I realize this is impressionistic but for the sake of the conceit:
“Mac” flavored (PopOS, ZorinOS?)
“Windows” flavored (Mint?)
“Linux” flavored (Fedora?)
Edit: was not aware 1) Distro & 2) Desktop Environment are seperate/distinct. Good to learn
I realize this is impressionistic but for the sake of the conceit:
“Mac” flavored (PopOS, ZorinOS?)
“Windows” flavored (Mint?)
“Linux” flavored (Fedora?)
Edit: was not aware 1) Distro & 2) Desktop Environment are seperate/distinct. Good to learn
Hi! I’ve been seeing your questions here and I think some basic terminology and background will help you out.
I’m going to try and avoid too much “whell acktully”, but there will probably be some.
A kernel is the core of any operating system, it usually provides basic hardware support for programs to use, and in the case of Linux, hardware drivers, filesystems, low level networking protocols and other very close to the hardware support.
But a kernel can’t really do anything by itself, so we run programs on top of it. Some of these are also very low level and most people don’t deal with them or know they are there, while others are things like web browsers, video games, and whatever else you directly use every day.
For Linux, there are often multiple programs that provide the same or similar functionality, with different features and tradeoffs, at all levels of the system. With Windows or Mac, there is often only one version of the low level programs that they provide and you never know is there.
Because of all the options, different groups have put together different sets of these programs together, along with configuration files, and installer programs. These are called distros, short for distributions. Different distros make different choices for at least as many reasons as there are distros. Also in Linux, a program plus whatever files it needs are often called packages.
Since even a small distro may contain thousands of packages, management of them is very important. Most distros have a package manager program to help deal with that and the package manager is how you will install most packages, though as always there are other options. A package manager is similar in some way to an app store from Mac or windows, only not shitty.
Some distros make a lot of package choices for you, others make you make basically every choice. Most are somewhere in between. So-called beginner distros are usually ones that have made all the choices for you, and aimed those choices at being easy to use for people that have only experienced Windows or Mac.
A desktop environment is an integrated graphical interface that has a bunch of programs that all work together and have a similar look and feel. You may also hear about a window manager, which is like a very minimal desktop environment that doesn’t come with a lot of features by itself.
Different distros provide different desktop environments by default, or maybe none at all! Some make it very easy to switch from one to another, but some don’t.
Most DEs try to look like either Windows or Mac in order to feel friendlier to new users. Window managers generally don’t, as they are assumed to by used by people with a lot of experience who want something very specific and will take the time to make it happen.
Some common DEs and what they sorta look like are:
And here are some common distros and their default DEs
I hope this helps!