On Thursday 26 June 2003 04:25 pm, Daniel O. Escasa wrote: * Which leads me to ask, what makes a distribution? Obviously, the GNU/Linux * kernel, plus some other utilities, but how about the installation system? * I think that's one thing that would distinguish the face of one distro * from another. But heck, I can probly create a GUI front end to a Slack * distro but that might not count.
I don't have a formal definition but I'd like to lay down some observations. Linux distributions seem to differ in these categories, more or less: 1. end-user - Some are geared for newbies, others are for technical users 2. intended usage - Some distros are server-centric, while others are desktop-oriented. Others are for clustering, others are for multiprocessors, others are for certain types of machines (like the PowerPC). Others are for demo purposes (like Knoppix). Others are for specific departments (like government use) 3. choice of packages - depends on what software the target end-user of the distro (either for government, home, business, scientific, or others) will need, or is likely to use. 4. management tools - desktop-oriented distros need graphical management interfaces (ex: GUI installation/configuration wizards, integrated control panels) that are simple to use. 5. other conceptual reasons, such as stability (Debian), simplicity and lack of bloat (Slackware), ease-of-use and migration for Windows users (Lycoris, Lindows, Xandros) 6. other pertinent choices like type of file-systems, software package format (.rpm or .deb), type of kernel, etc... optimus -- Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Official Website: http://plug.linux.org.ph Searchable Archives: http://marc.free.net.ph . To leave, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/plug . Are you a Linux newbie? To join the newbie list, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/ph-linux-newbie
