DEBIAN

WHAT is Debian?

The Debian Project is an association of individuals who have made common cause to create a free operating system. This operating system that we have created is called Debian GNU/Linux, or simply Debian for short.

An operating system is the set of basic programs and utilities that make your computer run. At the core of an operating system is the kernel. The kernel is the most fundamental program on the computer and does all the basic housekeeping and lets you start other programs.

Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide.

However, work is in progress to provide Debian for other kernels, primarily for the Hurd. The Hurd is a collection of servers that run on top of a microkernel (such as Mach) to implement different features. The Hurd is free software produced by the GNU project.

A large part of the basic tools that fill out the operating system come from the GNU project; hence the names: GNU/Linux and GNU/Hurd. These tools are also free.

Of course, the thing that people want is application software: programs to help them get what they want to do done, from editing documents to running a business to playing games to writing more software. Debian comes with over 29000 packages (precompiled software that is bundled up in a nice format for easy installation on your machine) — all of it free.

It's a bit like a tower. At the base is the kernel. On top of that are all the basic tools. Next is all the software that you run on the computer. At the top of the tower is Debian — carefully organizing and fitting everything so it all works together

RED HAT

Red Hat Linux, assembled by the company Red Hat, was a popular Linux based operating system until its discontinuation in 2004.

Red Hat Linux 1.0 was released on November 3, 1994. It was originally called "Red Hat Commercial Linux It was the first Linux distribution to use theRPM Package Manager as its packaging format, and over time has served as the starting point for several other distributions, such as Mandriva Linux andYellow Dog Linux.

Since 2003, Red Hat has discontinued the Red Hat Linux line in favor of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for enterprise environments. Fedora, developed by the community-supported Fedora Project and sponsored by Red Hat, is the free version best suited for home use. Red Hat Linux 9, the final release, hit its official end-of-life on 2004-04-30, although updates were published for it through 2006 by the Fedora Legacy project until that shut down in early 2007

Version 9 supported the Native POSIX Thread Library, which was ported to the 2.4 series kernels by Red Hat.

Red Hat Linux lacked many features due to possible copyright and patent problems. For example, MP3 support was disabled in both Rhythmbox and XMMS; instead, Red Hat recommended using Ogg Vorbis, which has no patents. MP3 support, however, could be installed afterwards, although royalties are required everywhere MP3 is patented.^{[citation needed]} Support for Microsoft's NTFS file system was also missing, but could be freely installed as well.

ARCH

Introduction Arch Linux is a bleeding edge Linux Distribution, that is mainly focused on simplicity, according to them "...without unnecessary additions, modifications, or complications..", read its philosophy. It has a powerful and efficient package manager Pacman

I will in this Arch Linux review, to be fair and not biased.

Release cycle Arch Linux is a rolling release distribution, meaning there is no specific dates for new releases, it is continuously developing, it is almost always at the bleeding edge, with the most updated versions of packages. This means you only have to install once, and then just keep updating arch, and you will always have the most "recent release", this is one of the aspects I like the most about Arch Linux

Installation

You can install Arch Linux from a CD or from a USB flash memory, they provide you with ISOs for the CD installation and with USB images for the flash memory installation. They provide with two ways to install, from the network or from the media, anyway you end up with a very minimal installation, it is a base system. From this point you have to install all the software you may need, if is more or less like installing Debian minimal CD, and choosing nothing when running the tasksel. This is another thing I like about Arch Linux, you may install only the needed software and do not end with a bunch of software you will never use, and do not be afraid about the process of installation their wiki pages are a great source of information, and everything is explained there.

Configuration

Configure Arch Linux is really simple, and I think they achieved their goal of keeping it simple, you mainly have two configuration files. /etc/rc.conf where you can define the modules to be uploaded, and the daemons to be started, among other things, I like this way to configure modules and daemons, I am a Debian fan, and like this even more than the way Debian does. The other configuration file is /etc/pacman.conf where you configure all necessary to install new packages and keep your system up to date, including mirrors.

Repositories

Arch Linux comes with four official repositories, they are:

• core, which contains all the packages needed to set up a base system
• extra, which holds packages not required for the base system, including desktop environments and programs
• testing, a special repository, with packages that are candidates for the core or extra repositories.
• community, which contains packages built and voted on by the community; includes packages that have sufficient votes and have been adopted by a "trusted user".

You will find all you need for a normal work on these repositories, at least they were enough for me so far.

SUSE

About SUSE Linux

SUSE Linux is maintained by a company called SUSE LINUX AG. Established in 1992, this Nurnberg, Germany-based company released the first distribution of SUSE Linux in 1993. Early distributions had their roots in Slackware Linux.American company Novell completed its acquisition of SUSE LINUX AG in January of 2004.
Until recently, "SUSE" was spelled "SuSE" or "S.u.S.E." which stood for "System und Software Entwicklung", which is German for "System and Software Development" (more here, alsopronunciation). Aparently it doesn't really stand for anything now.
SUSE Linux is probably best known for its system of managing software, known as YaST (Yet another Software Tool), which strives to make managing and updating of a SUSE distribution as simple as possible. Among the larger Linux community, SUSE seems to be considered a "well-balanced" distribution in the sense that it is considered "easy" enough for new Linux users to use while still maintaining the freedom for more experienced users to harness the (often complex) power of Linux. SUSE is also very well suited for both desktop and file/web server applications.
In August of 2005, Novell announced the openSUSE project. This is the "community-based" branch of the SUSE distribution. Community members have a much greater voice in the direction of SUSE. Just to clarify a common misconception: the operating system is called "SUSE Linux", the community behind it is called "openSUSE".
As far as "cool factor" goes, a SUSE user is not mocked as much as a Mandrake or Linspire(Lindows) user, but we're aparently inferior to Debian or Slackware users (and certainly subordinate to the guys who shun distributions all together and build their own package). So if you're the kind of person who thinks your operating system says something about you, there you go.

What Does SUSE Stand For?

This question gets asked a lot, so here you go.SUSE Linux (and the company that maintains it) has been known as "SuSE" and "S.u.S.E.". It originally stood for "System und Software Entwicklung", which is German for "System and Software Development".
Now the company is known as "SUSE LINUX AG", and the distribution is known as "SUSE" Linux. The current speculation is that "SUSE" doesn't stand for anything anymore, it is just a name.

Linux Mint

Introduction to Linux Mint

          Linux Mint is a computer operating system designed to work on most modern systems, including typical x86 and x64 PCs. 

          Linux Mint can be thought of as filling the same role as Microsoft's Windows, Apple's

Mac OS, and the free BSD OS. Linux Mint is also designed to work in conjunction with other operating systems (including those listed above), and can automatically set up a “dual boot” or “multi-boot” environment (where the user is prompted as to which operating system to start at each boot-up) during its installation.   Linux Mint is a great operating system for individuals and for companies. 

History

          Linux Mint is a very modern operating system; Its development started in 2006. It is, however, built upon very mature and proven software layers, including the Linux kernel, the GNU tools and the Gnome desktop. It also relies on the Ubuntu and Debian projects and uses their systems as a base.

          The Linux Mint project focuses on making the desktop more usable and more efficient for everyday tasks performed by regular users. Underneath the desktop the operating system also provides a huge collection of available software and a very well integrated set of services. 

          Linux Mint saw a rapid rise in popularity and more and more people use it every day. 

Purpose

          The purpose of Linux Mint is to provide a desktop operating system that home users and companies can use at no cost and which is as efficient, easy to use, and elegant as possible. 

          One of the ambitions of the Linux Mint project is to become the best operating system available by making it easy for people to get to use advanced technologies, rather than by simplifying them (and thereby reducing their capabilities), or by copying the approaches taken by other developers. 

          The goal is to develop our own idea of the ideal desktop. We think that it is best to make the most out of the modern technologies that exist under Linux and make it easy for everybody to use its most advanced features. 

The Story of LinuxCelebrate the 20th Anniversary of Linux with us

 Watch the Story of Linux to remember - or learn for the first time - how Linux has disrupted a market and has begun to change the world. Join in a variety of activities planned this year to mark this important milestone.

LINUX HISTORY

Year	Event
1957	Bell Labs found they needed an operating system for their computer center that at the time was running various batch jobs. The BESYS operating system was created at Bell Labs to deal with these needs.
1965	Bell Labs was adopting third generation computer equipment and decided to join forces with General Electric and MIT to create Multics (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service).
1969	By April 1969, AT&T made a decision to withdraw Multics and go with GECOS. When Multics was withdrawn Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie needed to rewrite an operating system in order to play space travel on another smaller machine (a DEC PDP-7 [Programmed Data Processor 4K memory for user programs). The result was a system that a punning colleague called UNICS (UNiplexed Information and Computing Service)--an 'emasculated Multics'.
1969	Summer 1969 Unix was developed.
1969	Linus Torvalds is born.
1971	First edition of Unix released 11/03/1971. The first edition of the "Unix PROGRAMMER'S MANUAL [by] K. Thompson [and] D. M. Ritchie." It includes over 60 commands like: b (compile B program); boot (reboot system); cat (concatenate files); chdir (change working directory); chmod (change access mode); chown (change owner); cp (copy file); ls (list directory contents); mv (move or rename file); roff (run off text); wc (get word count); who (who is one the system). The main thing missing was pipes.
1972	Second edition of Unix released December 06, 1972.
1972	Ritchie rewrote B and called the new language C.
1973	Unix had been installed on 16 sites (all within AT&T/Western Electric); it was publically unveiled at a conference in October.
1973	Third edition of Unix released February 1973
1973	Forth edition of Unix released November 1973
1974	Fifth edition of Unix released June 1974
1974	Thompson went to UC Berkeley to teach for a year, Bill Joy arrived as a new graduate student. Frustrated with ed, Joy developed a more featured editor em.
1975	Sixth edition of Unix released May 1975
1975	Bourne shell is introduced begins being added onto.
1977	1BSD released late 1977
1978	2BSD released mid 1978
1979	Seventh edition of Unix released January 1979
1979	3BSD released late 1979
1979	SCO founded by Doug and Larry Michels as Unix porting and consulting company.
1980	4.0BSD released October 1980
1982	SGI introduces IRIX.
1983	SCO delivers its first packaged Unix system called SCO XENIX System V for Intel 8086 and 8088 processor-based PCs.
1983	The GNU operating system is first announced by Richard Stallman September 27, 1983.
1984	Ultrix 1.0 was released.
1985	Eighth edition of Unix released February 1985
1985	The GNU manifesto is published in the March 1985 issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal. The GNU project starts a year and a half later.
1986	HP-UX 1.0 released.
1986	Ninth edition of Unix released September 1986
1987	Sun and AT&T lay the groundwork for business computing in the next decade with an alliance to develop Unix System V Release 4.
1988	HP-UX 2.0 released.
1988	HP-UX 3.0 released.
1989	SCO ships SCO Unix System V/386, the first volume commercial product licensed by AT&T to use the Unix System trademark.
1989	HP-UX 7.0 released.
1989	Tenth edition of Unix released October 1989
1990	AIX short for Advanced Interactive eXecutive was first entered into the market by IBM February 1990.
1991	Sun unveils Solaris 2 operating environment, specially tuned for symetric multiprocessing.
1991	Linux is introduced by Linus Torvalds, a student in Finland.
1991	HP-UX 8.0 released.
1991	BSD/386 ALPHA First code released to people outside BSDI 12/xx/1991
1992	HP-UX 9.0 released.
1993	NetBSD 0.8 released 04/20/1993
1993	FreeBSD 1.0 released December of 1993
1994	Red Hat Linux is introduced.
1994	Caldera, Inc was founded in 1994 by Ransom Love and Bryan Sparks.
1994	NetBSD 1.0 released 10/26/1994
1995	FreeBSD 2.0 released 01/xx/1995
1995	SCO acquires Unix Systems source technology business from Novell Corporation (which had acquired it from AT&T's Unix System Laboratories). SCO also acquires UnixWare 2 operating system from Novell.
1995	HP-UX 10.0 released.
1995	4.4 BSD Lite Release 2 the true final distribution from the CSRG 06/xx/1995
1996	KDE is started to be developed by Matthias Ettrich
1997	HP-UX 11.0 released.
1997	Caldera ships OpenLinux Standard 1.1 May 5, 1997, the second offering in Caldera's OpenLinux product line
1998	IRIX 6.5 the fifth generation of SGI Unix is released July 6, 1998.
1998	SCO delivers UnixWare 7 operating system.
1998	Sun Solaris 7 operating system released.
1998	FreeBSD 3.0 released 10/16/1998
2000	FreeBSD 4.0 released 03/13/2000
2000	Caldera Systems Inc. announces that Caldera Systems has entered into agreement to acquire the SCO Server Software Division and the Professional Services Division.
2001	Linus Torvalds releases version 2.4 of the Linux Kernel source code on January 4th.
2001	Microsoft files a trademark suit against Lindows.com in December.
2004	Lindows changes it's name to Linspire April 14, 2004.
2004	The first release of Ubuntu is released October 20, 2004.

Reasons For Choosing LINUX

1.       SECURITY

·         Linux is Open Source Software, The simplest benefits of Open Source is transparency and increased security, reliability, stability and functionality

2.        SCALABILITY

·         System implemented under Linux can be cloned limitless times without paying additional software licensing fees

3.       POWER

·         Linux is made with the Unix design philosophy, which dictates that system tools are small and highly specialized. The result is an incredibly powerful and reliable system

4.       RELIABITLITY

·         The architecture of Linux is superior because critical operation system functions are implemented in such a way that buggy programs can’t cause the computer to become unstable or crash

5.       ADVANCED CAPABILITIES

·         In addition to the system utility tools from the Unix world, Linux usually comes with the Apache Webserver, an email server, router/firewall capabilities and SQL databases. These save extras costing of thousands of dollars

6.       NO VIRUS AND NO ADWARE

·         Linux is considered to be free from viruses and adwares, and bloatware, more than 50,000 new virus signatures were found for Windows, compared to 45 for Linux. Most Linux distros come with firewalls and antivirus software. Program like Guaddog

7.       DUAL BOOTING CAPABILITIES

·         With Linux, it can take as little as half an hour to install the operating system, utilities, and a full set of application No registration or activation is required

8.       UPDATES SOFTWARE AND APPLICATIONS

·         Linux updates all the software automatically whenever updates are available, including all application packages

9.       SYSTEM CRASHES

·         Every desktop operating system crashes. Nobody can avoid it while using software with such high level of complexity

·         Badly written Drivers cause instability, as well as, unsupported hardware cause System to crash

·         Linux performs far better as compared to other Operating System

10.   COST

·         Linux is Free to everyone including other application packages for graphics, word processing, accounting, and Anti-Virus program

Application that must have for Linux

OPENOFFICE

Is an open-source application for word processing, spreadsheets, graphics and presentations, database. Available in different Operating Software System

GIMP

GIMP, GNU Image Manipulation Program. It’s like a Adobe Photoshop and have most of its function. Allowing you to undertake complex image-manipulation procedures . A good editing software for Linux 

VLC

A free and open source cross-platform for multimedia, plays most multimedia formats as well as DVD, Audio CD, VCD, and different streaming protocols

WINE

Linux application that enable windows application to run on Linux OS, however not all, but mostly of Windows application would run fairly well

GOOGLE CHROME

Fast, Safe, and easy to use browser for most of Operating System. It has many features like multiple tabs, multiple plug-ins, support massive applications and very stable

Choosing the Distribution

LINUX : Choosing the Distribution

         Most of the Linux distributions come with a so-called ‘base system’ that comprises most of the software the computer user would need. These distributions are up to date with new drivers and software.

                Ubuntu, Fedora, SuSE are some of the popular Linux Operating Systems, they are generally considered to be easy to use ‘user friendly’ to use by a newbie, even though they still have the power tools that a advanced users can used.

                    Hardware compatibility is one aspect about using Linux. Most of the hardware is supported by default in most Linux distributions, less popular or old hardware might not work.

                There are I thinks there’s about a hundreds of distributions available, and each have it’s own differences. Choosing the right distributions might seem difficult, its up to you where will you need it or what you want to have for example for multimedia creation for low specification computers. 

Is Linux Logo Really a Penguin?

Like you always see when you search about Linux in the web it always shows the penguin logo that Linux Torvalds approved as the official Linux logo and mascot. His name is TUX that is stood for (T)orvalds (U)ni(X). The use of this logo is freely available, and you find it everywhere on Linux magazines, Web sites, and other Linux venues

The Story Behind the Tux

In 1996 Linus Trovalds, the Finnish creator of the Open Source operating system Linux, visited the National Zoo and Aquarium with members of the Canberra Linux Users Group, and was captivated by one of the Zoo’s little Penguins. Legends has it that Linus was infected with a mythical disease called Penguinitis. Penguinitis makes you stay awake at night thinking about Penguins and feeling great love toward them.

Not long after this event the Open Source Software Community decided they needed a logo for Linux They were looking for something fun and after Linux mentioned his fondness of penguins, a slightly overweight penguin sitting down after having a great meal seemed to fit the bill perfectly. Hence, Tux the penguin was created and now when people think of Linux they think to Tux.

Linux VS Windows

Some Differences

Linux : Open Source ( free and nearly every program for it is also free)

Windows : Not free, most program are not free

Linux :  no virius written to attack linux

Windows : most viruses is written for windows

Linux: If something goes wrongs its hard to fix

Windows : Lot more easy to repair than linux

Linux : Not so much user-friendly

Windows :  easy, nice, user-friendly and compatible with lots of things

LINUX

POWERFUL, SECURE, OPENSOURCE

An Open Operating System, it is develop collaboratively, meaning two or more company is responsible for its ongoing development. They share research and development costs with its partners and even competitors. The spreading of development and research resulted in a large and efficient ecosystem and software innovation.