this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2024
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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You don't need a desktop environment and can install it later. But it depends on what the distribution offers. There are distributions like Arch which doesn't have any desktop environment pre-installed. The user is responsible for everything. You can just install a window manager and some other stuff that is needed to have a functional operating system and may never install a desktop environment.
But that requires a bit of time, skill and knowledge of what you are doing. I recommend you to try this out in a virtual machine and to play around without destroying your main computer.