If you want to download the Linux operating system there are tons of places you could visit. First, it would be a good idea to know which distribution of Linux you want to download. A very popular version of Linux at the moment, especially for beginners, is Ubuntu. Download Ubuntu if you have the bandwidth. You can also order a free CD from the company that makes Ubuntu.
If you don't have the bandwidth and don't want to wait a month or so to receive your free disk, you can purchase it very cheap here.
Another great resource for information on distros, complete with their download links and screenshots, is distrowatch.com
Sunday, June 21, 2009
What's with all the different versions of Linux?
Everyone's first question when they hear or read about Linux is, "why so many different versions?" Well to answer that it's important to know the structure of open source software development. In the open source world, anyone with some programming knowledge can hack their own version of any open source software available.
Everyone has their own idea of what is "ideal", so there are lots of forks in open source software. However, all these different versions of Linux aren't actual forks in the software. Linux is technically just a single piece of a Linux distribution.
Whoah slow down Randy! I apologize if that went too quickly. Let me try it again. What most people call "the Linux operating system" is actually called "GNU/Linux." You see back in the late 70s/early 80s a guy by the name of Richard M. Stallman(referred to as RMS from here on) created the GNU project. GNU is a silly little type of abbreviated known as a recursive acronym. Geeks love their word trickery. GNU, most often pronounced (Ga-noo) stands for GNU is Not Unix.
RMS is a bit of an eccentric to say the least, but his philosophies on code and programming are well thought out and very un-capitalistic. Normally I wouldn't like his ideas but I think software may be one industry where communism should rule.
These open source types love to share the fruits of their labor. I've went completely out in left field so time to throw the ball back to the pitcher.
GNU was almost a complete operating system. All the shells were there. All the commands and libraries were ready. It just lacked one thing. That thing was a kernel.
The kernel is the main brain of the OS. It controls pretty much everything. Without it, the rest of the tools are useless. Without the tools, the kernel is pretty much useless. So, along comes Linus Torvalds.
Linux was a student in Helsinki if my history serves me correctly. He was working on an operating system as a school project. He was modeling it after an OS called Minix. He announced his intention to set it free for the community one day on Usenet. Within months Linux was gaining steam.
In the early days there weren't many "versions" of Linux. Those are actually referred to as distributions by the way, not versions. Versions are numeric indicators of the revision of a software title. Distributions are basically the Linux kernel bundled with the GNU tools and other tools dependant upon the distribution.
So, now I will discuss the actual differences in the distributions. I know, this is a long winded post. I normally like short posts, and I will be doing that more in the future.
There were at least three notable early Linux distros. These were Red Hat, Debian, and Slackware. These weren't the only three by any stretch, but they are the most important. Red Hat developed a business model to take Linux to the enterprise. Debian became sort of the church of Linux. These guys were pure open source, and talking to a Debian guy on IRC would land you a RTFM very quickly. Slackware was kind of the "elite" version but no one really knows why other than it was hard to get running and hard to get support. At least, that's what it seemed like to me.
These three became the parents, grandparents and great grandparents of most of the Distributions out today. For instance, that crazy popular distribution Ubuntu is a direct descendant from Debian. Red Hat begat SuSE, Mandriva, Fedora, and many others. Then there's the 3rd generation like Mint Linux which is descended from Ubuntu.
It's a wacky family tree. So what are the differences? The biggest noticeable difference, believe it or not, is the default theme of each distribution. The GUI looks a certain way by default in all of these distros. That's probably the biggest thing new Linux users will see. Sadly this is bad thing, because these new users will base their entire decision making upon the look of each distro. They'll see SuSE looks good so they'll use it.
Every Linux distro can be configured to look like any other in a few minutes, but the default inner-workings of the distros can't be changed so easily. New users should steer away from source-based distros like Gentoo and LFS unless you are comfortable reading A LOT.
It's all a matter of personal opinion in many aspects. I'll give my personal opinions but know that from here on out it's just IMO.
Debian distros come with apt, which is my favorite package managing system. Deb files can be installed directly with dpkg. Debian distros seem to have the best dependency checking. In other words, I love Debian based distros. Particularly, I like Debian and Ubuntu. There are a ton of others but those two work well for me. I typically use Debian Stable on my servers and Ubuntu on my desktops.
Some people will swear by Slackware or one of it's descendants. Corporate users will learn Linux on a RedHat based distro most likely. I feel that is why some corporate users have bad feelings toward Linux. They aren't exposed to a good distro. As a side note, however, Red Hat distros make it easier to install and configure SELinux I believe, which means they can be much more secure. Debian Stable is very secure though.
Now that I've got you totally confused, I'll end with a bit of advise about choosing a Linux distro. Don't base your decision on what the distro looks like out of the box. Base it on how well the distro functions and how easy it is to find solutions to any problems that may arise with the distro. The default theme can be changed but a lot of the stuff under the hood isn't too easy to change.
Everyone has their own idea of what is "ideal", so there are lots of forks in open source software. However, all these different versions of Linux aren't actual forks in the software. Linux is technically just a single piece of a Linux distribution.
Whoah slow down Randy! I apologize if that went too quickly. Let me try it again. What most people call "the Linux operating system" is actually called "GNU/Linux." You see back in the late 70s/early 80s a guy by the name of Richard M. Stallman(referred to as RMS from here on) created the GNU project. GNU is a silly little type of abbreviated known as a recursive acronym. Geeks love their word trickery. GNU, most often pronounced (Ga-noo) stands for GNU is Not Unix.
RMS is a bit of an eccentric to say the least, but his philosophies on code and programming are well thought out and very un-capitalistic. Normally I wouldn't like his ideas but I think software may be one industry where communism should rule.
These open source types love to share the fruits of their labor. I've went completely out in left field so time to throw the ball back to the pitcher.
GNU was almost a complete operating system. All the shells were there. All the commands and libraries were ready. It just lacked one thing. That thing was a kernel.
The kernel is the main brain of the OS. It controls pretty much everything. Without it, the rest of the tools are useless. Without the tools, the kernel is pretty much useless. So, along comes Linus Torvalds.
Linux was a student in Helsinki if my history serves me correctly. He was working on an operating system as a school project. He was modeling it after an OS called Minix. He announced his intention to set it free for the community one day on Usenet. Within months Linux was gaining steam.
In the early days there weren't many "versions" of Linux. Those are actually referred to as distributions by the way, not versions. Versions are numeric indicators of the revision of a software title. Distributions are basically the Linux kernel bundled with the GNU tools and other tools dependant upon the distribution.
So, now I will discuss the actual differences in the distributions. I know, this is a long winded post. I normally like short posts, and I will be doing that more in the future.
There were at least three notable early Linux distros. These were Red Hat, Debian, and Slackware. These weren't the only three by any stretch, but they are the most important. Red Hat developed a business model to take Linux to the enterprise. Debian became sort of the church of Linux. These guys were pure open source, and talking to a Debian guy on IRC would land you a RTFM very quickly. Slackware was kind of the "elite" version but no one really knows why other than it was hard to get running and hard to get support. At least, that's what it seemed like to me.
These three became the parents, grandparents and great grandparents of most of the Distributions out today. For instance, that crazy popular distribution Ubuntu is a direct descendant from Debian. Red Hat begat SuSE, Mandriva, Fedora, and many others. Then there's the 3rd generation like Mint Linux which is descended from Ubuntu.
It's a wacky family tree. So what are the differences? The biggest noticeable difference, believe it or not, is the default theme of each distribution. The GUI looks a certain way by default in all of these distros. That's probably the biggest thing new Linux users will see. Sadly this is bad thing, because these new users will base their entire decision making upon the look of each distro. They'll see SuSE looks good so they'll use it.
Every Linux distro can be configured to look like any other in a few minutes, but the default inner-workings of the distros can't be changed so easily. New users should steer away from source-based distros like Gentoo and LFS unless you are comfortable reading A LOT.
It's all a matter of personal opinion in many aspects. I'll give my personal opinions but know that from here on out it's just IMO.
Debian distros come with apt, which is my favorite package managing system. Deb files can be installed directly with dpkg. Debian distros seem to have the best dependency checking. In other words, I love Debian based distros. Particularly, I like Debian and Ubuntu. There are a ton of others but those two work well for me. I typically use Debian Stable on my servers and Ubuntu on my desktops.
Some people will swear by Slackware or one of it's descendants. Corporate users will learn Linux on a RedHat based distro most likely. I feel that is why some corporate users have bad feelings toward Linux. They aren't exposed to a good distro. As a side note, however, Red Hat distros make it easier to install and configure SELinux I believe, which means they can be much more secure. Debian Stable is very secure though.
Now that I've got you totally confused, I'll end with a bit of advise about choosing a Linux distro. Don't base your decision on what the distro looks like out of the box. Base it on how well the distro functions and how easy it is to find solutions to any problems that may arise with the distro. The default theme can be changed but a lot of the stuff under the hood isn't too easy to change.
Welcome to Tux Tricks
Ah a new blog just hit the internet. Can you feel the excitement? Well, hopefully I'll lend some helpful hints to some of you out there. I'd really like to hear your comments too. Follow my blog if you like it!
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