lets talk *nix

[kyro]

I am 26 Male fulltime professional as linux admin/ It consultant / LAMP developer. going to give SuSe/Novell and RHCE exams in coming months and soon will develop my own distro.

for a period of 3-4 years, I was vb / asp/ access/ sql developer and windows guy.. (MCSE papers attempted)but people in this feild are like dirt here in india.. so i wanted to do something in IT which is not done by any joe admin.

Then 2 years ago, I started doing linux and things.

now i am complete server admin (still lots to learn ) and want to make my own distro soon (this is like a phase u get when u keep using linux and realise u can make your own distro).

till now i have tried

just tested/installed :- trying too see if i can use it as desktop.
suse, gentoo 2004.1(this was fun.. but too much), damn small linux, puppy linux , feather linux, knoppix, gnoppix, xandros, libranet, lindows, linspire (almost killed my inner child) , slax livecd (amazingly small simple fast usable a winner).

extensively used :- to test installation of web/file/domain/email/firewall/dhcp/email server with antivirus/spamassasin protection and ids systems
fedora core 2, mandrake, centos 3.3, whitebox linux, yellowdog, slackware.

almost mastered :- complete server management.
Redhat 7.3- 9, fedora core 1.

now i want to try some very important distros which i havent even tried like debain, freebsd, mac osx, also will be downloading soon ubantu or is it ubuntu , arklinux and give them a spin.

I want all you guys (and gals if there are ) totell what do u want in you ideal operating system.distro . lets factor it in section like.
X = kde. gnome, xfce, fluxbox, blackbox.
messenger = gaim, kopete
browsers = opera , firefox, konquerer

favourite tools like vnc, putty, ntpass changer, qtpart, and shud be lots of others....

looking for some good posts.

[Hayl]

What you are asking is what software they "come with"? You can install all the apps you listed on any Linux distribution, and 95% or more of distros come will all of those or have them in their package management systems... regardless, even if a disro does not come with a specific package that you want you can always install it yourself.

Linux == Linux

1. They all use the Linux kernel (perhaps some have some specific patches or combinations of patches on top of a vanilla kernel, but even these can all be applied by anyone on any system/distro)

2. They can all use the same software

3. Some Linux distributions may have specific themes for their Gnome or KDE Desktop Environments, etc... even these can be installed on to any other Linux distribution

4. There is some variance in the init scripts that some Linux distributions use but in general they are mostly the same i.e. you have used one, you can use another - easily

5. one main way that different Linux distributions differ is in their package management systems. *** This is the main thing _many_ people care about

Gentoo - source-based, does dependancies - Portage
Debian - binary-based, does dependancies - apt (can also use apt for source installs)
Mandrake, RH, SuSE - binary (can also be used for source installs but very uncommon), can also have dependancy handling using: hacked version of apt, RH Update, urpmi (Mandrake), or YaST (SuSE) - RPM
Arch - binary, does dependancies - packman
Slackware - binary, does dependancies with add-on software - slapt-get (and another - I forgot the name)
and so on...

6. I suppose another main way in which they differ could be considered the install process... some have graphical installers that do most of the work for you, and others have a more "manual" process *** This is the main thing that _newbie-types_ (to make a generalization) care about

So really, with regards specifically to the question you asked; it does not really matter what you are using as they _all_ can use everying in that list of software that you gave and most will have all that installed (or the choice to during the install) out of the box. And anything else that they may be missing that you may need can be installed with little to no effort.

Hope that answers your question, and clears up any misconceptions (that a lot of people have)

( PS the BSDs and OS/X are BSD based != Linux )

[rbrimhall]

Well, I just have to say it... I'm all for new distros but it would probably be better if you chose a distro you liked and contributed to it instead of building one on your own (if that is your plan... that's the message I interpreted from your post at any rate)... just my .02.

To partly answer your question: at this moment one of the most important things to me is package management of a distro...

[kyro]

wonderfull replies guys .. .someone who wants to know about linux and flavours shud read this replies..

and i have highlighted the Q.

Originally posted by Hayl
( PS the BSDs and OS/X are BSD based != Linux ) [/B]

i know , i know ..... i meant, if i am making a distro of my own... suggest best features from all oses.. just that.

[Uranus]

Well, atm I'm perfectly satisfied with FreeBSD and Gentoo (learning the first, using the second) and don't need any "custom distro" but the things I like about distro's:
1. Source-based (install all packages -optimized- from source)
2. Track dependencies
3. I'd like more choice into what support is compiled into a program and what isn't (the way FreeBSD does it is good, the way Source Mage does it is even better)
4. FreeBSD init system
5. Support for binary packages as well
6. Choice of whether to build a stable, testing, release system
7. Imagine a package manager "command-line" mode - you start the "shell"-lookalike, and then build the program from source like you would normally (download the source, cd to the source directory, build the program) and log everything (perhaps even write an install script)... I know, I have an overly vivid imagination :)
Actually the only thing that I would be interested in atm is a sort of modular package system, in the true unix spirit, which can be used on any distro. In my personal utopia "distro's" wouldn't exist, only the add-on modules (you choose the init system, package system, other things you want).
Sam

[kyro]

Originally posted by Uranus
Well, atm I'm perfectly satisfied with FreeBSD and Gentoo (learning the first, using the second) and don't need any "custom distro" but the things I like about distro's:...................................

In my personal utopia "distro's" wouldn't exist, only the add-on modules (you choose the init system, package system, other things you want).
Sam

wow... fantastic reply.. something really worth to think. as i said in my thread starter... i havent tried Freebsd yet . not even installed it.. and i knew i was missing on something great.

i will give it a try , but finding timeout to learn and master freebsd will be really tricky business. but i know it will be worth it.

[gehidore]

Originally posted by Uranus
Well, atm I'm perfectly satisfied with FreeBSD and Gentoo (learning the first, using the second)
Ditto.

[kyro]

will u guys recommend me to have gentoo over slackware 10 which i am using now.. with XFCE 4.1.1 cvs edition.


BTW i am on ibm R40e and got xp home and slackware on dual boot. i am thinking can i manage to add gentoo too here.

[bosox79]

Gentoo is an awsome distro for tinkers, and is very easy to adminster:D, I havent had a chance to try freebsd yet, i'm haveing to much fun with gentoo:cool: /edit to add more/
I say install all 3 and use each for a while and see which one you like the most & just an fyi of you have not installed swart on slackware i recomend doing so

[Valdner]

If you really are going to go through with building your own distro, here are two things I'd like to see:

1) I like the slackware approach of having everything where it should be. If something is normally kept in /usr/local, that's where it will be. When I heard about that, I almost migrated over to slackware. But alas, I am still learning and it is way too advanced for me.

2) Make sure it comes with all the normal shell scripts. I am currently using SuSE 9.1 personal and when I installed it, it didn't even have make.

I could be completely off my rocker here, but those sound like good ideas to me.

[kyro]

those are good ideas valdner...

and i will back u up on slackware.. it really does has fantastic packagement. everything is where it shud be. (I know gentoo portage is good too.. )I was running centos 3 for a month, but now using slackware 10 on my laptop from past week with heavy usage . and everything is running smooth.

package management, dependencies management and stable/ testing / unstable application port choices seem to be on everyones top list.

here is my laptop running slackware 10 with Xfce cvs and gimp 2.0.1 unstable.... screenshot.
http://img80.exs.cx/img80/7638/slackware10_xfce_gimp2.jpg

[Uranus]

Originally posted by Valdner
[B2) Make sure it comes with all the normal shell scripts. I am currently using SuSE 9.1 personal and when I installed it, it didn't even have make. B]
Ehhhmmm... make isn't a shell script and really, it isn't strange that it isn't installed on SuSE: you don't build from source generally and their target audience is plain desktop users. If you do want to build stuff from source, get a gcc rpm and install that one. If you want a distro that's immediately a development environment, get a source-based distro or a distro that lets you install any packages you want during the installation (like Slackware).

Sam

[mrBen]

None of the big distributions installed gcc or make unless you specify the 'development' packages.

[Valdner]

Yeah, that's what I did. I got make, qt, and gcc off the suse ftp site. Plus corrosponding devel packages. Also, because I used the 'personal' installation, it didn't let me select devel packages. I see what you mean by it being a plain desktop environment. I suppose I'll eventually switch to Debian or Gentoo sometime later. Are those able to build from source without too much trouble?

[bosox79]

IMO the hardest thing about building packages from source with gentoo is that it is time consuming for larger packages.

[lagitus]

GoboLinux (http://www.gobolinux.org/) Should give you some very interesting new (and IMHO good) ideas.