Linux for Dummies

Introducing Linux
What Is Linux?
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Nowadays, if the minor version number is 0, it's simply dropped -- as in
Fedora Core 4 and Fedora Core 5. Unlike with the Linux kernel version num-
bers, no special meaning is associated with odd- and even-numbered minor
versions. Each version of a Linux distribution includes specific versions of
the Linux kernel and other major components, such as GNOME, KDE, and
various applications.
The developers of active Linux distributions usually release new versions of
their distribution on a regular basis -- every six to nine months or so. For
example, SUSE Linux 9.0 was released in October 2003; 9.1 was released in
April 2004; 9.2 came out in October 2004; 9.3 was released in April 2005; and
SUSE Linux 10.0 made its debut in October 2005. Typically, each new major
version of a Linux distribution provides significant new features.
Debian always has at least three releases at any time -- stable, unstable, and
testing.
Stable: Most users prefer this type of release because it is the latest offi-
cially released distribution.
Unstable: This indicates that developers are working on this release.
Testing: The release contains packages that have gone through some
testing but are not ready for inclusion in the stable release yet.
Linux Standard Base (LSB)
Linux has become important enough that there is a standard for Linux called
the Linux Standard Base (or LSB, for short). LSB is a set of binary standards
that should help reduce variations among the Linux distributions and pro-
mote portability of applications. The idea behind LSB is to provide applica-
tion binary interface (ABI) so that software applications can run on any Linux
(or other UNIX) systems that conform to the LSB standard. The LSB specifica-
tion references the POSIX standards as well as many other standards such as
the C and C++ programming language standards, the X Window System ver-
sion 11 release 6 (X11R6), and the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS). LSB
version 1.2 (commonly referred to as LSB 1.2) was released on June 28, 2002.
LSB 1.3 came out in January 2003, LSB 2.0 on August 30, 2004, LSB 3.0 on July
1, 2005, and LSB 3.1 was released on October 31, 2005.
The LSB specification is organized into two parts -- a common specification
that remains the same across all types of processors and a set of hardware-
specific specifications, one for each type of processor architecture. For
example, LSB 1.2 has architecture-specific specifications for Intel 32-bit
(IA32) and PowerPC 32-bit (PPC32) processors. LSB 1.3 adds a specification
for the Intel 64-bit (IA64) architecture and IBM zSeries 31-bit (S390) and 64-
bit (S390X) processors, in addition to the ones for IA32 and PPC32. LSB 2.0