On Wed, 2005-02-09 at 12:53 +1300, Lindsay wrote:
> OK, there seems to be two OS's in Linux. Debian is one I think, what is
> the other?
Poor newbie. You have inadvertently come across one of the most
confusing things about Linux.
Don't worry, we'll get you through it :) [Deep breath]
Normally when people talk about an operating system (such as Windows,
VMS, MacOS, Solaris, OS/390â) they are referring a collection of tools
that ship with the system (Notepad, a terminal, a Web browserâ) *and*
the core program that mediates between applications and hardware (the
âkernelâ). The organisation that creates the kernel is usually the same
as the one that creates the tools (Microsoft, HP, Apple, Sun, IBMâ).
However, in Linux things are a bit different.
* The kernel is created by Linus Torvalds and his off-siders.
* The tools are made by all sorts of groups â such as GNU, x.org,
KDE.org[1], The GNOME Foundation, The Apache Foundationâ
* The kernel and tools are put together by âdistributionsâ, such
as Debian, RedHat (who also make Fedora), Mandrake, Novell,
Knoppix, Slackware, Gentooâ
The distributions are free to choose what ever tools they want to go
with the kernel. Some ship many tools, some ship only a few. Some run on
many types of machine, some run on one. Some ship mainly server tools,
some ship mainly GUI tools. It is a bit like eating a buffet, but with
more code and less food :) The distribution is what most people think of
as âthe operating systemâ.
You are correct, there are many, many, many distributions out there :)
Does that answer your question?
[1] I am not sure what the name of the KDE organising body is called,
sorry.
--
Michael JasonSmith http://www.ldots.org/
