View Source: LinuxDistribution - Waikato Linux Users Group

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A collection of user space programs distributed as a bundle along with a [Linux] [Kernel] and usually an installer, however rudimentary. It is often referred to by the short form "distro".

Since [Linux] is just the [Kernel], you can't do much without additional tools. A shell is necessary to let the user type commands. More tools are required to let him manipulate the FileSystem and edit files. Most every task requires a program to be installed. Building a LinuxDistribution means choosing which tools to include for which tasks, and configuring them all to work with each other out of the box as far as possible. Nowadays, a LinuxDistribution is usually equivalent to a large collection of [Package]s.

Category:Distribution lists:

<?plugin BackLinks page=CategoryDistribution noheader=1 ?>

!! Special distributions for limited hardware

Old [PC]s with slow [CPU]s, little [RAM] and small HardDisk~s may not be able satisfactorily run the mainsteam distributions listed above. There are specific distributions designed to run on such limited hardware; of course, they have to omit features and applications to achieve their goal.

[Damn Small Linux | http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/]:
    * Disk space: 129MB
    * Min RAM: 16MB
    * WindowManager: FluxBox
[Feather Linux | http://featherlinux.berlios.de/]:
    * Disk space: 277MB
    * Min RAM: 24MB
    * WindowManager: FluxBox
[PuppyLinux | http://www.goosee.com/puppy/]:
    * Min RAM: 32MB
    * WindowManager: [FVWM]95
[Vector Linux | http://www.vectorlinux.com/]:
    * Disk space: 850MB
    * Min RAM: 16MB
    * WindowManager: IceWM/FluxBox
TomsRootBoot:
    * Disk space: a FloppyDisk
    * Min RAM: 4MB
    * No [XServer]

!! Special distributions for removable media

Some [LinuxDistribution]s can be booted from removable media such as a FloppyDisk, a [LiveCD], or a KeyDrive and don't require installation (or indeed any kind of write access at all) to HardDisk. Such a media provides both an excellent way to try out a LinuxDistribution without having to change your [Partition]s as well as a great tool platform for things like network diagnosis and system repair (be it for [Linux] or other [OperatingSystem]s).

! [CDROM] based (so called [LiveCD]s)

* KnoppixLinux
* [Gnoppix | http://wwww.gnoppix.org/], a KnoppixLinux spinoff that replaces [KDE] with [GNOME]
* [Mepis | http://www.mepis.org/], yet another KnoppixLinux spinoff
* [Slax | http://www.slax.org], based on [Slackware]
* [Mandriva]'s [Move | http://www.mandriva.com/products/move/]

SlashDot linked to a [review of some LiveCDs | http://www.extremetech.com/print_article/0,3998,a=117223,00.asp] if you want to read a bit of background about them, and how they compare. (Or you can read the [Slashdot discussion | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/01/25/0340221] for other readers' opinions.)

! FloppyDisk based

* TomsRootBoot
* [Floppix | http://floppix.ccai.com/]
* [SlimLinux | http://slimlinux.freezope.org/]

! KeyDrive based

* [Flonix | http://flonix.tuxfamily.org]
* [LinuxMobileSystem | http://linuxmobile.sf.net/]
* [Linux Key | http://linuxkey.biz]
* [Puppy | http://www.goosee.com/puppy]

!! "Cuckoo" distributions

A cuckoo is a bird that lays its eggs in another bird's nest. In a similar manner, some [LinuxDistribution]s can be installed to HardDisk into another OperatingSystem's [Partition], without affecting the host system. This is usually achieved by means of storing image files in the host [Partition] to contain the [Linux] [FileSystem]s.

Examples include:

* [Puppy | http://www.goosee.com/puppy/hard-puppy.htm]
* [Phatlinux | http://www.phatlinux.com]
* [SlimLinux | http://slimlinux.freezope.org/]
72 pages link to LinuxDistribution:
Last edited on Monday, September 5, 2005 10:38:29 am by AristotlePagaltzis
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