On 13 Apr 99, at 12:47, Dreamer's Den (Dave Thuillier) wrote:

> I have heard a lot about Linux being an exceptionally stable
> operating system. I am interested in possibly changing from WIN
> 95 to Linux. As I look around at all the info I have found that
> there are a number of different types (or distributions) of Linux
> available, (ie: Mandrake Linux, Caldera, OpenLinux 1.3, Debian
> GNU/Linux 2.0, Red Hat Linux 5.2, Slackware Linux 3.6, S.u.S.E.
> Linux 5.3, ect.)
>
> Can anyone please explain what the difference between these
> distributions might be? I haven't been able to identify any
> differences because each package may, or may not, come with
> additional software included. Thanks.

  Just as you can buy MS Word as part of Office, Office Pro, SBE, and
(I think) Home Essentials, you can buy Linux in different bundles.
Each is going to come with a binary version of the Linux kernel --
although the sources for a given revision will be the same, the
selected options and optimizations (e.g., to take advantage of Pentium
CPUs over 386es, dual CPUs over single, and so on) may vary from one
bundle to the next.
  The quantity and type of additional material will largely determine
the price, and largely *be* determined by the kind of user the bundle
is aimed at.  SuSE is well-known for video drivers, especially for use
with the X windowing system, so it may be the best choice if you're
looking for video performance or support of less-common VGA cards.
While practically all of these distributions are going to come with
source code (for the kernel, not necessarily for the other included
items...) and a C/C++ compiler, Debian has (I believe) specifically
chosen developers as its target audience, and so I'd expect their
inclusion of sources, compilers, and software-development tools to be
more comprehensive than most.  Red Hat appears, to date, to have done
the most work on ease of installation, both of the OS and of subsequent
applications; this may make it the best choice for first-time users.
Some of these provide some level of end-user support; others are cash-
and-carry.

  And so on.  I think http://www.linux.org has a list (may not be
complete...) of commercial distributions, with a link to home pages for
each.  You'll have to assess your needs, skill level, and budget to
determine how good a fit each might be.  Personally, I have Red Hat 5.1
(still thinking about 5.2), and have not yet run into anything where
another choice would have clearly been better.




David G

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