Linux
My Journey
Distributions (Distros)
Distribution "Families"
Every Linux distribution has a history, and one way to classify a distro is from where it originated. There are 5 primary ancestors from where most distros came from, and then also a group for independent/other/miscellaneous ones.
Here are the families according to their approximate popularity / footprint on the Linux ecosystem.
Debian
- Initial release in 1993
- 100+ active derivatives as of 2018
- Some popular derivatives are various variants of Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and CentOS
- Uses the low-level dpkg tool and APT for package management
The majority of all Linux distributions are based on Debian and popular Debian derivatives like Ubuntu and Linux Mint.
Debian is known for being composed entirely of free software, unlike some other distros that may include things like proprietary codecs or video drivers.
Red Hat
- Initial release in 1995
- 20+ active derivatives (of Red Hat, Fedora) as of 2018
- Discontinued in 2004, and succeeded by Fedora and RHEL
- Uses RPM for package management
RHEL is targeted at the commercial market, and is probably the most likely distro to be found out in the enterprise space because of the provided support.
Arch
- Initial release in 2002
- ~20 active derivatives as of 2018
- Some popular derivatives are Manjaro and Antergos
- Uses the pacman package manager
- Rolling release
Be wary when asking for help on the official Arch forums. You had better hope you have RTFM or prepare to be ass-blasted into oblivion by the "sophisticated" Arch users with their refined Linux palates and bushy neckbeards.
Gentoo
- Initial release in 2000
- ~10 active derivatives as of 2018
- Uses the Portage package management system
- Rolling release
Remember that first time you installed a package in Ubuntu with the terminal, and you felt like such a badass hacker watching the text fly by as the package manager configured everything? Well you don't feel so cool anymore. You see, you've installed Gentoo, and this is your life now. Gentoo users don't really use their computers. Instead they just watch a terminal for hours on end as every last package is downloaded, built from source, and installed on the system. Ok, that part was a joke, sort of.
Since Gentoo is a source-based distro it is quite effective at running on a wide range of hardware.
Slackware
- Initial release in 1993
- ~10 active derivatives as of 2018
Independent
- ~60 active distros (not including the 5 family ancestors above) as of 2018
Window Managers and Desktop Environments (DEs)
Here are some of the most popular window managers and DEs for Linux.