90
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2024
90 points (96.9% liked)
Linux
45457 readers
1711 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
One thing no one seems to have touched on yet: distros have philosophies—guiding principles that affect what packages they have and how they're presented.
For instance, Debian is strongly open-source-centric. Closed-source software is not normally found in their main repository (even when it would be useful to put it there, like some drivers).
Gentoo, on the other hand, is all about user choice. You're expected to choose for yourself whether you want to use systemd or OpenRC, X or Wayland, which DE (if any) you want to use, and which features you do or don't want compiled into your software. However, Gentoo is quite happy to include closed-source software in the main package repository, because using it is also a choice that some people prefer to make.
Red Hat, Arch, and Slackware (to name the remaining major foundational distros) also have their own philosophies. Some descendant distros retain their parents' principles, while others discard them and develop a philosophy of their own (Ubuntu doesn't have Debian's Open Source Uber Alles tendencies, for instance).