WSU ACM COMPUTER SCIENCE SEMINAR SERIES

A comparison of Linux distributions

1. Package handling

We discovered that package handling depends mostly on the format of the packages supported by the distribution. Thus the following comparison table is organized by package format rather than by Linux distribution.

package format slackware
(*.tgz with ./doinst.sh) *.rpm *.deb portage
(source + *.ebuild files)

distributions slackware Redhat
SuSE
Mandrake
Caldera debian
Knoppix
Lindows gentoo
FreeBSD
MacOSX

tools without dependency checking pkgtool none none none

tools with basic dependency checking kpackage rpm
gnorpm
kpackage dpkg
kpackage none

meta-tools (with automatic dependency resolution) none up2date (requires Redhat servers)
urpm (mandrake only)
yast2 (SuSE only)
apt-get
synoptic (apt-get + GUI)
dselect
apt-get
synoptic (apt-get + GUI)
merge pkgname
emerge

Upgrade over network none apt-get
up2date = gui; requires redhat servers
apt-get
dselect = debian-only "command line gui", similar to apt-get
aptitude = dselect replacement
emerge

Upgrade from CD All distributions: insert CD and follow GUI

Notes:

package format	slackware (*.tgz with ./doinst.sh)	*.rpm	*.deb	portage (source + *.ebuild files)
distributions	slackware	Redhat SuSE Mandrake Caldera	debian Knoppix Lindows	gentoo FreeBSD MacOSX
tools without dependency checking	pkgtool	none	none	none
tools with basic dependency checking	kpackage	rpm gnorpm kpackage	dpkg kpackage	none
meta-tools (with automatic dependency resolution)	none	up2date (requires Redhat servers) urpm (mandrake only) yast2 (SuSE only) apt-get synoptic (apt-get + GUI)	dselect apt-get synoptic (apt-get + GUI)	merge pkgname emerge
Upgrade over network	none	apt-get up2date = gui; requires redhat servers	apt-get dselect = debian-only "command line gui", similar to apt-get aptitude = dselect replacement	emerge
Upgrade from CD	All distributions: insert CD and follow GUI

apt-get details

uses *.deb OR *.rpm packages; they cannot be mixed on one system
/etc/apt/sources.list = list of places to look
apt-get update = get list of packages
apt-get upgrade = update everything to latest in same release
apt-get dist-update = update everything to latest known release

emerge details

emerge sync = get lists of packages
emerge -U world = upgrade & merge everything
generally don't worry about distributions
x86 keyword = stable; ~x86 keyword = unstable

slackware maintains information about all installed packages in /usr/adm/packages/*
portage maintains information about all installed packages in /usr/portage/pkgname.version.ebuild
Package converters:

rpm2tgz
rpm2deb
deb2rpm
deb2tgz

For all distributions, an entire working system can be constructed by installing packages. Installation can be done by pre-loading into system memory a minimal linux system that does little more than run a package manager.

2. Installation from scratch

To be discussed next week. Note that upgrading can be done entirely by a package manager, and thus upgrading is discussed in the previous section.

3. Device support

To be discussed next week. I have not yet decided whether to organize the discussion by distribution or by device type.

References:

http://linuxiso.org/ - a source for ISO CD images of all major distributions
http://www.oclug.on.ca/wiki/index.php/faq?... - suggests different distributions for different applications
http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/net/9810.2/0222.html - advocates for Debian
http://www.rpmfind.net can be used to find RPMs