Linux Distribution.md

# What is Linux - Linux is the most popular and well-known open-source OS - Linus Torvalds developed Linux in 1991 - Includes following components: - Bootloader: - software that controls computer's launch procedure - sparkplug - Kernel: - Is responsible for managing system resource and comm...

# What is Linux - Linux is the most popular and well-known open-source OS - Linus Torvalds developed Linux in 1991 - Includes following components: - Bootloader: - software that controls computer's launch procedure - sparkplug - Kernel: - Is responsible for managing system resource and communication with hardware - process management, memory management - Init System: - Init system manages the launch process after the bootloader has completed initial booting - Application: - Most Linux distribution provide a central repository for searching and downloading additional apps - Daemons: - Secondary Services that start up either during launch or after logging into the desktop - Desktop Environment: - Each desktop environment includes pre-installed applications - Graphical Server: - Subsystem that displays graphics on the monitor - It is commonly known as X Server # Why Use Linux - Cost for Windows server 2025 standard edition is $1176 USD - In contrast to this Linux offer free distribution - Linux is far less vulnerable for ransomware, malware and virus attacks - **Linux server only requires to reboot when Kernel is updated** - Open-source allows to run program of your choice - Freedom to study how program works and can modify it for your custom needs. # Linux Distribution Overview - Typical software installation process in Windows OS involved following steps - search for the software on the web - Go to download tab on that particular website - Download the specific exe/software - Double click on the installed exe/software and follow the on-screen instruction - Linux distribution also refers as Distro - Distro typically includes many components in addition to Linux Kernel - It includes package manager, an init system, GNU tools and libraries, documentation, network configuration utilities - To install the software in Linux is different - We use the package manager that comes with the specific Linux distribution - To install new software, you search for it and install it from the OS itself - Package manager takes care of downloading the desired software - It also installed other required dependencies - Package manager also controls the OS - Package manager can update and upgrade the system and installed the latest version of the applications # Popular Linux Distribution - Software and applications are bundled into packages and Linux distributions are categorized by these package types - Three basic types of packages: - Debian (Deb) - RedHat Packages Manager (RPM) - Other distributions # Debian Based Linux Distributions - The deb package type was created in 1993 - Following distributions use deb packages - Debian - supports almost all CPU architectures - Few Debian variants are old stable, stable, testing, unstable and experimental - Debian has two package manages, **apt** and **aptitude** - Ubuntu - Available since 2004, Ubuntu is based on Debian unstable - Ubuntu uses apt and graphical frontend Ubuntu Software Center for package management - Linux Mint - Mint started out simply being Ubuntu with pre-installed multimedia codecs and proprietary drivers - It's popular alternative to Ubuntu # RPM Based Linux Distributions - RedHat created the rpm package format for use in its distribution - Following distributions use rpm packages - RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) - Commercial open-source Linux distribution - It uses **yum** package manager - Fedora - It the upstream of the commercial RHEL - It uses newer technology and open-source packages - It uses **yum** package manager - OpenSuse - OpenSuse is known for the KDE desktop and stability - OpenSuse uses zypper and its graphical frontend - Yast package manager # Other Linux Distributions - Arch Linux - Uses pkg.tar.xa packages and has it's own package manager called pacman - Arch doesn't come with graphical installer - Entire installations is done via a terminal - Slackware Linux - Founded in 1992, slackware doesn't have a package manager - All software is compiled by the system administrator or normal user of system - Gentoo Linux - It is based on portage package management system - Gentoo can be difficult to install and can take few days to install # Graphical User Environments - Microsoft windows have one desktop manager - Linux users can choose wide range of desktop environment - Popular desktop managers include KDE, Gnome, Xfce, Cinnamon, and LXDE # KDE - Created in 1996 and one of the most advanced desktop manager - By default, It includes several applications that every user needs it - KDE workspace is called Plasma - Popular distribution that use KDE include - OpenSuse - Slackware - Linux Mint - Kubuntu - Mageia # Gnome - Gnome is a desktop manager made for community and by community - Gnome doesn't require a lot of resources - Good choice for older and slower hardware - Distribution that use Gnome desktop - Debian - OpenSuse - Fedora - CentOS - RHEL # Cinnamon/Xfce/LXDE - Cinnamon is a fork of the Gnome desktop manager and is developed by the Linux Mint community - Xfce is an excellent choice for older computers - Xfce is light weight and fast - Debian, Fedora, OpenSuse includes Xfce - LXDE is fast and light weight desktop manager - Lubuntu, Debian, OpenSuse, Linux Mint includes LXDE