Title: Distributions
Course: CIS 121: Linux/UNIX I: Fundamentals ~ For IGNITE Review > Section: Learning Modules

A Linux distribution is a collection of (usually open source) software on top of a Linux kernel. A distribution (also called "distro") can bundle server software, system management tools, documentation and many desktop applications in a central secure software repository. A distro aims to provide a common look and feel, secure and easy software management and often a specific operational purpose.

Here are some popular distributions:

Red Hat

Red Hat is a billion dollar commercial Linux company that puts a lot of effort into developing Linux. Red Hat has hundreds of Linux specialists and are known for their excellent support. They give their products (Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Fedora) away for free. While Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is well tested before release, and supported for up to seven years after release, Fedora is a distro with faster updates but without support.

Ubuntu

Canonical started sending out free compact discs with Ubuntu Linux in 2004 and quickly became popular for home users (many switching from Microsoft Windows). Canonical wants Ubuntu to be an easy to use graphical Linux desktop without need to ever see a command line. Of course, they also want to make a profit by selling support for Ubuntu.

Debian

There is no company behind Debian. Instead there are thousands of well organized developers that elect a Debian Project Leader every two years. Debian is seen as one of the most stable Linux distributions. It is also the basis of every release of Ubuntu. Debian comes in three versions: stable, testing and unstable. Every Debian release is named after a character from the movie Toy Story.

Other

Distributions like CentOS, Oracle Enterprise Linux and Scientific Linux are based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and share many of the same principles, directories and system administration techniques. Linux Mint, Edubuntu and many other *buntu named distributions are based on Ubuntu, and thus share a lot with Debian. There are hundreds of other Linux distributions.

Source: Cobbaut, P. (2013). Linux fundmentals. Retrieved from http://linux-training.be/