Question

Take the time to list the different flavors of Linux. List all of the different distributions. HINT: There are seven main categories. Then list at least three different types of Open UNIX OSs. For each category, list at least three examples. Research the type of support that each of these flavors get, along with the software support. I also want to know if this particular flavor of Linux has a definitive purpose, for example, is it used for desktop PCs or science. etc.?

Linux Flavor 1	Linux Flavor 2	Linux Flavor 3	Linux Flavor 4	Linux Flavor 5	Linux Flavor 6	Linux Flavor 7	Open Unix

1. What flavor of Linux appealed to you from a visual graphical perspective?
2. What flavor of Linux had the best support?
3. Based on your research, what flavor of Linux would you want to install?
4. What flavor of Linux did you find to be best suited for business use?
5. Did you consider any of the Open UNIX based OSs appealing to you? Why or Why not?

Answer 1

Debian

It supports officially Support :-

1. amd64: x86-64 architecture with 64-bit userland and supporting 32-bit software
2. arm64: ARMv8-A architecture
3. armel: Little-endian ARM architecture (ARMv4T instruction set) on various embedded systems (embedded application binary interface (EABI))
4. armhf: ARM hard-float architecture (ARMv7 instruction set) requiring hardware with a floating-point unit
5. i386: IA-32 architecture with 32-bit userland, compatible with x86-64 machines
6. mips: Big-endian MIPS architecture
7. mips64el: Little-endian 64 bit MIPS
8. mipsel: Little-endian MIPS
9. ppc64el: Little-endian PowerPC architecture supporting POWER7+ and POWER8 CPUs
10. s390x: z/Architecture with 64-bit userland, intended to replace s390

Types:-

• Knoppix
• Linux Mint Debian Edition
• Ubuntu

It is used by personal computers and network servers mainly.

Software supports:-

• Major GNU applications for software development,file manipulation and text processing.
• Perl python tcl/tk .
• TeX and Lyx ,dvips.
• Xorg windowing system.
• A full suite of Networking application ,All protocols and also web browsers.
• A complete set of office application(libre office),Gnumeric and other spreadsheets,WYSIWYG editors ,calendars.
• Evolution mail.
• K3b disc burner.
• Media players.
• Image Editors.

Reference:-

• https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-faq/ch-software.en.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian

                             

Fedora

It is a Red Hat Enterprise Linux distribution.

Used for workstations ,servers ,cloud computing.

Types:-

1. Red Hat enterprise linux
2. Centos
3. Oracle linux
4. Scientific linux

It officially supports:-

1. ARM-hfp(32-bit,little-endian,hfp for ARMv7) (as of Fedora 20)
2. X86(32-bit for i686)(until fedora 25)
3. X86_64(64-bit)
4. ARM AArch64(64-bit,little-endian for ARMv8)

Software supports

• Fedora comes preinstalled with a wide range of software such as LibreOffice and Firefox. Additional software is available from the software repositories and can be installed using the DNF package manager or GNOME Software.
• Additionally, extra repositories can be added to the system.
• third-party repositories include RPM Fusion free and non-free repositories.
• operating system defaults to the Wayland display server protocol.

Reference:-

• https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedora_(operating_system)

Mandriva Linux

It support

amd64, i686, i586, i486, i386, sparc64, ppc64, MIPS, arm, ia64, Xbox

Types:-

1. Mageia
2. Pclinuxos
3. Rosa linux

Software supports

1. KDE or GNOME desktops and include or exclude non-free software.

Mandriva's Software Packages Installation will be responsible to install user required softwares

Reference :-

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandriva_Linux

OpenSUSE

It officially supports both intel and amd x86 and x85-64 bit architectures. But they are no mainly focused on 64bit

• Tumbleweed (rolling/tested): x86-32, x86-64, aarch64, ppc64le, ppc64
• Leap (stable/fixed): only x86-64

Types:-Suse linux enterprise

Used by:-

It is widely used throughout the world. The focus of its development is creating usable open-source tools for software developers and system administrators, while providing a user-friendly desktop and feature-rich server environment.

Software support:-

1. SUSE includes an installation and administration program called YaST
2. ZYpp,Yast,RPM package management

Reference :-

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenSUSE

Arch linux

Types:-

1. Manjaro Linux
2. Apricity
3. Antergos

It is main based on x86-64 architecture.

I686 is not supported anymore.

It is a perfect distro for beginners. It is a community distro(build by the whole community combined).

Software support:-

1. Internet applications(network connection, web browser, web servers, file sharing, communication etc)
2. Multimedia(codecs , image, audio, video etc)
3. Utilities (Terminal, Development)
4. Documents and Texts.
5. Security.
6. Science.

Reference :-

• https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/list_of_applications#See_also
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Linux

Gentoo

Types:-

1. Chrome os
2. Funtoo
3. CoreOS
4. Calculate Linux
5. CloverOS

Used for mainly customized desktops and servers.

Supports IA-32, x86-64, IA-64, PA-RISC; PowerPC 32/64, SPARC 64-bit, DEC Alpha, ARM 32/64.

Software support

It can have user customized software’s.

References:-

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentoo_Linux

Slackware

It officially supports IA-32 ,x86-64 and ARM.

Very much suitable for advanced and technically inclined Linux users

Software support

A	-	The base system. Contains enough software to get up and running and have a text editor and basic communications programs.
AP	-	Various applications that do not require the X Window System.
D	-	Program development tools. Compilers, debuggers, interpreters, and man pages. It's all here.
E	-	GNU Emacs. Yes, Emacs is so big it requires its own series.
F	-	FAQs, HOWTOs, and other miscellaneous documentation.
GNOME	-	The GNOME desktop environment.
K	-	The source code for the Linux kernel.
KDE	-	The K Desktop Environment. An X environment which shares a lot of look-and-feel features with the MacOS and Windows. The Qt widget library is also in this series, as KDE requires it to function.
KDEI	-	Language support for the K Desktop Environment.
L	-	System libraries.
N	-	Networking programs. Daemons, mail programs, telnet, news readers, and so on.
T	-	teTeX document formatting system.
TCL	-	The Tool Command Language, Tk, TclX, and TkDesk.
X	-	The base X Window System.
XAP	-	X applications that are not part of a major desktop environment. For example Ghostscript and Netscape.
Y	-	Games (the BSD games collection, Sasteroids, Koules, and Lizards).

Reference :-

• http://www.slackware.com/install/softwaresets.php
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slackware

Q. Name any three Different types of open Unix OS?

• Solarix Unix
• OpenBSD Unix
• FreeBSD Unix

Q1.what flavour of linux appealed to you from a visual graphical perspective?

Ans. Ubuntu

Q2.What flavour of linux has the best support.

Ans. Debian(ubuntu)

Q3.Based on your research what flavour of linux would you want to install?

Ans. Arch linux

Q4.What flavour of linux did you find to be best suited for business use?

Ans Red Hat Enterprise

Q5. Did you consider any of the open Unix based os appealing to you? Why or why not?

Ans.I felt ubuntu unix based os because it has more support and If I have a problem then it can be solve by the community members of ubuntu.

As I am a student it’s my thought to learn with the help of community.