The article talks about what a distribution is, why it is needed, what its types are, in particular, it discusses the features of creating your own distribution kit.
Computer techologies
Every year, digital technologies are being improved, and what a dozen years ago seemed fantastic, nowadays comes to life. Let sometimes in the form of single prototypes, and not always successful. But this was not always the case, and older people remember the times when not everyone could afford a computer. And there’s nothing to talk about the Internet - it was very slow, expensive, the connection was often disconnected, it was simply impossible to download gigabytes of information, as it is now. In those days, almost all programs, operating systems and other software were distributed only on disks and diskettes. But in our time, widespread access to the Internet has greatly reduced the value and use of removable storage media and even spawned the phenomenon of digital distributions. So what is a distribution, what can it be and what is it for? We’ll talk about this.
Definition
The word itself, like many others from the computer world, came to us from the English language and in the original sounds like distribute - “distribute”. Over time, this expression firmly entered into the everyday life of most users of PCs and other systems. But what is a distribution?
A distribution is a collection of files and other information that is comprehensively used to distribute software. Depending on the system, software, and other things, it may include additional software for automatic installation, which requires minimal user participation, or may be provided in a “bare” form to configure more detailed and deep.
Appointment
The meaning of the distribution is that when installing on the destination computer or other device only the necessary files are installed, the corresponding entries in the registry, startup are added, in a word, everything is done so that the program or operating system works correctly. So we figured out what a distribution is. Usually, the so-called installer helps with this, which has elements of a graphical interface and facilitates the installation process on a computer. And besides this, various local-scale settings are configured (or provided at the user's choice) - language, time zone, and more. True, such features are not supported by any distribution. What does this word mean, we now know.
Process
Almost all programs or distributions are provided in compressed form and are unpacked to the end-user computer during installation. After starting the installer, they are unpacked to the hard drive, embedded in the file system hierarchy, tests are carried out for compatibility with the system and search for compatible or incompatible software. The latter is usually dealt with by antiviruses that “do not like” to share space on a PC with other similar programs. Also, the system is configured to work correctly with the new software or operating system, it checks various probabilities of conflicts and much more. So now we know what the distribution of the program is.
But usually this is not done by a computer user, but by a special installer, which is distributed with the distribution kit and automates most of the work. This is probably most conveniently organized in the operating systems of the Windows family. But in addition to a set of different software for working in an already finished OS, most often the word “distribution” means the operating system that is ready for installation.
What is a Windows distribution?
According to many polls and statistics, this operating system is the most common in the computer market. There are many reasons for this, starting from a friendly interface that is designed for “housewives” and conducting an aggressive advertising campaign in the 90s of the last century.
And the Windows distribution kit is a laser, hard or solid-state drive of information on which OS files equipped with a convenient installer are recorded. The latter, in turn, independently performs many complex actions, helps determine compatibility with a computer, and generally installs the operating system on a “bare” computer, where there is nothing else. During installation, many large and small settings are also made, for example, determining compatible hardware, marking up the hard disk, preinstalling basic and universal drivers, and much more.
Create your own distribution
Yes, this is also possible. And for this it is not necessary to have programming, development and other skills. True, recently, by “their” distribution they often began to mean a trivial assembly of the OS, which differs from the original only in its external design, the presence of certain pre-installed programs and other little things. But first things first.
You can fully create your distribution using the Linux kernel. This process is not particularly difficult, but for this you need to have at least some knowledge in the field of this OS.
If we talk about Windows, then everything is not so simple. The source code of this OS is closed for editing and viewing, which means that it will not work out all, conditionally speaking, to the screw. However, with the help of special programs, you can make your own assembly, which will include the preinstalled programs, drivers, design, and so on.