On Tue, 9 May 2000, vulcan wrote:
> Linux installation is a universe complete in itself in several respects.
> there are enough packages (apache web server, Perl, Python, ...) so that
> you can start doing things without rushing back to vendor with a
> gunny-bag-ful of money.
This mail is basically for newbies who may not know the difference.
Technically speaking, linux does not contain any of the packages mentioned
above. A linux installation is technically just the untgzing/compiling
and installing of the linux kernel - which (again technically speaking) is
all there is to linux.
All the other apps that come along - including much of the OS (gcc, gdb,
info, man, ls, cp, mv etc) are all user contributed apps. Most of these
are contributed by the GNU project.
<digression>
For those who don't know it, GNU stands for "GNU's Not Unix". Note the
recursion in that definition. Hackers love recursion. You see it
everywhere. The new HURD kernel from GNU is a doubly recursive acronym.
"HIRD of Unix Replacing Daemons" go find out what HIRD stands for.
</digression>
Now, bringing all these together into a complete suite of apps that are
ready to run is what a distributor does (though you could do it too). The
package that the distributor compiles is called a distribution (like
Redhat, SuSE, Debian, Mandrake, Corel, Slackware and others).
Finally, what do you call the OS? It would be incorrect to call it linux,
cause linux is just the kernel - and the kernel does not make up the
entire OS. GNU would like you to call it the GNU/Linux OS - given that
28% of the source code in the OS is GNU contributed, while only about 4%
is the linux kernel. You decide.
The basic fact is that linux on its own has nothing other than a really
stable kernel - the base of the entire OS. Everything else is an add-on.
Windows users actually get a lot more on a basic installation - but they
don't really have the choice or the stability.
Philip
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