Bovasso, Kari

TCM 350E

17Mar03

History of Unix & Linux

Personal computers use an operating system (OS) to control

hardware and software to display the images you as a user see before you

on the computer screen, essentially the operating system is the “basic

set of programs and utilities that make your computer run.” (Linux.com)

One of the first OS’s that was mainstream distributed was Unix. Unix

was created at Bell Labs in 1969 as an “interactive” system. Bell Labs

was founded in 1925, and is probably now more prevalently known as

Lucent Technologies. Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie are considered

the inventors of Unix. By 1974, Unix became the first OS written in

the ‘C’ language. C is a structured programming language that has been

widely used both for OSs and applications and has had a wide following,

with much support in the academic community. Many versions of Unix-

based OSs are written in C. C has been standardized as part of the

Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), which is important as the

popular applications at the time were so that computers could work as

stand-alone systems, without the need for a server.

Unix has since evolved with many versions and new ideas by

different companies, universities, and individual efforts. Unix is not

a ‘proprietary’ OS owned by any specific computer company, so in essence

it was adopted mainly because it was written in a standard language and

could be improved or enhanced by anyone. Unix became popular because

the OS was widely used in workstations sold by Sun Microsystems, Silicon

Graphics, IBM, and a number of other companies. The Unix environment and

the client/server program model were important elements in and of

themselves. As you may or may not know, the development of the

Internet, and the reshaping of computing as a whole, was centered in

networks rather than in individual computers and Sun Microsystems was

one of the first pioneers of the network.

In 1984, Richard Stallman, who formed the Free Software Foundation

(FSF), developed the GNU source code and distributed it for free with

the then-popular Unix. According to the EnterpriseLinux.com Website,

GNU is a “Unix-like operating system that comes with source code that

can be copied, modified, and redistributed...Stallman believes that

users should be free to do whatever they want with software they

acquire, including making copies for friends and modifying the source

code and repackaging it with a distribution charge. The FSF uses a

stipulation that it calls “copyleft.” Copyleft stipulates that anyone

redistributing free software must also pass along the freedom to further

copy and change the program, thereby ensuring that no one can claim

ownership of future versions and place restrictions on users.”

Unix has been floating around for free since the 70’s, but

sometime in July of 1992, Linus Torvalds was posting notices on bulletin

boards that were a reflection of the work he was completing in writing

the source code for “Linus’ Minix,” which was based on a Unix variant

popular at the time called Minix, and has since come to be known as what

we know as Linux. Linus started distributing the changes he was making

to Minix, and now Linux is steadily gaining more popularity than any of

the other free distributions ever have. According to Linus, he doesn’t

recall the exact dates of when he started distributing Linux, but by

piecing together the emails and responses to the bulletin board notices,

he has put together a basic time-frame that began in 1991 with the

kernel’s release. Linus also referenced a server on these bulletin

boards in Finland where he had posted the source for his code for those

who were interested in downloading it. Linus welcomed any and all

suggestions, and people were still able to change and distribute the

code as they wanted.

Linus’ plans were always to keep the source code free, distributed

under General Public License, and since it was already based off of

Unix’s Minix, he had it capable of running the same commands such as:

bash, gcc, gnu-make, gnu-sed, and compress – as well as others. Linux

had originally started out needing the Minix operating system in order

to load Linux, but by version 0.11 Linux was a stand-alone operating

system and Linus had obtained a copyright on it, albeit a very lenient

one, as all he required was that the source code remain public and

intact if redistributed. The ‘main’ popular distribution of Linux was

version 1.0, which was released in 1994 and was known as GNU/Linux, or

just as Linux.

The Many Distributions of Linux

Here I will list the each of the selected distribution’s features,

kernel (core program that runs programs and manages hardware devices

such as disks and printers), environment (the type of interface for the

user), and file structure (the way files are stored on a storage device

such as a disk).

Red Hat - redhat.com

RedHat is the best-known Linux distribution, at least in the

United States. You can download it for free on the Internet, but if you

choose to purchase it (for a small fee in comparison to other operating

systems), you will then have access to Red Hat employees for technical

support and help. The duration of technical support depends on the

version of Red Hat that you purchase: the bigger the package, the

longer the support period.

Red Hat allows for your choice of a desktop, workstation, server,

or custom application on installation. The packages allow the user to

select or omit the multiple packages available to install, in an

efficient, user-friendly interface. The first time you boot up the

system, you are shown a ‘Setup Agent’ that gives you step-by-step

guidance. The Setup Agent allows you to set the correct time and date,

test your sound card, register Red Hat, and install additional software.

Red Hat uses the “Bluecurve” graphical interface, with improved

menu organization for convenient access to frequently used tools and

applications. This will seem very familiar to Microsoft Windows users,

and allow for an easier transition to using Red Hat Linux.

Sample Bluecurve Display Shown

Red Hat has available an Open Office Suite, OpenOffice.org, for

OpenOffice.org open source office suite for creating documents,

spreadsheets, and presentations. Red Hat uses Mozilla as a web browser,

which is an open source browser. It also has an e-mail client, address

book, and html author built-in in the guise of Ximian Evolution, which

acts as the e-mail client, contact manager and calendar. Red Hat also

has some new tools: a personal firewall tool for adjusting security

settings; a configuration tool for graphic configuration of system

devices; a display configuration tool to adjust resolution and screen

placement; and a sound configuration tool for simplified sound control.

Red Hat is up to version 8.0, and features the following major

components: gcc 3.2, glibc 2.2.93,

kernel 2.4.18, Web server powered by Apache HTTP Server 2.0, CUPS

1.1.15, GNU Emacs 21.2, Ximian Evolution 1.0.8, GIMP 1.2.3, GNOME 2.0,

GNOME Meeting 0.93.1, gphoto2 2.1.0, KDE 3.0.3, MrProject 0.6, Mozilla

1.0.1, Postfix 1.1.11, Perl 5.8.0, and XFree86 4.2.0. The kernel

OpenLinux (Caldera) - calderasystems.com

is produced by a company with many years of Unix experience. It can be

either downloaded free or purchased on CDs, with professional support

provided to paying customers and "user helping user" free support

available to all others. Caldera has other enterprise-level Linux and

Unix products available, including a messaging server they say is nearly

a direct replacement for Microsoft Exchange, which may be of special

interest to corporate users thinking about switching to Linux (although

there are other "Exchange replacement" products in the market, too).

Caldera® OpenLinux™ Server elevates Linux® to business by providing a

stable, secure, easy to install and manage Linux server platform for

business quality Internet applications.

Get Up and Running Right Away With Three Popular Out-of-the-Box

Configurations

Caldera OpenLinux Server comes with the working default configurations

for the following popular server products:

Secure Web Server — Apache, SSL, perl, php, log file consolidation

x.509 certificates, load balancing, etc.

File and Print Server — Microsoft®, Linux, and UNIX® file and print

services.

Network Infrastructure — DNS, DHCP, Sendmail, List Server, News

Server, Firewall, etc.

Emphasis on Security

Unfortunately, the only really secure system is the one that is turned-

off and in a vault. The next best thing is a system that has been

carefully audited, secured, and includes a number of intrusion detection

software packages. Putting a system on the Internet is scary enough

because you just never know how secure your system is. Caldera has not

only performed a significant amount of work, they have docu-mented it

and made it available to you so that you can know what you really have

instead of what you hope you have. To see what has been done, go to

www.caldera.com/products/server/security.html

</products/server/security.html>

Stable

Linux’s stability is legendary. There are Linux systems out there that

have been running for years. However, not all open source or commercial

software is stable. Rather than just provide you with a grab bag of open

source software, Caldera has chosen, integrated, and tested key open

source and commercial software to create a predictable business quality

server that meets your needs now and in years to come.

Easy To Install

Lizard™, the first GUI-based and mostaward winning Linux installation

software,is in its fourth generation and continues to make installation

and configuration easy while still giving you an incredible amount of

flexibility in how Linux will run on your system. Lizard also includes

software RAID setup and installation, file system choice and setup, and

custom software package selection for increased installation

flexibility.

Linux Management Made Easy

Getting Linux installed is one task, optimizing and tuning it for your

organization may be something entirely different. Caldera provides the

tools to locally or remotely manage your server(s). First, each and

every OpenLinux Server includes Webmin™ — the popular browser-based

remote administration tool that provides a no-nonsense GUI tool to

configure all aspects of your system. Not only can you use the GUI to

configure your system, but you can also get to the ever useful command

console to do everything for yourself. Second, each OpenLinux Server

includes the Caldera® Volution™ agent so that the server can be managed

by Volution — the most advanced Linux management product available today

for mass Linux system deployment and management. OpenLinux Server

includes a Webmin module to configure the Volution agent so that it will

work well within your system environment.

Extensive On-Line Information

Quality documentation is critical to the success of any software

product. Rather than overwhelming you with massive tomes of

documentation, Caldera has created a documentation engine that will

serve up all of the Caldera and open source documentation professionally

formatted and visible from any Web browser. In addition, Caldera has

added a significant amount of help files to assist novices through

experts in the installation, configuration, management and use of the

OpenLinux Server. That way you can free up shelf space and access the

information wherever you want to access it, whenever you want to access

it.

Additional Key Features:

Permission and Service Audits – Files and services have been audited and

updated to give them appropriate access permissions and running

privileges that reduce security risks.

Intrusion Detection – Several software packages will be integrated into

OpenLinux Server to check for intrusion of files, ports, etc. and advise

the administrator of these intrusions so that protective action can be

taken.

Linux 2.4 Kernel – The new Linux 2.4 kernel is a key component of the

OpenLinux Server product. The Linux 2.4 kernel provides significantly

improved hardware support for new hardware devices, improved SMP

scalability, larger memory support (up to 64 GB of RAM), faster I/O

performance, and many other performance boosting enhancements.

Software Maintenance and Updates – Your OpenLinux Server comes with a

time limited paid subscription to Caldera’s Volution On-line software

maintenance service. This service allows you, a registered user, to

receive and apply security, open source software and Caldera specific

software updates to your system. Volution On-line also includes a

decision making tool that helps you to determine the effects of software

updates before making them on your system, thus, saving you time and

potential headache.

Secure Webmin – Webmin has been upgraded to provided 128-bit encrypted

communication between your browser and the OpenLinux Server you are

managing. Additionally, Webmin has been given a facelift to present a

clean and professional look and feel.

Webmin: remote browser-based configuration and management software

DocView — DocView is a browser-based documentation engine that serves up

all of the Caldera and open source documentation to you on your browser

anywhere you can access the OpenLinux Server locally or over a network

or the Internet. You can search, find, and print any of the relevant

documentation that you need in a clean, professionally formatted

presentation. No more searching through volumes of manuals or being away

from your office and not having access to the documentation. You can

have it when and where you need it.

Volution Deployment Agent – The Volution deployment agent will be

included to allow Volution servers to deploy software and to manage

system performance.

Secure Webserver – OpenLinux Server includes the latest, stable Apache

server enhanced with secure communications services, x.509 certificate

service, load balancing between like OpenLinux Servers, consolidated Web

logs, and many other Web server enhancements.

Customize – This installation option allows an expert user to select and

deselect individual RPMs so that he can customize his server to his

needs.

Text Only Operation – This installation option allows the installer to

preempt the installation of the KDE user interface. This frees up system

resources for server use while still allowing you console, Webmin, and

documentation access.

Software RAID Support – OpenLinux Server includes software tools to

setup RAID during installation using the disk systems of your choice

instead of buying costly hardware RAID solutions.

Java SDK version 1.3 – The latest Sun® Microsystems Java 2 Standard

Edition (J2SE) SDK Version 1.3 will be included.

Linux Unattended Install (LUI) – LUI is an installation tool that allows

an administrator to quickly create a Linux configuration and install it

on one or more systems without further human interaction.

System Requirements

Intel Pentium II, III, and 4 or AMD K7, K8 200 Mhz

Minimum of 1 GB of disk space

Minimum of 64MB of RAM expandable to 64GB

SuSE - suse.com

is more oriented toward the needs and desires of home and small office

Linux users than Red Hat, especially people who are experimenting with

Linux for the first time. Several of our staff members use and love

SuSE. It also offers support for large-scale servers and has special

editions for Mac hardware and other hardware including (in case you

happen to have one lying around) the top-of-the-line IBM 390 series.

SuSE's Web site offers many support options ranging from free up into

the sky, depending on whether you are an individual or running an

industrial-scale server farm or even a Linux cluster running as a single

"Beowulf" supercomputer. Because of the way SuSE distributes its

product, you cannot download an ISO image of SuSE from the Internet. But

the individual files that make up the distribution are available online.

SuSE Linux Introduces New Linux Version for Home Users

Oakland, CA, 03/12/03

Version 8.2 Professional and Personal now easier to use with feature-

rich applications and advanced mobility and multimedia features

SuSE Linux today unveiled its latest version of Europe's most popular,

and the U.S.'s fastest growing, Linux package - introducing an easy to

use, application rich desktop for home users.

Available April 14, SuSE Linux 8.2, sets a new milestone for ease of use

- incorporating the latest version of KDE 3.1 - giving home users who

want the stability and security of Linux easy transition from other

platforms. Also, the wide variety of the latest Linux tools and

applications provide customers a feature-rich and comprehensive Open

Source operating system.

Desktop Comfort and Feature-Rich Applications for the Home PC

SuSE Linux 8.2 desktop features include:

KDE 3.1 - which includes a new look -- eases Internet access with a

new tabbed browsing functionality and includes a download manager that

greatly simplifies downloading. The scheduler application KOrganizer now

supports Exchange 2000 servers, enabling customers to easily sync their

KOrganizer data with Exchange.

GNOME 2.2 desktop - with improved usability and the accounting

application GNU Cash that includes the home banking standard protocol

HBCI.

Complete Office Solution

OpenOffice.org 1.0.2 delivers advanced word processing, spreadsheet, and

presentation tools, together with mature filter functions for data

exchange from/to various formats. Also included are advanced fax and

phone capabilities for ISDN cards-- incoming fax messages can be

received by e-mail and calls can be automatically received by e-mail as

sound files.

Everything for Multimedia and Mobility

In addition to CD/DVD writing applications, sound mixing, editing, and

an integrated synthesizer, SuSE Linux 8.2 is the first distribution to

include MainActor, a professional video editing application, enabling

customers to compose and edit digital movies. The KDE scanning

application Kooka and the commercial OCR tool Kadmos enable users to

scan both printed and hand-written texts into the word processing

application.

With the comfortable and enhanced SuSE configuration profile manager,

notebook users, who commute between different locations, can switch to

the network and hardware configurations of every office site and

therefore, can use scanners and printers of the respective location with

a simple mouse click. Laptop users will also value the improved wireless

LAN support that can be easily configured with SuSE's YaST2 tool (Yet

another Setup tool). Interesting for application developers and for

quality assurance: KDE's new "Desktop Sharing" allows remote control of

the screens of several network hosts across hardware borders.

Quick, Easy Installation

SuSE Linux 8.2's unique installation and configuration tool -- YaST2 --

gives users the fastest, most comprehensive and secure set-up package in

the industry - quickly and easily installing the software, identifying

hardware components, setting up user administration, and configuring

Internet access. The new SuSE Watcher also automatically informs users

about security-related enhancements, enabling them to keep their systems

always up-to-date.

Power for Experienced Linux Users - Protecting Data and Hosts

SuSE Linux 8.2 also delivers the most innovative Linux technologies for

experienced users. The SuSE-optimized kernel 2.4.20 -- with more than

1,200 drivers -- represents the latest stage of Linux development,

ensuring outstanding performance. Version 4.3 of XFree86 supports even

more graphics cards. SuSE Linux 8.2 also includes a pre-release of gcc

3.3 and the latest version of SunJava2 (1.4.1).

In version 8.2, SuSE again focused on protecting data and hosts. Apart

from proven tools such as SuSE Firewall 2 and a crypto file system for

protecting data in the event of theft, further security enhancements

include support S/MIME standards for e-mail encryption and the

possibility to store folders in the running system in a crypto file

system without the need for a new partitioning. The KDE desktop security

system Kiosk can be used to limit individual configuration changes,

thereby improving the efficiency of the administration of multiple

users.

Availability and Pricing

On April 14, SuSE Linux 8.2 will be available directly from the

manufacturer and at computer retailers. The recommended retail price for

SuSE Linux 8.2 Personal (3 CDs, User Guide, 60 days of installation

support) is $39.95; the price for SuSE Linux 8.2 Professional (5 CDs, 2

DVDs, User Guide + Administration Guide, 90 days of installation

support) is $79.95.

About SuSE Linux

SuSE Linux is the international technology leader and solutions provider

in Open Source operating system software. SuSE's unique expertise in

Linux and its largest development team worldwide dedicated to Open

Source software has contributed to the recognition of SuSE as the most

complete Linux solution available today. SuSE Linux is a privately held

company focused entirely on supporting the Linux community and Open

Source development.

Debian - debian.org

is not a commercial distribution. It is maintained by a worldwide, all-

volunteer organization, and it's 100% free. Several Linux.com people and

a number of workers on other OSDN Web sites love Debian and would not

use anything else. There is no "company-sponsored" support for Debian

because there is no company, but Debian users say the Debian online

documentation, combined with help they get from other users, is all they

need WHAT is Debian?

The Debian Project <../> is an association of individuals who have made

common cause to create a <free> operating system. This operating system

that we have created is called Debian GNU/Linux, or simply Debian for

short.

An operating system is the set of basic programs and utilities that make

your computer run. At the core of an operating system is the kernel. The

kernel is the most fundamental program on the computer and does all the

basic housekeeping and lets you start other programs.

Debian systems currently use the Linux <http://www.kernel.org/> kernel.

Linux is a completely free piece of software started by Linus Torvalds

<http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/u/torvalds/> and supported by thousands of

programmers worldwide.

However, work is in progress to provide Debian for other kernels,

primarily for the Hurd <http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd.html>. The

Hurd is a collection of servers that run on top of a microkernel (such

as Mach) to implement different features. The Hurd is free software

produced by the GNU project <http://www.gnu.org/>.

A large part of the basic tools that fill out the operating system come

from the GNU project <http://www.gnu.org/>; hence the names: GNU/Linux

and GNU/Hurd. These tools are also free.

Of course, the thing that people want is application software: programs

to help them get what they want to do done, from editing documents to

running a business to playing games to writing more software. Debian

comes with over 8710 packages <../distrib/packages> (precompiled

software that is bundled up in a nice format for easy installation on

your machine) -- all of it <free>.

It's a bit like a tower. At the base is the kernel. On top of that are

all the basic tools. Next is all the software that you run on the

computer. At the top of the tower is Debian -- carefully organizing and

fitting everything so it all works together.

It's all <free>

You may be wondering: why would people spend hours of their own time to

write software, carefully package it, and then give it all away? The

answers are as varied as the people who contribute. Some people like to

help others. Many write programs to learn more about computers. More and

more people are looking for ways to avoid the inflated price of

software. A growing crowd contribute as a thank you for all the great

free software they've received from others. Many in academia create free

software to help get the results of their research into wider use.

Businesses help maintain free software so they can have a say in how it

develops -- there's no quicker way to get a new feature than to

implement it yourself! Of course, a lot of us just find it great fun.

Debian is so committed to free software that we thought it would be

useful if that commitment was formalized in a written document. Thus,

our Social Contract <../social_contract> was born.

Although Debian believes in free software, there are cases where people

want or need to put non-free software on their machine. Whenever

possible Debian will support this. There are even a growing number of

packages whose sole job is to install non-free software into a Debian

system.

You say free, but the CDs/bandwidth cost money!

You might be asking: If the software is free, then why do I have to pay

a vendor for a CD, or pay an ISP for downloading?

When buying a CD, you are paying for someone's time, capital outlay to

make the disks, and risk (in case they don't sell them all). In other

words, you are paying for a physical medium used to deliver the

software, not for the software itself.

When we use the word "free", we are referring to software freedom, not

that it's without cost. You can read more on what we mean by "free

software" <free> and what the Free Software Foundation says

<http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/free-sw.html> on that subject.

Most software costs over 100 US dollars. How can you give it away?

A better question is how do software companies get away with charging so

much? Software is not like making a car. Once you've made one copy of

your software, the production costs to make a million more are tiny

(there's a good reason Microsoft has so many billions in the bank).

Look at it another way: if you had an endless supply of sand in your

backyard, you might be willing to give sand away. It would be foolish,

though, to pay for a truck to take it to others. You would make them

come and get it themselves (equivalent to downloading off the net) or

they can pay someone else to deliver it to their door (equivalent to

buying a CD). This is exactly how Debian operates and why most of the

CDs are so cheap (only $6 U.S. for three CDs).

Debian does not make any money from the sale of CDs. At the same time,

money is needed to pay for expenses such as domain registration and

hardware. Thus, we ask that you buy from one of the CD vendors

<../CD/vendors/> that donates <../donations> a portion of your purchase

to Debian.

What hardware is supported?

Debian will run on almost all personal computers, including most older

models. Each new release of Debian generally supports a larger number of

computer architectures. For a complete list of currently supported ones,

see the documentation for the stable release <../releases/stable/>.

Almost all common hardware is supported. If you would like to be sure

that all the devices connected to your machine are supported, check out

the Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO

<http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO/>.

There are a few companies that make support difficult by not releasing

specifications for their hardware. This means you might not be able to

use their hardware with GNU/Linux. Some companies provide non-free

drivers, but that is a problem because the company could later go out of

business or stop support for the hardware you have. We recommend that

you only purchase hardware from manufacturers that provide <free>

drivers for their products.

Reasons to Choose Debian

Thank you for considering using Debian GNU/Linux to run your machine. If

you aren't quite convinced why you should try Debian, consider the

following:

It is maintained by its users.

If something needs to be fixed or improved, we just do it.

Unparalleled support

Mail sent to the mailing lists <../MailingLists/> often gets answers

within 15 minutes (or less), for free, and by the people who developed

it. Compare that to typical phone support: hours spent on the phone, for

money, only to get someone who doesn't know the system well enough to

even understand your question.

You wouldn't be alone in your choice

A wide range of organizations and individuals use Debian. See our Who's

Using Debian? <../users/> page for a description of some high-profile

sites which use Debian, and have chosen to submit a short description of

how they use Debian and why.

The best packaging system in the world.

Tired of old files from software three versions old cluttering your

system? Or installing a piece of software only to find it causes your

system to crash because of software conflicts? Dpkg, Debian's endured

packaging system, takes care of these issues for you.

Easy installation

If you have heard that Linux is difficult to install, then you haven't

tried Debian lately. We are constantly improving the installation

process. You can do the installation directly from CD, DOS, floppies or

even over the network.

Incredible amounts of software

Debian comes with over 8710 different pieces of software

<../distrib/packages>. Every bit of it is <free>. If you have

proprietary software that runs under Linux, you can still use it - in

fact, there may even be an installer in Debian that will automatically

install and set up everything for you.

Packages well integrated

Debian surpasses all other distributions in how well its packages are

integrated. Since all software is packaged by a coherent group, not only

can all packages be found at a single site, but you can be assured that

we have already worked out all issues regarding complicated

dependencies. While we feel that the deb format has some advantages over

the rpm format, it is the integration between the packages that makes a

Debian system more robust.

Source code

If you are a software developer, you will appreciate the fact that there

are hundreds of development tools and languages, plus millions of lines

of source code in the base system. All of the software in the main

distribution meets the criteria of the Debian Free Software Guidelines

(DFSG) <../social_contract>. This means that you can freely use this

code to study from, or to incorporate into new free software projects.

There are also plenty of tools and code suitable for use in proprietary

projects.

Easy upgrades

Due to our packaging system, upgrading to a new version of Debian is a

snap. Just run apt-get update ; apt-get dist-upgrade and you can upgrade

from a CD in a matter of minutes or point apt at one of the over 150

Debian mirrors <../mirror/list> and upgrade over the net.

Bug tracking system

Debian's bug tracking system <http://bugs.debian.org/> is publicly

available. We don't try to hide the fact that software doesn't always

work the way users want. Users are encouraged to submit bug reports and

are notified when and why the bug was closed. This system allows Debian

to respond to problems quickly and honestly.

If you are not already a Linux user, you may also enjoy the following

benefits:

Stability

There are many cases of machines that run for over a year without

rebooting. Even then, they are only rebooted due to a power failure or a

hardware upgrade. Compare that to other systems that crash multiple

times a day.

Fast and easy on memory

Other operating systems may be as fast in one or two areas, but being

based on GNU/Linux, Debian is lean and mean. Windows software run from

GNU/Linux using an emulator sometimes runs faster than when run in the

native environment.

Drivers for most hardware is written by Linux users, not the

manufacturer.

While this can mean delays before new hardware is supported and no

support for some hardware, it enables support for hardware long after

the manufacturer has stopped producing it or gone out of business.

Experience has shown that Open Source drivers are usually much better

than proprietary ones.

Good system security

Windows 95 has essentially no security. NT has shown itself to be very

bad also. After years of development, GNU/Linux is becoming quite

secure, and Debian benefits from this. Also, Debian is very responsive

to making sure that fixes to security problems get into the distribution

quickly (usually having fixed packages uploaded within a few days).

History has shown that 'security through obscurity' does not work. The

availability of source code allows the security in Debian to be

evaluated in an open setting which prevents poor security models from

being implemented.

Security software

Unknown to many, anything sent over the net can be seen by any machine

between you and the receiver. Debian has packages of the famous GPG (and

PGP) software which allows mail to be sent privately between users. In

addition, ssh allows you to create secure connections to other machines

which have ssh installed.

Of course, Debian is not perfect. There are four areas that are common

causes of complaints:

"Dselect <../releases/stable/i386/dselect-beginner> (the front-end to Debian's packaging system,

dpkg) is confusing to learn."

This is an active area of work. Debian's new package manager, APT, was

designed as the foundation for a better frontend, and is receiving rave

reviews. APT features complete installation ordering, multiple source

capability and several other unique features. More attractive and user-

friendly interfaces to APT are being developed.

"Lack of popular commercial software."

It is quite true that some popular software is not available for Linux.

There are, however, replacement programs for most of those, designed to

mimic the best features of the proprietary programs, with the added

value of being free software <free>.

Lack of office programs such as Word or Excel should no longer be a

problem, because Debian includes two office suites composed entirely of

free software <free>, KOffice <http://www.koffice.org/> and GNOME Office

<http://www.gnome.org/gnome-office/>. OpenOffice

<http://www.openoffice.org/> is also going to be available in the next

Debian release.

Various proprietary office suites are also available: Applixware

(Anyware) <http://www.vistasource.com/products/axware/>, StarOffice

<http://www.sun.com/staroffice/>, Hancom Office

<http://www.hancom.com/>, Axene <http://xibios.free.fr/> and others.

For those interested in databases, Debian ships with two popular

database programs: mySQL <http://www.mysql.com/> and PostgreSQL

<http://www.postgresql.org/>. SAP DB <http://www.sap.com/sapdb/>, Oracle

<http://otn.oracle.com/tech/linux/content.html>, Informix <http://www-

3.ibm.com/software/data/informix/>, IBM DB2

<http://www.ibm.com/software/data/db2/linux/> and others are also

available for Linux.

Various other proprietary software is coming out in greater numbers,

too, as more companies discover the power of GNU/Linux and its largely

untapped market with a rapidly growing user base (Since Linux is freely

distributable, sales figures can't be used for user estimates. Best

estimates are that Linux has 5% of the market, giving 15 million users

as of early 2001).

"Linux is hard to configure."

Note that this says configure, not install, as some people find the

initial installation of Debian easier than Windows. A lot of hardware

(printers for example) could be made easier to set up, though. Also,

some software could have a script that would walk the user through the

configuration (at least for the most common setups). This is an area

that is being worked on.

"Not all hardware is supported."

Particularly, really new, really old, or really rare hardware. Also

hardware that is dependent on complex "driver" software that the

manufacturer only supplies for Windows platforms (software modems for

example). However, in most cases, equivalent hardware is available that

does work with Linux. Some hardware is not supported because the vendor

chooses not to make the hardware specifications available. This is also

an area that is being worked on.

If the above isn't enough to convince you to use Debian, consider the

following: low cost (as little as the cost of a phone call), easy

installation, and true multi-tasking that could easily double your

productivity. How can you afford not to try it?

Slackware - slackware.com

is "the original" Linux distribution. It does not pretend to

be easy to install and use, and it isn't. But if you are

determined to learn the inner workings of a Linux computer

system, possibly with an eye to becoming a professional

Linux or Unix systems administrator, Slackware may be your

best bet. Slackware is probably the "geekiest" of current

Linux distributions. It will take you longer to learn how to

control Slackware than any other distribution, but in return

you will have a computer system that is totally yours,

customized exactly the way you like it right down to the

placement of every script and program component. Some people

say "Slackware is a hobby, not an operating system," which

isn't a slam. It simply means that people who love to play

with their computers all day tend to like Slackware.

What is Slackware Linux? The Official Release of Slackware Linux by Patrick

Volkerding is an advanced Linux operating system, designed with the twin goals

of ease of use and stability as top priorities. Including the latest popular

software while retaining a sense of tradition, providing simplicity and ease

of use alongside flexibility and power, Slackware brings the best of all

worlds to the table. Originally developed by Linus Torvalds in 1991, the

UNIX®-like Linux operating system now benefits from the contributions of

millions of users and developers around the world. Slackware Linux provides

new and experienced users alike with a fully-featured system, equipped to

serve in any capacity from desktop workstation to machine-room server. Web,

ftp, and email servers are ready to go out of the box, as are a wide selection

of popular desktop environments. A full range of development tools, editors,

and current libraries is included for users who wish to develop or compile

additional software.

The Slackware Philosophy Since its first release in April of 1993, the

Slackware Linux Project has aimed at producing the most "UNIX-like" Linux

distribution out there. Slackware complies with the published Linux standards,

such as the Linux File System Standard. We have always considered simplicity

and stability paramount, and as a result Slackware has become one of the most

popular, stable, and friendly distributions available.

Slackware Overview Slackware Linux is a complete 32-bit multitasking "UNIX-

like" system. It's currently based around the 2.4 Linux kernel series and the

GNU C Library version 2.2.5 (libc6). It contains an easy to use installation

program, extensive online documentation, and a menu-driven package system. A

full installation gives you the X Windows System, C/C++ development

environments, Perl, networking utilities, a mail server, a news server, a web

server, an ftp server, the GNU Image Manipulation Program, Netscape

Communicator, plus many more programs. And Slackware Linux can run on 386

systems all the way up to the latest x86 machines.

Trying to configure a Linux system can be a trying process if you are not very

familiar with the way it is setup. It's really quite easy, but you need to

familiarize yourself with some stuff if you want to be able to tweak your

newly installed Slackware Linux box.

Root Directory <rootdir.php> Slackware complies with the Linux File System

standard. This page explains what some of the key directories in the root

directory are.

Directo

ry

What's in

it?

/bin Basic user-related programs are here. Command shells and

programs such as ls.

/boot LILO boot-related files

/dev Block and character device files.

/etc Configuration and system initialization files.

/home User home directories, except root.

/lib Essential libraries (like the system C library) and kernel

modules).

/mnt Generic mountpoint for fixing filesystems.

/opt Optional software packages. Slackware installs KDE to this

location.

/proc Proc filesystem mountpoint for kernel interaction.

/root Root's home directory.

/sbin System binaries. Programs run by root or at boot time.

/tmp Temporary directory. Everyone has read+write permissions

here.

/usr User-related programs such as X11, netscape, and pine.

/var System log files, lock files, mail spools, and printer

spools.

In addition to these basic directories, there may be some others. For example,

you may have a /cdrom directory for mounting your CD-ROM drive or /floppy for

mounting a floppy diskette.

PPP <ppp.php> This page helps users get a PPP connection setup under

Slackware. It covers using the pppsetup program and briefly discusses the

different files found in /etc/ppp.

X Window System <x.php> Covers configuring XFree86 as well as selecting window

managers and desktop environments.

Network Setup <network.php> Setting up a network connection under Linux is

easy with Slackware. You can use the configuration utilities or edit the files

by hand. This page explains how to get connected to your network.

User Administration <users.php> Adding and removing users is easy under

Slackware. This page explains how to easily add and remove users from your

system.

System Initialization <init.php> Ever wonder what happens when the system

boots? Want to change something during the boot process? This page explains

what the various run command files do at boot time.

Package Management <packages.php> Slackware's package system is very standard.

It uses "tarballs" so you can use the package utilities, add them by hand,

view their contents, and change them. This page introduces the Slackware

package utilities and explains how you can make your own Slackware packages.

Infomagic - infomagic.com

InfoMagic Linux Developer's Resource

Made by InfoMagic, the Linux Developer's Resource 6-CD set is a great

collection to own.

The January 1998 release includes: Red Hat 5.0/Intel, Slackware 3.4,

SuSE 5.1 (Kernel 2.0.33), Metro-X server, JE Distribution, JF (Japanese

FAQs), JG, Kernel source trees up to 2.0.33 and 2.1.79, XFree86 3.3.1,

Apache 1.2.5. It also includes sunsite.unc.edu and tsx-11.mit.edu, plus

the GNU source archive at prep.ai.mit.edu. The mirror date is Jan. 1998.

Also included with the set is a "QuickStart" guide which contains a

walkthrough for installing the distributions. The MetroX servers are an

extra plus, since they retail for about $50.

This 6-CD set is an excellent choice for any Linux user. It's certainly

much better than Linux Toolkit (which is only a 4-CD set and doesn't

have Redhat) or Yggdrasil Linux Internet Archives (which does not

include "shareware" programs like xv). Beginning users will definitely

benefit from the quickstart guide, while experienced users will enjoy

the huge amount of software included in the Sunsite, Tsx-11 and GNU

archives discs

LinuxPPC - linuxppc.com

Linux runs on a wide range of different PowerPC-based machines, ranging

from small embedded systems, through desktop systems such as the Apple

Power Macintoshes and clones, to high-end servers such as IBM's eServer

pSeries (RS/6000) and iSeries (AS/400) range. Click here for a list of

supported machines. </projects/hw>

If you are wondering what Linux is, it is a free operating system kernel

which runs on a very wide variety of computers. Normally the Linux

kernel gets teamed up with other free software to create a complete

desktop environment, in a package called a "distribution". The bar at

the left of this page has links to various distributions of GNU/Linux

for PowerPC machines. Click here for more information on the Linux

kernel <http://www.kernel.org>, or here for more information on what a

distribution is </projects/faq.shtml>.

There are actually two separate ports of Linux to PowerPC: 32-bit and

64-bit. Most PowerPC cpus are 32-bit processors and thus run the 32-bit

PowerPC/Linux kernel. 64-bit PowerPC cpus are currently only found in

IBM's eServer pSeries and iSeries machines. The smaller 64-bit pSeries

and iSeries machines can run the 32-bit kernel, using the cpu in 32-bit

mode. This web page concentrates primarily on the 32-bit kernel. See the

ppc64 site <http://penguinppc64.org> for details of the 64-bit kernel

port.

The 32-bit PowerPC/Linux kernel is developed by a community of

developers led by the maintainer, Paul Mackerras <paulus@samba.org>

<mailto:paulus@samba.org>. We use BitKeeper for source code management,

and our repositories are hosted by BitMover, Inc. at

<http://ppc.bkserver.net/>. Readonly anonymous access is permitted using

BitKeeper, rsync and ftp. Click here for details on how to access the

repositories. </dev/kernel.shtml>

Within the community of developers there are people who look after the

details of making Linux work on various kinds of PowerPC machines.

Notably:

Ben Herrenschmidt is the maintainer for Linux on Apple machines -

Power Macintoshes, PowerBooks, iMacs, iBooks, etc. His web page is here.

<http://master.penguinppc.org/~benh>

Paul Mackerras looks after Linux on IBM RS/6000 and pSeries machines.

Tom Rini and Dan Malek look after the Motorola 8xx and IBM 4xx

embedded processors.

The PowerPC/Linux kernel community is part of the larger Linux kernel

development community, led by Linus Torvalds. As of this writing the

latest official kernel release is version 2.4.9. The even minor number

(4) indicates a stable kernel series. Shortly Linus is expected to start

a new development series at version 2.5.0 and hand over maintenance of

the 2.4.x series (which would be primarily bugfixes) to Alan Cox. The

2.2.x series, the previous stable kernel series, is also maintained by

Alan Cox.

Corresponding with this, we have 3 separate kernel source trees:

linuxppc_2_4 tracks the development of the 2.4.x kernel series and is

intended to be a stable tree which contains tested and working code.

This tree contains the code which we intend to send to Linus for

inclusion in the official 2.4.x kernel series.

linuxppc_2_4_devel is a development tree which also tracks the 2.4.x

kernel series at this point but is intended more for the community to

share their work in progress. It currently contains support for a range

of embedded boards that aren't supported in the linuxppc_2_4 tree. Being

a development tree, it will tend to have new features and support for

new machines, but may at any stage fail to compile or run.

linuxppc_2_2 is a stable tree which tracks the 2.2.x development.

We regularly send patches to Linus and Alan to update the PowerPC part

of the official Linux kernel source tree. However, at various times the

official tree will fail to compile for PowerPC: sometimes changes are

made in the official tree that require corresponding changes in the

PowerPC-specific part of the kernel, and it can take some time for those

changes to propagate back into the official kernel sources. Thus we

recommend that people generally use the linuxppc_2_4 tree unless they

are kernel developers or are using an embedded PowerPC board.

-- Paul Mackerras

Yellow Dog Linux is a complete, Red Hat and RPM-based operating system

for PowerPC computers. Yellow Dog Linux 2.3 is Terra Soft's solution for

the home user who desires to breathe life into old hardware; the

business person who longs for a Microsoft-free desktop; the code

developer who craves Apple's performance and YDL's power. Ideal for

ISPs, network servers, and high performance computing.

YDL 2.3 redefines your PowerPC experience. A complete Linux operating system, YDL

2.3 offers an elegant array of highly customizable graphical

environments; familiar, functional internet, office, and multi-media

applications; and all of the expected code development and server tools

that have become the foundation for a traditional, stable, fast Linux

box. With over 1,000 packages, there is something for everyone.

Wanting to spif up that PowerBook 3400? How about serve email from your 7500?

Got an 8500 or a Beige G3 that's itch'n to try something new? YDL 2.3's

full featured graphical environment runs amazingly fast and stable on

older Apple hardware <http://www.yellowdoglinux.com/support/hardware/>

as well as the latest that Apple has to offer.

TurboLinux - turbolinux.com

is an enterprise-oriented distribution, generally not as suited for home

or small-office installation by new users as most others. Linux.com

staff has no direct experience with Turbolinux, but we have heard many

good things about it from readers, especially about its application

deployment utilities that make it easy for a systems administrator in a

large computer facility to add programs to many computers at once.

Again, there are other utilities from other software developers that do

the same thing, but Turbolinux is rapidly accumulating a fine reputation

Turbolinux 8 Server is a high performance operating system that offers

the strength and quality of an enterprise class OS but is specially

priced for your mid-range business computing needs. It's a natural fit

for running open source software applications such as Apache, Samba or

PostgreSQL as well as standard business applications, databases, etc.

Any applications developed on Turbolinux 8 Server will work on

UnitedLinux-based products.

Main Components: kernel 2.4.18 / glibc 2.2.5 / XFree86 4.2.0 / gcc 2.96

(and 2.95.3 and 3.2) / rpm 4.0.2

Turbolinux 8 Server provides reliability, availability and scalability

with Enterprise features such as:

Turbolinux' high performance tuned kernel

Hyper-threading support

readv support of raw devices and writev mounting to increase database

performance

Asynchronous I/O support for improved throughput

Optimized O(1) scheduler and file system

CPU affinity

Journaling file systems for high efficiency and high availability

(Ext3, ReiserFS, JFS and XFS)

PXE support

LKCD (Linux Kernel Crush Dump) provides problem analysis

LVM (Logical Volume Manager) and EVMS (the Enterprise Volume

Management System) support

Evlog (Linux Event Logging) mounting support

Select one of three different versions of gcc.

Support for Ultra320 SCSI (Adaptec Ultra320 AIC7902, LSI 53C1030

etc), Broadcom, and Intel Gigabit Ethernet cards

Support for Intel 845e/845g, SiS650/651, and Xeon chipsets such as GC

LE/HE and Intel e7500/i860

Support for secure systems

Support for IPSec (IP Security Protocol) encryption, a secure VPN

system

Support for SMTP over SSL

Support for SNMP v3

Bastille security tools

128-bit SSL library

Webmin, a web based server configuration and management tool

Includes PostgreSQL and proftpd modules, prevents remote access by default.

Root password required to access the edit mode of GRUB by default

Kerberos authentication

Boots with minimal services running by default

Turbolinux Mongoose installer

Ability to auto-detect large number of server hardware components

Select any file system to create software RAID, LVM or evms

Install from CD-ROM drive connected by USB or IEEE1394 protocols

Kernel auto detection - installing on a machine with over 4GB of

memory and a hyper-threading supported CPU, Mongoose will automatically

select SMP64G or SMP kernels

TFDisk - Graphical partitioning tool. Software RAID (0, 1, 5), LVM,

evms

Choice of security levels – Choose only the services you want to run.

The default being “most secure”

Package List

WWW server Apache-1.3.26

Apache principal module Mod_ssl-2.8.10/mod_perl-1.26/mod_dav-

1.0.3

DNS server Bind-9.2.1

Mail server Sendmail-8.12.6 (SMTP Auth

correspondence) IMAP-2002.RC2

(SSL/APOP correspondence)

FTP server Proftpd-1.2.5

PROXY server Squid-2.4.STABLE6

Super server Xinetd-2.3.7

Access control Iptables-1.2.5/ipchains-1.3.9/

tcp_wrappers-7.6

NIS server Ypserv-1.3.11

NFS service Nfs-utils-0.3.1

DHCP service Dhcp-3.0pl1

SMB service Samba-2.2.4/2.2.5

LDAP service Openldap-2.0.25

AppleTalk service Netatalk-1.5.3.1

SNMP service Net-snmp-5.0.3

NTP service Xntp3-server-5.93

SQL DB engine Postgresql-7.2.2/MySQL-3.23.52

Perl scripting language Perl-5.6.1

Php scripting language Php-4.2.3

Python scripting language Python-2.2.1

Secure shell Openssh-3.4p1/openssl-0.9.6g

Streaming server Icecast-1.3.12

RADIUS server Radiusd-cistron-1.6.3stable

Web application server Zope-2.5.1

Java Servlet application

server

Tomcat 4-4.0.4

XML application engine Cocoon-2.0.2

Hardware requirements

PC/AT

Compatible

hardware

CPU Intel 32-bit x86 CPU or compatible (Pentium recommended)

Memory 64 MB RAM (128 MB recommended)

HardDrive IDE/SCSI HDD (2GB recommended)

VideoCard IBM VGA compatible display adapter (PCI/AGP SVGA card recommended)

Misc 3.5” floppy drive, CD-ROM drive (ATAPI/SCSI), Ethernet card

Support

Turbolinux 8 Server includes 60 day, five incident OS installation

support.

Recommendation

If you were to recommend a Linux distribution, which one would you recommend and why? Justify your answer.

Bibliography

Staff, Administrative. “Introduction to Linux and Linux.com.”

Linux. Com Website. (01 Sept. 2002) http://docs.linux.com/article.pl?

sid=02/03/09/1727250

Staff, Administrative. “GNU Definition.” EnterpriseLinux.com Website.

(23 Feb. 2003)

http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid39_gci2122

02,00.html

Torvalds, Linus. “Linux History.” Linux International Website. (17

Mar. 2003). http://www.li.org/linuxhistory.php