If you are just getting started, I would suggest starting with OS X, Linux, or a FreeBSD variant. All of them will give you plenty of opportunity to learn your way around Unix. If I had to make a more specific suggestion, I would suggest Ubuntu. Easy to install. Easy to get started with. Easy to administer. And it is generic Linux. (Disclaimer, this message was typed on a laptop running Ubuntu.)

Note that Solaris 10 is not in my list. The reason is that it is a minority platform whose only significant backer is Sun, which itself is in serious trouble. (For reasons that I predicted a while ago. Go to Re: Re: Perl falls victim to shifting trends(Opinions/Comments From The Other Side) and search for "Sun is toast" for details. Yes, that AM was me.) The result is that it has less hardware support. And in the event of running into any kind of trouble, you will have significantly fewer resources available than you will with one of the other platforms. Plus it may well stagnate, and you'll have to switch.

Sure, it is Unix and therefore is very similar to the others. But learning it is kind of like learning Italian because you want to be able to speak French.

Now there are good reasons to use Solaris 10. For instance if you are used to Solaris and want it at home, go for it. If you have some big Solaris servers and want a good development platform for that, well it is a good idea.

But I would not count "I want to learn about this whole Unix thing" as a good reason to learn Solaris.

In reply to Re: Solaris 10 for Perl development? Problems? Upside? Your thoughts, please! by tilly
in thread Solaris 10 for Perl development? Problems? Upside? Your thoughts, please! by Anonymous Monk

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