| The DistroMe page,
the one about Linux
Distributions. |
| Paragraphs
in this page are: General Distributions Conclusion Where should I start from? |
General GNU/Linux can be called an OS. But Linux (the kernel only) isn't. A Linux Distribution (call it Distro from now) is a complete OS that has: A Linux Kernel, sometimes custom (patched). Libraries and Shells. Utilities and Applications, mostly (but not only) GNU-GPL. Very often, custom mechanisms for install configure or update.
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Distributions Distros are specific projects even if they use packaging systems not their own. Distros may be completely compatible to another distro (i.e. Redhat 7.0) Therefore you could use any package from the compatible Distro. Distributions are now counted to hundreds, so any user that would like to try one, might get lost very easily. There are three major types of Distros and one minor. The top are the easiest, getting slowly more difficult. The Live Distributions Os boots and operates from cd or dvd and some directories like /home can be in an image file inside your filesystem (i.e. for FAT32 c:\mydistro.home) Some I have tested: Suse Live 8.1, knoppix live 3.1 Live distros do great work in plug and play and ease of use, since their main purpose is to demonstrate the capabilities of the OS to the new user. Knoppix and Mepis are two modern live distros, based both on Debian and able to install in a hard disk for regular use. The hd image Distributions There are many users that would not dare to alter their hard disk's partition table, just to test a new os. These distros install themselves in a single file and mount it as "/" in the filesystem when they boot. They also use the loadlin to boot through a DOS .bat file that brings up the entire system from Dos Mode. Therefore, the Master Boot Record of your system can be intact, and you can throw away the entire distro without pain. Phatlinux and Winlinux are a couple of older examples. The "filesystem in a file" method is rather slow, and will misinform you about linux disk operations speed. The Dos Subdir Distributions This is a minor type. I've only tested zipslack from the Slackware distros for that. Here, the "/" directory of the Distro, therefore the entire filesystem tree, is a simple subdirectory inside a fat32 filesystem tree like c:\zipslack It boots through loadlin (mentioned above) and can be accessed from your main Operating System's file manager to get or put files. Since the *nix filesystems have features that cannot function in other fs types, some abilities, like device files, soft or hard links, permissions, timestamps etc, are emulated through small auxiliary files. The Standalone Distributions Here, we have to create 1 or more partitions in order to make space for our linux distro. The partitions may be void, or primarily created as ext2, ext3, linux swap etc. Then the Distro wizard takes place, always finds the partitions to be installed to and detects the other os filesystems to mount them for us in order to access them inside our distro. They are also very discreet in the Master Boot Record case and respect the os that booted previously from there. The majority of Distros is located here: The more "friendly" ones are: Redhat Suse Mandrake Lycoris Ximian Mepis Knoppix Ubuntu etc. Distributions like these opened an era where Linux could be finally accessible to a vast majority of users, but the effort of doing so might be underestimated, which is definetly wrong. These distros have excelled in the ease of use, plug and play detection, special tools for configuring the system, smart scripts for bringing up/down services etc. Many of these Distros are based on Redhat, which has turned to a Distro Standard, not only in the way of "thinking" of how to make a distro, but also in the packaging mechanism called "Rpm". In my opinion, the first serious attempt for a user to a linux Distro might be one of the above. On the contrary: Debian Slackware Linux From Scratch Gentoo etc. demand more knowledge from the user and a more *nix orientation and will to learn. Each of the three more demanding ones has its charasteristics. Debian is like a counterpart to Redhat, since they are both developed to Distro Standards, but Redhat is a Company and Debian is a Community! Debian has the most packages (10000+), can update even the base packages without rebooting and can be installed completely through the net from a single floppy disk! Debian has an almost single source tree for all the computer families it supports (which is astounding) and, in addition, the community supports and develops the GNU/HURD kernel, a major project of our times. The Debian updating mechanism is an astounding piece of tool. It handles not only dependencies, but also Pre dependencies, ordinary dependencies, recommendations, suggestions, priorities, conflicts, all of them adding a very rich relationship environment. The Debian natural installation media IS the Internet. Apart of release numbers, there are always three release trees called:
1000 volunteers that form the Debian community check and maintain packages. They also form an active developing community, not a just "compile and package" one. They have performed deep fixes to the libc that Debian uses, and maintain a debug log of X in all platforms that Debian supports. The common misunderstanding that Debian always has old packages is simply because every package is thoroughly checked, therefore needs some time to get inside the "Stable" release. So, a server needs the Stable tree, but a Desktop can be a mix of Testing and Unstable, in order to have the most updated packages. Debian is exceptional in updating the OS with practically not a second of downtime. Slackware is one of the oldest modern Distros and is symbolicly the other counterpart of Debian, since it was initially developed by one (1!) person, 10 years ago! In fact, Slackware is notorious over the years to be a small team distro, a characteristic that has not changed till now! In my opinion (personal taste), Slackware has the most unix-like characteristics. It is simple, compact, very understandable, up-to-date and provided that the user is accustomed to a *nix philosophy, the most easy to customize by hand. But be careful, using that Distro you will have to meet face to face with tasks trivial to other Distros, like enabling your mouse wheel! I am so used to that Distro now, that I wouldn't reject a graphical wizard or more distro-centralized configuration tools. Slackware's basic configuration files are more BSD oriented, as opposed to the SystemV "philosophy". Therefore, it keeps the rc.* files in a single directory instead of using multiple directories, as the majority of distros do. The Slackware package mechanism helps maintaining a always up-to-date Slackware box with very little effort. In these 10 years of development, Slackware has gained a very stable - yet expanding - group of hardcore users. Because of this, some unofficial Slackware developing teams can be found on the Internet, providing support of packages/projects that are not officially inside the distro i.e. graphical package tool frontends etc. Using this distro, you don't just operate a GNU/Linux OS. You also learn too much! Linux From Scratch is the essence of Distros. Here every package is a source and is compiled real-time by you and for your machine. If you decide to use this Distro, prepare for an adventure that will pay you back ten times of experience, but be aware that near every package will have to be configured. To compile 5 or 10 applications and to compile an entire OS are very different things, like night and day. There is a distro, though, that can compile an entire system from source using automated procedures: Gentoo. Gentoo is the reason it took me so long to update the pages - I was quite busy using it. Gentoo uses a packaging mechanism called "Portage", inspired in a way from the "Port" mechanism seen in *BSDs. Generally, though, it goes further. Portage keeps centralized compilation instructions, therefore only one configuration file is enough for knowing the installation path, or the specific processor to compile for. Paths for portage packages, precompiled or source, can be a local directory, a Local Network share or http and ftp mirrors in the internet. If a required package is not found locally, the connection to the internet solves the problem. Portage can be ordered to prefer already compiled packages, if available (-k option). Furthermore, it can be instructed to create a package from the compiled source, before updating the system, making second installation very easy, as compilation is done only once using this method! It can pretend to install (-p option) just for information, and provides a fine mechanism for updating or removing packages, and obeys the force (-f) option for the users that believe they are experts (careful, expertise comes with a cost!). Gentoo can be installed in three stages: Stage one: libc, GNU/C Compiler (gcc or cc in linuxes) and binary utilities are compiled from scratch. Stage two: The rest of the base system is compiled here, so stage 1 compilation could be omitted, if binaries instead of sources could be used. Stage three: The entire base system is installed from precompiled packages. As you see, installation procedure can be very versatile. The rest of the system (Kde Gnome Xine etc) can be handled this way also. Compilation from source can be chosen over precompiled installation if customization is the primary choice. Just as if we ordered a costume from a taylor for our size, this metaphore is also valid for our computer. Precompiled installation is chosen if time is the essence, but we still need to have a centralized and internet oriented method for installing, removing, updating etc. Conclusion: Choosing a favorite Distro, is just a matter of personal taste. Yoy may prefer either: * plug'n play or manual hardware configuration. * "wizards" or direct tweaking and manual control over "deamons". * distros that have something more to "say" or the ones that made the "standards". * conpanies or communities. * using it "without pain" or learning "the hard way". * the "soft" Gui buttons or the "hard" console commands. * "productivity" or "experiment". * Installations OVER Fat32 (Loopback, UMSDOS) or Hard Disk partition reconfiguration. Nearly every modern Distro is based on the philosophy of the fine three that have been already described: Redhat Debian Slackware Q: Where should I start from? A: To easily "dive" in this OS logic I would recommend from top to bottom:
Some *BSD information will be up in the BsdMe page. |
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