What is a distro? Detailed analysis

The article tells about what a distribution is, what it is needed for, what kinds of it are, in particular, the features of creating a distribution of its own.

Computer techologies

Every year digital technologiesare improved, and what a decade ago seemed like a fantasy, nowadays it is being realized. Let sometimes and in the form of individual prototypes, and not always successful. But it was not always so, and older people remember the times when not everyone could afford a computer. And about the Internet and say nothing - it was very slow, expensive, the connection was often interrupted, swing gigabytes of information, as now, it was simply impossible. At that time almost all programs, operating systems and other software were distributed only on disks and floppy disks. But in our time, wide access to the Internet has greatly reduced the value and use of removable media and even generated such a phenomenon as digital distributions. So what is a distro, what can it be and what is it for? We will talk about this.

Definition

The very word, like many others from the computerworld, came to us from the English language and in the original sounds like a distribute - "distribute". Over time, this expression has become firmly rooted in the majority of PC users and other systems. But what is a distro?

A distribution is a collection of files andother information, which is integrated into software distribution. Depending on the system, software and other things can include additional software for automatic installation, which requires minimal user participation, or be provided in a "bare" form for setting a more detailed and deep.

Appointment

The meaning of the distribution is that when installed on athe target computer or other device, only the necessary files were installed, the corresponding entries in the registry, startup were added, in short, everything was done to make the program or the operating system work correctly. So we sorted out what the distribution is. Usually this helps the so-called installer, which has elements of the graphical interface and facilitates the installation process on the computer. And besides this, various local scale settings (language, time zone, etc.) are configured (or provided at the user's choice). True, such functions are supported not by any distribution. What this word means, we now know.

Process

Almost all programs or distributionsare provided in a compressed form and unpacked on the end user's computer during installation. After the installer starts, it is unpacked to the hard disk, integrated into the file system hierarchy, tests are performed to ensure compatibility with the system and search for compatible or incompatible software. The latter are usually dealt with by antiviruses that "do not like" to share space on PCs with other similar programs. Also, the system is configured to work correctly with the new software or operating system, different conflict probabilities and much more are checked. So now we know what the distribution program is.

But usually all this is not the usercomputer, and a special installer, which is distributed with the distribution and automates most of the work. Probably, it is most conveniently arranged in operating systems of the Windows family. But in addition to a set of different software to work in an already ready OS, most often under the word "distroutiv" mean exactly the operating system that is ready for installation.

What is a Windows distribution?

According to many polls and statistics, thisThe operating system is most common on the computer market. There are many reasons for this, starting with a friendly interface that is designed for "housewives", and conducting an aggressive advertising campaign in the 90s of last century.

And the Windows distribution is a laser, hard ora solid-state drive of information on which OS files are stored, provided with a convenient installer. The latter, in turn, independently conducts a lot of complex actions, helps determine compatibility with the computer and generally installs the operating system on a "bare" computer, where nothing is yet. During installation, there are also many large and small settings, for example, the definition of compatible hardware, hard disk layout, preinstallation of basic and universal drivers, and much more.

Creating your own distribution

Yes, this is also possible. And for this it is not necessary to have the skills of programming, development and other things. True, recently under the "own" distribution they often mean the banal assembly of the OS, which differs from the original only in external design, the presence of certain preinstalled programs and other trivialities. But first things first.

It is possible to create your own distribution using the Linux kernel. This process is not very complicated, but for this you need to have at least some knowledge in the field of this OS.

If we talk about Windows, everything is wrong herejust. The source code of this OS is closed for editing and viewing, which means that it will not work out all the way to a cog, say. However, you can make your own build using special programs, which will include the preinstalled programs you need, drivers, design, and so on.