🐧 Linux and Red Hat: How They’re Related, Why They Matter Today, and How to Become Certified in 2025

Whether you’re an aspiring system administrator, DevOps engineer, or just curious about how servers run behind the scenes, understanding Linux and its relationship with Red Hat is essential. In this post, we’ll cover:

• ✅ The connection between Linux and Red Hat
• 🌍 Why both are crucial in today’s tech landscape
• 🤝 RHEL vs Ubuntu vs Fedora comparison
• 🧑‍🎓 Paths to Linux certifications (RHCSA, LFCS, etc.)
• 📚 Free and low-cost resources to help you learn

---

🐧 What Is Linux?

Linux is a free, open-source kernel developed by Linus Torvalds in 1991. While it’s not a full operating system by itself, the Linux kernel serves as the foundation for many Linux distributions (distros) like:

• Ubuntu
• Fedora
• Debian
• Arch
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

These distributions package the Linux kernel with user-space tools to form complete operating systems for desktop, server, cloud, and embedded use.

---

🏢 What Is Red Hat?

Red Hat, Inc. is a company founded in 1993 that specializes in enterprise open-source software. It is best known for:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) – A commercial Linux distro for businesses
• Ansible – Popular automation tool
• OpenShift – Kubernetes-based cloud application platform
• CentOS Stream – A midstream version of RHEL
• Fedora – A community-supported Linux distro upstream to RHEL

In 2019, IBM acquired Red Hat for $34 billion, emphasizing how central open-source has become to enterprise IT.

---

🔗 How Are Linux and Red Hat Related?

Element	Linux	Red Hat
Type	Kernel (core OS)	Company/distributor
Focus	Free and open-source	Enterprise-grade OS
Contribution	Community and organizations	Top contributor to Linux kernel
Product	Base for all Linux distros	Builds and maintains RHEL, Fedora, etc.

---

📈 Why Are Linux and Red Hat Relevant Today?

• 🔐 Security & Stability: Linux powers 96.5% of the top 1 million web servers. RHEL is certified for enterprise use and provides long-term support.
• ☁️ Cloud & DevOps: Major cloud providers offer Linux-based VMs. Red Hat’s OpenShift and Ansible are popular for automation and orchestration.
• 🖥️ Developer Ecosystem: Fedora and CentOS Stream provide innovation pipelines and pre-enterprise previews.

---

🥊 RHEL vs Ubuntu vs Fedora

Feature	RHEL	Ubuntu	Fedora
Maintained By	Red Hat (IBM)	Canonical	Red Hat community
Audience	Enterprise	General-purpose/devs	Developers, testers
Cost	Paid support	Free + optional support	Free
Release Cycle	10+ year support	2-year LTS	6-months
Certifications	RHCSA, RHCE	Ubuntu Pro	None officially

Fedora → upstream | RHEL → enterprise-hardened | CentOS Stream → rolling preview of next RHEL

---

🎓 Linux Certification Paths

🛡️ Red Hat Certifications

• RHCSA: Basic sysadmin, users, storage, SELinux
• RHCE: Intermediate + automation (Ansible)
• RHCA: Advanced topics (cloud, clustering, security)

🖥️ Other Linux Certifications

• LFCS: From Linux Foundation – vendor-neutral
• LPIC-1/2/3: Broad certification track
• Linux+ (CompTIA): Entry-level alternative

---

🆓 Free & Affordable Learning Resources

📺 Free Courses & Video Playlists

• Linux for Beginners (freeCodeCamp – YouTube)
• RHCSA Training by Sander van Vugt
• Intro to Linux (Linux Foundation / edX)

📚 Books

• RHCSA/RHCE Red Hat Study Guide – by Michael Jang or Sander van Vugt
• How Linux Works – by Brian Ward
• Linux Pocket Guide – by Daniel Barrett

🧪 Practice Labs

• VirtualBox + Fedora/Ubuntu ISO – Create your own lab
• Katacoda or Play With Docker – Browser-based CLI practice
• GitHub Codespaces – Cloud-based Linux coding
• AWS Free Tier – Host Linux servers free for 12 months

---

🧭 Suggested 4-Week Study Plan (RHCSA or LFCS)

Week	Focus
Week 1	Linux CLI basics: ls, cd, chmod, users
Week 2	Boot process, services, networking, firewalls
Week 3	Disk partitions, LVM, SELinux, software
Week 4	Bash scripting, container basics, practice exams

---

🏁 Final Thoughts

Linux is the invisible backbone of the internet, and Red Hat helps scale it for the enterprise. Whether you’re managing cloud infrastructure, automating deployments, or breaking into cybersecurity, Linux skills are essential.

Start small with Fedora or Ubuntu, then move toward certification like RHCSA or LFCS to prove your skills in the industry. With free courses and open-source tools, you can get started today at zero cost!