[ Thanks to dhalley for this link.
]
“Whether you are new to Linux and asking “Which
Distribution should I use?”, or if you have been using Linux for
years and want to see what the other distributions offer, this
article highlights the differences between the major Linux
Distributions. For those new to Linux, we will also try to fill you
in as to what makes a good Linux distribution and what sets each
distribution apart.“For starters, the Linux Operating System is different than
proprietary Operating Systems, such as Microsoft Windows. Linux has
a community based development model where many people,
organizations and businesses jointly develop the software. With
this style of development, there is no one entity that controls
everything, but because of this, it is quite difficult to build a
coherent system that will run on personal computers. This is where
distributions come in.“Distributions are complete Linux Systems that are built by
companies or organizations to aid in the support and installation
of the Linux Operating System. Distributions take care of all of
the rudimentary tasks of building the system, such as building and
testing the software, providing technical support and to provide
security updates and bug fixes, etc.“There are all types of distributions available, from ones that
are very user friendly to advanced ones that allow you to build
your system from the source code. This article covers the four most
popular Linux distributions available today; Mandriva Linux, Ubuntu
Linux, Fedora Linux and openSUSE Linux.”