This question is quite wide, so I'll brush the most used distributions and their characteristics.
It is the distribution that has gained the most fans in the last two years. It is a hybrid that works by mixing Ubuntu and Debian repositories (see below). It is in first place in the distributions, according to DistroWatch .
It has a philosophy that mixes free and proprietary code, with proprietary code consisting primarily of video codecs and media drivers.
Being quite eclectic and largely supporting apt-get , it's the distribution I'd recommend to get started.
It is Linux with the highest commercial and marketing appeal, ranking 2nd in the DistroWatch ranking. It is developed by Canonical and was one of the most developed distributions of recent times. It started as a fork of Debian, but developed peculiar features quickly.
Unlike Debian, and like Linux Mint, it has a more tolerant philosophy for drivers and proprietary code (Debian is 100% free, which means that certain drivers are less proprietary as well). The primary packaging system is apt-get and is the only one that has an App Store , which mixes free and paid software.
You have here a Stack Exchange site that is entirely dedicated to it: Ask Ubuntu .
This is the free alternative sponsored by Red Hat . It ranks 5th in the distribution rankings, according to DistroWatch . The idea is to copy some of the functionality of Red Hat, but without focusing on the business user, but on the home user.
The primary packaging system is yum .
is one of the oldest Linux distributions, having one of the largest communities. It ranks 3rd in the ranking of Distrowatch . It has 100% free code.
The primary packaging system is apt-get
Installing a distribution
Before leaving disk formatting, I recommend that you install a Linux distribution inside a virtual machine so as not to compromise the current state of your computer. There are several free virtual machine softwares, but what I recommend is the Oracle VirtualBox .
