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LINUX DISTRIBUTIONS COMPARED

Issue 152

From Issue #152
December 2006

Jan 08, 1998  By LJ Staff
 in
Nine distributions in one easy chart.

July 1997

 
 

Caldera OpenLinux Base 1.2

Caldera OpenLinux Standard

Debian

LINUXWARE 2.5

Red Hat 5.1

S.u.S.E. 5.2

Slackware 3.4

Stampede Linux 1.0 (projected)

TurboLinux 1.0

Price

$59.00

$199.00

$0.00

$9.95

$49.95

$49.95

$39.95

$19.95

$29.95

Target Consumers

CDEHOV

CDEOV

CDEHOV

DEH

CDEHOV

CDEHOV

CDEHO

DEHOC

CDEHOV

Kernel

2.0.33

2.0.33

2.1.0

2.0.32

2.0.34

2.0.33

2.0.33

2.0.33

0.0.0

Binary Format

         

Primary/Other

ELF

ELF

i386,68k,Alpha,Sparc

X

ELF

ELF

ELF/a.out

x86

i386/ppc

Hardware Required

         

Minimum Install

386,8,40

386,8,40

386,4,40

586,64,4

8

386,4 (8),50

386,8,40

386,6,60

386, 8, 250

Minimum Use

386,8,40

386,8,40

disk20

486,8,100

8

486,8(16),100

386,8,40

386,4,80

386, 8, 300

Recommended Use

486,16,300

486,16,300

486,8,850

586,16,1GB

16

Pentium,16(32),300

486,16,200

Pentium,16,250

Pentuim, 16+, 600+

Packaging

         

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

yes

yes

 

Interdependencies

no

no

yes

no

yes

yes

no

yes

yes

Package Format

RPM

RPM

deb,RPM,.tgz

RPM and .tgz

RPM

RPM,.tgz

.tgz

SLP (Stampede Linux Packages)

RPM plus auto-upgrade

Source Code Packages

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Management Interface

X Windows or command line

X Windows or command line

character terminal

yes

tty, web, X

YaST utility

curses menus and command line

Console adn X (gtk+)

custom-made X interfaces—mgmt

Group/Subgroup Packages

no

no

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Boot Media

         

Boot Floppy included

yes

yes

no

no

yes

yes

no, but CD-ROM is bootable

no

no

Boot images to select from

module-based no limit

module-based, no limit

6

5

1

1 with module support

51

5

One (modular)

Floppies required

none

none

0

0

1

1 boot floppy

2

2

0,1,2 depends on inst type

Run from

         

CD-ROM only

no

no

no

no

no

yes

yes

yes

no

CD-ROM mostly

yes

yes

no

yes

no

yes

yes

yes

no

Configuration

         

Custom X

yes

yes

no

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Network

yes

yes

TCP/IP,SMB,NFS,Appletalk,AX.25

yes

X Windows, tty, web

YaST

text

yes

yes, X-based

SLIP/PPP

yes

yes

yes

yes

X Windows, tty, web

YaST

text

yes

Yes, X or console-based

User/Group

yes

yes

group-per-user

yes

X Windows, tty, web

YaST

command line

yes

Yes, X-based

Filesystem

yes

yes

e2fs standard

yes

X Windows, tty, web

YaST

text

yes

Yes, X-based

Printer

yes

yes

yes

yes

X Windows, tty, web

YaST

text (apsfilter)

no

Yes, X-based or Console-based

Runlevel/init

yes

yes

sysVinit

yes

X Windows, tty, web

Yast, editing 1 conf file

no

yes

Yes, X-based

Install

         

PCMCIA Ethernet

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

PCMCIA CD-ROM

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

from CD-ROM

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

from Floppy

no

no

yes

yes

no

no

yes

no

no

from FTP

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

no

yes

yes

from local filesystem

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

from NFS

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

from Tape

yes

no

no

no

no

no

yes

no

no

UMSDOS from Linux

no

no

no

yes

no

yes

yes

no

no

UMSDOS from DOS

no

no

no

yes

no

yes

yes

no

no

Media available

yes

CD-ROM

yes

CD-ROM

yes

yes

Available via FTP, CD-ROM

yes

yes

Documentation

         

Custom manual included

yes

yes

yes (on CD)

yes

yes

yes

36 page install guide

yes

yes

3rd party books/manuals

no

yes

yes http://www.linuxpress.com

yes

yes

no

yes

no

yes

Extras

         

Non-GPLed extras included

BRU Backup, StarOffice, Netscape Communicator, Novell Netware client, LISA

BRU Backup, StarOffice 4.0, Communicator, NetWare client, FastTrack Server, AG Adabas

none

FreeBSD, NetBSD

Real Audio, Bru-PE, full bonusCD of demo/lite Linux apps

acroread.adabas, bartels, ixware, leda, mapledmo, mars_e, Netscape, sniff, vse

Netscape, QT

Netscape Communicator

Corel WordPerfect 7 demmo Japanese version: commercial fonts, commercial word proc.

Support

         

Included

5 incident e-mail support

5 incident phone and email

lifetime free e-mail support

 

90 days installation support

60 days e-mail, phone,fax

E-mail and telephone

E-mail

free e-mail tech support

Optional

support contracts

Support contracts available

paid commercial support

yes

commercial support

consluting and professional

 

Phone

 
          

Special certifications

forthcoming Caldera training

Forthcoming Caldera training

POSIX-compliant

no

Red Hat Certified Engineer

    

Sales method used

DFX

DFX

DF

X

DFX

DFX

DFX

DFX

D F X

LEGEND

Target Consumers:

C Commercial user

D Developer/Engineer

E Desktop/End user

H Hobbyist/Enthusiast

O OEM

V Value Added Reseller

Sales Method Used:

D Distributor

F Free via FTP

X Direct

Hardware Required:

Values are CPU, RAM (RAM for X), Disk

______________________

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