Linux

As a child, I learned to play the piano. I had a knowledgeable and demanding teacher who lived at the top of my street, so I couldn’t make excuses not to go to lessons. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it (I eventually did), but in the beginning it felt tough as a 5-year-old. Learning musical theory first, and not being able to touch the keyboard until further along, it wasn’t much fun I thought. Later on, as I learned how to play other musical instruments at school, I was thankful that my teacher insisted on learning the fundamentals first. ...

My first impression when I heard about Linux was of another mainstream operating system (OS). One version for all users, no questions asked. And also, no freedom to choose differently, nor leeway for extended customization. In reality, Linux isn’t the operating system itself, but the Linux kernel. This is the OS’s core, a program that has control over everything in the system. What is commonly referred to as the OS corresponds to distributions. A Linux distribution is an operating system built on the Linux kernel, bundled with additional software, such as the GNU Core Utilities, a package manager, and several other tools depending on the use case. ...

The first time I was told I should use Linux, I didn’t know what it was, really. “Another operating system? OK, but why should I switch now?” My impression was that Linux was a single operating system (OS), as any other mainstream OS, and that everyone’d be using the same version. I didn’t see a good reason to change from what I was using, my routines, and habits. Now that I look back, I think I feared having to learn something new from scratch. And also, of becoming different, by switching into something the majority of people I knew had never heard about. ...