Linux, as I see it (2009)

Linux unlike Windows, is for the most part free! You can download a CD image, bake it, and install it in an afternoon. The trouble with it though, is that it doesn't come from just one source, but rather many from around the world. So picking a distribution is critical, once it insures that everything in the package at least works together. (Works well, is yet another issue).
Linux Distributions

Right now, the HOT Linux seems to Ubuntu. I downloaded one, couldn't get it work with my motherboard- but that's not unusual, my machine has issues uniquely it's own. I did get it to boot on another machine, didn't see anything all that special about it, so I did not install it, I just took a quick tour, running from CD. (Maybe the popularity is because there's even a Christian version now. What next Kosher one?)

Almost all of the Linuxs now will let you have a live demo, running from CD & Ram Disk. Rather than having to partition and format a hard drive, just for a peek. Which is nice, they are finally growing up. This change came about from the Business Card Linuxs, which were small enough to fit on a business card. Basically they created a RAM disk, and run from that, and now they all do it. This is an issue I'll come back to later.

I want to talk about those distributions, I've actually driven. I've been using Red Hat for nearly a decade- egads!?? Looking back, for a while Mandrake was hottest thing under the sun. Then there seemed to be a flood from Big Label Software companies launching their own, as an alternative to Windows. Then people got confused about the motives of Red Hat when they started the Fedora project, so there was a resurgence Debian again, and now to Ubuntu. Through change after change, I keep coming back to Fedora (Red Hat) as my favorite- I'm sorry!

Another thing about Linux, unlike Windows, is that it changes much faster. Each distribution has it's own schedule about releases. Which is both good and bad. Ironically what makes it good, is that it forces you to make frequent backups of your data. What's bad, is that occasionally, you will have to abandon that data to start anew with a new version (it's rare, but it does occur). In Windows, you can go a decade without a MAJOR upgrade. Linuxs might even be as short as quarterly (it doesn't mean you have to do it, though).

Once you find one you like, you can stick with it, I'm about to make change from Fedora 6 to Fedora 10 (I think). As said earlier, it kind of has to do with compatibility with my whacked out motherboard, that just doesn't always work out right. 6 was the last version that installs clean for me, which forced me to learn a lot more about the inner working of Fedora than I wanted to, just to get Java and Firefox updated, just to explore Wiki-Commons. But 6 is about to fall off the food chain entirely, so it's time for the BIG upgrade. Which also means, it's time for checking out a few new comers too- it's what I do.

The big three Linux Distributions are; Slackware, Debian, and Red Hat (Fedora). Almost all other Linuxs are a build/rebuild of one of these three. Then there is another class of Linux build from Knoppix, from Kernel.org (the official site of the Linux kernel), these are mostly business card Linuxs. Which I'm sure there will be more and more market for as embedded systems. Embedded Systems are computers in, devices. Phones for example, use mostly a Linux of some kind, and not Windows . I'm sure it has a lot to do with how tiny a Linux can be, as compared to Windows.

Almost all desktop distributions of Linux run Xfree86, and Gnome or KDE as their desktop. X is bones your graphic system. Gnome and KDE are like XP, or Vista, for the Desktop (user interface). Most do favor Gnome just because of it's license. This industry got burned by Unisys deciding to enforce it's method of compression which was used in a GIF files, which made the whole industry very touchy about the language of user licenses, and Gnome was not one thing build upon another thing, unlike KDE which was built from a tool-kit. So Gnome became the more popular with the experts who actually decide these things, and is therefore favored in most distributions today.

Business Card distributions:
These got their name because they were so tiny, they could easily be put on a 3x2 inch business card CD. Then when Flash Drives got big enough, they then could run from them too. Now Flash Drives are so big, you can run a regular distribution on them, not needing to go with stripped own Business Card versions. Anyway, the BEST of the Business Card Linuxs is/was DLS (Damn Small Linux), in my opinion. This one was not just gimmick, it was real working system, that I keep disk of, as rescue disk, even for Windows.

Of the Big Distributions:
Red Hat/Fedora is my favorite still. It seems to be a little faster than the others to me, and very solid. The packages are well organized for installing, but it's kind of hard to track down what you want for it. They aren't particularly generous with descriptions. Fedora can be very difficult to add third party software to, that doesn't come directly from their distributions. And they are sticklers to licensing, so you will have to go to third parties for support of MP3s or DVD Movies.

Debian is sweet, and much easier to add software to, because the packages are so well organized, and solid. But Debian is not known for being cutting edge, which is why I think they launched Ubuntu version. Debian's downside to me, is too damn many Web Browsers, and with Firefox, they renamed it Ice Weasel- What, "fucking annoying" was already taken? I just don't understand that renaming a product business. And like all thing's Debian, it's version 2.whatever, instead of the better version 3 build, too. So good luck getting those plug-ins, you'll need!

Slackware, is like the hardcore hacker version. I just can't recommend it to the guy plucked off the street at random. It's the granddaddy, and it sometimes acts like it too. Hackers only, the rest of you be damned. I've never had much luck with Slackware, so I gave up on it years ago, honestly. (Maybe they've changed, I'm being a bad reporter on this one, but it's a time issue).

Now, I'm not going to write a novel/textbook about Linuxs here at the moment (this is more than long enough). This was just my introduction, from those I've tried, from those which are the backbone of all others. In Open Source you can just repaint the graphics and icons, and call it your own, you know? And many do!

You got old hard drives hanging around (4gb min)? Put them to work and explore Linux, with just a hardware swap with what's in your box now. It's what I do! I've gotten Debian to run a 500 mhz AMD K5, with a 4 gb hard drive, and it did just fine. The motherboard died a week later, but I think the cause was old age, not Linux.

History of Linux Distributions