Garanti del Talento

dgt_sys04 – GNU/Linux Distributions

Module Title: dgt_sys04 – GNU/Linux distributions

Module Description:

“dgt_sys04 – GNU/Linux distributions” covers the main Linux distributions. The module examines the GNU/Linux ecosystem, including both ethical and enterprise-oriented distributions, and the knowledge needed to work in different Linux environments. It is intended both for people new to Linux and for those who already use it.

Each distribution is first studied on paper: its philosophy, package manager, release model and default security settings. Then, in the practical sessions, you work only in natural language: you ask the machine to install and configure a given distribution, and you check its work against what you know about that distribution, noticing for example when it uses apt conventions on an RPM-based system or skips a step that the enterprise variant requires.

Module Objectives:

  1. Understand the Basics: Gain a foundational understanding of what makes GNU/Linux unique compared to other operating systems.

  2. Explore Ethical Distributions: Learn about distributions that focus on user privacy, freedom and open-source principles, such as Debian and its derivatives like Ubuntu, as well as Fedora and Arch Linux. We will discuss their philosophies, package management systems and community support.

  3. Enterprise-Ready Solutions: Study enterprise-grade Linux distributions designed for stability, security and scalability in business environments. Key examples include Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and Canonical’s Ubuntu LTS releases. We will cover their features, licensing models, support structures and use cases.

  4. Practical Experience in Natural Language: In live sessions and exercises, instruct the machine to install, configure and manage different distributions, then review each step it takes. Comparing how the same request is carried out on different systems will show you the strengths and applications of each type of distribution.

  5. Security and Maintenance: Study best practices for maintaining security and performing regular updates in both ethical and enterprise Linux environments, and learn how each distribution handles these critical aspects differently, so you can verify that the machine respects them.

  6. Comparative Analysis: Develop the ability to compare different distributions based on use cases, performance, community support and customization options.

Module Units:

  • Module 1: Introduction to GNU/Linux
  • History of Linux

  • Key components of a Linux system

  • Module 2: Ethical Distributions

  • Overview of ethical principles in open-source software

  • In-depth exploration of Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and Arch Linux

  • Module 3: Enterprise Distributions

  • Introduction to enterprise needs and requirements

  • Detailed study of RHEL, SLES, and Ubuntu LTS

  • Module 4: Practical Installation and Configuration

  • Describing the target installation to the machine and following, step by step, how it installs each distribution

  • Reviewing the configurations it applies in different environments and correcting them where needed

  • Module 5: Security Practices

  • Understanding security models in Linux

  • Having best practices applied across ethical and enterprise systems, and verifying them

  • Module 6: Maintenance and Updates

  • Strategies for system updates and maintenance

  • Tools and utilities for efficient management

  • Module 7: Comparative Analysis and Use Cases

  • Case studies highlighting the application of different distributions
  • Decision-making framework for choosing a distribution

Target Audience:

This module is intended for IT professionals, system administrators, software developers, students and anyone interested in open-source technology. It applies both to introducing Linux in an organization and to using Linux at home, and develops the practical judgement needed to guide a machine through the work.

Participants learn to choose and use GNU/Linux distributions in both ethical and enterprise contexts.
The students can push their exercises to the Academy DevOps & SRE Git project. For this module, create a folder with your username as its name in the following subfolder: https://github.com/Garanti-Del-Talento/gdt_academy