Hi all - I am learning about Linux and want to see if my understanding is correct on this - the list of major parts of any distro:

  1. the Linux Kernel
  2. GRUB or another bootloader
  3. one or more file systems (gotta work with files somehow, right?)
  4. one or more Shells (the terminal - bash, zsh, etc…)
  5. a Desktop Environment (the GUI, if included, like KDE or Gnome - does this include X11 or Wayland or are those separate from the DE?)
  6. a bunch of Default applications and daemons (is this where systemd fits int? I know about the GNU tools, SAMBA, CUPS, etc…)
  7. a Package Manager (apt, pacman, etc…)

Am I forgetting anything at this 50,000 foot level? I know there are lots of other things we can add, but what are the most important things that ALL Linux distributions include?

Thanks!

  • @[email protected]
    0•1 year ago

    Package manager needs to be higher since Linux distros are software distribution projects mainly.

    1. Package manager
    2. Config tools
    3. Config defaults
    4. Kernel
    5. Init process
    6. Software
      • @[email protected]
        0•1 year ago

        What are we ranking? The boot order of computers?

        Of the 3 you listed, the init is only important to a few distros.

        Also you forgot this is Linux and the initramfs.