10 reasons to get started with enterprise Linux in 2025

It’s 2025, and it’s time to modernize and (finally) adopt Linux. You don’t have time to retrofit the operating system that shipped with your laptop so it works with the decentralized and cloud-based network the world runs on. Red Hat developers are working harder than ever to make sure it’s easier than ever for you to get started with Linux. Here are the top 10 reasons to get Linux onto your computer and into your data center in 2025.

1. Linux helps you with cloud adoption

The cloud is all about distribution. One of the reasons the cloud is so powerful is because it lets software run in several places at once. The cloud itself is also distributed, with many different vendors (including Microsoft, Google, Amazon and others) offering a cloud platform. Interestingly, the bulk of software running on those cloud platforms are being run in a Linux container.

Most people never have to interact with a Linux container directly. They only use the software the container is running, which is by design. However, if you’re an administrator or developer who does have to interact with a Linux container, then you gain access to a complete toolchain for configuration, optimization and troubleshooting when you know Linux. The internal logic of a container is familiar once you have Linux experience, and the more commands you learn on Linux the more you can do with a Linux container.

2. Linux helps you build your own cloud

Another advantage to knowing how to use Linux is that it grants you the power to build your own hybrid cloud. Not all organizations want to store all data and applications on somebody else’s cloud, so many of them take a hybrid approach. For that to be possible, you need your own cluster to run a local cloud platform like Red Hat OpenShift. Building your own cluster to run a multi-node computing infrastructure on commodity hardware is possible with Linux.

Explore the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud learning hub

3. Linux helps overcome resource constraints

There’s a constant struggle to do more with less. It’s true today, and it’s partly what inspired systems administrators to bring Linux into their server rooms back in the 1990s. Linux is flexible, and can serve as the foundation for your organization’s infrastructure regardless of industry. More importantly, basically everything on Linux can be automated. With tools like Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, you can automate the rote parts of your job so you’re available to address those urgent matters that inevitably come up throughout the day. You don’t need another you, you just need to automate Linux.

4. Linux helps you keep up with security

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) isn’t just a useful assembly of software to form an operating system. RHEL is rigorously maintained and updated in response to the latest threat models. You don’t need to spend your valuable time watching for CVE records, because the RHEL team is already doing that for you.

5. Linux lets you explore AI

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to work its way into general use, it has become abundantly clear that AI is not general purpose. AI is most useful when it’s customized for your organization and industry. A generic AI may have been trained on the entire Internet, but that’s not useful for a company that’s creating content or technology that isn’t public yet. The answer is to train AI yourself, and that’s exactly what RHEL AI enables you to do. RHEL AI includes the open source-licensed Granite large language model (LLM) family, with extended model lifecycle support and Open Source Assurance legal protections.. These Granite models are Apache 2 licensed and provide transparent access to data sources and model weights, and with the InstructLab project you can fine-tune the model and training to suit your organization.

Learning path: RHEL AI: Try out LLMs the easy way

6. Linux is good for development

For a developer, there’s nothing as refreshing as a framework filled with libraries and functions that are actually useful. When you have access to great developer tools, you can construct exactly the software your organization needs.

Because of its development model, Linux is a programming platform by nature, but also by design. Whether you’re developing in C, C++ or Rust for system-level processes, or in Java, Python or Go for business applications, or using Qt or Electron for user apps, there’s a full stack on Linux to make it possible. Not only that, there are endless applications to support you, including tools for updating development libraries, source code management, debuggers, development environments and of course your choice of IDE.

Read next: Top Linux articles from Red Hat Developers

7. Linux is a workstation for real life

People don’t think too much about the computer desktop these days. After decades of iteration, the graphical desktop is largely taken for granted now. You boot up a computer, you get a desktop. On most operating systems, it’s pleasantly mundane.

On Linux, the desktop is familiar but far from mundane. Thanks to the open source development model, resources are constantly being put into pushing the concept of a computer desktop further. The GNOME desktop features true network transparency that gives you access to other devices as if they were locally attached. Extensions provide mobile integration so you can transfer files between your computer and mobile. There’s even an option for an immutable desktop, so you can literally containerize your workflow. If you’re looking for a progressive desktop experience, Linux is where it’s happening.

8. Linux scales

When you adopt Linux on your personal computer, you’re adopting the same Linux that powers servers, super-computers, clouds and a myriad of portable and edge devices. The same components are on all these systems because Linux massively scales up and down. The commands you learn on your laptop for everyday tasks are among the commands you use to administer the control plane of a compute cluster. There are, of course, commands and interfaces specific to different system roles, but the foundation is universal. Getting comfortable with it means your skills scale just as effectively as your operating system.

9. Linux is open source

There’s a lot of talk about the business case for open source, and with good reason. Part of doing more with less is having less to manage. People using Linux every day are part of an ongoing support cycle, finding and reporting problems with code or configurations or integrations. Other people find solutions for these problems, and those solutions are shared, either socially or through actual code commits. It’s a neverending cycle, because real life isn’t stagnate. Change is a constant, so the feedback loop that helps build Linux is ongoing.

Download the report: Value of Red Hat solutions versus non-paid alternatives

10. Linux is collaborative

Opening code for analysis and contribution from diverse populations produces new ideas and implementations for stress-testing and real-world experimentation. It also gives new programmers the opportunity to learn basic skills by doing small and trivial tasks that need to get done. It doesn’t flatten the learning curve, but it makes the journey meaningful because every contribution really does matter.

Whether you’re learning to code or to build and maintain complex computer systems, you can use Linux as a learning tool while also gaining production experience. Your success with Linux can help someone else, and you can build a support network through your contributions.