Free linux for servers

Best Free Linux Distributions for Desktops and Servers

Almost every Linux distribution is available to download for free. However, there are some editions (or distros) may ask for a fee in order to purchase it. For instance, the ultimate edition of Zorin OS is not free and needs to be purchased.

If you already know about some of the best Linux distributions available, you probably do not need this list. It is meant for absolute beginners who may have had a misconception that Linux distros need to be purchased.

So, in this article, I focus on the free Linux distributions that you can try, whether its for general purpose home usage, i.e. desktop or for a production-grade server.

Top Free Linux Distributions for Desktop

1. Ubuntu

No matter what, it is highly likely that you may have heard about Ubuntu distribution. On paper, it is the most popular Linux distribution out there, both on desktop and the server.

For desktop, it provides a unique user experience which is also easy to use. If you happen to be a Windows user, you may not find it familiar but it does offer the ease of installing various popular software. You will also find several essential tools pre-installed.

You might want to read our tutorial on installing Ubuntu for your desktop if this is your preferred choice.

2. Linux Mint

Linux Mint is potentially better than Ubuntu for a couple of reasons. And, I would definitely recommend it to former Windows users who do not want a completely different user interface.

Linux Mint will provide a familiar user interface to Windows and runs quite impressive on both modern and old hardware configurations.

You will find all essential tools pre-installed, out-of-the-box customization options, and it is quite easy to install/remove new software as well.

3. elementary OS

One of the most beautiful Linux distributions is elementary OS. It is based on Ubuntu — so you get all the advantages of using Ubuntu along with a unique user experience.

You might find the user experience inspired from the macOS but as you use it, you may find it better with their upcoming releases that have more attention to details. It may not have a lot of tools pre-installed but covers some basic additions. It is also easy to install and remove software on elementary OS.

4. Zorin OS

Zorin OS is yet another fantastic free Linux distribution for users comfortable with Windows originally.

You get different editions of Zorin (if you want it for old hardware or modern) like Lite and Ultimate. It is free to download but if you need the Ultimate edition (which just comes with a lot of essential apps + some games), you need to pay a small fee.

It is also based on Ubuntu, so it is easy to use and you can install various software tools without any hassle.

5. Pop!_OS

Pop!_OS is an incredibly polished free Linux distribution by System76. In general, they made it for their own laptops and desktop offerings and that is why it is easily compatible with the latest and greatest hardware.

It isn’t tailored to run on older hardware (specifically), but if Ubuntu runs on a machine, this will work on it as well. The user interface is very similar to Ubuntu but you get a fine-tuned experience with some additional features like auto-tiling windows.

You can check out one of our reviews on Pop OS to learn more about it.

Top Free Linux Distributions for Server

6. Ubuntu Server

As I mentioned above, Ubuntu is a popular choice for both server and desktop users. Of course, you need to keep in mind the system requirements before deploying it on a production server.

When compared to other Linux distributions, most of the hosting providers facilitate easy installation of Ubuntu OS and mostly supporting the latest LTS releases. So, it is easier to go for an Ubuntu server set up, even if you never used Ubuntu on your desktop.

7. CentOS

CentOS is yet another popular choice for Linux system administrators. In fact, a lot of system administrator courses take the example of a CentOS server to teach and train.

It is a community-driven project that is robust to use and needs a minimal learning curve. You can always refer to the official documentation when needed.

8. openSUSE

openSUSE is a popular enterprise choice when it comes to free Linux distributions for system administrators, developers, and other users.

You will find a host of essential open-source tools pre-installed to manage and deploy a stable production server. There’s a rolling release edition and a regular release version for desktop, so you’ve got choices to make.

9. Debian

Debian is the original Linux distribution which made Ubuntu and every Ubuntu-based distribution possible. So, of course, Debian has a good history of stability and compatibility for any type of server configuration.

You might want to go through the official documentation but if you have used Ubuntu, you should be able to easily pick up things that you didn’t know about Debian.

10. Fedora

Fedora is a powerful and flexible operating system available for both desktop and server. For server, it can prove to be quite reliable and useful.

It lets you easily administer and control your server deployment. It will be interesting to learn about the modularity it provides, meaning — you can upgrade your OS without needing to update your applications. Explore more about Fedora’s server edition on their official website.

Wrapping Up

Now that you know almost every free Linux distribution is powerful and capable enough for desktop and servers, feel free to choose what you like.

You do not need to pay a premium unless it is a special edition of some distribution that you want to support. In either case, you should consider donating to the projects if you like using the free distributions.

What do you prefer from the list? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Top Free Linux Cloud Servers to Test or Host Your Web Applications

You can try Linux cloud server platforms for free. Here’s how!

If you want to test your web application or service, you need a Linux server. Thanks to the advancement of cloud computing, deploying preconfigured Linux server has become child’s play.

Moreover, many cloud server providers also offer free credits to try their platform. You can take advantage of these offers to deploy Linux servers and test your web application or service.

This not only helps in reducing costs, you also get the opportunity to figure out whether a certain platform suits your needs and skills or not.

Free Linux cloud servers

You should keep in mind that though some cloud servers offer hefty credits, they might have time restriction.

Please note that some links in this article are affiliate links.

Linode

Linux Handbook is official partner of Linode. Linux Handbook website is hosted on Linode. We also use Linode servers for testing and validating the tutorials we cover here.

You can deploy Linux servers of your choice (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, SUSE, Arch, Slackware etc) within minutes and with a few clicks. You can shut down or restart the server from the dashboard itself.

Not only that, with Linode Marketplace, you can deploy Linux servers preconfigured with a web-service like WordPress, WireGuard VPN, Discourse and more.

Want more? You also get to deploy Load Balancer, object storage, Kubernetes clusters among other DevOps focused tools.

You can also configure regular automatic backups for your servers.

Linode offers $60 free credit to Linux Handbook readers. Credits last for 60 days.

Digital Ocean

Digital Ocean is another good platform where you can get free cloud Linux server.

Like Linode, Digital Ocean is also developer focused. This means you can deploy bare Linux servers or preconfigured with a web service of your choice.

Kubernetes clusters, databases, load balancers, object storage, automatic backups and everything else you saw with Linode are also available in Digital Ocean.

Everything is click and deploy which makes your work much easier.

New Digital Ocean users get $100 free credits and the credits last for 60 days. You can sign up for Digital Ocean here.

Vultr

Another cloud server provider similar to Linode and Digital Ocean.

I use Vultr occasionally for deploying test servers for testing Linux tutorials.

They have micro-nodes with 10 GB SSD storage and 512 MB RAM for just $2.5 a month (or $0.004/hr). This is ideal for me when I want to avoid cost and don’t need high configuration Linux server.

You can deploy Linux server of your choice and you can also use their One Click Apps to deploy preconfigured servers.

Vultr offers $100 free credits to try out their platform and the credits are valid for 30 days. You can sign up for free Linux cloud server with Vultr here.

UpCloud

My other website, It’s FOSS, is hosted on UpCloud.

Unlike Linode and Digital Ocean, UpCloud doesn’t have a marketplace to allow you to deploy preconfigured web-services on Linux server.

However, they do have APIs available to easily integrate your app with UpCloud infrastructure.

You can deploy Linux servers of your choice within minutes and the Linux servers offered by UpCloud have superb performance thanks to their MaxIOPS block storage.

Automatic server backups are available to give you peace of mind.

You can get free Linux cloud servers on UpCloud with a credit line of $25. They are strict with free credits and free trials.

Google Cloud Platform

So far all the entries in this list of free cloud Linux servers are from medium players.

Bigger cloud players like Microsoft, Amazon, Alibaba and Google also offer free credits.

These big platform might be overwhelming and personally, I am averted to using corporate giants. I prefer to support smaller players given that they have good product and service.

Anyway, Google offers $300 credits to try out its Google Cloud Platform (GCP). The credits last for a year.

You see the difference here? Other smaller player are restricted to 2 months with hardly $100 free credits. And a giant like Google with deep pockets can afford such hefty offer to hurt its competitors.

Which free cloud Linux server do you use?

I shared my experience with cloud server providers here. I hope the free credits allow you to test some of these platforms.

What’s your choice of cloud service? Do you know some other reliable cloud server providers that offer free credits? Why not share it with the rest of us in the comment section?

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Получаем бесплатный Ubuntu сервер

Выделенный сервер можно использовать по-разному, к примеру для хостинга ботов Telegram, VK и других. В этой статье мы разберем способ получения такого сервера на операционной системе Ubuntu с 1024МБ ОЗУ и 10ГБ встроенной памяти, чего хватит для небольших проектов с головой.

Приступим к реализации:
Открываем официальную страницу сервиса при помощи перехода по ссылке. В правом верхнем углу нажимаем на кнопку «Sign Up» для того, чтобы начать процесс регистрации:

Авторизуемся при помощи одного из указанных методов или же создаем аккаунт с чистого листа, используя адрес электронной почты:

Указываем свою работу или же просто пропускаем данный шаг:

Если Вас автоматически не перебросило в консоль, то переходим в неё самостоятельно. Далее необходимо создать новый контейнер, для этого нажимаем на кнопку, указанную на скриншоте ниже:

Выбираем в каком регионе необходимо разместить сервер, на выбор предоставлено Seoul, Mumbai, Frankfurt и Oregon:

Проверяем, чтобы был выбран «Python» и версия операционной системы — «Ubuntu 18.04». Нажимаем комбинацию клавиш Ctrl+M для подтверждения создания:

Запускаем ранее созданный контейнер и попадаем в IDE. В терминале необходимо написать «sudo passwd root» и установить пароль для доступа:

Возвращаемся к контейнеру и нажимаем на три точки в правом верхнем углу, переходим к настройкам:

Опускаемся до раздела «Port forwarding» и создаем собственное значение, если оно не было сгенерировано автоматически:

Далее при помощи любого SSH-клиента подключаемся к серверу при помощи ранее полученных данных:

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