Here’s a little report I did on Linux and the distributions. For a class report, of course, but may be useful to the outside world:

Linux Distributions

Linux is a computer operating system originally made by Linus Torvalds and was released for public use in September 1991. Since then, Linux has been reworked, modified, and improved by thousands of developers. Today, there are many distributions of Linux floating around on the Internet that are made to do specific tasks and work on various computer models.

What is so good about having Linux as an operating system? One of the main reasons that people use it is because it is free. Unlike the Windows operating system made by Microsoft Corp., which will not allow you to redistribute or modify the contents (i.e. its main kernel or other system files), Linux is a free open-source project which will allow you to take it’s kernel, rework anything you want in it to suit your needs, and then either sell it or redistribute it freely. In addition to that, Linux is also very reliable and stable, meaning that you will not receive many unknown errors while you are working or while you are running it as a server. Having virtually no trojans or viruses that can do damage to the Linux OS, the operating system can now boast in superiority over the Windows OS, which has well over 1,000 viruses that can invade it’s system (if not more). When comparing user-friendliness of the two OS’s, Windows will stomp on any Linux distribution out there. Putting it into perspective, the Windows OS was made for the people who really don’t know anything about computers all the way to the advanced computer users. Linux, however, is mainly for people who actually know how to use a computer, run applications, and possibly know a thing or two about how to work in command-line mode. Microsoft Corp. also has a huge support center with people ready to take your questions and help you out with installation, error messages, and other computer-related topics. However, if you are using Linux, there are a few places to go on the Internet and ask questions, but generally, you are on your own. Software compatibility is yet another issue, as some products that work with Windows will not work with Linux and vice versa. However, Linux users can download an emulator that acts as an emulated OS and run programs with it. They can also install Linux on a computer with a different OS (making them coexist) and switch between them whenever they feel like it.

Out of all the Linux distributions out on the Internet, the most popular and most used distribution is the Red Hat Linux, which is now split into two distributions: Fedora Core and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Red Hat Linux is very easy to install, has a good user-interface (especially with that of Fedora Core), and has pretty good tech support. In addition to that, it also has a good combination of packages (software) built into it, and is fairly well sized in terms of downloading. Another popular distribution is the Debian, which has the most packages (8,710 to be exact) out of any other distribution, is compatible with virtually all hardware types, and has a fairly good support system. Unfortunately, since it is the largest Linux distribution out there, it becomes quite a hefty download. Furthermore, once installed with standard packages, the packages and kernel can take up to 800MB of space (2GB with all packages, some of which are unnecessary). Debian systems can also take a while to setup and run. The other popular distribution is known as Slackware Linux. Slackware Linux is the oldest distribution and its main focus is on security and stability. The main idea behind Slackware was KISS a.k.a. Keep It Simple, Stupid, which made this distribution into focussing on the system design instead of the ease of use. Thus, this distribution was made for the more knowledgeable computer user, not for the n00b. Some users of Slackware have stated, “When you know Slackware, you know Linux…when you know Red Hat, all you know is Red Hat.”

All in all, not including privately made/redistributed versions of Linux, there is somewhere over a hundred different distributions of Linux out on the Internet. Each version of Linux serves a certain purpose; a distribution fit for a workstation may not be very good to use as a server. A good list of distributions and their purposes can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_distribution#General-purpose_distributions and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_distribution#Special-purpose_distributions.

If anyone ever asks a question such as, “Is there a particular distribution that would work best with a PIII PC that only has a 4 Gig HD and maybe only 128M of RAM? If so why?” the answer that turns up is quite clear – any popular distribution of Linux is fully capable of working with that computer. Even Debian, fully packed with all of its features, will only take up to 800MB of hard drive space and a minimum of 12MB of memory. The question then becomes, “Which distribution has more cool features in it that we can play around with while the teacher isn’t looking?” Debian Linux, with all of its nice packages and customizability, is the obvious choice.