[luau] Learning Linux on an Old Version?

[Dustin Cross]

Aloha,

I have to disagree with everyone here.  There is nothing wrong with using
an old version of Linux to learn.  The problem you will have with an old
version of linux is hardware support.  You have to use old hardware.  Once
you get past that it depends on how much you already know.  If you have
never used Linux or any Unix, then you will learn a lot.  You will learn
about your hardware and how Linux uses it.  You will learn all of the basic
user commands and the directory structure.  You will learn the init system
for starting and stoping applications.  You will learn the difference
between Linux, X, and window managers.  There will be tons of important
things you will learn from using an old version of linux.

There will be things that you can't learn with old Linux, like the stateful
firewall or all of the new options in the latest kernel.  You will learn
these when you upgrade to the latest and greatest.  Anyone that tells you
you will be playing catch up if you start with an old distro hasn't been
using Unix long enough.  You are always playing catch up.  Every day
something new comes out or something drastically changes that you will want
or need to learn.

If Redhat 5.2 is what you have, use it.  Dealing with all the hardware
issues wil be a great lesson in itself.  Having to do the extra searching
for the Redhat 5.2 or kernel 2.0 answer will be great learning.


Later,
Dusty



> On Mon, Jan 20, 2003 at 07:33:37AM -1000, demon_jr808 wrote:
>> I have a Red Hat 5.2 and thought it would be a good place to
>> learn start learning Linux.
>
> If you are learning, then starting with something current will
> at least improve your chances of getting all your hardware
> recognized during installation so you can work on becoming
> familiar other aspects of the operating system.
>
>> However, many people have been telling me to upgrade to a more
>> recent version.
>
> To put it another way, if someone wanted to learn Windows, would
> you recommend them installing Windows 3.11?
>
>> Is there any benefit to learning Linux on an older version?
>
> Redhat 5.2 was released in 1998. One reason for installing it
> would be to setup a honeypot. I would not recommend starting to
> learn Redhat Linux on it.
>
> -Vince
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