Drupal 8 Distributions: What is a Distribution?
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A distribution of Drupal is a customized installation package that includes additional modules, themes, and/or other components beyond what is included in an official release of Drupal. Most distributions include a custom install profile, which automates the installation process and activates some or all of the included additional components as Drupal is being installed.
The net result is that without changing the way the end-user installs Drupal, a developer can provide a highly customized instance of Drupal that is (theoretically) ready to use for a particular purpose.
Kevin Pittman in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts (IAC) has built a Drupal 8 distribution that contains most of the components necessary to set up a Drupal 8 site with a Georgia Tech look-and-feel. As with all distributions, this one is a work in progress and therefore will be updated regularly as needed.
The current distribution components are listed below, and a copy of the IAC Drupal distribution can be downloaded by members of the Georgia Tech community from the IAC Drupal Repository. Please keep in mind that as with all open-source software, the IAC does not provide any support for this distribution, nor any guarantees about its fitness for any purpose. It is believed to be a solid implementation, but all use is at your own risk.
Members of the campus community can also find all of the individual components available through the IAC Drupal Repository. Each component's project area provides details about the component and installation instructions if they are different from the normal method of installing such a component.