Submitted by “A lot of people have heard of GNU/Linux (more commonly referred to as just ‘Linux’) and are having trouble finding out what the differences are between different versions – or distributions – that are available. This article will show how they differ, and how GNU/Linux differs from similar operating systems.”
You just can’t find good hosting these days. Anyway, here is a mirror of the article:
http://www.thejemreport.com/mambo/content/view/215/1/
-Jem
It gives a fair accounting of the differences between the different *nixes. However, I think it could give a paragraph or two about why you would choose one *nix over another, e.g. why use FreeBSD vs. NetBSD or how BSD may be better than GNU/Linux for certain applications.
I think a good followup would be a non-biased look at how *nix differs from Windows. I know it’s been done before but it usually has a spin (one way or the other) on it.
It gives a fair accounting of the differences between the different *nixes. However, I think it could give a paragraph or two about why you would choose one *nix over another, e.g. why use FreeBSD vs. NetBSD or how BSD may be better than GNU/Linux for certain applications.
It would be nice if someone would write an unbiased look at different *nixes, because this really wasn’t it. It mentioned OSes other than Linux, but that’s about it. The actual comparison was among different Linux distros, just as the title stated. The table is moderately helpful in understanding where they’re all coming from, but that’s about it.
(BTW, is anyone doing anything ‘serious’ (business-related) with Minix? I thought it was still just a teaching tool and a research/hobbyist platform.)
I think a good followup would be a non-biased look at how *nix differs from Windows. I know it’s been done before but it usually has a spin (one way or the other) on it.
This would be pretty nice as well, and a good antidote to the Microsoft-funded conjobs occasionally passed off as real research.
Did that article and it’s mirror get slashdorked?
Yay! I got to read the article. VERY interesting read. Thank you Valour.
I don’t really think I learned anything, but it didn’t confuse me anymore than I already am, so that’s a good thing.
What I would like is for an article to focus
on the differences between CLASSES of distros.
In particular, Debian based (Debian, knoppix, etc)
vs Slackware based.
Unfortunately one cannot always run software
for one system on another even with source compile.
Klik is a good example..It runs on Debian or Knoppix
but not on slackware.I have read that different libraries are to blame…So details would be cool.
Networking, default mounts. etc are other things that could be examined in more detail.
i see that he list both apt and synaptic under package mangers. isnt synaptic just a frontend for apt?
still, to be 100% correct, neither yum nor apt is package managers. they are script wrappers that parse and solve package dependencies. the true package managers are rpm and deb (or was it dpg?) iirc…
Edited 2006-01-10 11:17
Another dead link. I get more dead links on this site than on all the other sites I visit on the internet combined.
http://www.softwareinreview.com/cms/content/view/26/1/
It’s a fine article, but someone thinking of trying Linux might easily finish it feeling a little bemused and dispirited. The user is being asked to make so many choices before they even know enough about Linux to understand what those choices will mean. Desktop or server? Which package manager? Automated hardware detection or not? Fully free or including proprietory software? Etc.
I guess the Linux world is still so immature and fragemented that no one distro “does it all”. The sooner someone does the better, imho, and then articles like this (helpful though it is) will no longer be necessary. Ubuntu and SuSE look likely outfits that may get there first.
Personally, I think it is incorrect to label ArchLinux as a source-based distribution. I state this for two reasons.
1) The main ISO install does NOT build packages by default during the install.
2) The default method of installing-updating software is via pacman whichs uses precompiled binaries. They do make it quite painless to build your own versions of packages via ABS (Arch Build System).
Differences of features? Largley linux is the same between all distro’s they just posses or lack different features like package management systems. A useful tool for someone considering Linux in their environment or as a tool to advance linux usage a comparison of Commercial OS’s is required along with support options. Anything else is just tossing off.