KateOS vs Others
From WikiDoc
This page summarizes some of the similarities and differences between KateOS and other similar distributions.
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KateOS vs Slackware
KateOS used to be based on Slackware and still shares some of its characteristics. The former Slackware users will know their way around KateOS. Also, some Slackware packages may work in KateOS, but essentially, KateOS has its own package management system which supports dependencies, package's descriptions in foreign languages (Polish descriptions are present) and supports updating the system easily with one command. Some of KateOS packages are compiled for i686, while all of Slackware packages are i486. KateOS is more up-to-date than Slackware, it also supports PAM and has its own GNOME packages. Besides dialog-based configuration utilities similar to those in Slackware, KateOS features some gtk2.0 configuration utilites and a gtk2.0 frontend to the package manager. Its installation may be easier as well thanks to the graphic installer of the LiveCD version. KateOS own tools always have Polish versions and help documents in Polish.
KateOS vs Zenwalk
Both KateOS and Zenwalk use XFce as their primary desktop environment. Zenwalk is based on Slackware whereas KateOS is an independant distribution. More packages from the current version of Slackware should work in Zenwalk, but since they are scattered in a lot of repositories and don't support dependencies, maintaining a system using such packages may become difficult. KateOS has more of its own packages that can be easily installed and updated than Zenwalk. Zenwalk has more games' packages though (see http://www.tuxgames.net/). Zenwalk install CD weighs only 300 MB, but only contains XFce and a choice of basic utilites, other packages can be only installed from the repositories. KateOS has most of its official packages avalaible in the installation ISOs as well. KateOS has better support for GNOME. The Zenwalk package management GUI called xnetpkg can only use one repository at a time and has some usability issues (if you want to update your system it presents a list of packages which can be updated and you need to drag and drop them one by one to the other list). Zenwalk features more graphic configuration tools than KateOS has and they are integrated in the Zenpanel. KateOS's installation may be easier thanks to the graphic installer of the LiveCD version.
KateOS vs Vector Linux
Both KateOS and Vector use XFce as their primary desktop environment. Unlike KateOS, Vector Linux is still based on Slackware. More packages from the current version of Slackware should work in Vector, but since they are scattered in a lot of repositories and don't support dependencies, maintaining a system using such packages may become difficult. Vector's own packages, which do dependency tracking, are few and they are updated less often than KateOS ones. Vector has an extensive system configuration utility called vasm, but since it uses xdialog it isn't really pretty. Vector uses gslapt as its package management GUI. It's a nice and reliable application, and, unlike KatePKG, it can show you a lot of information about packages (such as descriptions) which are avalaible in the repo. Vector isn't really faster than KateOS. Vector's standard edition ISO contains only XFce as a window manager, while GNOME and KDE are only present in the commercial edition ISO and there are no GNOME packages in the project's repositories. KateOS supports GNOME fully. Vector hasn't been really evolving for the last few years, while KateOS undergoes serious development and new nice tools appear. Also, Vector's kernel doesn't offer support for the USB modems used by the Polish Neostrada ISP service. KateOS's installation may be easier thanks to the graphic installer of the LiveCD version.
KateOS vs Frugalware
Both KateOS and Frugalware were initially Slackware-based, but are independent distributions now. While KateOS uses its own package's format which is an enhancement of Slackware's .tgz, Frugalware uses .fpm, which is an enhancement of Arch Linux's package format. It also uses pacman, initially coming from Arch, as its package manager. Pacman is a more advanced package manager than KateOS's updateos, but it's also way more difficult to use. Unfortunately, it lacks a really complete and reliable GUI. Frugalware has more packages than KateOS and they are more up-to-date in the current branch. The current branch packages' may prove to be unstable though and the stable branch is only updated once half a year. KateOS offers update's pace which is more suitable for an average user. Frugalware is i686-optimized, so, unlike KateOS, it won't work on some older hardware. Frugalware has an AMD64 version and all its packages also have AMD64 versions, while KateOS is x86-only. Frugalware doesn't have a LiveCD version while KateOS's LiveCD features a graphic installer which can make the installation easier.
KateOS vs Arch
Arch is essentially targeted at more advanced users (or users who are willing to spend more time configuring their system) than KateOS is. The system configuration in Arch is done solely by editing configuration files; there are no configuration utilities of any kind and the applications installed from the packages are not integrated. It's more up to the user to build a working system while KateOS mostly works out of the box. Arch's package management system is more robust than KateOS's and there are more packages avalaible. Arch is i686-optimized, so unlike KateOS, it won't work on some older hardware.
KateOS vs Xubuntu
Xubuntu is an Ubuntu version which, just like KateOS, uses XFce as its default desktop environment. Even though touted as a distribution meant to run well on older hardware, it proves to be way more bloated than KateOS. KateOS is both significantly faster and uses less RAM by default than Xubuntu, which is something that should be taken into account whenever the resources are tight. KateOS minimal requirements are most likely lower than Xubuntu's as well. On the other hand, Xubuntu is targeted more specifically towards the novice users and may prove easier to configure and manage for them than KateOS.
