![]() It’s an excellent choice for new Linux users. Linux Distros Based on UbuntuĪs the name suggests, Kubuntu is a Ubuntu fork that uses the KDE desktop instead of the Unity desktop. The free, community version of Novell’s SUSE distro, openSUSE calls itself “Linux for open minds.” It can be used on a desktop, laptop or server and can be installed or run live from a CD or USB drive. By default, it installs a minimal base system but provides plenty of options for customization.įedora is the free, community version of RedHat’s popular Linux distribution, and it’s been called “the best place to track what’s on the leading edge of Linux and open source software.” In addition to the standard desktop download, it’s available in a number of specialized versions, which it calls “spins.” Popular with the geekiest of geeks, it relies heavily on command-line tools and is very similar to UNIX.įirst released in 2002, Gentoo boasts “extreme configurability, performance and a top-notch user and developer community.” It uses the Portage package management system, which currently includes more than 10,000 different applications.Īrch is definitely not for Linux newbies, but its simple design makes it a favorite among long-time Linux users who are comfortable with the command line. It has a reputation for being very easy to use and it includes about 30,000 packages.įirst released in 1993, Slackware is one of the oldest Linux distributions. Linux Mint boasts that it is the fourth most popular operating system for home users, behind Windows, OS X, and Ubuntu. It claims to be “the most interoperable platform for mission-critical computing–across physical, virtual and cloud environments.” Novell’s version of Linux for enterprises is available only with a paid subscription (although you can download the very similar openSUSE for free). It can be used for desktops or servers and all versions are completely free. This community-owned project provides the code base for a lot of other Linux distros, including Ubuntu, DSL, MEPIS and many others. It’s available only with a paid subscription, but does have a community version–Fedora. The Red Hat company calls itself “the world’s open source leader,” and its server version of Linux is a particular favorite with enterprises. It’s available in desktop, server and cloud editions, as well as in several variations that are included lower on this list. Recently released version 11.04 offers a new Unity interface. Major Linux DistrosĬanonical’s Ubuntu is probably the most popular Linux distribution in the world for desktop computers. If you’d like to nominate one (or more) that you think should have been included, please free to use the comments section below. Of course, some distributions could fit into more than one category, but we tried to place them where they seemed to fit most naturally.Īlso, in limiting ourselves to the fifty, we undoubtedly left off some noteworthy Linux distributions. Next come some distros that are optimized for cloud computing, some very lightweight distributions, some that are designed to look as much like Windows as possible and finally, some notable distros that didn’t seem to fit into any other category. The “major” distributions come first, followed by distros based on Ubuntu, Debian, Red/Hat Fedora, Mandriva, Slackware, Arch and Gentoo. The list is organized into several different categories. If you’ve been using Linux for a while, you’re probably familiar with the major distributions, but you might find some others you haven’t encountered that are worth checking out. In this article, we’ll take a look at 50 of the most well-known distributions of the Linux OS. ![]() In fact, one of the strengths of open source software is that developers can (and do) customize the code to meet a variety of unique needs. We sometimes talk about Linux as if it were one, single operating system, but of course, it really comes in hundreds of different flavors.
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