Datasheet

10 Part I: Getting Started in Red Hat Linux
To those ends, several companies and organizations began gathering and packaging Linux
software together into usable forms called distributions. The main goal of a Linux distribution
is to make the hundreds of unrelated software packages that make up Linux work together as a
cohesive whole. The most popular distribution is Red Hat Linux.
Red Hat Linux is a commercial product produced by Red Hat, Inc. You can walk into a store
and buy a boxed set of CDs and manuals. Or you can get Red Hat Linux free by downloading
it over the Internet or by installing it from CDs that come with books such as this one. The
boxed set provides technical support on installation and an extra CD that contains limited and
demo versions of commercially available Linux application packages (such as word processors
and database applications). Check the Red Hat Web site (
www.redhat.com) for details on
what is included with Red Hat products.
Why Choose Red Hat Linux?
To distinguish themselves from other versions of Linux, each distribution adds some extra
features. Because many power features included in most Linux distributions come from
established open source projects (such as Apache, Samba, KDE, and so on), often
enhancements for a particular distribution exist to make it easier to install, configure, and use
Linux. Also, because there are different software packages available to do the same jobs (such
as window managers or a particular server type), a distribution can distinguish itself by which
packages it chooses to include and feature.
Choosing Red Hat Linux as your distribution puts you in good company. Computer companies
such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard offer Red Hat Linux on their high-end server hardware.
High-profile customers such as Amazon.com rely on Red Hat Linux as the primary operating
system to support their business. This is the same operating system that you and thousands of
others like you can use to run a small business, a home network, or a personal Web server.
Red Hat Linux has set itself apart from other Linux distributions with these features:
• Software packaging — Red Hat, Inc. created the Red Hat Package Management (RPM)
method of packaging Linux. RPMs allow less technically savvy users to easily install
Linux software. With RPM tools, you can install from CD, hard disk, over your LAN, or
over the Internet. It’s easy to track which packages are installed or to look at the contents
of a package. Because RPM is available to the Linux community, it has become one of
the de facto standards for packaging Linux software.
CROSS-REFERENCE: Chapter 5 describes how to install RPM packages.
• Easy installation — The Red Hat Linux installation process provides easy steps for
installing Linux. During installation, Red Hat also helps you take the first few steps
toward configuring Linux. You can choose which packages to install and how to
partition your hard disk. You can even get your desktop GUI ready to go by configuring
your video card, user accounts, and even your network.