90-433: CentOS ( / ˈ s ɛ n t ɒ s / , from Community Enterprise Operating System ; also known as CentOS Linux ) is a discontinued Linux distribution that provided a free and open-source community-supported computing platform, functionally compatible with its upstream source, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). In January 2014, CentOS announced the official joining with Red Hat while staying independent from RHEL, under
180-527: A Wayland compositor such as Sway , KDE 's KWin , or GNOME 's Mutter ), a desktop environment (most commonly GNOME , KDE Plasma , or Xfce ), a sound server (usually either PulseAudio or more recently PipeWire ), and other related programs may be included or installed by the user. Typically, most of the included software is free and open-source software – made available both as binary for convenience and as source code to allow for modifying it. A distro may also include proprietary software that
270-991: A backend . Yum extends the functionality of the backend by adding features such as simple configuration for maintaining a network of systems. As another example, the Synaptic Package Manager provides a graphical user interface by using the Advanced Packaging Tool (apt) library, which, in turn, relies on dpkg for core functionality. Alien is a program that converts between different Linux package formats , supporting conversion between Linux Standard Base (LSB) compliant .rpm packages, .deb , Stampede (.slp), Solaris (.pkg) and Slackware ( .tgz , .txz , .tbz, .tlz) packages. In mobile operating systems, Google Play consumes Android application package (APK) package format while Microsoft Store uses APPX and XAP formats. (Both Google Play and Microsoft Store have eponymous package managers.) By
360-505: A bootable compressed file system, created by a set of custom scripts using a kickstart configuration file. These live images can be also installed to hard disk, thus obtaining a fully functional CentOS installation. The set of packages installed that way on a hard disk can not be adjusted during the installation, as that is a simple transfer of the image existing on CD/DVD, to a hard disk. After booting from hard disk, yum can be used for adding or removing packages. MinimalCD images contain
450-405: A computer in a consistent manner. A package manager deals with packages , distributions of software and data in archive files . Packages contain metadata , such as the software's name, description of its purpose, version number, vendor, checksum (preferably a cryptographic hash function ), and a list of dependencies necessary for the software to run properly. Upon installation, metadata
540-439: A CD with only a small amount of data on it. New users tend to begin by partitioning a hard drive in order to keep their previously installed operating system. The Linux distribution can then be installed on its own separate partition without affecting previously saved data. In a Live CD setup, the computer boots the entire operating system from CD without first installing it on the computer's hard disk. Many distributions have
630-526: A Live CD installer , where the computer boots the operating system from the disk, and it can then be installed on the computer's hard disk, providing a seamless transition from the OS running from the CD to the OS running from the hard disk. Both servers and personal computers that come with Linux already installed are available from vendors including Hewlett-Packard , Dell and System76 . On embedded devices, Linux
720-425: A binary executable package on the same or remote computer. Later a package manager typically running on some other computer downloads those pre-built binary executable packages over the internet and installs them. However, both kinds of tools have many commonalities: A few tools, such as Maak and A-A-P , are designed to handle both building and deployment, and can be used as either a build automation utility or as
810-462: A community-supported successor to CentOS Linux, aiming for binary-compatibility with the current version of RHEL. A beta version of AlmaLinux was first released on February 1, 2021, and the first stable release of AlmaLinux was published on March 30, 2021. A beta version of Rocky Linux was released on April 30, 2021, and subsequently on June 21, 2021, the stable release of Rocky Linux 8.4 was released. CentOS developers use Red Hat's source code to create
900-425: A conscious effort to use a different operating system, and they must either perform the actual installation themselves, or depend on support from a friend, relative, or computer professional. Package (package management system) A package manager or package-management system is a collection of software tools that automates the process of installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing computer programs for
990-512: A distribution, an administrator may create a "distributionless" installation. It is possible to build such systems from scratch, avoiding distributions altogether. One needs a way to generate the first binaries until the system is self-hosting . This can be done via compilation on another system capable of building binaries for the intended target (possibly by cross-compilation ). For example, see Linux From Scratch . In broad terms, Linux distributions may be: The diversity of Linux distributions
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#17327918126741080-407: A final product very similar to RHEL. Red Hat's branding and logos are changed because Red Hat does not allow them to be redistributed. CentOS is available free of charge. Technical support is primarily provided by the community via official mailing lists, web forums, and chat rooms. The project is affiliated with Red Hat but aspires to be more public, open, and inclusive. While Red Hat employs most of
1170-614: A large extent translatable, as most package managers offer similar functions. The Arch Linux Pacman/Rosetta wiki offers an extensive overview. Package managers like dpkg have existed as early as 1994. Linux distributions oriented to binary packages rely heavily on package management systems as their primary means of managing and maintaining software. Mobile operating systems such as Android (Linux-based), iOS ( Unix-based ), and Windows Phone rely almost exclusively on their respective vendors' app stores and thus use their own dedicated package management systems. A package manager
1260-449: A large number of computers. This kind of pre-configured installation is also supported by dpkg. To give users more control over the kinds of software that they are allowing to be installed on their system (and sometimes due to legal or convenience reasons on the distributors' side), software is often downloaded from a number of software repositories . When a user interacts with the package management software to bring about an upgrade, it
1350-564: A minimum of packages required for a functional installation, with no compromises in security or network usability. These minimal images use the standard CentOS installer with all of its regular features minus the selection of packages. Yum can be used after the installation is completed to add or remove packages. Special interest groups (SIGs) are organized portions of the CentOS community that open paths for building specialized variants of CentOS, which fulfill specific sets of requirements. SIGs have
1440-572: A new CentOS governing board. The first CentOS release in May 2004, numbered as CentOS version 2, was forked from RHEL version 2.1AS. Since version 8, CentOS officially supports the x86-64 , ARM64 , and POWER8 architectures, and releases up to version 6 also supported the IA-32 architecture. As of December 2015, AltArch releases of CentOS 7 are available for the IA-32 architecture, Power ISA , and for
1530-653: A new SLS-based distribution, Slackware , was released by Patrick Volkerding . Also dissatisfied with SLS, Ian Murdock set to create a free distribution by founding Debian in August 1993, with first public BETA released in January 1994 and first stable version in June 1996. Users were attracted to Linux distributions as alternatives to the DOS and Microsoft Windows operating systems on IBM PC compatible computers, Mac OS on
1620-464: A package are present (and either notify the user to install them, or install them automatically). The package can also be provided as source code to be compiled on the system. Most distributions install packages, including the kernel and other core operating system components, in a predetermined configuration. A few now require or permit configuration adjustments at first install time. This makes installation less daunting, particularly for new users, but
1710-468: A package manager or both. App stores can also be considered application-level package managers (without the ability to install all levels of programs ). Unlike traditional package managers, app stores are designed to enable payment for the software itself (instead of for software development), and may only offer monolithic packages with no dependencies or dependency resolution. They are usually extremely limited in their management functionality, due to
1800-513: A platform well-suited to the needs of open source developers that integrate technologies in and around the operating system". As a result of these changes, ownership of CentOS trademarks was transferred to Red Hat, which now employs most of the CentOS head developers; however, they work as part of Red Hat's Open Source and Standards team, which operates separately from the Red Hat Enterprise Linux team. A new CentOS governing board
1890-404: A proprietary operating system or by translating proprietary API calls (e.g., calls to Microsoft's Win32 or DirectX APIs) into native Linux API calls. A virtual machine can also be used to run a proprietary OS (like Microsoft Windows) on top of Linux. Computer hardware is usually sold with an operating system other than Linux already installed by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). In
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#17327918126741980-517: A specific instruction set , while some (such as Gentoo ) are distributed mostly in source code form and must be built before installation. Linus Torvalds developed the Linux kernel and distributed its first version, 0.01, in 1991. Linux was initially distributed as source code only, and later as a pair of downloadable floppy disk images: one bootable and containing the Linux kernel itself, and
2070-716: A specific application or service. Examples of packages are a library for handling the PNG image format, a collection of fonts, and a web browser . The package is typically provided as compiled code, with installation and removal of packages handled by a package management system (PMS) rather than a simple file archiver . Each package intended for such a PMS contains meta-information such as its description, version number, and its dependencies (other packages it requires to run). The package management system evaluates this meta-information to allow package searches, perform automatic upgrades to newer versions, and to check that all dependencies of
2160-485: A strong focus on simplification over power or emergence , and common in commercial operating systems and locked-down “smart” devices. Package managers also often have only human-reviewed code. Many app stores, such and Google Play and Apple's App Store, screen apps mostly using automated tools only; malware with defeat devices can pass these tests, by detecting when the software is being automatically tested and delaying malicious activity. There are, however, exceptions;
2250-474: A system. A software package is an archive file containing a computer program as well as necessary metadata for its deployment. The computer program can be in source code that has to be compiled and built first. Package metadata include package description, package version, and dependencies (other packages that need to be installed beforehand). Package managers are charged with the task of finding, installing, maintaining or uninstalling software packages upon
2340-630: Is CheckInstall , and for recipe-based systems such as Gentoo Linux and hybrid systems such as Arch Linux , it is possible to write a recipe first, which then ensures that the package fits into the local package database. Particularly troublesome with software upgrades are upgrades of configuration files. Since package managers, at least on Unix systems, originated as extensions of file archiving utilities , they can usually only either overwrite or retain configuration files, rather than applying rules to them. There are exceptions to this that usually apply to kernel configuration (which, if broken, will render
2430-416: Is a Linux distribution that can be booted from removable storage media such as optical discs or USB flash drives , instead of being installed on and booted from a hard disk drive . The portability of installation-free distributions makes them advantageous for applications such as demonstrations, borrowing someone else's computer, rescue operations, or as installation media for a standard distribution. When
2520-762: Is a Linux distribution; others, such as Google engineer Patrick Brady, disagree by noting the lack of support for many GNU tools in Android, including glibc . Other Linux-kernel-based operating systems include Tizen , Mer / Sailfish OS , KaiOS and Amazon's Kindle firmware . Lightweight Linux distributions are those that have been designed with support for older hardware in mind, allowing older hardware to still be used productively, or, for maximum possible speed in newer hardware by leaving more resources available for use by applications. Examples include Tiny Core Linux , Puppy Linux and Slitaz . Other distributions target specific niches, such as: The Free Standards Group
2610-406: Is a so-called "point release" of RHEL 6. Starting with version 7.0, CentOS version numbers also include a third part that indicates the monthstamp of the source code the release is based on. For example, version number 7.0-1406 still maps this CentOS release to the zeroth update set of RHEL 7, while "1406" indicates that the source code this release is based on dates from June 2014. Using
2700-406: Is a software tool designed to optimize the download and storage of binary files, artifacts and packages used and produced in the software development process . These package managers aim to standardize the way enterprises treat all package types. They give users the ability to apply security and compliance metrics across all artifact types. Universal package managers have been referred to as being at
2790-496: Is about 3.67%. Many Linux distributions provide an installation system akin to that provided with other modern operating systems. Other distributions, including Gentoo Linux , provide only the binaries of a basic kernel, compilation tools, and an installer; the installer compiles all the requested software for the specific architecture of the user's computer, using these tools and the software's source code. Distributions are normally segmented into packages . Each package contains
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2880-466: Is also called " DLL hell " when working with dynamically linked libraries. Modern package managers have mostly solved these problems, by allowing parallel installation of multiple versions of a library (e.g. OPENSTEP 's Framework system), a dependency of any kind (e.g. slots in Gentoo Portage ), and even of packages compiled with different compiler versions (e.g. dynamic libraries built by
2970-616: Is an operating system that includes the Linux kernel for its kernel functionality. Although the name does not imply product distribution per se, a distro, if distributed on its own, is often obtained via a website intended specifically for the purpose. Distros have been designed for a wide variety of systems ranging from personal computers (for example, Linux Mint ) to servers (for example, Red Hat Enterprise Linux ) and from embedded devices (for example, OpenWrt ) to supercomputers (for example, Rocks Cluster Distribution ). A distro typically includes many components in addition to
3060-552: Is an organization formed by major software and hardware vendors that aims to improve interoperability between different distributions. Among their proposed standards are the Linux Standard Base , which defines a common ABI and packaging system for Linux, and the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard which recommends a standard filenaming chart, notably the basic directory names found on the root of
3150-607: Is based on RHEL. Previously, CentOS 4 had been supported for seven years. AltArch releases are released by the Alternative Architecture Special Interest Group (AltArch SIG) to support architectures that are not supported by the base CentOS releases. Software Collections (SCL) is a CentOS repository that provides a set of programming languages , database servers , and various related packages. Provided software versions are either more recent than their equivalent versions included in
3240-432: Is customary to present the user with the list of actions to be executed (usually the list of packages to be upgraded, and possibly giving the old and new version numbers), and allow the user to either accept the upgrade in bulk, or select individual packages for upgrades. Many package managers can be configured to never upgrade certain packages, or to upgrade them only when critical vulnerabilities or instabilities are found in
3330-519: Is designed for "anyone interested in participating and collaborating in the RHEL ecosystem". Because prior CentOS releases were derived directly from RHEL (RHEL was essentially upstream of CentOS), Stream thus represents a change from prior CentOS releases, being situated between the upstream development in Fedora and the downstream development for RHEL. That said, CentOS Stream 9 and RHEL 9 started from
3420-671: Is due to technical, organizational, and philosophical variation among vendors and users. The permissive licensing of free software means that users with sufficient knowledge and interest can customize any existing distribution, or design one to suit their own needs. Rolling Linux distributions are kept current using small and frequent updates . The terms partially rolling and partly rolling (along with synonyms semi-rolling and half-rolling ), fully rolling , truly rolling and optionally rolling are sometimes used by software developers and users. Repositories of rolling distributions usually contain very recent software releases —often
3510-489: Is not always acceptable. For specific requirements, much software must be carefully configured to be useful, to work correctly with other software, or to be secure, and local administrators are often obliged to spend time reviewing and reconfiguring it. Some (but not all) distributions go to considerable lengths to adjust and customize the software they include, and some provide configuration tools to help users do so. By obtaining and installing everything normally provided in
3600-545: Is not available in source code form, such as a device driver binary . A distro may be described as a particular assortment of application and utility software (various GNU tools and libraries, for example), packaged with the Linux kernel in such a way that its capabilities meet users' needs. The software is usually adapted to the distribution and then combined into software packages by the distribution's maintainers. The software packages are available online in repositories , which are storage locations usually distributed around
3690-418: Is often called an "install manager", which can lead to a confusion between package managers and installers . The differences include: Most software configuration management systems treat building software and deploying software as separate, independent steps. A build automation utility typically takes human-readable source code files already on a computer, and automates the process of converting them into
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3780-424: Is often referred to as "distro hopping". Virtual machine software such as VirtualBox and VMware Workstation virtualize hardware allowing users to test live media on a virtual machine without installing to the real system. Some websites like DistroWatch offer lists of distributions, and link to screenshots of operating systems as a way to get a first impression of various distributions. Some distributions let
3870-516: Is sometimes possible on closely related distributions. There are several ways to install a Linux distribution. The most common method of installing Linux is by booting from a live USB memory stick , which can be created by using a USB image writer application and the ISO image, which can be downloaded from various Linux distribution websites. DVD disks, CD disks, network installations and even other hard drives can also be used as "installation media". In
3960-568: Is stored in a local package database. Package managers typically maintain a database of software dependencies and version information to prevent software mismatches and missing prerequisites. They work closely with software repositories , binary repository managers , and app stores . Package managers are designed to eliminate the need for manual installs and updates. This can be particularly useful for large enterprises whose operating systems typically consist of hundreds or even tens of thousands of distinct software packages. An early package manager
4050-463: Is that free and open source software systems permit third-party packages to also be installed and upgraded through the same mechanism, whereas the package managers of Mac OS X and Windows will only upgrade software provided by Apple and Microsoft, respectively (with the exception of some third party drivers in Windows). The ability to continuously upgrade third-party software is typically added by adding
4140-426: Is to allow users to manage the software dependency on data, such as machine learning models for data-driven applications. They are useful to publish, locate, and install data packages. A typical example of a data dependency management frameworks are Hugging Face, KBox, among others. Ian Murdock had commented that package management is "the single biggest advancement Linux has brought to the industry", that it blurs
4230-471: Is typically held in the device's firmware and may or may not be consumer-accessible. Anaconda , one of the more popular installers, is used by Red Hat Enterprise Linux , Fedora (which uses the Fedora Media Writer ) and other distributions to simplify the installation process. Debian, Ubuntu and many others use Debian-Installer . The process of constantly switching between distributions
4320-536: The Apple Macintosh , and proprietary versions of Unix . Most early adopters were familiar with Unix from work or school. They embraced Linux distributions for their low (or absent) cost, and the availability of the source code for most or all of their software. As of 2024, Linux has become more popular in server and embedded devices markets than in the desktop market. It is used in approximately 58.9% of web servers; its current operating system market share
4410-477: The Glasgow Haskell Compiler , where a stable ABI does not exist), in order to enable other packages to specify which version they were linked or even installed against. System administrators may install and maintain software using tools other than package management software. For example, a local administrator may download unpackaged source code, compile it, and install it. This may cause
4500-453: The URL of the corresponding repository to the package management's configuration file. Beside the system-level application managers, there are some add-on package managers for operating systems with limited capabilities and for programming languages in which developers need the latest libraries . Unlike system-level package managers, application-level package managers focus on a small part of
4590-465: The npm package database, for instance, relies entirely on post-publication review of its code, while the Debian package database has an extensive human review process before any package goes into the main stable database. The XZ Utils backdoor used years of trust-building to insert a backdoor, which was nonetheless caught while in the testing database. Also known as binary repository manager , it
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#17327918126744680-425: The software development process , standard releases require significant development effort to keep old versions up-to-date by propagating bug fixes back to the newest branch, versus focusing on the newest development branch . Also, unlike rolling releases, standard releases require more than one code branch to be developed and maintained, which increases the workload of the software developers and maintainers. On
4770-400: The 1990s, Linux distributions were installed using sets of floppy disks but this has been abandoned by all major distributions. By the 2000s many distributions offered CD and DVD sets with the vital packages on the first disc and less important packages on later ones. Some distributions, such as Debian also enabled installation over a network after booting from either a set of floppy disks or
4860-900: The ARMv7hl and AArch64 variants of the ARM architecture , and plans exist for supporting other variants of the ARM architecture . ARM support is a community effort coordinated through the AltArch SIG. AltArch releases of CentOS 7 are also available for the IA-32 architecture and Power ISA ( POWER7 and POWER8 chips). A Live CD version of CentOS is available at mirror.centos.org . A bootable Live USB image of CentOS can be created manually or with UNetbootin . CentOS images are also available on Amazon's EC2 cloud , in form of prebuilt and already published Amazon Machine Images (AMIs). There are three primary CentOS repositories (also known as channels), containing software packages that make up
4950-428: The ARMv7hl and AArch64 variants of the ARM architecture . CentOS 8 was released on 24 September 2019. In December 2020, Red Hat unilaterally terminated CentOS development in favor of CentOS Stream 9, a distribution positioned upstream of RHEL. In March 2021, CloudLinux (makers of CloudLinux OS ) released a RHEL derivative called AlmaLinux . Later in May 2021, one of the CentOS founders (Gregory Kurtzer) created
5040-553: The CentOS head developers, the CentOS Project itself relies on donations from users and organizational sponsors. CentOS version numbers for releases older than 7.0 have two parts, a major version and a minor version, which correspond to the major version and update set of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) used to build a particular CentOS release. For example, CentOS 6.5 is built from the source packages of RHEL 6 update 5 (also known as RHEL version 6.5), which
5130-399: The CentOS team reportedly made contact with Davis and obtained the centos.info and centos.org domains. In July 2010, CentOS overtook Debian to become the most popular Linux distribution for web servers, with almost 30% of all Linux web servers using it. Debian retook the lead in January 2012. In January 2014, Red Hat announced that it would sponsor the CentOS Project, "helping to establish
5220-465: The Linux kernel. Commonly, it includes a package manager , an init system (such as systemd , OpenRC , or runit ), GNU tools and libraries , documentation, IP network configuration utilities, the getty TTY setup program, and many more. To provide a desktop experience (most commonly the Mesa userspace graphics drivers) a display server (the most common being the X.org Server , or, more recently,
5310-463: The base CentOS distribution, or are made available as official CentOS packages for the first time. (See also the list of CentOS repositories below .) Packages available from the SCL do not replace the default system tools provided with CentOS. Instead, a parallel set of tools is installed in the /opt directory, and can be optionally enabled per application by using supplied scl utility. For example,
5400-606: The case of IBM PC compatibles , the OS is usually Microsoft Windows ; in the case of Apple 's Mac computers, it has always been macOS ; Sun Microsystems sold SPARC hardware with the Solaris installed; video game consoles such as the Xbox , PlayStation , Wii , and the Nintendo Switch each have their own proprietary OS. This limits Linux's market share: consumers are unaware that an alternative exists, they must make
5490-482: The center of a DevOps toolchain . Each package manager relies on the format and metadata of the packages it can manage. That is, package managers need groups of files to be bundled for the specific package manager along with appropriate metadata, such as dependencies. Often, a core set of utilities manages the basic installation from these packages and multiple package managers use these utilities to provide additional functionality. For example, yum relies on rpm as
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#17327918126745580-459: The competing Rocky Linux project as a successor to the original mission of CentOS. CentOS originated as a build of CAOS Linux , an RPM -based Linux distribution started by Gregory Kurtzer in 2002. Infiscale described its GravityOS as "[including] the small footprint of Caos", indicating a certain level of influence from the discontinued distribution. In June 2006, David Parsley, the primary developer of Tao Linux (another RHEL clone), announced
5670-480: The computer unusable after a restart). Problems can be caused if the format of configuration files changes; for instance, if the old configuration file does not explicitly disable new options that should be disabled. Some package managers, such as Debian 's dpkg , allow configuration during installation. In other situations, it is desirable to install packages with the default configuration and then overwrite this configuration, for instance, in headless installations to
5760-480: The default versions of Perl or MySQL remain those provided by the base CentOS installation. Some of the ISO images released by the CentOS Project have no direct upstream equivalents. They are created for specific purposes, such as for providing a live bootable image , or for providing a reduced-size installation medium. In addition to those listed below, there are also AltArch releases, which also have no direct upstream equivalents. LiveCD and LiveDVD images contain
5850-498: The freedom to modify and enhance CentOS in various ways, including adding more cutting-edge software, rebuilding existing packages depending on the requirements, providing alternative desktop environments, or making CentOS available on otherwise unsupported architectures. As of version 8, CentOS fully supports x86-64 , POWER8 and 64-bit ARM architectures, while the following architectures are not supported: As of December 2015, AltArch releases of CentOS 7 are available for
5940-459: The latest stable versions available. They have pseudo-releases and installation media that are simply snapshots of the distribution at the time of the installation image's release. Typically, a rolling-release OS installed from older installation medium can be fully updated after it is installed. Depending on the usage case, there can be pros and cons to both standard release and rolling release software development methodologies . In terms of
6030-420: The main CentOS distribution: The CentOS Project provides several additional repositories that contain software packages not provided by the default base and updates repositories. Those repositories include the following: CentOS Stream is a "continuously delivered distro that tracks just ahead of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) development, positioned as a midstream between Fedora Linux and RHEL." which
6120-524: The monthstamp allows installation images to be reissued for (as of July 2014) oncoming container and cloud releases, while maintaining a connection to the related base release version. Since mid-2006 and starting with RHEL version 4.4, which is formally known as Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.0 update 4, Red Hat has adopted a version-naming convention identical to that used by CentOS (for example, RHEL 4.5 or RHEL 6.5). On 10 September 2019 CentOS deferred CentOS 8.1 work for CentOS 7.7 since CentOS 7.x
6210-644: The nature of free and open source software , packages under similar and compatible licenses are available for use on a number of operating systems. These packages can be combined and distributed using configurable and internally complex packaging systems to handle many permutations of software and manage version-specific dependencies and conflicts. Some packaging systems of free and open source software are also themselves released as free and open source software. One typical difference between package management in proprietary operating systems, such as Mac OS X and Windows, and those in free and open source software, such as Linux,
6300-435: The need to change the contents of the system's hard disk drive. The website DistroWatch lists many Linux distributions and displays some of the ones that have the most web traffic on the site. The Wikimedia Foundation released an analysis of the browser User Agents of visitors to WMF websites until 2015, which includes details of the most popular Operating System identifiers, including some Linux distributions. Many of
6390-797: The operating system is booted from a read-only medium such as a CD or DVD, any user data that needs to be retained between sessions cannot be stored on the boot device but must be written to another storage device, such as a USB flash drive or a hard disk drive. Many Linux distributions provide a "live" form in addition to their conventional form, which is a network-based or removable-media image intended to be used only for installation; such distributions include SUSE , Ubuntu, Linux Mint , MEPIS and Fedora Linux . Some distributions, including Knoppix , Puppy Linux , Devil-Linux, SuperGamer , SliTaz GNU/Linux and dyne:bolic , are designed primarily for live use. Additionally, some minimal distributions can be run directly from as little space as one floppy disk without
6480-450: The other hand, software features and technology planning are easier in standard releases due to a better understanding of upcoming features in the next version(s). Software release cycles can also be synchronized with those of major upstream software projects, such as desktop environments . As for the user experience , standard releases are often viewed as more stable and bug-free since software conflicts can be more easily addressed and
6570-450: The other with a set of GNU utilities and tools for setting up a file system. Since the installation procedure was complicated, especially in the face of growing amounts of available software, distributions sprang up to simplify it. Early distributions included: The two oldest, still active distribution projects started in 1993. The SLS distribution was not well maintained, so in July 1993
6660-475: The popular distributions are listed below. Several operating systems include the Linux kernel, but have a userland that differs significantly from that of mainstream Linux distributions: Whether such operating systems count as a "Linux distribution" is a controversial topic. They use the Linux kernel, so the Linux Foundation and Chris DiBona , Google's former open-source chief, agree that Android
6750-444: The previous version, as defined by the packager of the software. This process is sometimes called version pinning . For instance: Some of the more advanced package management features offer "cascading package removal", in which all packages that depend on the target package and all packages that only the target package depends on, are also removed. Although the commands are specific for every particular package manager, they are to
6840-421: The retirement of Tao Linux and its rolling into CentOS development. Tao users migrated to the CentOS release via yum update . In July 2009, it was reported in an open letter on the CentOS Project web site that one of CentOS's founders, Lance Davis, had disappeared in 2008. Davis had ceased contribution to the project, but continued to hold the registration for the CentOS domain and PayPal account. In August 2009,
6930-448: The rolling release model can have advantages in timely security updates, fixing system or application security bugs and vulnerabilities , that standard releases may have to wait till the next release for or patch in various versions. In a rolling release distribution, where the user has chosen to run it as a highly dynamic system, the constant flux of software packages can introduce new unintended vulnerabilities. A "live" distribution
7020-419: The same codebase and thus CentOS Stream could reasonably be seen as "closer" to RHEL than Fedora. The initial release, CentOS Stream 8, was released on 24 September 2019, at the same time as CentOS 8. As CentOS 8 became unsupported, The CentOS Project provided a simple means of converting from CentOS Linux 8 to CentOS Stream 8. Linux distribution A Linux distribution (often abbreviated as distro )
7110-507: The software stack more thoroughly tested and evaluated, during the software development cycle. For this reason, they tend to be the preferred choice in enterprise environments and mission-critical tasks. However, rolling releases offer more current software which can also provide increased stability and fewer software bugs along with the additional benefits of new features, greater functionality, faster running speeds, and improved system and application security . Regarding software security ,
7200-448: The software system. They typically reside within a directory tree that is not maintained by the system-level package manager, such as c:\cygwin or /opt/sw . However, this might not be the case for the package managers that deal with programming libraries, leading to a possible conflict as both package managers may claim to "own" a file and might break upgrades. In 2016, Edgard Marx, a computer scientist from Leipzig University, coined
7290-477: The state of the local system to fall out of synchronization with the state of the package manager's database . The local administrator will be required to take additional measures, such as manually managing some dependencies or integrating the changes into the package manager. There are tools available to ensure that locally compiled packages are integrated with the package management. For distributions based on .deb and .rpm files as well as Slackware Linux, there
7380-567: The term Data Dependency Management to refer to the systems that deal with the management of data. Data Dependency Management systems are designed to facilitate the deployment and management of data on the cloud, personal computers, or smart devices (edge). Data Dependency Management frameworks can be used to describe how the data was conceived, licensing as well as its dependencies. The concept of data dependency management comes from software package dependency management tools such as npm for JavaScript, gem for Ruby, and NuGet for .NET. Their rationale
7470-435: The tree of any Linux filesystem. Those standards, however, see limited use, even among the distributions developed by members of the organization. The diversity of Linux distributions means that not all software runs on all distributions, depending on what libraries and other system attributes are required. Packaged software and software repositories are usually specific to a particular distribution, though cross-installation
7560-467: The user install Linux on top of their current system, such as WinLinux or coLinux . Linux is installed to the Windows hard disk partition, and can be started from inside Windows itself. Virtual machines (such as VirtualBox or VMware ) also make it possible for Linux to be run inside another OS. The VM software simulates a separate computer onto which the Linux system is installed. After installation,
7650-474: The user's command. Typical functions of a package management system include: Computer systems that rely on dynamic library linking, instead of static library linking, share executable libraries of machine instructions across packages and applications. In these systems, conflicting relationships between different packages requiring different versions of libraries results in a challenge colloquially known as " dependency hell ". On Microsoft Windows systems, this
7740-644: The virtual machine can be booted as if it were an independent computer. Various tools are also available to perform full dual-boot installations from existing platforms without a CD, most notably: Some specific proprietary software products are not available in any form for Linux. As of September 2015, the Steam gaming service has over 1,500 games available on Linux, compared to 2,323 games for Mac and 6,500 Windows games. Emulation and API-translation projects like Wine and CrossOver make it possible to run non-Linux-based software on Linux systems, either by emulating
7830-724: The world. Beside "glue" components, such as the distribution installers (for example, Debian-Installer and Anaconda ) and the package management systems, very few packages are actually written by a distribution's maintainers. Distributions have been designed for a wide range of computing environments, including desktops , servers , laptops , netbooks , mobile devices (phones and tablets), and embedded systems . There are commercially backed distributions, such as Fedora Linux ( Red Hat ), openSUSE ( SUSE ) and Ubuntu ( Canonical Ltd. ), and entirely community-driven distributions, such as Debian , Slackware , Gentoo and Arch Linux . Most distributions come ready-to-use and prebuilt for
7920-550: Was SMIT (and its backend installp) from IBM AIX . SMIT was introduced with AIX 3.0 in 1989. Early package managers, from around 1994, had no automatic dependency resolution but could already drastically simplify the process of adding and removing software from a running system. By around 1995, beginning with CPAN , package managers began doing the work of downloading packages from a repository, automatically resolving its dependencies and installing them as needed, making it much easier to install, uninstall and update software from
8010-449: Was also established. On 8 December 2020, the CentOS Project announced that the distribution would be discontinued at the end of 2021 in order to focus on CentOS Stream. The community's response to this announcement was overwhelmingly negative. Soon thereafter, Gregory Kurtzer (one of CentOS's founders) announced a new project to continue the original CentOS focus, which became known as Rocky Linux . CloudLinux created AlmaLinux to provide
8100-494: Was in production and CentOS 8.x was not in production. Once CentOS 7.7 was released resources moved back to CentOS 8.0. On 24 September 2019 CentOS officially released CentOS version 8.0. Since CentOS was discontinued at the end of 2021, its final release was version 8.5 (2021-11-16). In contrast, its RHEL counterpart continued to version 8.10 (as of 2024-09). According to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) life cycle , CentOS 5, 6 and 7 will be "maintained for up to 10 years" as it
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