Linux variations what is different other than UI

Nagarajan

7/3/24, 2:17 PM

Thanks for reading my question. could you please tell what is the reason behind why so many variations in Linux like Linux mint, fedora etc is there only UI change or the changes are in kernel Could you please tell what is the core difference and reason behind it other than to attract more no of users. Thanks

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gnome

apt

boot

users

interface

user535733

7/3/24, 2:29 PM

Welcome to AskUbuntu. See https://askubuntu.com/help/how-to-ask for some good advice on getting useful answers. The core differences boil down to different tool choices, different histories, and different organizational goals. "*[A]ttract more no of users*" is your assumed goal; question that -- it may not be true in all cases.

cocomac

7/3/24, 4:50 PM

There's a large number of distros. Some certainly have UI changes. Others, such as Arch Linux, don't include a UI by default, and you have to pick what you'd like to install (such as the base files, a kernel, a bootloader, etc). Many distros make kernel changes, and in some distros, you compile the kernel yourself, so that kernel would likely be specific to your system/preferences. Not every distro focuses on getting tons of users - some are designed for a specific task or set of tasks, and don't care much about gaining more users

guiverc

7/3/24, 10:48 PM

Personally I see all as GNU/Linux systems.. Distributions of GNU/Linux are built with a different intended audience, different intended uses etc.. but once installed you can make them all identical.. The major difference I see is from where & especially when they grab the packages from upstream.. I have four different systems here (Ubuntu of course, Debian, Fedora & OpenSuSE) but to me they're ~identical.. despite them using two different package manager tools, the *timing* of when packages are obtained from upstream packages the most significant but that's an off-topic question

guiverc

7/3/24, 10:51 PM

It does **not** attract more users, and that is not the purpose at all. Ubuntu offers many [*flavors*](https://ubuntu.com/download/flavours) as people all do different things with their machines, and find different workflows work best for them.. My install has multiple *flavor* desktops installed & I can select at login which I'll use, but that complexity will *scare* or *complicate* things for most users, so having different *flavors* is the easier option for most. The end result however is the same Ubuntu system with different GUI/UI & app choices that are efficient on that environment.

guiverc

7/3/24, 10:51 PM

Please refer https://askubuntu.com/help/on-topic, Ubuntu and *official* flavors of Ubuntu (https://ubuntu.com/download/flavours) are on-topic on this site. The on-topic link provides alternate SE sites for non-Ubuntu OSes.

Score:0

Ubuntu

raj

7/6/24, 10:28 AM

There are many differences between Linux distributions. The most important of them (but definitely not all) are:

Different purpose of each distribution. Some distributions are targeted more for servers, some for desktops. Some are tailored for particular purpose, like eg. network diagnostics and data recovery, or working with music, videos etc., and include appropriate tools. Some are very small and limited and are targeted for use in embedded devices like routers, TV set-top boxes or PVRs.
Different set of software included by default in the distribution (which is to some extent related to point 1, but not only).
As you noticed, different desktop environments installed by default (or none at all in some distros) - this also impacts point 2.
Different administration tools used to manage the system.
Different methods of installing software and obtaining software updates. The most important here is the difference between package formats used by particular distribution - there are several different formats in use. This also partially impacts point 4.

As someone noticed in the comments, after installation pretty much any distribution (except highly specialized ones, for example those for embedded devices) can be customized to look and work like pretty much any other one, except that one fundamental difference stated in point 5. For example, you can make Fedora look and behave like Ubuntu and use similar tools, but Fedora will always use RPM format for installing software and Ubuntu will always use the DEB format (or Snap, as Canonical pushes more and more towards that format, which I don't like personally).

This is only a very brief answer, there are much more aspects to this.

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