Linux Distributions

What is a distribution?

You never hear anyone say "I have the new RedHat Windows 95 distribution." That's because operating systems like Windows 95 are owned by someone, in this case Microsoft. Linux was released under a public license, in effect making it freeware. Also, the people developing Linux only care about the kernel, or the core of the operating system. All support programs like ls, elm, and chmod which the OS wouldn't be the same without, can be packaged differently and under Linux often are. The reason there are so many different Linux distributions is due to different schools of thought on how UNIX should be and how they can tailor it to their specific needs.

Most of the following information was taken from the Linux Distribution HOWTO by Eric S. Raymond (esr@snark.thyrsus.com). Most of the descriptions below were written by the people who made the distribution so the person perspective will change form time to time.

Red Hat Software

Red Hat 4.0 (Colgate) is based on the 2.0.18 kernel and is available for Intel, Sparc and Alpha platforms. Four installation innovations make Red Hat 3.03 the easiest Linux to install ever. Our new graphical installation mode brings you straight up into X for most of the installation. Our boot disk creation script eases selection of the proper boot disk, and it saves your existing network configuration information and XF86Config so you don't have to configure TCP/IP or X! Our FTP install allows you to install simply by downloading 3 floppy disk images -- the rest is done automatically! And finally, the installation includes seamless support for PCMCIA devices -- install Red Hat on your laptop as easily as on your desktop machine!

Slackware

Ftp.cdrom.com is the home of Slackware Linux. We are the publishers of the Official Slackware Linux CDROM. Our distribution is a 2-disc set with the current version being Slackware 3.0. The current disc contains kernels 1.2.13 and 1.3.18 as well as Elf Binaries. [The newest slackware release "Slackware 96" uses the 2.0.x kernels. -- Keith]

Craftworks

Craftworks Linux v2.2 is a commercial distribution of Linux for Intel and AXP. It is completely ELF, built one program at the time from the latest "stable" sources and organized using a methodology we call: CRAFT (Component Replacement And Fabrication Technology).

Debian

Debian Linux is the result of a volunteer effort to create a high-quality non-commercial Linux distribution. Debian Linux 1.1 is a complete and fully-functional Unix-compatible operating system for the personal computer. Debian Linux is an easy-to-upgrade distribution that mostly consists of freely redistributable software from a number of different sources and systems. The benefits of Debian Linux are its upgradability, well-defined dependencies between packages, and its open development.

DILINUX

A (D)rop (I)n linux-elf slip/ppp networking system. It can be dropped into a subdirectory of any DOS system and booted from DOS without messing with disk partitions. About 22 mbytes unzipped, 8 1/2 mbytes zipped.

Trans-Ameritech Linuxware

Trans-Ameritech has published 8 releases of Linux by the end of 95. Traditionally, Trans-Ameritech has set new standards for combining ease of use and straightforward installation, even for a first-time user, with its line of LinuxWare CD-ROMs. This is a flexible, easy-to-install operating system geared toward those intersted in learning Unix as well as technical people, students and home PC users.

Linux Pro

The charter of the WGS Linux Pro CD is different from all other distributions currently on the market. We are actively pursuing penetration into the commercial marketplace for Linux. Everything we do is aimed at increasing the size of the Linux community, and helping Linux to become THE one true operating system, not just an operating system.

Yggdrasil Plug-and-Play Linux CD-ROM and the Linux Bible

Yggdrasil Plug-and-Play Linux is a complete CD-ROM distribution of the Linux operating system. It includes a great deal of software---nearly every package that you would expect to find on a complete UNIX system is available. A complete file list is available via FTP from yggdrasil.com.

The Linux Bible is a compendium of Linux documentation, including 5 books from the Linux Documentation Project, The Yggdrasil installation manual, and the complete set of Linux HOWTO guides. We publish this and offer this separately from the CD-ROM distribution.

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k-garner@uiuc.edu