Linux Distributions (Distros) and Competitors

1
Linux Distributions (Distros) and Competitors

• Pick your poison

2
By Lineage

• Redhat Tree RHEL, Fedora, Centos, Mandrake
  (Mandriva)
• Debian tree Debian, Ubuntu and its variants,
  LinuxMint, Knoppix
• Gentoo
• (Open)Suse Novell and Europe
• Slackware
• Open/FreeBSD USL based
• (Open) Solaris USL based

3
By Package Management
Package Manager Red Hat Debian
Package file suffix .rpm .deb
Per-package tool rpm dpkg
Dependency tool yum apt-get
4
Other software management options

• make and tarballs
• txz packages (Slackware)
• tbz BSD based
• Pre-packaged source (Gentoo)
• Specialized USL Solaris, HP-UX, AIX

5
RedHat Family

• Most widely used software distro.
• Most distros use .rpm binaries even if not
  actually based on Redhat
• RedHat Enterprise LINUX (RHEL)
• - Premier, most widely used commercial LINUX
  server distro
• - Expensive, but good support. Lots of Internet
  support
• - Software administration sometimes problematic
• Mandrake (Mandriva)
• - Excellent desktop variant
• - User group and support is scattered
• Fedora (formerly a separate organization)
• - Server oriented RedHat Beta(s), usually 2x per
  year
• - Free, but flaky. Bleeding edge.
• - Download distribution media of variable
  quality.
• - Newer features and utilities lack stability.

6
Debian Family

• Second most widely used distro
• Distros use .deb binaries
• Debian
• - Oldest distro outside of Slackware
• - Plenty of packages and support
• - Server oriented
• - 100 variants
• - Announced two code base options LINUX and
  OpenBSD!!!!!!!
• Ubuntu
• - Desktop oriented but server is coming on.
• LINUX MINT
• - Ubuntu variant, mainly desktop with improved
  usability features
• Knoppix
• - Live CD only.

7
Others

• (Open)Suse
• - Novell Netware LINUX from Europe. Now
  Attachmate and Microsoft.
• - Primarily server version, OES replacement for
  native Netware OS.
• - Desktop is bloated, difficult.
• - Future questionable as a commercial offering.
  Time will tell.
• PCLinuxOS
• - For Windows users, a lot of Mandrake type
  support tools
• - Limited development and support, esp. for
  foreign languages and (lack of) 64 bit
• Gentoo
• - Server oriented
• - Difficult software admin
• - Scattered Internet support
• - Lots of platforms
• Slackware
• - Oldest distro. Dedicated hardcore users.
• - Very server oriented,

8
Others (USL)

• Commercial USLs
• - HP-UX (HP)
• - AIX (IBM)
• - Solaris (SUN)
• - and others. frozen in time, and the USL.
• SCO
• - Not LINUX. The original PC based UNIX
• - Thought theyd bought the USL from Novell.
• - Requisat in Pace
• OpenSolaris
• - Not LINUX, based on UNIX Source Code License
  (USL).
• - Inter, Sparc
• - Lots of original software (NFS, NIS, Java)
  came from this OS
• - Widely used commercial OS version for database
  (and bought by Oracle), but losing ground to
  LINUX
• - Free UNIX version (not variant) on AMD, Intel,
  Sparc
• Open/FreeBSD

9
Utility distros

• Knoppix General Live CD distro for backup,
  recovery.
• Easy IDS Prepackaged Snort IDS distro
• CoLINUX Self contained virtualized LINUX
  subsystem for Windows, supports multiple LINUX
  distros.
• Backtrack Security analysis, usually Live CD
• Coyote LINUX Micro OS firewall distro
• Tiny Core LINUX specialized micro OS
• Damn Small LINUX specialized micro OS

10
Internet Resources

• FedoraProject
• Sourceforge
• http//distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resourcemajor
• (Top 10 comparison)
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_d
  istributions (technical specifications)
• www.distrowatch.com (Current list)
• www.distrowatch.net (Current list)

11
The future(hardware/platforms)

• Intel, AMD x86, IA64/AMD64. What can I say?
• Sparc from Sun widely used but declining rapidly
• Power PC Formerly Motorola, used to be the basis
  for MAC and IBM network devices. Declining,
  almost gone.
• PA-Risc HP specific going away.
• S390 IBM support for mainframe OS and LINUX
  under VM. Still crazy after all these years.
• MIPS Requisat in Pace
• DEC Alpha Requisat in Pace
• ARM Theoretically the most widely used chip in
  the world for intelligent devices phones,
  tablets. Lower power chip for end user devices.
  Used by most handheld device Oses.
• Solid-state drives Will eventually do away with
  spinning disk device overhead. Storage memory
  (temporary) or SSD (permanent) same/saem.
  Increasing speed on internal, external
  interfaces USB 3.0, Parallel ATA
• Memory is cheap and getting cheaper. Storage
  density is increasing all the time.

12
The future (end user)

• To the cloud Software as a Service (SaaS). Web
  orientation, browser interface for E-mail, IM,
  SMS, data storage, document sharing, basic
  word-processing and spreadsheeting as a
  commodity.
• Personal computer use declining as a specialized
  end-user devices. Specialized OS Windows,
  LINUX or Mac requiring expensive support.
• Inexpensive browser based devices increasing
  phones, tablets, game systems, DVRs, intelligent
  TVs and anything in between. Throw it away,
  keep the SIM card (or whatever) and buy a new
  one.
• Simplified device OSes (Apple) IOS versus
  (Google LINUX variant) Android versus (Microsoft)
  Windows 7 Mobile.
• Also mini (instant-on) OSes usually LINUX
  variants made possible by SSDs.
• (Google) Chrome OS. Will it fly, especially
  versus Android.
• Virtualized desktops. Usually for proprietary
  applications.

13
The future (servers)

• Still trying to drive a stake thru IBM mainframes
  (see COBOL) but dont count on it. . Mostly
  outsourced as proprietary technology. Mainframe
  emulation under LINUX (Hercules).
• Windows future? Who knows? Could be like
  mainframes still hanging around on servers for a
  long time.
• UNIX stable but slowly declining. The code is
  basically frozen for 25 years. USL ownership
  (Attachmate? Microsoft?) and continuing patent
  litigation is a problem
• - SCO is dead
• - Solaris is open-source. Now owned by Oracle
  as DB frontend
• - Commercial versions AIX, HP-UX, Solaris pretty
  much frozen with the USL.
• - Open/FreeBSD the only one still showing any
  life
• - UNIX year 2038 32-bit clock issue
• MacOSX (server/workstation) is really just an
  operating environment on top of UNIX (OpenBSD)
• OSes seem to be going to LINUX and its variants
• Increasing virtualization for power, economy,
  scalability.

14
The future (network)

• Smarter clients, smarter servers, more
  client/server traffic, more downloadable code
  (e.g. Java VM, IOS apps, Android apps and the
  like).
• More canned applications. The App Store for
  specific vendors/services.
• Hardwire technologies still leading, but
  fading. DSL, cable are starting to exceed the
  bandwidth requirements for end-user hand-held
  devices. Hardline phones are fading rapidly
  especially with the younger crowd.
• Wireless technologies - bandwidth is critical
  both locally (WiFi) and broadband (3G/4G). For
  increasing virtualization, SaaS, multimedia and
  storage requirements. Notice Apple tablets have
  no hardwire connections. Plus wireless
  infrastructure costs are lower than hardline
  technologies encouraging more widespread use in
  lower density population areas or areas without
  infrastructure as in 3rd world countries .
• Security Are static encryption algorithms dead?
  Quantum encryption?
• Viruses, malware on new OSes. Same old song,
  different verse (see Google Android Apps
  removal).