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Old 01-10-2010, 04:10 PM   #1
glenellynboy
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Smile what does "distribution" mean?


That's it. What does "distribution" mean? My Acer computer, on which I have linux linpus lite, comes with very little documentation and while I have a physics BA and have had exposure to technology, my knowledge of linux is just about zip. Is there a good place to start? As you can see, this question about the word "distribution" is a razor thin top of an enormous iceberg of ignorance. I should be able to eat into it if I can just get a good source of introductory information.

Thanks a lot.
 
Old 01-10-2010, 04:14 PM   #2
XavierP
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Linux, at it's core, is purely the kernel. GNU/Linux is the kernel + the various tools such as GCC. Distributions are, at the most base level, taking the GNU/Linux OS and making it their own - so Red Hat use rpms and Debian uses .debs and so on. Beyond that, there are logos, some proprietary tools and a particular methodology or philosophy behind a distribution.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_distribution says it better
 
Old 01-10-2010, 04:17 PM   #3
marciobarbalho
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Start here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

Now you tell us what 'distribution' mean!

 
Old 01-10-2010, 04:31 PM   #4
lupusarcanus
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Try the Linux newbie guide in my signature. That will get you up and going with a pretty good understanding of Linux and some of it's lesser documented information.
 
  


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