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What is a Linux Distribution?

A Linux distribution is an installable operating system constructed from a Linux kernel and supporting user programs and libraries. A complete Linux operating system isn't developed by a single organization, but by a collection of independent open source development communities working with individual software components. A distribution provides an easy way for users to install and manage a working Linux system.
In 1991, a young computer science student named Linus Torvalds developed a Unix-like kernel he named Linux, licensed as open source software under the GPL. The kernel is the core component of the operating system, which manages hardware, memory, and scheduling of running programs. This Linux kernel could then be supplemented with other open source software, such as the utilities and programs from the GNU Project, the graphical interface from MIT's X Window System, and many other open source components such as the Sendmail mail server or the Apache HTTPD web server, in order to build a complete open source Unix-like operating system.
However, one of the challenges for Linux users was to assemble all these pieces from many different sources. Very early in its history, Linux developers began working to provide a distribution of prebuilt and tested tools that users could download and use to quickly set up their Linux systems.
Many different Linux distributions exist, with differing goals and criteria for selecting and supporting the software provided by their distribution. But distributions generally have a number of common characteristics:
  • A distribution consists of a Linux kernel and supporting user space programs.
  • A distribution may be small and single-purpose or include thousands of open source programs.
  • Some means of installing and updating the distribution and its components should be provided.
  • The vendor should support that software, and ideally be participating directly in the community developing that software.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is Red Hat's commercially-supported Linux distribution.

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