[techtalk] Differences between linux distributions

Caitlyn Martin caitlyn at netferrets.net
Mon Feb 21 13:25:05 EST 2000


> The classic example is KDE and GNOME. SuSE makes use of the /opt
> hierarchy for these. Red Hat puts them in /usr/share. Debian puts
> GNOME in /usr. I don't know about Caldera: perhaps /opt? Does it
> even ship GNOME? This causes Religious Wars.

Nope, Caldera ships with KDE only.  However, the latest and greatest GNOME is
available on Caldera's web site in Caldera RPMs.  I say Caldera RPMs because Red
Hat ones will fail on dependencies:  the libraries are in the "wrong" place from a
Caldera perspective.  Oh, and yes, it installs into /opt.

> Preferred GUI: some give you GNOME by default (Red Hat, Debian)
>
Actually, the Red Hat 6.1 installer is pretty agnostic.  It will do Gnome, KDE, or
both.

> Others give you KDE by default (Caldera, SuSE, originally Mandrake,

> Filesystem setups: Red Hat has an extra layer of subdirectories in
> /etc/rc.* compared with Debian. It has directories of things in
> /etc where some others have a lot more files in it, not in subdirectories,
> I _think_.

The big thing from a user point of view is that they put things in different
places.  So, while, for example, TurboLinux, Red Hat, and Caldera all use RPMs, you
cannot use one distro's RPMs on another without rebuilding them.  You can, of
course, use gzipped tarballs, but the advantage of the package management systems,
IMHO, is that they are easier on the user, allow for very nice version tracking,
and give you a GUI interface to keep track of things.

> Package management:
>         rpm (Red Hat, Caldera, SuSE, Mandrake, Definite)
>         dselect/apt-get (Debian, presumably Corel)
>         I think TurboLinux may use its own?

Nope.  It's rpm.

> How they split up (or don't) the software:
>         Red Hat, Mandrake and Debian all make a conscious split between
>     'free' and 'non-free' software in some way, typically putting them
>     onto separate CDs (and in Debian's case, separate ftp directories?)

So does Caldera.  IMHO, this is a *good* thing.  With UCITA passing in Virginia,
and threatening to do so elsewhere, I'll be damned if I'm going to support *any*
company threatening us with that kind of legislation.  With the temporary exception
of WordPerfect and a couple of games, I am trying to go pure OpenSource or Free
Software.

>         I don't want to start a religious war here. I know this matters
>     very much to some people and less to others. People who are
>     attracted to the Linux world by the free software ideals might
>     find that a useful one if they're looking for deciding factors.

I don't think these are religious issues.  Each distro has advantages and
disadvantages.  I think Caldera OpenLinux 2.3 is very newbie friendly, for example,
but doesn't come with lots of stuff that Red Hat or SuSe give you.

>         Corel gives you a graphical login by default, as does I _think_
>     Mandrake.

...as does Caldera.  Of course, editing the /etc/inittab file can turn it off and
give you a plain old command line login :)

> Whoah. This is too long. Linux Magazine recently ran a comparison
> between a bunch of distributions with a big pretty chart. That might
> help some folks?

It should.  It was pretty well done.

In many areas, it is a matter of personal taste and how you use the OS.

Thanks, Telsa, for a great rundown.

Take care,
Caity


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