operating systems.
7. 0:13Each one looks different, works
8. 0:14differently, and is made for a different
9. 0:16type of user. These are called Linux
10. 0:18distributions, or distros for short.
11. 0:21Some are made for beginners, some are
12. 0:23made for hackers, some are made for
13. 0:25giant companies running thousands of
14. 0:26servers. Today, we're going to go
15. 0:28through 16 of the most well-known Linux
16. 0:30distros and explain what each one
17. 0:33actually does.
18. 0:34Ubuntu
19. 0:36Ubuntu is the most popular Linux distro
20. 0:38in the world, and it's usually the first
21. 0:40one people try. It was designed to make
22. 0:42Linux easy for normal people. You
23. 0:44install it and it just works. You get a
24. 0:46full desktop, a web browser, a file
25. 0:49manager, and a software store, similar
26. 0:51to what you'd expect from Windows or Mac
27. 0:53OS. Ubuntu is based on another distro
28. 0:55called Debian, but it adds more polish,
29. 0:58better hardware support, and a much more
30. 1:00beginner-friendly setup process. New
31. 1:02versions come out every 6 months, and
32. 1:04every 2 years there's an LTS version,
33. 1:07which stands for long-term support. That
34. 1:09version gets security updates for 5
35. 1:11years, which is why a lot of servers run
36. 1:13Ubuntu LTS, too. In fact, Ubuntu is not
37. 1:17just a desktop thing, it's one of the
38. 1:18most widely used operating systems on
39. 1:20cloud servers. If you've ever used a
40. 1:22website or an app, there's a good chance
41. 1:25it was running on an Ubuntu server
42. 1:26somewhere. The downside is Ubuntu
43. 1:28includes some software choices not
44. 1:30everyone agrees with, like the Snap
45. 1:32package system, which some users find
46. 1:34slow and restrictive. But for someone
47. 1:36who has never touched Linux before,
48. 1:38Ubuntu is still the easiest place to
49. 1:39start. It has the largest community, the
50. 1:42most tutorials, and the widest hardware
51. 1:44support of any distro on this list.
52. 1:47Debian
53. 1:48Debian is one of the oldest Linux
54. 1:50distros still around. It was first
55. 1:52released in 1993, and it's the
56. 1:54foundation underneath a huge number of
57. 1:56other distros, including Ubuntu, Linux
58. 1:58Mint, and Kali. The reason Debian is so
59. 2:01respected is stability. Debian's stable
60. 2:03release goes through very strict testing
61. 2:05before anything gets approved. Every
62. 2:07package is reviewed, and nothing ships
63. 2:09until it's considered rock-solid. That
64. 2:11means fewer crashes and fewer surprises,
65. 2:13but it also means the software can feel
66. 2:15outdated. You might be running versions
67. 2:17that are a year or two behind the
68. 2:18latest. That trade-off is exactly why
69. 2:21servers and infrastructure love Debian.
70. 2:23If you want things to just keep running
71. 2:24quietly without breaking, Debian is hard
72. 2:27to beat. It's not flashy, it's not
73. 2:29trendy, and it doesn't try to impress
74. 2:31anyone. It just works, and it has been
75. 2:34working for over 30 years.
76. 2:36Linux Mint
77. 2:38Linux Mint is built on top of Ubuntu,
78. 2:40but it's designed specifically for
79. 2:42people switching from Windows. The
80. 2:43desktop looks and feels familiar. You
81. 2:46get a start menu at the bottom left, a
82. 2:48taskbar, a system tray. It works the way
83. 2:50you'd expect. Mint comes with its own
84. 2:53desktop environment called Cinnamon,
85. 2:55which is clean, lightweight, and easy to
86. 2:57customize. It also includes media codecs
87. 3:00and drivers out of the box, so things
88. 3:02like music and video just play without
89. 3:04extra setup. Mint doesn't chase new
90. 3:06features.
91. 3:07It focuses on not breaking things.
92. 3:09Updates are gentle, and the system
93. 3:11always feels predictable. For most home
94. 3:13users who just want to browse the web,
95. 3:15watch videos, and get work done without
96. 3:17learning terminal commands, Linux Mint
97. 3:19might be the most comfortable Linux
98. 3:21experience out there.
99. 3:23Arch Linux
100. 3:24Arch is the opposite of Ubuntu. There's
101. 3:26no graphical installer, no pre-installed
102. 3:29desktop, no hand-holding at all. You
103. 3:31start with almost nothing and build your
104. 3:33entire system from scratch, piece by
105. 3:36piece, command by command. That sounds
106. 3:38painful, and honestly, it can be. But
107. 3:41that's the whole point. Arch gives you
108. 3:43total control over every single part of
109. 3:45your system. You choose your desktop,
110. 3:47your file manager, your boot loader,
111. 3:49your audio system, everything. Nothing
112. 3:52is installed unless you decide it should
113. 3:54be. Arch also uses a rolling release
114. 3:56model, which means you always get the
115. 3:58latest software as soon as it's
116. 3:59available. No need to wait for a big
117. 4:01version update every 6 months. You just
118. 4:04keep updating and your system is always
119. 4:06current. The downside is things can
120. 4:08break after an update if you're not
121. 4:09careful. And when something breaks, you
122. 4:11fix it yourself. Arch is not for
123. 4:14beginners. But for advanced users who
124. 4:16want to understand exactly how Linux
125. 4:17works under the hood, it's one of the
126. 4:19best learning tools that exists. There's
127. 4:21also the Arch Wiki, which is one of the
128. 4:23most detailed and well-written
129. 4:25documentation sources in the entire
130. 4:26Linux world. Even people who don't use
131. 4:29Arch read the Arch Wiki.
132. 4:31Fedora
133. 4:33Fedora is sponsored by Red Hat and acts
134. 4:35as a testing ground for new Linux
135. 4:36technologies. If a feature is going to
136. 4:38end up in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, it
137. 4:40usually shows up in Fedora first. That
138. 4:43means Fedora runs very recent versions
139. 4:45of the Linux kernel, Gnome desktop, and
140. 4:47system tools. Developers like Fedora
141. 4:50because it's clean, up-to-date, and
142. 4:52closely follows upstream open source
143. 4:53projects without adding too many custom
144. 4:56modifications. Fedora also introduced
145. 4:58Flatpak, which is now one of the major
146. 5:00ways to install apps across different
147. 5:02Linux distros. The downside is Fedora
148. 5:04moves fast. Some packages might not be
149. 5:07as stable as what you'd find in Debian
150. 5:09or Ubuntu LTS. But for developers and
151. 5:11power users who want to stay on the
152. 5:13cutting edge without building everything
153. 5:14themselves, Fedora is a strong choice.
154. 5:17Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux
155. 5:19himself, reportedly uses Fedora as his
156. 5:22daily driver. That says a lot.
157. 5:25Red Hat Enterprise Linux
158. 5:28This is not a free distro you download
159. 5:30and try at home. RHEL is a commercial
160. 5:32Linux distribution built for businesses.
161. 5:35Companies pay Red Hat for a subscription
162. 5:37and in return, they get long-term
163. 5:39support, security patches, certified
164. 5:41hardware compatibility, and enterprise
165. 5:44grade stability. RHEL is used in banks,
166. 5:46hospitals, government systems, and cloud
167. 5:48infrastructure around the world. It's
168. 5:50one of the biggest reasons Linux
169. 5:52dominates the server market today. The
170. 5:54software is conservative. You won't get
171. 5:56the newest packages, but enterprises
172. 5:58don't want new. They want predictable.
173. 6:00They want to know that the system
174. 6:01running their payment processing at 3:00
175. 6:03a.m. on a Sunday is not going to
176. 6:05surprise them with a broken update. And
177. 6:07that's exactly what Real delivers. It's
178. 6:09boring on purpose, and in the enterprise
179. 6:11world, boring is a feature.
180. 6:14Kali Linux
181. 6:16Kali is not a daily use distro.
182. 6:18It's a specialized toolkit built for
183. 6:20penetration testing and cybersecurity.
184. 6:22It comes preloaded with hundreds of
185. 6:24tools for network scanning, password
186. 6:26cracking, vulnerability testing, and
187. 6:29wireless attacks. Security professionals
188. 6:31and ethical hackers use Kali to test
189. 6:33whether a system can be broken into
190. 6:35before someone with bad intentions does
191. 6:37it first. It's based on Debian, so the
192. 6:39underlying system is stable, but Kali
193. 6:41runs as root by default and is
194. 6:43configured for security work, not for
195. 6:45browsing the web or writing documents.
196. 6:47Using Kali as your everyday operating
197. 6:49system is a bad idea, and it won't make
198. 6:52you a hacker just by installing it.
199. 6:53Think of it as a toolbox, not a home.
200. 6:57Tails OS
201. 6:59Tails stands for the Amnesic Incognito
202. 7:01Live System. It's a distro built
203. 7:03entirely around privacy and anonymity.
204. 7:05You boot it from a USB stick, and every
205. 7:07time you shut it down, it wipes
206. 7:09everything. No browsing history, no
207. 7:12saved files, nothing. All internet
208. 7:14traffic goes through Tor, which hides
209. 7:16your IP address and makes it much harder
210. 7:18to track you. Journalists,
211. 7:20whistleblowers, and activists in
212. 7:22high-risk environments use Tails to
213. 7:24protect their identity. The tradeoff is
214. 7:26obvious. It's slow, limited, and not
215. 7:28meant for regular use. You can't install
216. 7:31apps or save settings between sessions
217. 7:33unless you set up encrypted persistent
218. 7:34storage, but that's the point. Tails
219. 7:37isn't for convenience, it's for
220. 7:38survival.
221. 7:40Pop OS
222. 7:42Pop OS is made by System76, a company
223. 7:45that builds Linux laptops and desktops.
224. 7:48It's based on Ubuntu, but optimized for
225. 7:50performance. It has better Nvidia GPU
226. 7:53switching, a tiling window manager
227. 7:55built-in, and a cleaner out-of-box
228. 7:57experience for creators, developers, and
229. 8:00gamers. The trade-off is a smaller
230. 8:02community than Ubuntu, and some
231. 8:03Ubuntu-specific tutorials might not work
232. 8:06exactly the same way. But if you want a
233. 8:08polished Linux desktop that handles
234. 8:10hardware well, especially Nvidia GPUs,
235. 8:13Pop OS is one of the best options
236. 8:15available right now.
237. 8:17Manjaro
238. 8:18Manjaro is based on Arch Linux, but it
239. 8:20removes all the pain. You get a
240. 8:22graphical installer, a preconfigured
241. 8:24desktop, and hardware detection that
242. 8:26works out of the box. It still uses the
243. 8:29rolling release model from Arch, so your
244. 8:30software stays up to date, but Manjaro
245. 8:33holds packages back for about 2 weeks to
246. 8:35test them before pushing to users. That
247. 8:37buffer makes it more stable than pure
248. 8:39Arch. Some Arch purists don't consider
249. 8:42Manjaro a real Arch experience, and
250. 8:44because it modifies the Arch repos, some
251. 8:46Arch Wiki instructions don't translate
252. 8:48perfectly. But for someone who wants the
253. 8:50power of Arch without spending a weekend
254. 8:52installing it, Manjaro is a solid middle
255. 8:54ground.
256. 8:56Gentoo
257. 8:57Gentoo is a source-based Linux distro
258. 8:59built around one idea, control.
259. 9:02Instead of simply downloading prebuilt
260. 9:04packages, Gentoo lets you compile
261. 9:06software from source code directly on
262. 9:08your machine. That means you can decide
263. 9:10exactly which features are included,
264. 9:13which dependencies you want, and how
265. 9:14software should be optimized for your
266. 9:16hardware. Its Portage package system
267. 9:19makes this level of customization
268. 9:20possible, allowing experienced users to
269. 9:23create an operating system tailored
270. 9:25almost entirely to their needs. The
271. 9:27result can be incredibly lean and
272. 9:28efficient, with very little installed
273. 9:31that you didn't explicitly choose. But
274. 9:33there's an obvious trade-off, time.
275. 9:36Large applications can take hours to
276. 9:37compile, and building an entire Gentoo
277. 9:40system can turn into a serious project.
278. 9:42Even maintaining it requires more
279. 9:44attention than most mainstream
280. 9:45distributions. Gentoo isn't designed for
281. 9:47someone who simply wants Linux installed
282. 9:49and working by lunchtime. It's for
283. 9:51people who enjoy understanding,
284. 9:53tweaking, and controlling nearly every
285. 9:54layer of their system. Most Linux users
286. 9:57will never need that much control.
287. 9:58Gentoo users wouldn't have it any other
288. 10:00way.
289. 10:01Parrot OS.
290. 10:03Parrot OS sits in a similar world to
291. 10:05Kali Linux. It's Debian-based and comes
292. 10:08with tools for penetration testing,
293. 10:10digital forensics, privacy, and security
294. 10:13research. But unlike Kali, security work
295. 10:15isn't its only identity. Parrot also
296. 10:18offers a home edition designed for
297. 10:20regular desktop use without the full
298. 10:22collection of security tools. It's
299. 10:24relatively lightweight and can work
300. 10:26surprisingly well as an everyday
301. 10:27operating system. That makes Parrot an
302. 10:29interesting middle ground. If you want a
303. 10:31security-focused Linux distro, but don't
304. 10:33want your entire computer to feel like a
305. 10:35dedicated penetration testing machine,
306. 10:37Parrot gives you more flexibility.
307. 10:40CentOS Stream.
308. 10:42CentOS used to be a free clone of RHEL,
309. 10:44but in 2020, Red Hat changed its
310. 10:46direction. CentOS Stream is now a
311. 10:48rolling preview of what the next RHEL
312. 10:50version will look like, sitting between
313. 10:52Fedora and RHEL. Some companies still
314. 10:54use CentOS Stream for development and
315. 10:56testing, but the shift upset a lot of
316. 10:58people who depended on the original
317. 11:00CentOS as a free, stable RHEL
318. 11:02replacement. And that controversy led
319. 11:04directly to the creation of two new
320. 11:06distros.
321. 11:07openSUSE.
322. 11:09openSUSE comes in two versions.
323. 11:11Tumbleweed is a rolling release, always
324. 11:13up-to-date, similar to Arch. Leap is a
325. 11:16stable release that shares its base with
326. 11:18SUSE Linux Enterprise. openSUSE is known
327. 11:22for YaST, which stands for Yet Another
328. 11:24Setup Tool. YaST lets you configure
329. 11:26almost everything. Networking,
330. 11:28firewalls, software, users, all from one
331. 11:32place.
332. 11:33It's popular in Europe and in enterprise
333. 11:35environments. The trade-off is a smaller
334. 11:37community than Ubuntu or Fedora, so
335. 11:39finding help online can take a bit more
336. 11:40effort. But for users who want a
337. 11:42professional-grade Linux desktop with
338. 11:44strong admin tools, openSUSE is an
339. 11:46underrated choice. And those are 16 of
340. 11:49the most well-known Linux distros, each
341. 11:51one built for a different kind of user.
342. 11:53The beauty of Linux is that you're not
343. 11:55stuck with one option. You can try as
344. 11:57many as you want, and most of them are
345. 11:58completely free. Anyway, I also made
346. 12:01some other cool videos, too. Don't
347. 12:03forget to watch them later. Okay.