[edit] Brief Description

[edit] Wiki description

General Info

The Linux distributions are open source operating systems that comprise the Linux Kernel. Linux was created by Linus Torvalds back in 1991 and has a penguin for a mascot.

Statistics

According to the latest statics, 83.48% of the Internet users are running Windows XP. Only 3.73% are using Mac OS X and 1.34% Linux.

Linux Features

• Multitasking: Multiple Programs can be run at the same time
• Multiuser: More than one user can use one computer
• Multiplatform: It runs on many CPUs
• Multiprocessor
• Multithreading: More threads can run at the same time

Top distributions

There are currently more than 350 Linux distros that include numerous software projects. The most popular ones are

Debian – released for the first time in 1993, Debian popular mostly because it provides a large number of free applications (it includes about 18,000 software packages); all the names of the releases are names of characters in the “Toy Story” animation; Debian has support for 12 architectures: x86, x86-64, IA-64, ppc, sparc32, sparc64, arm, hppa, mips, s390, s390x and alpha; there are currently 115 deviations from Debian;

Red Hat – there are currently more than 2,200 engineers working on the RedHat project; RedHat Inc. was founded in 1993 and only runs on 4 architectures: x86, x86-64, IA-64, ppc; Fedora will run on the educational laptops created by OLPC

Knoppix was designed to be used as a live CD but it can also be installed on your hard drive; it provides about 1,000 open source and proprietary applications including GIMP, FireFox and OpenOffice;
Other popular Linux distributions include SlackWare, Mandrake, Gentoo and SUSE

How to pick a Linux distro

First of all, when you're choosing a Linux distro, you should think about what you really need and what you'll be using it for. Let's assume you're a Microsoft Windows user. If you're also a gamer... things get a little complicated. Cedega 4.0 includes support for DirectX 9.0 so most of your favorite games, if not all, will probably work on Linux.

If you need to run Linux on a slower system, you should consider Zenwalk, Puppy or MEPISLite. They will all run on a Pentium II system with 128MB of RAM, just like Windows 98.

For a Windows replacement, Xandros seems to be the perfect solution. By collaborating with Microsoft, Xandros managed to provide a powerful platform that will help reduce the costs of the IT infrastructure. Even so, some developers might hate it, because it looks and feels just like Windows XP...

As a developer, you should install Fedora, Debian or OpenSUSE. They have the most active communities so if you're really into Linux, you should join them and start coding. It will be easier for you later to obtain a Linux certification if you do, and judging by the large number of companies that are currently hiring system administrators and network engineers, you'll need it.

Events

• Debconf, Argetina, 2008 - http://www.debconf.org/
• CELF Embedded Linux Conferece - http://www.celinux.org/elc2007/
• Linux World Expo - http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/

Communities

• The Linux questions wiki - http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Main_Page
• The Linux blog with daily tips, tricks and news about Linux - http://www.linux-blogger.com/
• The O'Reilly Linux DevCenter Blog - http://www.oreillynet.com/linux/blog/
• The Gentoo Wiki - http://gentoo-wiki.com/Main_Page
• Blog about Linux and the open source world - http://linux.wordpress.com/
• The open source and Linux forums - http://www.linuxforums.org/
• Forum with news and announcements about Linux and Linux distributions - http://www.linuxforum.com/forums/

Further Reading

• Article about Linux distributions on Wikipedia
• Linux distributions on Linux Online - http://www.linux.org/dist/
• distributions details and statistics on DistroWatch
• News and tutorials for all the distros http://www.distrostuff.com/
• More about operating systems : user reviews and how to choose