Information and Communication Technology

3.4.2 Distribution  

Linux is known as an open source operating system and also called free software because everything about Linux is accessible to the public and is freely available to anyone. Since the Linux source code is available, anyone can copy, modify, and distribute this software. When people use the name Linux they are probably referring to a particular distribution of Linux. There are several software packages provided for Linux over the Internet but selecting and downloading one is complicated task not necessarily manageable for new users who want to try out Linux. This is exactly where a distribution kicks in.

A Linux distribution (also called GNU/Linux distribution by some vendors and users) is a member of the family of Unix-like software distributions built on top of the Linux kernel . A distribution is a set of software packages that are tested and provided on CD by a company for a small fee. The advantages of using distributions are the support and manuals, as well as the fact that Linux can be specialized for use in a particular are a. Linux distributions have taken a wide variety of forms — from fully featured desktop and server operating systems to minimal environments (typically for use in embedded systems , or for booting from a floppy disk).

commercially distributors are such as Fedora ( Red Hat ), openSUSE ( Novell ), Ubuntu ( Canonical Ltd. ), and Mandriva Linux ( Mandriva ) and entirely community-driven distributions such as Debian and Gentoo .