Where do I get the base/standard version of Linux?
 

Hi everyone.

Like all noobs this question might sound silly to many but I just can't get it...

I understand that I can choose from a wide variety of distros. I know that a distro is a version of the Linux OS, comprising the Linux kernel, other assorted free software/open-source software and possibly proprietary software.

But what I really wanted was to get my hands on the Linux OS and not on a modified version or distro. I'm not sure if what i'm saying makes any sense and if not, please explain it to me.

The ideia was to understand how the Linux OS works without the functionality added by the distros.

From what i've read the distros that are more "close" to the Linux OS are Puppy and Gentoo. If I can't get the base version of Linux perhaps I should try one of those?

Thank you for your time.

I'm guessing it depends on how far into linux you want to go.

I would consider Gentoo, Slackware and Debian (my personal opinion) ;) to be non-modified distros and Suse, Redhat and such like to be the opposite.

If you really want to get your hands dirty then you could try http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/ which is basically instructions on how to build your own distro entirely from source code. But its not something i would recommend to a newbie.

I think Linux from scratch is what you need :)
http://www.linuxfromscratch.org

To be precise, you cannot have an operating system without various utilities in addition to the kernel. The purists will tell you that "Linux" is just the kernel, but the reality is that it has become the name for the whole OS.

Even for the kernel, there is no one standard---there are numerous stock kernels out there---and you can compile your own.

In addition to Linux from Scratch, take a look here: http://www.kernel.org/

Wow!

Thank you so much for your quick replies everyone.

I've been reading the book about LFS and they point out some resources that one should read before "diving in". :)

I will also your link pixellany.

Perhaps I should add that I am a third year student of Informatic Engineering. I've studied operating system and developed applications for the only OS that I've used so far: MS Win. But what i really want to know is how the theory about operating systems is implemented. That's why I was searching for a standard version of Linux.

This is gonna be an awesome adventure! or maybe not... ;)

There are of course whole books--and college courses--on how to design operating systems.

I disagree with gentoo.
It's a great distro (my fav) but they use some non standard conventions and many packages are heavily patches to fit their standards.

I would definitely agree with LFS, and slackware as a close second for the most "standard" version of linux.

There is no specific standard that governs what a linux distro is (ok, there is the LSB but many distros don't even follow it) and all the distros suggested above have distro specific tools and configuration settings that are different from other distros. I would just pick a distro, learn the Linux/Unix basics and then once I am comfortable with those basics, tinker with other distros.

Pixellany is right- there is no "Linux OS." The kernel is what makes Linux an OS, but it doesn't really do much without all the support stuff. There isn't any one standard Linux because packaging with utilities and service programs (the distro) make it what it is.

Anything you get will be modified and a distro. Understanding this is essential to understanding Linux, and not trying to make Linux conform to an initial misconception.

Slackware is reputed to be the most Unix-like Linux distro, and it is a very nice distro. But it is not (and there is not) one "Linux OS."

You will even find it difficult to find one "UNIX" unless you run ancient Bell Labs code. All the stuff that evolved from it (SCO, Solaris, *BSD) has departed to some degree.

P.S. Winbloze is not an operating system. It's commercial Malware with a EULA :p

So the best option for me is to install a distro, to understand the basics of Linux and only when I understand the basics of Linux, start using LFS to really understand how the kernel is implemented.

Do you agree?

Besides, based on what i've read so far, I have to get a distro installed anyway before trying to use LFS.

I'm sure you can learn about how the kernel works using any distro, though be aware that some distros do use modified kernels. Slackware is a distro that uses the vanilla (i.e. completely unmodified) kernel and you can also select the vanilla kernel when you install Gentoo (though you may need to configure the kernel by hand with Gentoo, or use something called genkernel but I don't really know how that works, as I didn't manage to use it successfully when I installed Gentoo).

You can learn about the Linux kernel by using any distro. If the distro uses a patched kernel, you can always compile your own vanilla kernel using the sources from kernel.org.

To me LFS is just like any other distro i.e. you are just following instructions that were used by someone else to create a linux distro. You will learn a lot about Linux by installing it, but there is nothing really unique about it.

I think one of the easiest ways to get started is using live CDs. You don't even have to install anything, and you can boot working systems of Linux and *BSD. Look on distrowatch.com and the live CD forums sites.