Linux Distributions Comparison

Caldera OpenLinux 2.2

Debian 2.1

Linux Mandrake 6.1

LinuxPPC 1999, Release 5

Project Independence 6.0-0.2

Red Hat 6.0

Slackware 4.0

Stampede Linux 0.90

SuSE 6.1

TurboLinux Workstation 3.6

Price

$49.95

free

$50.00

$32.00

free

$79.95

$39.95

$19.95

$49.95

$19.95

Target Consumers

CDEHOV

CDEHOV

EDHOCV

CDEHOV

DEH

CDEHOV

CDEHO

DEHOC

CDEHOV

CDEHOV

Kernel

2.2

2.0.36

2.2.9

2.2.6

2.2.10

2.2.5

2.2.6

2.2.10

2.2.5

2.2.9

Binary Format

Primary/Other

ELF

ELF libc6; libc5 for compatibility

ELF

ELF

ELF

ELF

ELF/a.out

x86, alpha

ELF

i386/ppc, alpha in development

Hardware Required

Minimum Install

386, 8, 40

4MB, 100MB HD, 386

i586/50Mhz, 8MB, 350MB

16MB RAM, 100MB disk

250MB disk

P166, 16(64M), 500MB

386, 8, 40

386, 8, 60

386, 4(8), 50

386, 8, 150MB

Minimum Use

386,8,40 as server; 486,32,300 as workstation

4 MB, 100 MB HD, 386

i586/100Mhz, 16MB, 400MB

64MB/350MB disk

16MB RAM

16

386, 8, 40

386, 6, 80

486, 8(16), 100

486, 16, 150-200MB

Recommended Use

Pentium, 64, 1000

8MB, 16 w/X, 500MB HD, Pentium

i586/200 Mhz, 64MB, 900MB

1GB (50MB for swap space)

32MB RAM

16

Pentium, 32, 1 GB

Pentium, 32, 500

Pentium, 16(32), 300

Pentium+, 32+, 500+

Packaging

Package Format

RPM

.deb

RPM

RPM

RPM

RPM

.tgz

SLP w/support for RPM

RPM,.tgz

RPM plus auto-upgrade

Source Code Packages

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Management Interface

X, command line, Lizard, COAS, KDE

dselect/apt

kpackage, GnoRPM

X, command line, pdisk

GnoRPM

tty, web, X

ncurses, menus

console and X

YaST utility

custom curses and X interfaces

Group/Subgroup Packages

yes

classification, 3rd party

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Boot Media

Boot Floppy included

yes

yes

no

no

no

yes

no, CD-ROM is bootable

no

yes

yes, boot and extra hardware

Boot images to select from

module-based, no limit

2 for i386; diff for other architectures

9

n/a

2

2

60

10

1 with module support

1 modular; extra HW floppy has module for rare devices

Floppies required

none

none from CD; 1 or 2 if CD not bootable; 2 from network

FTP, NFS, HTTP installs,PCMCIA

none

1

1

2

2

1 boot floppy

0,1,2,3 depends on boot media and HW

Run from

CD-ROM only

no

yes

yes

yes

no

no

yes

no

yes

yes

CD-ROM mostly

yes

yes

yes

no

no

no

yes

yes

yes

yes

Configuration

Custom X

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Network

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

X, tty, web

text

yes

YaST

yes (console)

SLIP/PPP

yes

yes

no

yes

yes

X, tty, web

text, X (KDE)

yes

YaST

yes (console)

User/Group

yes

yes

no

yes

yes

X, tty, web

command line

yes

YaST

yes (X or console)

Filesystem

yes

yes

no

yes

yes

X, tty, web

text

yes

YaST

yes (X or console)

Printer

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

X, tty, web

text (apsfilter)

no

YaST

yes (console)

Runlevel/init

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

X, tty, web

no

yes

YaST, editing 1 config file

yes (console)

Install

PCMCIA Ethernet

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

PCMCIA CD-ROM

no

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

from CD-ROM

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

from Floppy

yes

yes

yes

no

no

no

yes

no

no

no

from FTP

no

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

yes

yes

yes

from local filesystem

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

from NFS

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

from Tape

no

media only

no

no

no

no

yes

no

no

no

UMSDOS from Linux

no

no

no

no

no

no

yes

no

yes

no

UMSDOS from DOS

no

no

no

no

no

no

yes

no

yes

no

Media available

yes/CD-ROM

yes

from HTTP or Windows (to -o loop mounted file)

yes

yes, planned

yes

FTP, CD-ROM

yes

yes

yes

Documentation

Custom manual included

yes

yes, electronic form

yes

manual is on-line

no

yes

36-page install guide

yes

yes

yes, 300 pages

3rd party books/manuals

yes (manuals)

yes

no

yes

no

no

yes

no

no

yes; over 30 w/3 in the works

Extras

Non-GPLed extras included

BRU, StarOffice, LISA

432 packages available

over 30 apps incl. WP 8.0, SO 5.1, IBM Lotus eSuite DevPack 1.5, QuakeII & Hopkins FBI demos

some MacOS software

N/A

bonus Linux Application CD w/samples of StarOffice, Applixware, etc.

Netscape, QT, xv

NetComm

AGAd, B,IX, LD, Me, MP, Net, SF, V

WP8, StarOffice 5, Tripwire. Non-Linux: X-Win32, TTWin, postgresODBC, vnc for Win32

Support

Included

5-incident e-mail, 5-incdt/90-day install

mailing lists, bug tracking syst, online forums

100-day e-mail

e-mail installation support

none

30-day install/tel, 90-day e-mail

e-mail, phone

e-mail

60 day e-mail, phone, fax

60-day e-mail

Optional

support contracts

3rd-party only

nono

none

none

commercial

none

phone

consulting/professional

phone, 24x7, custom service level agreements

Special certifications

forthcoming Caldera training

-

-

-

-

Red Hat Certified Engineer

-

-

-

-

Sales method used

DFX

DF

DF

DFX

F now, D soon

DFX

DFX

DFX

DFX

DFX

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: