Does anyone know of a good linux distrobution for beginners, or should I just use freenas?

Box_O_Nuggets

I made a home server out of scrap pc parts, which is currently using windows 10 pro. However everywhere I look about servers it always says that "if you use windows you're leaving performance on the table", and it seems that learning linux is helpful down the road.

Lambdaben

Depends on what you want to do with the server, I would suggest Unraid or FreeNAS if you need a storage server. If your just trying to learn Linux, you should try using Linux Mint or Ubuntu.....

Box_O_Nuggets

Ok, I guess ill try Ubuntu. Thank you

Ian

If you need some information setting up Linux, we do have a guide for that here! https://community.microcenter.com/kb/articles/419-how-to-install-linux-in-a-virtual-machine-windows-10

Scary_Guy

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/48482#Comment_48482

No, that's not pure Linux, that's Linux under Windows 10. Though that is something someone can do to try it out, I'd recommend using a "live USB" instead as the user doesn't need to make changes to their main OS (also when I tried it it hosed my Windows 10 install, and that was with both WSL1 and WSL2). The nice thing about a live USB is it just goes away when the computer is rebooted. VenToy is some amazing software that will also let them try out multiple ISOs on the same stick from a GRUB2 menu.

https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/install-ubuntu-desktop#1-overview Here is a tutorial on Ubuntu Desktop (which also works as a server.) I'd say to get the LTS version which gets fewer updates, but is generally considered stable enough to run business oriented web services on.