Open source operating system Founded by Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds Linux market is among the fastest growing and is projected to exceed $35.7 billion by 2008 Over 450 distributions are available Gentoo Redhat Fedora Debian Knoppix

Founder Daniel Robbins started playing around with Debian Enoch IRC 10 Developers Helping With Distribution Gentoo Portage Package & Management System Heart of Gentoo Daniel Robbins Resigns April 2004 Gentoo Today Teams of Volunteers Keep Gentoo on the Edge Project Base Approach Social Commitment Financial Caretaking Juridical Protection Oversee General Gentoo Development

Target Audience Desktop, workstation, server and enthusiast Advances users Offers extreme performance, configurability and top-notch user and developer community Can be optimized and customized for just about any application or need Automatic Updates Through Portage Bluetooth

Free downloading from Gentoo.org Buy CD from the official Gentoo online store Several third party companies sell Gentoo CD North America Europe Oceania Buy computers with Gentoo pre-installed North America Australia Europe

Founded by Mark Ewing. RedHat 9 is end-of-line for RedHat Linux. April 30th 2004 No longer in production phase but new updates can still be found for RedHat 7.3 and 9. RedHat enterprise is new product line developed by the RedHat team.

Corporate users First Linux system to use RPM (Package Management System) RedHat 8 uses UTF – 8 (font encoder) Seamlessly supports multiple languages including: Ideographic Bi-directional Complex script RedHat 8 also first to use Bluecurve desktop theme Unified look throughout Linux environment Succeeded bt Clearlooks used by Fedora Core 4 Became starting point for many other divisions of Linux Mandriva Yellow Dog ASP Linux

RedHat Linux first hit shelves November 3rd Sold through retail stores or online. Official website is:

Community-built operating system sponsored by RedHat. Global steering committee directs efforts but developers from community are driving force behind new project developments.

Serving as a proving ground for new technologies which may later be used in RedHat Linux. Community based project instead of product. Not a supported product of RedHat (RedHat offers no formal technical support) New release estimated to come out every 6 – 8 months. RPM Based system. Fedora Core 4 is supported by i386, AMD 64, and Power PC architecture. Fedora Core 5 will be released March 15th 2006.

Freely downloaded online from FedoraProject.org Not made for retail distribution. Goal is to be a complete general-purpose operating system developed out of open-source software.

Started in 1993 by Ian Murdock with a small group of free software hackers Now made by a large, well-organized group of individuals who want to create, use and offer a free operating system Communication is done mainly via Maintained by its users

Has a reputation for its ability to adhere to the UNIX system. It is more than just an operating system Comes with over 15,000 packages of software in an easy to install format Known for its package management system Strict policies for package quality as well as open development and testing processes Used with the Linux kernel but is being worked on to be used with other kernels such as the Hurd Can be run on almost all personal computers including the older models Supports most all hardware

Buying the CD from one of their vendors and install it The CD costs less than $5 plus shipping from vendors. Debian provides free distribution to its CD vendors located around the world Downloading it from the Internet and install it Buy a computer with Debian already installed on it

Founder Klaus Knopper GNU/Linux consultant Up to date information on Knopper.org Knoppix is a live Linux CD based on the Debian GNU/Linux operating system

A productive Linux system for desktops, educational CDs, a rescue system, or for a platform for commercial software demos You do not need to download anything to a hard disk Tools for data rescue, system repair, administration, network analysis and programming

Download Knoppix BitTorrent FTP Buy the CD or DVD from one of the vendors for Knoppix that are located around the world

Strong ties to the Debian community The Fridge: A place where Ubuntu developers and enthusiasts discuss the software –Currently writing a book on the OS charactering its development Best Form of contribution is sharing Ubuntu with others Local Linux user groups: –Eugene, Portland, Salem, and Beaverton Interested individuals can participate in Ubuntu’s development –Participation can range from giving advice to maintaining critical components

New versions are released every six months. Support is provided for each version for at least 18 months Works well with Apple or PC Large emphasis on usability, making it ideal for desktops Smaller program size –Able to fit on a single CD –Able to download faster

Can be acquired by CD Downloadable from one of the many regional or national mirrors feature on Ubuntu’s web site Also downloadable through bit torrent files