History
in the begining…
Darkness
1960 something computing
No (not a lot of) General Purpose Computing
These Guys
- mit
- general electric
- at&t bell labs
Created MULTICS
“Multiplexed Information and Computing Service”
MULTICS
Had some great ideas.
MULTICS
Was a BIG project.
MULTICS
Had it’s own problems
MULTICS
Was TOO big.
Two guys
Create UNIX
But First
They Create the C Language
UNIX Philosphy
- Everything is a file
- Configuration in ASCII text
- Multi-User
- Multi-Tennant
- Single Rooted FS
time passess…
UNIX Becomes Popular
UNIX “Liberally Licensed”
(aka given away)
UNIX Fragments
time passess…
UNIX Fragments
This Guy
time passess…
Enter the Distro
Linux Kernel (the brain) + GNU Tools (the body) + Other Software (the accesories)
Linux Distro Families
- Slackware (Formerly SLS)
- SUSE
- Debian
- Ubuntu
- RedHat
- Fedora
- Special purpose
Slackware
Slackware
- For advanced users
- Simplistic installer (No GUI)
- One of, if not the oldest distro still maintained
- Still uses BSD style init system
- Parent distro of SUSE (kinda)
- Simple package management
- Uses Tarballs (think zip files)
- No dependancy tracking
SUSE
SUSE Family
- German engineering meets Linux distribution
- YAST tool
- RPM packages
- More cutting edge than other “enterprise” distros
- Storied past
Debian
Debian Family :: Debian
- Improving not only the distro idea but also the “community” idea of a distro
- Slow and steady development
- Open development Model
- LARGE software repositories
- DPKG package format
- APT tool manages dependancies
- Rolling Releases
Ubuntu
Debian Family :: Ubuntu
- Debian meets commercial support
- “Downstream” of Debian
- Offers support
- Long Term Support
RedHat
RedHat Family :: RedHat Enterprise Linux (formerly RedHat Linux)
- One of the first “Commercially Supported” Distros
- RPM package management
- YUM dependancy management
- Subscription Based
- Basis of many “Enterprise” distros
Fedora
RedHat Family :: Fedora (formerly Fedora Core Linux)
- “upstream” to RHEL
- Community supported by RedHat (the company)
CentOS
RedHat Family :: CENTOS (formerly kinda CaOS Linux and others)
- “Rebuild” of Enterprise Linux sources
- YAY GPL!
- Now supported by RedHat as technology incubator platform
Others
Special Purpose Distros
- TIVO replacement
- Smartphone
- Large Haldron Colider
- Raspberry pi
- Gaming platform
- Car entertainment system
- You name it
Which should I use?
- It’s really up to you.
- Try them all and figure which one you love.
- It’s free!