What is Linux?
Perhaps many people will disdainfully say that Linux is just an operating system. wrong! Linux is not an operating system. Strictly speaking, Linux is just the kernel in an operating system. What is the kernel? The kernel establishes a communication platform between computer software and hardware. The kernel provides system services, such as file management, virtual memory, device I/O, etc.
Since Linux is just a kernel. So what is the Linux operating system we usually call? What we usually call Linux refers to GNU/Linux, which is the GNU operating system using the Linux kernel. Yes, the actual name of the operating system is GNU. What is GNU? GNU stands for GNU’s Not Unix. It can be said to be an operating system and a specification. For example, the well-known PHP was originally named Personal HomePage (personal homepage). According to GNU's software naming rules, PHP has now been renamed PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (Hypertext Preprocessor).
Who wrote/created Linux?
Linux was first written by Linus Torvalds in 1991. Prior to this, Richard Stallman founded the Free Software Foundation (FSF) organization and the GNU project, and continued to write and create GNU programs (the programs are all licensed under the GPL: General Public License). After programmers and developers continued to join the GNU organization, the Linux we see today was created, or GNU/Linux.
What is a Linux distribution?
As said before, Linux is just a kernel. However, a complete operating system is more than just the kernel. Therefore, many individuals, organizations and companies have developed Linux distributions based on GNU/Linux. The most famous of these are the Red Hat series of Red Hat Company and the Debian series of community organizations.
Now I will briefly introduce the more famous and popular Linux distributions. Part of the source of information: DistroWatch.com
Mandriva
Mandriva, formerly known as Mandrake, was first created by Ga?l Duval and released in July 1998. I remember that Mandrake was very popular when Linux first started to become popular in China two years ago. Speaking of the history of Mandrake, in fact, the earliest developers of Mandrake developed it based on Redhat. Redhat uses the GNOME desktop system by default, and Mandrake changes it to KDE. Since Linux at that time was generally difficult to install and was not suitable for novices who were new to Linux for the first time, Mandrake also simplified the installation system. I think this is one of the reasons why Mandrake was so popular in China at that time. Mandrake has indeed put a lot of effort into ease of use, including hardware detection by default.
The development of Mandrake is completely transparent, including "cooker". When the system has a new test version, it can be found on cooker. The release speed of new versions of Mandrake was very fast before, but it started to slow down after 9.0. It is estimated that the hope is to extend the life of the version to ensure stability and security.
Advantages: friendly operation interface, graphical configuration tools, huge community technical support, NTFS partition size change
Disadvantages: some versions have many bugs, the latest version is only released to Mandrake first Member of the club
Package management system: urpmi (RPM)
Free download: FTP instant release download, ISO available within weeks of release
Official homepage: /
Red Hat
The most familiar and well-known distribution among Linux users in China and even around the world must be Red Hat. Red Hat was first created in 1995 by Bob Young and Marc Ewing. The company only recently began to truly become profitable, thanks to the paid Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL, the enterprise version of Red Hat). The orthodox Red Hat version has long stopped technical support, and the last version is Red Hat 9.0. Therefore, Red Hat is currently divided into two series: Red Hat Enterprise Linux, which provides paid technical support and updates by Red Hat, and free Fedora Core developed by the community. Fedora Core 1 was released at the end of 2003, and FC was positioned for desktop users. FC provides the latest software packages, and its version update cycle is also very short, only six months. The latest version is currently FC 3, and FC4 is also scheduled to be released in June this year. This is why Fedora Core is generally not recommended for servers.
The version suitable for servers is Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and since this is a paid operating system. As a result, many domestic and foreign companies or space providers choose CentOS. CentOS can be regarded as a clone of RHEL, but its biggest advantage is that it is free! Cainiao Oil’s current server uses CentOS 3.4.
Advantages: A large number of users, excellent community technical support, many innovations
Disadvantages: The free version (Fedora Core) version has a short life cycle and poor multimedia support
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Package management system: up2date (RPM), YUM (RPM)
Free download: Yes
Official homepage: /
SUSE
SUSE is the most famous Linux distribution in Germany and enjoys a high reputation around the world. YaST, the software package management system independently developed by SUSE, has also been well received. SUSE was acquired by Novell in late 2003.
SUSE's subsequent releases were relatively confusing. For example, version 9.0 was paid, while version 10.0 (perhaps due to various pressures) was released for free. This confused some users and caused them to switch to other distributions. However, despite its flaws, SUSE is still a very professional and excellent distribution.
Advantages: Professional, easy-to-use YaST software package management system
Disadvantages: FTP release is usually 1 to 3 months later than the retail version
Software packages Management system: YaST (RPM), third-party APT (RPM) software repository (repository)
Free download: depends on the version
Official homepage: /
Debian GNU/Linux
Debian is the operating system previously used by Cainiaoyou Server. Debian was first created in 1993 by Ian Murdock. It can be regarded as the Linux system that most follows the GNU specifications so far.
The Debian system is divided into three version branches: stable, testing and unstable. As of May 2005, the specific versions corresponding to these three version branches are: Woody, Sarge and Sid. Among them, unstable is the latest test version, which includes the latest software packages, but also has relatively many bugs and is suitable for desktop users. The testing version has been tested in unstable, is relatively stable, and supports many new technologies (such as SMP, etc.). Woody is generally only used for servers. Most of the above software packages are relatively outdated, but the stability and security are very high. Cainiao Oil previously used Debian Sarge.
Why are so many users obsessed with Debian (including the author)? apt-get/dpkg is one of the reasons. dpkg is a package management tool unique to the Debian series. It is known as the most powerful of all Linux package management tools (such as RPM)! With apt-get, it becomes extremely easy to install, upgrade, delete and manage software on Debian. Many Debian users jokingly say that Debian makes them lazy, because as long as they simply type "apt-get upgrade & apt-get update", all the software on the machine will be automatically updated...
Advantages: Follows GNU specifications, 100% free, excellent network and community resources, powerful apt-get
Disadvantages: relatively difficult to install, stable branch software is extremely outdated
Package management system: APT (DEB)
Free download: Yes
Official homepage: /
Knoppix
By Knoppix, developed by Klaus Knopper of Germany, is a Debian-based distribution. Strictly speaking, Knoppix is ??a LiveCD Linux. The so-called LiveCD means that the entire operating system is on one CD. As long as you boot from the CD, you can have a complete Linux system! No installation required! Of course, Knoppix can also be installed on the hard drive very easily. Its powerful hardware detection capabilities, system repair capabilities, and instant compression transmission technology are all highly praised. It can be said that in the LiveCD world, Knoppix is ??unmatched!
Advantages: No installation required, can be run directly on CD, excellent hardware detection capabilities, can be used as a system rescue disk
Disadvantages: LiveCD performance is limited due to the data reading speed limit of the disc Significantly lower
Package management system: APT (DEB)
Free download: Yes
Official homepage: /
MEPIS
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MEPIS was established in 2003 by Warren Woodford. Although MEPIS was just established, it has spread rapidly among Linux users. Simply put, MEPIS is a product that combines Debian Sid and Knoppix. Users can use it as a LiveCD or install it using a regular graphical interface.
MEPIS integrates and installs many commonly used programs such as Java Runtime Environment, Flash plug-in, nVidia acceleration driver and so on by default. Users can easily install the system and start using it directly without having to search for information on how to download, install, and configure these software. This not only brings convenience to Linux novices, but also saves veterans a lot of time.
Advantages: Both LiveCD and regular installation, excellent hardware detection capabilities, pre-installed with many practical software
Disadvantages: It does not take long to set up, and the default interface is a bit shabby
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Package management system: APT (DEB)
Free download: Yes
Official homepage: /
FreeBSD
The first thing to emphasize is: FreeBSD is not a Linux system! However, why should the author introduce FreeBSD? Because FreeBSD also has quite a few users, many of its features are similar to Linux. In fact, Linux and BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) are both evolutionary branches of UNIX. Moreover, many features and functions in Linux (such as the Bind software used to configure DNS) are derived from BSD. FreeBSD is the most famous distribution in the BSD family and has the largest number of users. MEZOC previously used the FreeBSD system.
FreeBSD was established in 1993 and has a long history. FreeBSD has two branches: stable and current. As the name suggests, stable is a stable version, while current is a beta version that adds new technologies. In addition, FreeBSD will release new versions from time to time, called RELEASE. Both stable and current have their own RELEASE versions. For example, 4.11-RELEASE and 5.3-RELEASE. Please note that this does not mean that the latter version is newer than the former. This only means that the former (the version with a small number) is the stable version, and the latter (the version with a large number) is the current version.
In addition to being a server system, FreeBSD is also suitable for desktop users. However, considering software compatibility, it is not very wise for ordinary users to choose FreeBSD as a desktop system. As a server, FreeBSD is quite excellent. Someone once said that with the same server hardware configuration and running the same vBulletin forum, FreeBSD uses fewer resources than Linux. This is why many space vendors strongly recommend FreeBSD. :)
Advantages: fast, very stable, excellent user manual, Ports system
Disadvantages: poorer hardware support than Linux, for desktop systems Software compatibility is a problem
Software package management system: Ports (TBZ)
Free download: Yes
Official homepage: http://www.freebsd .org/
Full quote http://www.yuanma.org/data/2006/0814/article_1358.htm