Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Yes, most Linux distributions are forks.

Author:Brett Glass
Posted:8/24/2000; 9:36:44 PM
Topic:Next survey: Are you an open source developer?
Msg #:20153 (In response to 20149)
Prev/Next:20152 / 20154

Because the Linux kernel is modular, distributions that include different drivers (Red Hat, for example, has many unique ones) are forks of the kernel. You won't load the same drivers, and hence won't "assemble" the same kernel at boot time, if you run a different distribution. So, yes -- the Linux kernel itself has forked.

The reason why this is done via modules is because of the particular version of the GPL under which Linux is licensed. While the vendors must share their changes to the static part of the kernel, they can fork it via loadable modules, and so they do. And they do it this way specifically because of the license.

--Brett Glass

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