by Rosemarie Makhmaltchi

Created on: January 13, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

Linux is an operating system that was developed by Linus Benedict Torvalds and released in 1991. It is free, open-source software. That means it can be used by anyone and even reprogrammed and added to. Because of this, and the stability of the Linux core, development teams around the world have created many distributions of this os. This paper discusses three Linux distributions that are not supported by Red Had or Fedora.

*- 3 Linux Distributions -*

Gentoo Linux Kernel: 2005.1 License: GNU General Public
Created by Daniel Robbins and the Gentoo Foundation, Gentoo is built to be highly flexible and can be easily modified to suit each user's needs. The philosophy of Gentoo amounts to the idea that people should not be limited by the capabilities of their computers. So, this distribution comes with many tools that can be used to change the operating system. This makes Gentoo a user-friendly and efficient member of the Linux family.
You can get a free full version of Gentoo at http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/where.xml.

Ubuntu Linux Kernel: 5.10 (The Breezy Badger) License: GNU General Public
Winner of the Linux Journal Reader's Choice Award for best Linux distribution, Ubuntu is an operating system for the people. Its name comes from an African word, which means, "I am what I am because of who we all are."(ubuntulinux.org) It is a worldwide project, started by people who believe free computer software should be available, customizable, and easy to use.
Ubuntu can be used on desktops, servers, handheld devices, and 64-bit systems. It comes with over 16,000 software packages, including word-processing, spreadsheet, and web browsing programs. A new version is released every six months, and each has automatic security updates for eighteen months. Ubuntu has a homely (yet very fast) installer, and its support group provides version upgrades for life, over the Internet.
Ubuntu was created by Canonical Ltd, and can be downloaded at http://www.ubuntu.com/download.

Zenwalk Linux Kernel: 2.6.12.6 License: GNU General Public
Formerly Minislack, Zenwalk Linux is a stable operating system that focuses on Internet, multimedia, and coding applications. It is described as a "complete system" (Zenwalk.org), and comes with web browsers, CD burning software, several programming languages, and drivers for just about any peripheral device you can hook up to a pc. Zenwalk uses a graphical desktop environment called Xfce desktop and uses a file manager called Xffm that allows the desktop to display

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>