Differences between distributions

As there are hundreds of linux distributions, you can ask yourself: "Which one should I choose?". What are the differences between them?

First, the installer. Some distributions are easier to install (they have a graphical installer and all you do is clicking with your mouse), some harder. Some distributions have better hardware compatibility than others (sometimes you have to install or compile drivers afterwards). There is also difference in location of binaries, libraries, configuration files, etc. Different distributions have different package management system and software repositories (which is very important difference!). There are actually two types of package formats and more or less all distributions are based on either one or the other: .deb and .rpm. What is repository and why is it so important? It is storage of packages. Some distributions have their own repositories and some derivatives are using repositories of their "mother distro". Repositories are important, because better repository gives you more (free) software, better hardware compatibility and better security. Some distributions tend to be more stable, hence they're using older and better tested packages (like Debian, although this is not necessarily true, but I will write about it later), and some tend to use the most recent packages (like Fedora). Difference is also whether a distribution is source-based or binary-based. To cut long story short, in binary-based distros you install things easier but get worse performance, while in source-based (like Gentoo) distro installed packages are better suited for your hardware and needs, but it's more complicated to configure it. Difference connected with packages is also if distribution is rolling or standard release. In rolling release packages are continually updated. In standard release new version of pakage is installed over the old one. And last but not least, some distros have better community and support than others.

These are more or less all main differences not concerning the look. Different distros come with different (or without any) base confiturations, desktop environment (DE) or windows manager (WM), configuration tools and so on. All that you can easily change, so it's not that important difference. I will write about that in next post.