Linux Introduction:
The Linux operating system was born in October 1991 and was written by Linus Torvalds, a student at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Before you introduce the common Linux system versions, you first need to differentiate between the Linux system kernel and the Linux distribution Suite system. The Linux system kernel refers to a system core program that is maintained by Linus Torvalds and provides hardware abstraction layers, hard disk and file system control, and multitasking functions. and the Linux distribution system is what we often call Linux operating system, that is, the Linux kernel and a variety of common software collection products.
Linux Mainstream release:
- Redhat , which should be called the Redhat series, including Rhel (Redhat Enterprise Linux, paid version), Fedora Core (developed from the Redhat desktop version, free), CentOS (community clone version of Rhel, free). Redhat can be said to be the most used Linux version in the country, and even some people equate redhat with Linux. This version is characterized by the use of a large number of resources, and many of the online Linux tutorials also take Redhat as an example to explain. The package management method of the Redhat series is based on the management of the Yum package in RPM package, which is a compiled binary file. The stability of Rhel and CentOS is excellent for server use, but Fedora core has poor stability and is best used for desktop applications only.
- Slackware, the oldest Linux distribution, is a gnu/linux release developed by Patrick Volkerding. Unlike many other distributions, it adheres to the principle of kiss (Keep it Simple Stupid), which means that there is no graphical interface tool for configuring the system. Initially, there are some difficulties in configuring the system, but more experienced users will appreciate the transparency and flexibility of this approach. Another prominent feature of Slackware Linux is the kiss principle: Slackware does not have a mature package manager like RPM. The Slackware packages are the usual tgz (tar/gzip) format files plus the installation scripts. TGZ is more powerful than RPM for experienced users and avoids dependency issues with managers such as RPM. Slackware differs from other distributions (Red Hat, Debian, Gentoo, SuSE, Mandriva, Ubuntu, etc.) in a way that seeks to become a "UNIX-style" Linux distribution. Only the stable version of the application is absorbed and the configuration tools that are customized for the release in other Linux versions are missing.
- Gentoo,gentoo is the youngest release of Linux, so it also draws on the benefits of previous releases, which is one reason Gentoo is known as the most perfect Linux distribution. Gentoo was originally created by Danielrobbins (one of FreeBSD's developers), and as a result of the developer's familiarity with FreeBSD, Gentoo has a well-known ports System--portage package management system that is comparable to FreeBSD. Unlike the package management system, which is distributed with binary files such as apt and Yum, Portage is distributed based on source code and must be compiled before it can be run, which is slower for large software, but because all software is compiled on the local machine, after a variety of custom compilation parameters are optimized, To maximize the hardware performance of the machine. Gentoo is the most complex installation in all Linux distributions, but it is the most manageable version after installation and the fastest version in the same hardware environment.
- Debian, or Debian series, including Debian and Ubuntu. Debian is a model of community Linux and most of the GNU code. Debian is divided into three branches: stable, testing and unstable. Among them, unstable is the latest test version, there are relatively more bugs, suitable for desktop users. The testing versions are tested and relatively stable. While stable is generally used only for servers, software packages are mostly outdated, but both stable and safe are high. The most distinctive feature of Debian is the APT-GET/DPKG package management approach.
- Red Flag Linux is a series of Linux distributions developed by Beijing Zhongke Hongqi Software Technology Co., Ltd., including desktop version, workstation edition, Data Center Server edition, HA cluster edition and red flag embedded Linux and other products. At present, the software stores in China can be purchased to the CD-ROM version, and the official website also provides free download CD image. Red Flag Linux is one of the larger and more mature Linux distributions in China.
Links between different distributions:
1) All distributions use the Linux kernel.
2) All distributions must be in accordance with the GNU GPL (general public License,gnu Common license).
3) All distributions have their own version number, and the version format Convention is basically the same (major version number. minor version number. Issue number. Revision number).
The difference between different distributions:
1) The essential difference between the release version is that it inherits the composition of different versions of the kernel, library, and program. Different distributions have almost adopted different package managers (SLES, Fedora, OpenSUSE, CentOS, Rhel use RMP package management system, package files with rpm extension; Ubuntu series, Debian series using DPKG package management system, The package file is extended with the Deb extension. )
2) According to the maintenance of the Organization to distinguish between different distributions can be divided into Community maintenance and enterprise maintenance, the representative of Community maintenance is Debian, the representative of enterprise maintenance is redhat.
Distribution of Linux and links between different releases
