Which UNIX form I should USE

[Shanpav]

Hello,
I have Windows XP SP3 intalled in my Core 2 Duo Pc wih 2 GB Ram,160 GB HDD. I have purchased a book called UNIX Concepts And Applications ,I Says UNIx is a very powerful OS,and the book gives knowledge about man commands ,It sas UNIX is the basis of Internet TCP/IP etc, But now I dont have UNIx installed so waht to do. I am a computer Programmer in C++ and also going through Web development,and my main focu is creating a powerful WEb APPlication I want to know that is undersatnding Unix Like systems gives a deep knowledge of NEtworking and Working of Softwares, Should I give up WIndows XP and install UNIX any variant you say, I know FreeBSD, Solaris, MINIX from wikipedia.

Please help me out
Thanks

[Jordan]

You can run a dual-boot system with XP and a Unix Flavor. I like Linux and there are multiple flavors of Linux. Solaris is a good Unix system and is free to download. I've never had much luck with FreeBSD though.

[Shanpav]

Would it help me in understanding more about Internet working and also software Programmig.

[WingedPanther]

How the internet works doesn't depend on an operating system. If you are familiar with C++, you are already familiar with basic programming. Unless you want to study OS design, it won't make a lot of difference. That said, I vastly prefer Linux to Windows.

[Shanpav]

Thanks man, But waht other way does Unix or linux like OS helps a PC user, and soory but another question What difference does Ubuntu Vs Slackware makes or Normal Vs Hardcore Linux Distros help you.

Thanks

[WingedPanther]

An operating system, at its core, is a mechanism for allowing programs to have access to a computer's resources. How an operating system provides access to those resources, and how it protects itself from being compromised.

Windows is descended from MS-DOS, which provided very few protections and was designed as a single-user system. The only user of the computer would be authorized to do anything to the system. The level of control resulted in vulnerabilities as Windows superseded MS-DOS and computers became networked.

Linux is based on UNIX, which was designed as a multi-user system. The side effect of this is that most users were provided limited access to the system. A user, by default, has the ability to run programs, but not install or modify them. A user can only modify his/her own files. Linux inherits this model. A user can run a malicious program, but such a program will only be able to destroy the user's files.

None of this means that Linux can't be insecure. There is a distribution called D*mn Vulnerable Linux, which was designed to help teach students how to secure Linux. The fact that most programs on Linux distributions are open-source means that as vulnerabilities are discovered, they can be fixed by anyone with the skill to do it. By contrast, Windows can only be fixed by Microsoft, and many other programs can only be fixed by their respective vendors. The result is that security issues depend on the vendor to determine how quickly they will be addressed.

None of this means open source is more or less secure than closed source, but comparing how long known vulnerabilities remain unaddressed can be a good measure. FireFox vs IE is an interesting example of this. On the other hand FireFox vs most closed source browsers appear to be on par. Severity of issues is another measure, which is also interesting.

There are a wide range of Linux distributions. The differences will be based on the additional programs that are included, ease of configuration, default package management systems, default user interfaces, etc. Each one generally has a target audience in mind, and the programs included will target that audience. Red Hat targets the server market. Novell targets corporate environments. Ubuntu targets home users. Slackware targets "purists" or "hardcore" users... or maybe just minimalists.

[Shanpav]

Very well explained, very grateful to you, does that mean If my main works involve Playing Audio files, watching DVD's etc,Programming in C++, PHPHTML, CSS,MySql ,Storing Photos edting them etc ,Should I Prefer Ubuntu instead of Slackwae, Minix,Arch etc Bcoz theonly serve minimal works.
By the way do you use Windows ,is it only security and not the avaliablity of good Programming tools support for wide variety of Languages that a windows User compromisies

Very thanks for your Patience

[WingedPanther]

I use both Windows and Linux. I tend to use cross-platform tools for development, and stick with cross-platform languages for my own time. That means C++, PHP, Lazarus, Java, etc. jEdit serves me well as an editor, GCC/MinGW works well as a compiler, etc.

If you want "out-of-the-box" Audio/DVD, you may prefer Ubuntu, but any Ubuntu program can be installed on Slackware, etc.