Linux Last Update Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 1

Objectives of This Section Learn –Issues related to the use of Linux as a server operating system now and in the future Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2

Distributions Linux like Unix has diverged into competing distributions One of the main reasons Unix is not more widely used is the many different flavors it has morphed into Linux is fundamentally the same as Linus Torvalds maintains control of the kernel The kernel is Linux Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 3

Distributions But what is happening is that companies are taking this kernel and creating distributions Aspects of these distributions are what are diverging from each other A perfect example being the configuration files used to tell Linux about the values of the variables it uses Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 4

Distributions Red Hat does it one way and Slackware does it another Then one distribution uses one kind of configuration program while the other uses something else Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 5

Distributions In general distributions differ around the following –Tool chain –Library version –Number and quality of applications –Documentation –Support –License used Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 6

License Used Although Linux itself is covered by the General Public License many applications are commercial programs Those that are commercial encounter some resistance in the Linux community This community thinks everything should be free Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 7

File Sources Another important difference is whether a distribution uses Red Hat’s RPM package manager or the Debian DEB system for installing applications and other programs Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 8

Library Version Most developers of Linux programs use the Free Software Foundation’s GNU C library This allows users to recompile open- source applications supplied in source- code form to run with the libraries their systems use Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 9

Library Version However, all Linux distributions may not keep the required library files in the same directory If only the main executable file of a third- party application is installed, it may fail to run on one or more distributions because it can’t find a required library file or the current version Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 10

Library Version This problem does not usually occur with source-code distributions as opposed to binary-code distributions because all required files, including those for libraries, are generally provided Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 11