Puppy Differences
Comparison 1
1.x series, or Original Puppy, still available to support really old hardware that must have the 2.4.x.x series kernel.
king for new and innovative ways of putting mainstream Puppy together. Their successful innovations occasionally find their way into Woof so other releases can use them.
Comparison 2
Differences between Puppy 1 and 2 series
Puppy 1 uses an earlier Linux kernel and may offer better support for some older hardware. In Puppy 2 you will find increased speed, more powerful applications such as Inkscape and Gparted, and the Universal Installer. Puppy hardware recognition is now rivalling that of Knoppix and has surpassed XP for older equipment. Puppy 1.09CE was the last in the 1 series.
2.x series
This was originally compiled from source in T2, back in 2006. The last official release in this series was 2.17.1, but there were other branches by Dougal and more recently by ttuuxxx. So, this series is still alive and used by people. Why use it? -- some people with old hardware find the older Linux kernel works for them. They may also like the particular applications, features and smaller size of the 2-series.
3.x series
This series was based on Slackware 12.2 packages. It is also continuing to be used by some people who like the Slackware compatibility. MU has continued a branch of this series.
3.x also supported GTK1 and TK, both of which were dropped in Puppy 4.x. Some of the internal scripts had some major changes too.
4.x series
This was compiled in T2 in November 2007. The last official release from me was 412, and WhoDo coordinated 420 and 421. So 421 is the most recent.
I have stepped back in temporarily to develop the next release in this series, mostly because it is now based on Woof (a new system for building puppies from packages from different distros, including earlier puppies) and Woof is evolving and I'm the guy who knows most about Woof.
I am releasing alphas numbered 413, 414, 415, 416 etc., simply for convenience. These are unused version numbers. For the final, it will be numbered 430.
What made ver 4.x so different from ver 3.x so as to create a new series?
For 4.x, everything was recompiled from scratch with T2, using a significantly different set of options and versions of base libraries. Also, 3.x was binary compatible with Slackware. 4.x was not. (Not the same as guaranteeing that binaries from Slackware would or would not work in 3.x and 4.x, just impacts the likelihood).
Comparison 3
Puppy 1.x "Original" series - Original Puppy based on the 2.4.x.x series kernel for older machines that can't use the later 2.6.x.x series kernel. Most recent release 1.09CE is still available and some devotees have only recently moved over to 4.x series.Puppy 2.x "Classic" series - latest version Puppy Classic 2.14x is based on the 2.6.x.x kernel but is designed to run on older hardware while offering the most recent compatible applications.
Puppy 5.x "Woof" series - 2.6.33.X kernel. Built entirely from Woof build system using a choice of packages from other distros or T2. Lucid Puppy (Lupu) uses the very latest Ubuntu packages but is still Puppy. Dpup uses the latest Debian packages, but is still Puppy.
Quirky and Wary
Quirky and Wary are experimental releases for those who want to contribute to the development of the next generation Puppy, with any new and compatible ideas being rolled into mainstream development through the Woof build system all the time. Barry is releasing these to broaden the pool of developers testing the innovations and to widen his perspective on what Puppy Nextgen should become.Quirky and Wary are T2 experimental versions from Barry looDifferences between Puppy 1 and 2 series
Puppy 1 uses an earlier Linux kernel and may offer better support for some older hardware. In Puppy 2 you will find increased speed, more powerful applications such as Inkscape and Gparted, and the Universal Installer. Puppy hardware recognition is now rivalling that of Knoppix and has surpassed XP for older equipment. Puppy 1.09CE was the last in the 1 series.
Derivatives
Grafpup was a fork of 2.x series designed for those with highly specific graphics development needs. Not currently in development, although developer Nathan Fisher (NathanF) still drops by the Puppy forum occasionally.Puppeee is Jemimah's fork of 4.x series designed to operate specifically on Asus EeePC notebooks with possible wider netbook support in the future.
Macpup, in both Foxy and Opera versions, will likely become a fork of 4.x series designed to run the E17 window manager, especially for those who like eye-candy and flashy graphics.
Others are working on derivatives supporting Xfce, Fluxbox and other window managers.
