- Comparison of Linux distributions
-
Technical variations of Linux distributions include support for different hardware devices and systems or software package configurations. Organizational differences may be motivated by historical reasons. Other criteria include security, including how quickly security upgrades are available; ease of package management; and number of packages available.
These tables compare each noteworthy distribution's latest stable release on wide-ranging objective criteria. It does not cover each operating system's subjective merits, branches marked as unstable or beta, nor compare Linux distributions with other operating systems.
Contents
General
Basic general information about the distributions: creator or producer, release date and latest version, and so forth.
Distribution Creator Producer First public release Base distribution Latest release date Purpose 64 Studio Daniel James and Free Ekanayaka 64 Studio Ltd. 2005 Debian 2008 multimedia Alinex Alinex Team and University of Évora Alinex Team and University of Évora 2005 Ubuntu 2008 general aLinux Jay Klepacs Jay Klepacs 2001 Red Hat Linux 2010 desktop Alpine Linux Alpine Linux Team Alpine Linux Team 2006 none 2011 network ALT Linux ALT Linux Team ALT Linux Team / ALT Linux LLC 2001 Mandriva Linux 2011 general, school Annvix Vincent Danen Vincent Danen 2003 Mandriva Linux 2007 server Arch Linux Judd Vinet dev team 2002 none 2011/Rolling general Ark Linux Bernhard Rosenkränzer dev team 2003 none 2008 desktop Asianux Red Flag Linux, Miracle Linux, Haansoft Linux dev team 2004 RHEL 2007 server, workstation BackTrack Max Moser, Mati Aharoni, and Martin J. Muench Remote-Exploit 2006 Debian 2011 auditing BLAG Linux and GNU Brixton Linux Action Group Brixton Linux Action Group 2002 Fedora 2011 desktop Bharat Operating System Solutions C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) 2007 Debian 2011 general, server, education, netbooks, live Caixa Mágica Daniel Neves, José Guimarães, Paulo Trezentos Caixa Mágica Software 2000 Mandriva Linux 2009 general CentOS CentOS Project CentOS Project 2003 RHEL 2011 server, workstation Google Chrome OS Google Google 2009 Gentoo Latest Stable 0.11.257.44 (Beta) / April 14, 2011 netbooks ClearOS Peter Baldwin ClearFoundation 2000 CentOS 2010 server, gateway, network CrunchBang Linux Philip Newborough Philip Newborough 2008 Debian 2011 desktop CRUX Per Liden CRUX Linux community 2001 none 2010 general Damn Small Linux John Andrews dev team 2003 Knoppix 2008 portable, lightweight Debian Ian Murdock Debian Project 1993 none 2011 general DeLi Linux Henry Jensen Henry Jensen 2002 none 2008 desktop dyne:bolic Jaromil Jaromil 2001 none 2007 multimedia EasyPeasy Jon Ramvi, EasyPeasy community Jon Ramvi, EasyPeasy community 2008 Ubuntu 2010 netbooks ELinOS SYSGO SYSGO 1999 none 2010 embedded systems Elive Thanatermesis Thanatermesis 2005 Debian 2010 desktop EnGarde Secure Linux Guardian Digital, Inc. Guardian Digital, Inc. 2001 none 2008 server Fedora Fedora Project Fedora Project 2003 Red Hat Linux 2011 general Finnix Ryan Finnie Ryan Finnie 2000 Debian 2011 maintenance Foresight Linux Ken VanDine dev team 2004 rPath 2009/Rolling general Freespire Lindows.com, Inc. Linspire, Inc. 2002 Debian 2007 desktop Frugalware Miklos Vajna dev team 2004 Slackware 2011/Rolling general Gentoo Linux Daniel Robbins Gentoo Foundation, Inc. 2002 none 2011/Rolling general gNewSense Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley dev team 2006 Ubuntu 2009 desktop Gnoppix Klaus Knopper dev team 2005 Knoppix 2005 live gnuLinEx Regional Government of Extremadura dev team 2002 Debian 2006 desktop GoboLinux Hisham Muhammad, Andre Detsch dev team 2002 none 2008 desktop gOS Good OS LLC Good OS LLC 2007 Ubuntu 2009 desktop Impi Linux Gauteng Linux Users Group Impi Linux (Pty) Ltd. 2003 Debian 2006 desktop Kanotix Jörg Schirottke (Kano) dev team 2003 Debian, Knoppix 2010 desktop, live KateOS KateOS Team KateOS Team 2004 Slackware 2007 desktop Knoppix Klaus Knopper dev team 2003 Debian 2010 live KnoppMyth Cecil Watson dev team 2004 Debian, Knoppix 2009 desktop, live Kuki Linux João Ferro kuki bakers 2008 Ubuntu 2009 netbooks Kurumin Carlos Morimoto GuiadoHardware 2003 Knoppix 2008 desktop, live Linspire Lindows.com, Inc. Linspire, Inc. 2002 Ubuntu 2007 desktop Linux Mint Clement Lefebvre dev team 2006 Ubuntu, Debian 2011 desktop Lunar Linux Chuck Mead, Lunar Penguin Project Foo-Projects.org 2002 Sorcerer 2007 general Mageia Mageia Community mageia.org 2010 Mandriva Linux 2011 general Mandriva Linux Mandrakesoft S.A. Mandriva S.A. 1998 Red Hat Linux 2010 general MEPIS Warren Woodford MEPIS LLC 2003 Debian 2010 desktop, server, embedded Micro Core Linux Robert Shingledecker Team Tiny Core 2009 Tiny Core Linux 2011 portable MintPPC Jeroen Diederen Jeroen Diederen 2010 Debian 2011 desktop MontaVista Linux MontaVista Software MontaVista Software 1999 Debian 2007 embedded Musix GNU/Linux Marcos Guglielmetti dev team 2008 Knoppix, Kanotix, Debian 2009 audio Network Security Toolkit Ronald W. Henderson, Paul Blankenbaker dev team 2003 Fedora 2011 network, security NimbleX Bogdan Radulescu Bogdan Radulescu 2005 Slackware 2008 desktop Nitix Net Integration Technologies, Inc. Net Integration Technologies, Inc. 2001 none 2007 server Novell Open Enterprise Server Novell Novell, Inc. dev team 2003 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 2009 server openSUSE SUSE Linux / Novell Novell, Inc. and openSUSE Project 1994 SUSE Linux 2011 general OpenWrt ? OpenWrt team 2007 none 2010 embedded Oracle Enterprise Linux Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation 2006 RHEL 2009 server Pardus TUBITAK TUBITAK 2005 none 2011 general Parsix Alan Baghumian Parsix Project 2005 Debian 2011 desktop PCLinuxOS Bill Reynolds dev team 2003 PCLinuxOS 2010 desktop Pentoo Michael Zanetta, Rick Farina, Jens Pranaitis Pentoo 2005 Gentoo 2009 auditing, security Puppy Linux Barry Kauler Puppy Foundation 2003 none 2010 portable, lightweight Puredyne Aymeric Mansoux GOTO10, Puredyne Team 2005 Ubuntu, Debian 2010 art, design, audio, multimedia Red Flag Linux Institute of Software, Chinese Academy of Sciences, NewMargin Venture Capital Red Flag Software Co., Ltd. 1999 Red Hat Linux 2009 general Red Hat Enterprise Linux Red Hat Red Hat 2002 Red Hat Linux/Fedora 2011 server, workstation Red Hat Linux Red Hat Red Hat 1995 none 2003 server, workstation Rocks Cluster Distribution UCSD Supercomputing Center, Clustercorp UCSD Supercomputing Center, Clustercorp 2000 Red Hat Linux 2009 server, workstation Rxart Pixart SRL Pixart SRL 2000 Debian 2006 general Sabayon Linux lxnay Design dev team 2005 Gentoo 2010/Rolling desktop Scientific Linux CERN, Fermilab dev team 2004 Red Hat Linux/Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2011 science SHR Bobby Martin SHR community 2008 OpenEmbedded Rolling portable sidux sidux team sidux team 2007 Debian Sid 2009 desktop Slackware Patrick Volkerding dev team 1993 Softlanding Linux System 2011 general Slax Tomas Matejicek Tomas Matejicek 2002 Slackware 2009 live SliTaz GNU/Linux Christophe Lincoln dev team 2008 none 2010 portable Source Mage GNU/Linux Ryan Abrams, Eric Schabell dev team 2002 Sorcerer 2009 general Super OS hacktolive hacktolive 2008 Debian/Ubuntu 2011 general, offline use SUSE Linux SUSE Linux / Novell Novell, Inc. dev team 1994 Slackware, Jurix 2010 workstation, server Symphony OS Ryan Quinn Ryan Quinn and Jason Spisak 2005 Debian 2008 desktop SYS W.Landgraf W.Landgraf 2007 Slackware 2010 general Tiny Core Linux Robert Shingledecker Team Tiny Core 2009 none 2011 portable Tor-ramdisk Anthony G. Basile dev team 2008 Gentoo Embedded, uClibc[1] 2011 Tor server Trustix Comodo Group, Inc. Comodo Group, Inc. 2000 Red Hat Linux 2007 server Ubuntu Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2004 Debian 2011 general Kubuntu Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2005 Debian 2011 desktop Xubuntu Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2006 Debian 2011 desktop Edubuntu Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2005 Debian 2011 computer lab Gobuntu Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2007 Debian 2008 desktop Ubuntu Studio Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2007 Debian 2011 multimedia Ututo Diego Saravia, Daniel Olivera UTUTO dev team 2000 Gentoo Linux 2009 general VectorLinux Robert S. Lange dev team 1999 Slackware 2009 desktop Vanillux Vanillux Foundation dev team 2011 Debian 2011 desktop Wolvix Wolven Wolven 2007 Slackware 2009 desktop Xandros Xandros Corp. Xandros, Inc. 2002 Corel Linux 2007 desktop XBMC The XBMC Project Team-XBMC 2008 Ubuntu 2011 multimedia Yellow Dog Linux Terra Soft Solutions Fixstars Solutions 1999 Fedora, CentOS 2009 general Yoper Andreas Giradet The Yoper Team 2003 none 2010 general Zenwalk Jean-Philippe Guillemin dev team 2004 Slackware 2011 general Distribution Creator Producer First public release Base distribution Latest release date Purpose Cost
The following distributions are available for free (without cost): aLinux, Alpine Linux, ALT Linux, Annvix, Arch Linux, Ark Linux, Asianux, BLAG Linux and GNU, Bodhi Linux, Caixa Mágica, CentOS, CRUX, Damn Small Linux, Debian, DeLi Linux, Devil-Linux, dyne:bolic, EasyPeasy, Edubuntu, Elive, EnGarde Secure Linux, Fedora, Finnix, Foresight Linux, Freespire, Frugalware, Gentoo, gNewSense, gnuLinEx, GoboLinux, Gobuntu, Impi Linux, Kanotix, Knoppix, KnoppMyth, Kubuntu, Kurumin, Linux Mint, Lunar Linux, Micro Core Linux, Mageia. MintPPC, Musix GNU/Linux, Network Security Toolkit, NimbleX, NUbuntu, openSUSE, Pardus, Parsix, PCLinuxOS, Puppy Linux, Sabayon Linux, Scientific Linux, sidux, Slackware, Slax, SliTaz GNU/Linux, Source Mage GNU/Linux, Symphony OS, SYS, Tiny Core Linux, Tor-ramdisk, Trustix, Ubuntu, Ututo, Super OS, Xubuntu, XBMC Live, Yoper, Zenwalk and OpenWrt.
The following distributions have several editions, some of which are without cost and some of which do cost money: ClearOS, Mandriva Linux, MEPIS and Red Flag Linux.
The following distributions cost money: Novell Open Enterprise Server,[2] Red Hat Enterprise Linux,[3][4] Rxart,[5] SUSE Linux Enterprise,[6]
The following distribution had at least one version that used to cost money: Caixa Mágica (now freely-available), Elive (now freely-available), Xandros (discontinued), Linspire[7] (discontinued)
Technical
The following table shows the default file system, but many Linux distributions support some or all of ext2, ext3, ext4, ReiserFS, Reiser4, JFS, XFS, GFS, GFS2, OCFS, OCFS2, and NILFS. It is possible to install Linux onto the majority of these file systems. The ext file systems, namely ext2, ext3, and ext4 are based on the original Linux file system. File systems have been developed by companies to meet their specific needs, and by hobbyists, or adapted from UNIX, Microsoft Windows, and other operating systems. Linux has full support for XFS and JFS, along with FAT (the MS-DOS file system), and HFS which is the primary file system for the Macintosh. Support for Microsoft Windows NT's NTFS file system has appeared, and is now comparable to the support available for other native Unix file systems. CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs' ISO 9660 and Universal Disk Format (UDF) are supported. Unlike other operating systems, Linux and UNIX allow any file system to be used regardless of the medium it is stored on, whether that medium is a magnetic disk, an optical disk (CD, DVD, etc.), a USB flash memory key, or even contained within a file located on another file system.
Similarly, many C-compilers (mainly GCC), desktop environments and window managers are widely supported.
Distribution Default file system Install-time desktop environment or window manager selection 64 Studio ? GNOME Alinex ext3 GNOME aLinux none KDE Plasma Workspaces ALT Linux ext3 KDE Plasma Workspaces, Xfce Annvix none ? aptosid ext3 KDE Plasma Workspaces Arch Linux none[8] none Ark Linux JFS[9] KDE Plasma Workspaces Asianux ext3 K Desktop Environment 3 BackTrack ext3 KDE Plasma Workspaces BLAG Linux and GNU ext3 GNOME Caixa Mágica ? ? CentOS ext3 GNOME ClearOS ext3 GNOME CrunchBang Linux ext3 Openbox or Xfce CRUX none Openbox Damn Small Linux ext3 JWM Debian ext4 GNOME, KDE, Xfce, LXDE[10] DeLi Linux ext3/ext2 IceWM Dreamlinux ext3[11] Xfce dyne:bolic SquashFS, ext3 Xfce EasyPeasy ext3 GNOME, Ubuntu Netbook Edition Elive SquashFS, ReiserFS Enlightenment EnGarde Secure Linux ext3 none Fedora ext4 GNOME Finnix SquashFS none Foresight Linux ext3 GNOME Frugalware none KDE Plasma Workspaces Gentoo none KDE Plasma Workspaces (Live CD) gnuLinEx ext2 GNOME GoboLinux ReiserFS KDE Plasma Workspaces gNewSense ext3 GNOME Impi Linux ? KDE Plasma Workspaces KateOS ? Xfce Kanotix ext3 KDE Plasma Workspaces Knoppix XFS LXDE Kurumin ext3 KDE Plasma Workspaces Linspire ReiserFS K Desktop Environment 3 Linux Mint[12] ext4 GNOME Lunar Linux none none Mageia ext4 KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME Mandriva Linux ext4 KDE Plasma Workspaces MEPIS ext3, ext4 KDE Plasma Workspaces MintPPC ext3, ext4 LXDE Musix GNU/Linux ? IceWM Network Security Toolkit ext4 GNOME, Fluxbox NimbleX SquashFS KDE Plasma Workspaces Nitix ReiserFS none openSUSE ext4 KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME, Xfce OpenWrt mini_fo+SquashFS/JFFS2[13] None Pardus ext4 KDE Plasma Workspaces Parsix ext4 GNOME PCLinuxOS none KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME, LXDE, Xfce, Enlightenment, Openbox Pentoo SquashFS Enlightenment Puppy Linux SquashFS containing ext2 JWM Red Flag Linux ext3 K Desktop Environment 3 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ext4 [14] GNOME Rxart Desktop ext3 KDE Plasma Workspaces Sabayon Linux ext4[15] KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME Scientific Linux ext3 GNOME SHR ext3, JFFS2, UBIFS Enlightenment's Illume 2 Slackware ext4 KDE Plasma Workspaces, Xfce, Fluxbox, Blackbox, TWM Slax SquashFS KDE Plasma Workspaces SliTaz GNU/Linux ext3 Openbox Source Mage GNU/Linux ext2 none Super OS ext4 Unity with fallback to GNOME 2.x SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop ext3 GNOME Symphony OS ReiserFS Mezzo SYS ext3 KDE SC, GNOME, Xfce (selectable in kdm) Tor-ramdisk ext2 none Ubuntu/Edubuntu ext4 [16] Unity on top of GNOME, Unity 2D for fallback Kubuntu ext4[16] KDE Plasma Workspaces Xubuntu ext4[16] Xfce Ututo ext3 GNOME VectorLinux ReiserFS Fluxbox, IceWM, Xfce Wolvix ext3 XFCE, OpenBox Xandros Desktop OS ReiserFS K Desktop Environment 3 XBMC Live ext3 XBMC Media Center Yellow Dog Linux ? Enlightenment Yoper ext3 KDE SC Zenwalk ext4 Xfce Distribution Default file system Install-time desktop environment or window manager selection Architecture support
Distribution IA-32 x86-64 IA-64 ppc ppc64 sparc32 sparc64 arm hppa mips sh s390 s390x alpha 64 Studio Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No aLinux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Alinex Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No ALT Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Annvix Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Arch Linux Yes Yes No Yes[17] No No No Yes[18] No No No No No No Ark Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Asianux Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No BackTrack Yes Yes No No No No No Yes No No No No No No BLAG Linux and GNU Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Bodhi Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Caixa Mágica Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No CentOS Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes ClearOS Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No CrunchBang Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No CRUX Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No No No No No Damn Small Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Debian[19] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[20] Yes Yes Yes Yes Unofficial Yes Yes Yes DeLi Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No dyne:bolic Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Elive Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No EnGarde Secure Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Fedora[21] Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes[22] Yes[23] No No No No No No Finnix Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No Foresight Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Frugalware Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No No No No No Gentoo Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[24] Yes Yes[25][26] Yes Yes Yes Yes gnuLinEx Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No GoboLinux[27] Yes No No No No No No Yes No No No No No No Impi Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Kanotix Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Knoppix Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Kurumin Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Linspire Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Linux Mint Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Lunar Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Mageia Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Mandriva Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No MEPIS Yes Yes No No No No No Yes No No No No No No MintPPC No No No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No Musix GNU/Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Network Security Toolkit Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No NimbleX Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Nitix Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No OES2-Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No Yes No No openSUSE[28] Yes Yes No No No No partial[29] No No No No No No No OpenWrt[30] Yes No No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No No Oracle Enterprise Linux[31] Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No Pardus Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Parsix Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No PCLinuxOS Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Pentoo Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Puppy Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Red Flag Linux Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No Red Hat Enterprise Linux[32] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No[33] Yes No Rxart Desktop Yes No Yes No No No No No No No No No No No Sabayon Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Scientific Linux Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No SHR No No No No No No No Yes No No No No No No sidux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Slackware Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes No No No Yes Yes No Slax Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No SliTaz GNU/Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Source Mage GNU/Linux Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No No No No No Super OS Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No SUSE Linux Enterprise Server [34] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No Yes No Symphony OS Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No SYS Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Tiny & Micro Core Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No Tor-ramdisk Yes Yes[35] No No No No No No No Yes[36] No No No No Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu/Lubuntu Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No No No Ututo Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No VectorLinux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Xandros Desktop OS Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No XBMC Yes No No No No No No Yes No No No No No No Yellow Dog Linux No No No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No Yoper Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Zenwalk Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Distribution x86 x86-64 IA-64 ppc ppc64 sparc32 sparc64 arm hppa mips sh s390 s390x alpha Package management and installation
Information on features in the distributions. Package numbers are only approximate.
Distribution Approximate number of pre-compiled packages Approximate number of source packages Default package management tools Package Format Default installer Graphical installation procedure Alinex 20300 APT .deb Yes aLinux 1200 RPM RPM No ALT Linux 8300[37] APT (APT-RPM), RPM RPM Yes Annvix APT, RPM RPM Arch Linux 6000[38] ABS: 6000, AUR: 31000 [39] Pacman .pkg.tar.xz AIF No Ark Linux 4000 RPM, APT RPM Yes Asianux mlupdater, RPM RPM Yes BLAG 10000 [40] RPM, yum, APT RPM Yes Caixa Mágica 16000 urpmi, APT (APT-RPM) RPM Yes CentOS 1660 RPM, yum/up2date RPM Yes ClearOS RPM, yum RPM No CrunchBang Linux 23000 APT .deb Yes CRUX 1155 pkgutils tgz No Damn Small Linux 610 myDSL, APT .dsl, .tar.gz, .uci, .unc, .deb No Debian 29050[41] 14975 APT .deb Debian-Installer Yes DeLi Linux 150 No Dreamlinux 23000 APT .deb Yes dyne:bolic none none Yes Elive 20000 APT .deb Yes EnGarde Secure Linux 500 RPM, APT RPM Fedora 22000 yum,, PackageKit RPM Anaconda Yes Finnix 350 APT .deb No Foresight Linux 15000 Conary, PackageKit[42] Yes Frugalware 6132[43] 73 Pacman .fpm Yes Gentoo 27119 14697[44] Portage ebuild Yes[45] gnuLinEx 200 APT .deb Yes GoboLinux 2000 Manager,[46] Compile, InstallPackage recipes, tar.bz2 Yes Impi Linux No Kanotix 1200 APT .deb Yes KateOS TGZex tgz Yes Knoppix 3600 APT .deb No Kurumin APT .deb Yes Linspire 2200 CNR "click and run" .deb Yes Linux Mint 30000 APT .deb Ubiquity Yes Lunar 3120 lin source Yes Mageia 17283 (i586)[47], 11409 (x86_64)[48] 8834 [49] urpmi, rpmdrake RPM DrakX Yes Mandriva Linux 22600 urpmi, rpmdrake[50] RPM DrakX Yes MEPIS 20000 APT .deb MEPIS Install Yes MintPPC 23200 12123 APT .deb Debian-Installer No Musix GNU/Linux 1300 APT .deb Yes Mythbuntu 35000[51] APT .deb Ubiquity Network Security Toolkit 8280 8280 yum RPM Anaconda Yes NimbleX 500 none tgz No Nitix SoftUpdate, yum RPM Yes openSUSE 14650[52] 15260 YaST, Zypper RPM YaST Yes OpenWrt 2000 opkg opk opkg No Pardus 4000 PiSi .pisi YALI Yes Parsix 29000 14900 APT .deb Yes PCLinuxOS 12000 APT, RPM RPM Yes Puppy 700 PupGet, DotPup .pup, .pet Yes Red Flag Red Flag Installer System, RPM RPM Yes Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3000 RPM, yum RPM Yes Rxart 5000 APT .deb Yes Sabayon Linux 12000 Portage, Entropy ebuild Yes Scientific APT/yum RPM Yes SHR 3000 3000 opkg opk opkg Yes[53] sidux 23000 APT .deb Yes Slackware 544 installpkg, upgradepkg tgz, .txz, .tlz, .tbz No Slax 2050 none .lzm SliTaz GNU/Linux 2300 Tazpkg .tazpkg Yes Source Mage GNU/Linux 5514 Sorcery Package Manager src Yes Super OS APT .deb Ubiquity Yes SUSE Linux 22000 YaST, Zypper RPM YaST Yes Symphony OS APT, OneClick RPM Yes SYS 6000 installpkg, upgradepkg tgz No Tiny SliTaz 50 Web site[54] none No Tor-ramdisk none none No Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu 37000[51] APT .deb Ubiquity Yes Ututo 5000 UTUTO Package Manager ebuild Vector Linux slapt-get, gslapt, installpkg tgz Yes Wolvix installpkg, upgradepkg tgz, .txz Yes Xandros Desktop OS APT .deb Yes XBMC Live APT .deb No Yoper 2000 Smart RPM No Zenwalk 2000 netpkg, installpkg, upgradepkg tgz, txz Yes Distribution Approximate number of packages Approximate number of source packages Default package management tools Package Format Default installer Graphical installation procedure Live media
Distribution Size in MB RAM Use in MB Boots from CD Boots from DVD Installable Live CD/DVD Installable from USB ALT Linux Desktop or Lite 700 Yes Yes No Arch Linux 181 to 673 MB[55] Yes Yes Yes Yes Ark Linux 700 Yes Yes AUSTRUMI Linux 50 Yes Yes BackTrack 1910 No Yes Yes Yes CentOS 700 MB to 3.4 GB DVD Yes Yes Officially not supported[56] ClearOS 700 MB Yes No Damn Small Linux 50 16 to 24[57] Yes Yes Yes Yes Debian Live 50 to 5120 Yes Yes Yes Yes Dreamlinux 700 Yes Yes dyne:bolic 650 Yes Yes Elive 700 Yes Yes Feather Linux 128 48 to 96 Yes Yes Fedora
Live CD683 256 to 1024 Yes Yes Yes Yes Finnix 100 to 130 28 to 64 Yes Yes No Freespire 700 128 to 768 Yes No Yes Gentoo 100 up to 128 Yes Yes Yes Yes Inquisitor live CD 210 96 Yes Yes Yes Kanotix 700 Yes Yes Knoppix CD
edition700 128 to 320 Yes Yes Only DVD edition is maintained Knoppix DVD
"Maxi" edition4812.8 No Yes Knoppix STD 497 Yes Yes No longer updated Gnoppix 4812.8 No Yes No longer updated gOS 700 Yes Yes Yes Linux Mint 700 256 to 768 Yes Yes Yes Yes Lunar Linux 421 Yes Yes Yes Yes[58] Mandriva Linux One 700 128 to 768 Yes Yes Yes Yes MEPIS 700 to 4000 128 to 512 Yes Yes Yes Yes MCNLive 350 Yes Yes Micro Core Linux ≈8 ≈48 Yes Yes Yes Yes Musix GNU/Linux 700 Yes Yes Yes Network Security Toolkit
Live CD/DVD483 to 1300 256 to 1024 Yes Yes Yes Yes NimbleX 200 96 to 320 Yes Yes Yes Yes nUbuntu 265 Yes Yes openGEU 700 192 to 512 Yes Yes openSUSE 700 128 to 768 Yes Yes Yes Yes OpenWrt min 4 min 16 No No No No Oralux 500 Yes Yes No longer updated Pardus 1256 to 1276 256 to 1024 Yes Yes Yes Yes PCLinuxOS 130 to 700 96 to 512 Yes Yes Yes Pentoo 666 and 700 48 to 96 Yes Yes By hand[59] By hand Puppy Linux (standard edition) 128 32 to 192 Yes Yes Yes Yes Puredyne 542 Yes Yes Yes Yes Red Hat Linux Sabayon Linux Live CD 695 Yes Yes Yes Sabayon Linux Live DVD 4000 No Yes Yes sidux 400 to 1999 193 Yes Yes Yes Yes Slax 200 96 to 320 Yes Yes Yes Super OS 1200 No Yes Yes Yes SystemRescueCD 160 Yes Yes Yes Yes Tiny Core Linux ≈10 ≈48 Yes Yes Yes Yes SliTaz GNU/Linux 30 16 to 192 Yes Yes Yes Yes Tiny SliTaz 1.44 ≈8 Yes Yes By SliTaz By SliTaz Tor-ramdisk 5 256 or >[60] Yes Yes Yes Yes Trinity Rescue Kit 104 Yes Yes Ubuntu 700 384 Yes Yes Yes Yes Edubuntu 700 Yes Yes Yes Kubuntu 700 384 Yes Yes Yes Yes XBMC Live 700 256 to 1024 Yes No Yes Yes Xubuntu 700 256 Yes Yes Yes Yes Distribution Size RAM Use Boots from CD-ROM Boots from DVD Installable Live CD Installable Over USBs Security features
Distribution Compile Time Buffer Checks Mandatory access control Software executable space protection grsecurity RSBAC Debian/Ubuntu Yes Yes (AppArmor) Optional (PaX) Optional Optional Fedora Yes Yes (SELinux[61]) Yes (Exec Shield[62]) No No Gentoo[63] Optional Optional (SELinux) Optional (PaX) Optional Optional Mandriva Unknown Yes (AppArmor[64]) Unknown Unknown Yes SUSE Linux Yes Yes (AppArmor[65]) Yes (Hardware NX and other methods in mainline kernel and toolchain [66]) No No Tor-ramdisk Unknown Unknown Yes (PaX) Yes No See also
- List of Linux distributions
- DistroWatch
- List of Linux distributions endorsed by the Free Software Foundation
- Comparison of operating systems
References
- ^ "Building Tor-ramdisk from scratch: Obtain a working UCLIBC Based Linux System". http://opensource.dyc.edu/tor-ramdisk-fromscratch-uclibc. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
- ^ How to Buy: Novell Open Enterprise Server 2
- ^ redhat.com | Red Hat Enterprise Linux
- ^ redhat.com | Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Operating Systems
- ^ Linux- RXART- Soluciones Linux - Linux Solutions
- ^ SUSE Linux Enterprise Operating Systems from Novell
- ^ Linspire.com - Products
- ^ Official Arch Linux Install Guide: Set Filesystem Mountpoints
- ^ Installing - ArkWiki
- ^ "Index of /debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-cd". http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-cd/.
- ^ "DistroWatch.com: Dreamlinux". http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=dreamlinux.
- ^ http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=mint
- ^ http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/techref/flash.layout
- ^ "Red Hat 6 ext4 documentation". http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/6/html/Storage_Administration_Guide/newfilesys-ext4.html.
- ^ http://forum.sabayonlinux.org/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=16766
- ^ a b c "Ubuntu 10.10 Release Notes". https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MaverickMeerkat/ReleaseNotes.
- ^ Arch Linux PPC project
- ^ Arch Linux ARM
- ^ Debian - Ports
- ^ Jurij Smakov (2007-07-18). "Retiring the sparc32 port". debian-devel-announce mailing list. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2007/07/msg00006.html.
- ^ Fedora Architecture Specific Notes
- ^ https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/SPARC
- ^ "Architectures/ARM". https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM. Retrieved 2010-07-20.
- ^ "Gentoo Linux ARM Handbook". http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-arm.xml.
- ^ "Gentoo Linux/MIPS Frequently Asked Questions". http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-mips-faq.xml#hw-what.
- ^ "Gentoo/MIPS Linux Hardware Requirements". http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/mips-requirements.xml.
- ^ GoboLinux - the alternative Linux distribution
- ^ openSUSE download page
- ^ http://en.opensuse.org/SPARC
- ^ [1]
- ^ Oracle Enterprise Linux Technical Information
- ^ Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Version comparison chart
- ^ RHEL 4 is the last version to support 31-bit s390. RHEL 5 only supports 64-bit s390x.
- ^ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Tech Specs
- ^ "Tor-ramdisk x86_64 Port". http://opensource.dyc.edu/tor-x86_64-ramdisk. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
- ^ "Tor-ramdisk MIPS Port". http://opensource.dyc.edu/tor-mips-ramdisk. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
- ^ http://sisyphus.ru/
- ^ Arch Linux package search
- ^ Arch Linux AUR repository
- ^ BLAG :: View topic - rolling or frozen
- ^ "What's new in Debian GNU/Linux 6.0". http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/release-notes/ch-whats-new.en.html#newdistro.
- ^ Foresight Linux | 1.4.1 Release Notes
- ^ Frugalware Linux Package search
- ^ Gentoo Packages Categories
- ^ Can be installed graphically (GTK+ and ncurses), but traditionally done by command line (install cd, live cd, netboot, and from distributions).
- ^ GoboLinux - the alternative Linux distribution
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ Mandriva 2008 release notes
- ^ a b "All Ubuntu Packages in "lucid"". Canonical. http://packages.ubuntu.com/maverick/allpackages?format=txt.gz. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
- ^ Using the script http://jengelh.medozas.de/files/dist/countpkg-suse2 . Excludes known non-SUSE projects and build targets from the project list retrieved from the openSUSE.org Build Service instance.
- ^ NeoTool, a zenity installation GUI for Openmoko devices
- ^ Tiny SliTaz, the configuration builder webtool
- ^ "Arch Linux - Downloads". https://www.archlinux.org/download/. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ The CentOS LiveCD Project
- ^ http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/FAQ#Will_DSL_ever_get_bigger_than_50_MBytes.3F
- ^ http://wiki.lunar-linux.org/index.php/Installation:No_CD#Usb_bootable_lunar
- ^ Pentoo Development Website
- ^ "Tor-ramdisk Quickstart Guide". http://opensource.dyc.edu/tor-ramdisk-quickstart. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
- ^ "Mandatory Access Control with SELinux". http://w3.linux-magazine.com/issue/69/Access_Control_with_SELinux.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
- ^ "Fedora Core 1 Release Notes - Kernel Notes". http://docs.fedoraproject.org/release-notes/fc1/x86/#kernel-notes. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
- ^ "Hardened Gentoo - 4. Subprojects". http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/hardened/#doc_chap4. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
- ^ "Mandriva Linux 2008 Release Notes: Apparmor has replaced RSBAC as the in-kernel application security tool.". http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/Releases/Mandriva/2008.0/Notes#AppArmor.
- ^ "AppArmor". http://en.opensuse.org/AppArmor.
- ^ "Security Features". http://en.opensuse.org/Security_Features. Retrieved 2009-11-23.[dead link]
External links
Linux operating system Linux Adoption (Adopters) · Criticism (of desktop Linux) · History · Kernel (kernel names · supported architectures) · Linus' Law · Linux Foundation · Linux-libre · Tux · vmlinux
Distribution Distribution (general comparison · netbook-specific comparison · Lightweight Linux distribution) · Live CD · Live USB · Package formatsGNU Free Software Foundation · GNU · GNU GPL · GNU/Linux naming controversy · GNU packages · GNU ProjectWindow manager User interface Applications People Media Lists System arrangement
and featuresMobile Access Linux Platform · Android · Ångström · bada · LiMo Foundation · LiMo Platform · Linux Phone Standards Forum · MeeGo (Maemo · Moblin) · Mobilinux · Open Handset Alliance · Openmoko · OPhone · webOS · SHR · Ubuntu MobileOther topics Linux conference · Linux Documentation Project · Malware · Linux Standard Base · Linux User Group (LUG) · Revolution OS · SCO and Linux · Tanenbaum–Torvalds debate · The CodeCategories:- Linux distributions
- Software comparisons
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
