The Linux Index · plain-English directory since the early days · find your distro below

user@linuxidx:~$ whoami

The Linux index for people who'd rather just get started.

Plain-English guides, an honest directory of the tools that matter, and a finder that points you at the right distro in three clicks.

// start here

The three guides that do the heavy lifting

Pick a distro, install it, learn the commands. In that order.

🧭Pick by need

Which distro should you use?

Nine real distros sorted by what you actually need, with a quick chooser and a use-case filter. Beginner to bare-metal.

$ choose a distro →

💿Step by step

Install Linux, safely

The whole path from USB stick to first boot in eight steps, with the backup warnings that actually matter. No fear required.

$ start the install →

⌨️Searchable

The commands cheat sheet

33 commands that do most of the work, each with a real example. Live search and filter by category, keep it in a tab.

$ open the cheat sheet →

Latest

See all articles →

June 20, 2026

Does Linux Use NTFS or Ext4?

Short answer: Linux installs onto Ext4, while NTFS belongs to Windows. The longer answer is where it gets useful, because Linux can read and write NTFS just fine when it needs to.

June 20, 2026

Bash Scripting Basics: Better Than Any PDF Guide

Every search for "bash scripting basics pdf" ends the same way: a 200-page document from 2009 that you skim for ten minutes and never open again. Here's what actually works instead.

June 20, 2026

Linux Troubleshooting Interview Questions (With Answers)

Linux troubleshooting interviews separate the people who've actually fixed systems under pressure from the ones who've only read about it. Here's what those questions actually look like, and how to answer them well.

June 20, 2026

Best YouTube Channels for Learning Linux (2026)

There's no single best Linux channel, only the best one for where you are right now. Here's how the good ones differ and who should watch which.

June 18, 2026

What Is Open Source Software? (With Real Examples)

Open source software is everywhere, from the phone in your pocket to the servers running the internet, but most people have only a vague idea of what "open source" actually means or why it matters.

June 18, 2026

What Is the Most Common Linux File System?

If you've ever installed Linux and just clicked through the disk partitioning screen without thinking about it, you almost certainly ended up with ext4. That's not a bad outcome, but it's worth understanding why.