A distro-question I've never seen answered...

[Pyrosophy]

Ok... this is probably a terribly elementary set of questions, but search reveals nothing:

I've got a Slackware v7.0 CD laying around and go to install it -- but then I see actually v7.1 has been released. So do the changes that warrant the new version number really warrant my re-installing? Anticipating that the answer is "most likely, not", could I make the relevant changes to my Slack 7 install that would make it functionally equivalent to Slack 7.1?

Slightly different version: If I do a minimal install of Mandrake, say 7.1, could I eventually, by deleting non-needed packages, drain all the Mandrake-ness out of it, or is the kernel different? I hear that different distros sometimes use different config files in /etc, but is this part of the kernel, modified packages, or just a symptom of the install method?

The root of these questions is, in theory, what exactly separates one distribution from the rest? Is it indeed just the versions of the programs included and the versions of the kernel used? Or is it install? Or is there more mystical stuff going on here?

I know, I know, use what works. But if I can be using what works and just tweak the hell out of Slack to make it resemble the parts of Mandrake I like and tweak it to keep it most like the newest Slack, I wanna know!

Pyro

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You can never be strong. You can only be free...

-Guided By Voices

[nopun]

most likely not..... http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/biggrin.gif
but there must be differences of some significance to warrant a new version. Check the release notes to see what has changed, and, if you feel so inspired, apply some or all of those changes to your installed 7.0.

On a minimal install, for me the Mandrakeness (or any "distroness") is tied up with file locations, system configuration files, and the bootup scripts/programs that are used - these factors further tie you to a certain package management system (at least if you want to use package management and want to be confident of hassle free software installations). These things can be changed, of course, but changing bootup from Mandrake style (ie including sysvinit) to Slack style (bsdinit), for example, would not be totally trivial.

Aside from a minimal install, the other stuff that separates the distros is the software supplied with them (unless you have a fast internet connection, this is a significant factor), the installation procedure, the kernel version and the way it is configured/compiled (although it never stays that way for long!), the way that other software is configured by default (but again, it's changeable), tools/utilities written for and provided specifically by that distro (although if they are any good, others will probably assimilate them in time).

The bottom line is, Linux is Linux. Start out with something closest to way you want it to be - then customise like hell. So why all the distro wars I hear you say?

http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/cool.gifFor fun http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/cool.gif

[njcajun]

I would tell you, first of all, to look at the release notes for Slack to see what changes there are. If the answer to your first question is, as you say, "most likely, not", then why bother to add those changes to your current system anyway, unless they add something that offers greater stability, speed or security to the system as a whole?

What sets a distro apart are the things that lie on top of the kernel: the installer, the XWindows version, their implementation of things like GNOME and KDE, the versions of the built-in tools (which can vary annoyingly, though not significantly, from distro to distro), etc.

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...meanwhile, I remain...
...The RedHatted Stepchild...

[This message has been edited by njcajun (edited 19 December 2000).]

[njcajun]

I would tell you, first of all, to look at the release notes for Slack to see what changes there are. If the answer to your first question is, as you say, "most likely, not", then why bother to add those changes to your current system anyway, unless they add something that offers greater stability, speed or security to the system as a whole?

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...meanwhile, I remain...
...The RedHatted Stepchild...

[Shad]

Typically, when a new version of a distro is released, there are new versions of major packages like the Kernel, or Xfree86. Other packages are usually updates as well.

Mandrake seperates itself with how its packages are compiled and the specialty kernel patches. Mandrake compiles everything for a pentium class processor. Mandrake includes supermount, Reiserfs, and the usb backport patch to its kernel used. The USB is going to be a nonissue as it is now standard in the kernel, but the other things might take a while to make it into the kernel.

A lot of the mandrakeness you respond to, is probably more a function of custom icons and GUI tools. They can be removed, but why bother going through that trouble. If I wanted a minimal install of linux, I'd probably go with something like Peanut or Vector and build up from there.

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Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life