Software distro

Usage

A software distro is a set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its intended purposed.

The term, which is a shortened form of "distribution" became popular as a way to describe packagings of open source software such as the Berkeley Software Distribution, and later Linux packagings, which could be freely redistributed without commercial restrictions.

In recent years, the term has come to refer to nearly any "finished" software (i.e. something that is more or less ready for its intended use, whether as a complete system or a component of a larger system) that is assembled primarily from open source components.

Examples

Examples of software distros include:

• Linux operating system packagings such as Suse Linux, Debian Linux or Fedora (Linux distribution).
• Application servers such as JBoss or Apache Geronimo
• The Eclipse Europa release of software development tools
• The PostgreSQL relational database

Distro Support

Technical support is a key issue for end-users of distributions, since the distribution itself is typically free and may not be "owned" in a commercial sense by a vendor. Depending on the distribution, support may be provided by a commercial support vendor, the developers who created the distribution or by the user community itself.