5 Linux distros that are perfect for running in a VM

Source Domain: www.howtogeek.com

If you want to experiment with new software, host a home service, or try a new operating system without risking your main PC, running Linux in a virtual machine is the safest way to do it. It gives you a sandbox where you can break things without worrying about the repercussions, or lets you isolate whatever is running on that VM from your other services.

The potential snag is that VMs are always a bit less performant than running “bare metal,” which means a full desktop environment can be a problem. Instead, you’re better off picking a distro that is suited to your specific needs rather than just installing the latest version of Ubuntu desktop on everything.

Ubuntu Server is a great headless server

It is a safe starting point with a ton of support

Whenever I fire up a new Linux server, my go-to choice is Ubuntu Server. Ubuntu Server is essentially the standard edition of Ubuntu with its desktop environment removed.

The primary advantage here is the support. Because Ubuntu is so popular, you’ll find a huge number of tutorials and community answers for almost any problem you encounter.

It isn’t as lightweight as other Linux server distros, but that also has some benefits. You usually don’t need to install a ton of prerequisites every time you run something new, you just need to pick up a few application-specific dependencies. Additionally, the long term support (LTS) releases are pretty much perfect for servers because you don’t typically need the latest and greatest bells and whistles. You can set it up and run it for years without a problem as long as you keep on top of periodic security updates.

If you are a beginner or someone…

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