Patch vs Distribution

gimhan mihiranga

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as I'm new to this subject can someone tell me what is the difference between a patch and a distribution? because to my knowledge patching is making changes to the kernel and a distribution is made of making different changes to software tools(that comes up with the Linux operating system)which is not to the kernel. can some one help me in this?
 


A Linux distribution is a complete Linux based operating system, with the Linux kernel at the heart of things. Plus a set of other useful software: terminal emulators, compilers/interpreters, text editors, debuggers, browsers, a login manager, a window manager, a desktop environment etc etc.

Whereas a patch is a small, incremental set of changes that can be applied to source code, or to a binary executable in order to update it. E.g. To fix bugs, or security vulnerabilities, add new functionality etc.
 
A Linux distribution is a complete Linux based operating system, with the Linux kernel at the heart of things. Plus a set of other useful software: terminal emulators, compilers/interpreters, text editors, debuggers, browsers, a login manager, a window manager, a desktop environment etc etc.

Whereas a patch is a small, incremental set of changes that can be applied to source code, or to a binary executable in order to update it. E.g. To fix bugs, or security vulnerabilities, add new functionality etc.
Thx man,
  1. So in order to make a new distribution, we get a current using linux os and we only make differences to other useful softwares you mentioned or we change the softwares plus the kernel. or if it is far more than that can you explain it?
  2. In patching as you mentioned a small incremental set of changes applied on kernel source code or other useful softwares's source code?
 
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a new distribution is a massive task to get it going and maintain it; the kernel is at the heart of it and you can get the source for latest at : https://www.kernel.org/

if you click the big yellow button 5.7.12 you will download a tarball and unzip it and play with it. So you can cd into unzipped and from a command line :

$ make menuconfig

//using ncurses if you have it that will bring up a gui where you have choices to select and unselect. It took only about 35 minutes to compile that kernel on my PC. Really all the hard work on the kernel has been done. Then comes the difficult task of using it. Historically Richard Stallman will tell you the kernel would have been useless without everything else to support it. he wrote the first gcc compiler and things like cat. Thats why to be fair Distro like Slackware should be referred to as Gnu/Linux Slackware ; they don't and he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about it.

I'm not sure if i can think of an adequate Metaphor for this , but say the kernel was a pre-fabricated foundation for a building , you can see there is a hell of a lot of stuff on top and choices. Mr Volkerding has been working for 3 years plus on the next release of Slackware and isn't done yet. Throw in that things change as well. So maybe imagine a pre -fabricated concrete foundation on a moving conveyor belt that you are trying to build a hotel on !
 
so tell me is it better to study basics without having a linux os or it is better to have a linux os first and then study about linux?
 
very few get my sense of humor on here hopefully you will .let me ask you this : would it be better to get a fishing rod , fiddle with sticking a maggot on a hook , go to a suitable spot and try and catch a fish or do you think you would learn more by reading a book on fishing and imagining how it might go ?

if you install Slackware you will start learning /study Linux from that point because as default with Slackware you login via a shell and have to type a command to get the Desktop up. They say or someone said i think it might have been Emmet Fox : book knowledge is only that ,so for instance Doctors know all about hygiene and what should be done to be healthy but are some of the worst proponents of applying it
 
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i guess also maybe have a peak at : https://stallman.org/

I know he is a big part of GNU, but I just can't support him as a person.

I used Slackware for a long time. It's the first Linux distro I ever used. I wish it had more community support. It seems to have a very small developer base, as compared to the big guys (i.e. Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuSE) I tend to run newer packages partly because of new functionality, but more so because of security concerns. A distro that waits months or years to have an upgrade wouldn't work for me. Most of the newer distro's I use support "rolling" (in place) upgrades. I haven't a "from scratch" distro on any of the "home computers" in a few years. I know I can compile this stuff my self, but that can be pretty time consuming.
 
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Then there is also LFS

http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

:) G'day @gimhan mihiranga and welcome to linux.org

Personally, I would be inclined to first use a Debian, an Ubuntu or Linux Mint, a Manjaro and a Fedora, to get an idea of what sort of options can be generated as the end result.

A slackware (includes Puppy) and a Gentoo might be added to cover all bases.

Then go into something such as described above, or LFS, with a clearer picture.

Good Luck and Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
 
so tell me is it better to study basics without having a linux os or it is better to have a linux os first and then study about linux?
Do them both at the same time -- they go together like a hand and a glove! Why separate them, even abstractly? Maybe there has been too much British influence -- LOL!!

CLARIFICATION: speaking GENERALY of the colonialization of peoples' thought processes along with their economic systems. Not targeted at any individuals, by any means!
 
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I know he is a big part of GNU, but I just can't support him as a person.
The GNU part to make the kernel be of use was a game changer . In terms of of all software being free as in no restriction to alter download or use; it looks like a dying concept and not pragmatic mainly due to free wifi firmware . Have i look at whats available https://gnu.org/distros/ Nothing really matches up. As for upgrading Slackware , I might say that upgrading from stable to current 5.4.12 (an unofficial release) might be as stable and with everything working as an Ubuntu official release ?
 
The GNU part to make the kernel be of use was a game changer

True, but the vast majority of GNU was just ported or reverse engineered from the original UNIX's (Kernighan, Ritchie, Thompson). Stallman didn't "invent" this stuff, he just got it all together.

In terms of of all software being free as in no restriction to alter download or use; it looks like a dying concept and not pragmatic mainly due to free wifi firmware .

I hope not, I will probably quit using Linux if that ever happens. It isn't so much the cost (I have paid for RedHat, Windows, and other $$$ software) but more the principle of "I own it, you can't have it".

I might say that upgrading from stable to current 5.4.12 (an unofficial release) might be as stable and with everything working as an Ubuntu official release ?

Perhaps, I am not running the latest Ubuntu anywhere. But the main distro I use is currently on the 5.4.10 kernel, and I am not having any problems.
 
In the 2nd Quote i say that because if Richard Stallman truly wants a totally free Linux distribution then he and his team must come out with a functional OS that meets the demand. I tried PureOS but no wifi; now that isn't going to wash in a 3rd world Country like Ghana. IN Ghana 90 % plus are using Cloned (stolen) software. A lot of people don't have any internet , certainly they don't have intenet via an ethernet cable. Its mostly wifi dongle

Now i sent an email to Richard Stallman regarding cloned Windows and Slackware ; unexpectedly i got a reply, there's nothing top secret in it or anything that would result in a liable case, so i can post . I did already in another post.


I then replied to him that pureOS wasn't up to it for Ghana and of course after that I heard nothing. So either Richard Stallman would not consider anything but a 100% free OS and can't do it or he is not bothered about the 3rd world and takes the view " hey I gave the world a free OS that has ethernet connection - what more do you want ?" of course its difficult to know his direct involvement, these days.

Now Slackware according to Richard Stallman is not a OS that conforms to "free " due to i suspect wifi. Mr Volkerding i note also doesn't even call Slackware gnu/Linux Slackware but simply "The Slackware Linux Project". Thus the position is that I might push Slackware in Ghana but can not say " hey stop using that stolen software and use this one its pure and a "free Linux distro as in free to alter , but not as in free beer"
 
@captain-sensible you could try running Guix that's one of the 100% free and opensource distributions.
 
cheers for that @f33dm3bits that makes it even stranger then that there are free open source that Richard Stallman seemingly knows nothing of, or is not quoting. Will download and have a look tomorrow currently winding down from days events
 
Then there is also LFS

http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

:) G'day @gimhan mihiranga and welcome to linux.org

Personally, I would be inclined to first use a Debian, an Ubuntu or Linux Mint, a Manjaro and a Fedora, to get an idea of what sort of options can be generated as the end result.

A slackware (includes Puppy) and a Gentoo might be added to cover all bases.

Then go into something such as described above, or LFS, with a clearer picture.

Good Luck and Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
thx @wizardfromoz for your opinion:)
 
Do them both at the same time -- they go together like a hand and a glove! Why separate them, even abstractly? Maybe there has been too much British influence -- LOL!!

CLARIFICATION: speaking GENERALY of the colonialization of peoples' thought processes along with their economic systems. Not targeted at any individuals, by any means!
yeah well I got to know about linux about 2 weeks ago and now I am trying to collect some Giga bytes to download it. while i am doing that i am just referring text based knowledge about linux.
 

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