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
ALT Linux ALT Linux Team ALT Linux Team / ALT Linux LLC 2001 none 2010 general, supercomputer
Annvix Vincent Danen Vincent Danen 2003 Mandriva Linux 2007 server
Arch Linux Judd Vinet dev team 2002 none 2010 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 2010 auditing
BLAG Linux and GNU Brixton Linux Action Group Brixton Linux Action Group 2002 Fedora 2008 desktop
Billux B. Wood SW Computing 2010 OpenSUSE 2010 development/virtualization
Bharat Operating System Solutions C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) 2007 Debian 2008 general
Caixa Mágica Daniel Neves, José Guimarães, Paulo Trezentos Caixa Mágica Software 2000 Mandriva Linux 2009 general
CentOS CentOS Project CentOS Project 2003 RHEL 2010 server, workstation
Google Chrome OS Google Google N/A Ubuntu N/A netbooks
ClearOS Peter Baldwin ClearFoundation 2000 CentOS 2010 server, gateway, network
CrunchBang Linux Philip Newborough Philip Newborough 2008 Debian 2010 desktop
CRUX Per Liden CRUX Linux community 2001 none 2009 general
Damn Small Linux John Andrews dev team 2003 Knoppix 2008 portable, lightweight
Debian Ian Murdock Debian Project 1993 none 2010 general
DeLi Linux Henry Jensen Henry Jensen 2002 none 2008 desktop
DeMuDi AGNULA AGNULA 2002 Debian 2005 multimedia
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 2009 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 2010 general
Finnix Ryan Finnie Ryan Finnie 2000 Debian 2009 maintenance
Foresight Linux Ken VanDine dev team 2004 rPath 2009 general
Freespire Lindows.com, Inc. Linspire, Inc. 2002 Debian 2007 desktop
Frugalware Miklos Vajna dev team 2004 Slackware 2010 general
Gentoo Linux Daniel Robbins Gentoo Foundation, Inc. 2002 none N/A 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
Linux4One ? ? 2009 Ubuntu 2009 desktop
Linux Mint Clement Lefebvre dev team 2006 Ubuntu 2010 desktop
Lunar Linux Chuck Mead, Lunar Penguin Project Foo-Projects.org 2002 Sorcerer 2007 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
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 2009 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 2010 general
OpenWrt ? OpenWrt team 2007 none 2010 embedded
Oracle Enterprise Linux Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation 2006 RHEL 2009 server
Pardus TUBITAK TUBITAK 2005 none 2010 general
Parsix Alan Baghumian Parsix Project 2005 Kanotix, Debian 2010 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 2010 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 desktop
Scientific Linux CERN, Fermilab dev team 2004 Red Hat Linux/Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2010 science
SHR Bobby Martin SHR community 2008 OpenEmbedded 2010 portable
sidux sidux team sidux team 2007 Debian Sid 2009 desktop
Slackware Patrick Volkerding dev team 1993 Softlanding Linux System 2010 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
SUSE Linux SUSE Linux / Novell Novell, Inc. dev team 1994 Slackware, Jurix [1] 2010 workstation, server
Symphony OS Ryan Quinn Ryan Quinn and Jason Spisak ? Debian 2008 desktop
SYS W.Landgraf W.Landgraf 2007 Slackware 2010 general
Trustix Comodo Group, Inc. Comodo Group, Inc. 2000 Red Hat Linux 2007 server
Ubuntu Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2004 Debian 2010 general
Kubuntu Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2005 Debian 2010 desktop
Xubuntu Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2006 Debian 2010 desktop
Edubuntu Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2005 Debian 2010 computer lab
Gobuntu Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2007 Debian 2008 desktop
Ubuntu Studio Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2007 Debian 2010 multimedia
Ututo Diego Saravia, Daniel Olivera UTUTO dev team 2000 Gentoo Linux 2009 general
VectorLinux Robert S. Lange dev team 1999 Slackware 2009 desktop
Wolvix Wolven Wolven 2007 Slackware 2009 desktop
Xandros Xandros Corp. Xandros, Inc. 2002 Corel Linux 2007 desktop
XBMC Live The XBMC Project Team-XBMC 2008 Ubuntu 2009 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 2010 general
Distribution Creator Producer First public release Base distribution Latest release date Purpose

Cost

The following distributions are available without cost: aLinux, ALT Linux, Annvix, Arch Linux, Ark Linux, Asianux, BLAG Linux and GNU, CentOS, CRUX, Damn Small Linux, Debian, DeLi Linux, DeMuDi, Devil-Linux, dyne:bolic, EasyPeasy, Edubuntu, 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, 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, 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: Caixa Mágica, ClearOS, Mandriva Linux, MEPIS and Red Flag Linux.

The following distributions cost money(for Support and System Updates only): Elive, Linspire[2], Novell Open Enterprise Server[3], Red Hat Enterprise Linux[4][5], Rxart[6], SUSE Linux Enterprise[7], Xandros[8].

Note that when talking about "free software", the word "free" refers to software freedom, not monetary cost: for an explanation of the difference, see The Free Software Definition.

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 BluRay 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 Linux kernel C Compiler Default file system Commonly chosen desktop environment or window manager
64 Studio 2.6.21 GCC 4.1.1 ? GNOME
Alinex 2.6.22 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 GNOME
aLinux 2.6.12 GCC 4.1.1 none KDE
ALT Linux 2.6.25 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 KDE, Xfce
Annvix 2.4.32 GCC 3.4.3 none
Arch Linux 2.6.35.2[9] GCC 4.5.0[10] none[11] any
Archie 2.6.22[12] Xfce
Ark Linux 2.6.22.3 GCC 4.2.1 JFS[13] KDE
Asianux 2.6.18 GCC 4.1.1 ext3 KDE
BackTrack 2.6.30.9 GCC 4.3.2 ext3 KDE
BLAG Linux and GNU 2.6.25.10[14] GCC 4.1.1 ext3 GNOME
Caixa Mágica 2.6.29.3[14] GCC ? ? ?
CentOS 2.6.18 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 GNOME
ClearOS 2.6.18 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 GNOME
CrunchBang Linux 2.6.27 GCC 4.3.1 ext3 Openbox or Xfce
CRUX 2.6.27.8 GCC 4.3.2 none Openbox
Damn Small Linux 2.4.31 GCC 3.3.5, TCC ext3 JWM
Debian 2.6.26[15] GCC 4.3.2, 4.2.4, 4.1.2, 3.4.6 ext3 GNOME, KDE, LXDE or Xfce (depending on installation media)
DeLi Linux 2.4.32 GCC 2.95 ext3/ext2 IceWM
DeMuDi 2.6.12 GCC 3.3.5 ext3 GNOME
Dreamlinux 2.6.28.5[16] GCC 4.3.2[16] ext3[16] Xfce
dyne:bolic 2.6.18 GCC 3.4.3 SquashFS, ext3 Xfce
EasyPeasy 2.6.30.5[17] ext3 GNOME, Ubuntu Netbook Edition
Elive 2.6.15/2.6.18.2 GCC 3.4.3 SquashFS, ReiserFS Enlightenment
EnGarde Secure Linux 2.6.27 None ext3 none
Fedora 2.6.33.3[18] GCC 4.4.4[18] ext4 GNOME, KDE, LXDE, Xfce (depending on spin)
Finnix 2.6.22 GCC 4.1.1 SquashFS none
Foresight Linux 2.6.27 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 GNOME
Frugalware 2.6.32.8[19] GCC 4.4.3 none none
Gentoo 2.6.34 GCC 4.4.3 none any
gnuLinEx 2.6.16 GCC 3.3.5 ext2 GNOME
GoboLinux 2.6.24.4 GCC 4.1.2 ReiserFS KDE
gNewSense 2.6.24[20] GCC 4.2.3[20] ext3 GNOME
Impi Linux 2.6.11.7 GCC 4.0.1 ? KDE
KateOS 2.6.21.4 GCC 4.0.2 ? Xfce
Kanotix 2.6.22 GCC 4.1.1 ext3 KDE
Knoppix 2.6.32.6[21] GCC 4.4.2 XFS LXDE
Kurumin 2.6.18 GCC 4.1.1 ext3 KDE
Linspire 2.6.14 GCC 3.4.3 ReiserFS KDE
Linux Mint[22] 2.6.32 GCC 4.4.3 ext4 GNOME, KDE or Xfce (depending on edition)
Lunar Linux 2.6.33.4[23] GCC 3.4.6
GCC 4.4.3[24]		 none any
Mandriva Linux 2.6.31.12[25] GCC 4.4.1 ext4 KDE, GNOME
MEPIS 2.6.32 GCC 4.3.2, 4.2.4, 4.1.2, 3.4.6 ext3, ext4 KDE
Musix GNU/Linux 2.6.29.4[26] GCC 4.3.2 ? IceWM
Network Security Toolkit 2.6.31.9[27] GCC 4.4.2 ext4 GNOME, Fluxbox
NimbleX 2.6.24 ? SquashFS KDE
Nitix 2.4.21 GCC 3.3.4 ReiserFS none
openSUSE 2.6.34 GCC 4.5 ext4 GNOME, KDE, Xfce, LXDE
OpenWrt 2.6.27.10 none yaffs none
Pardus 2.6.32-6 GCC 4.3.3 ext4 KDE
Parsix 2.6.23.9[28] GCC 4.4.2 ext3 GNOME
PCLinuxOS 2.6.33.5-bfs GCC 4.4.1 none KDE, GNOME, LXDE, Xfce, Enlightenment, Openbox
Pentoo 2.6.31 GCC 4.3.4 SquashFS Enlightenment
Puppy Linux 2.6.25.16 GCC 3.3.4 SquashFS containing ext2 JWM
Red Flag Linux 2.6.28.8 GCC 4.3.2 ext3 KDE
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.6.18[29] GCC 4.1.2 ext3 GNOME
Rxart Desktop 2.6.11 ? ext3 KDE
Sabayon Linux 2.6.31 GCC 4.3.2 ext4[30] KDE, GNOME
Scientific Linux 2.6.18 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 GNOME
SHR 2.6.29/32[31] GCC 4.5.0 ext3, JFFS2, ubifs Enlightenment's Illume 2
sidux 2.6.31 GCC 4.3.4 ext3 KDE 4.3.2
Slackware 2.6.33.4[32] GCC 4.4.4[32] ext4 KDE, Xfce
Slax 2.6.24.4 GCC 4.2.3 SquashFS KDE
SliTaz GNU/Linux 2.6.30.6 GCC 4.4.1 ext3 Openbox
Source Mage GNU/Linux 2.6.27.10[33] (ISO) or any GCC 4.1.2 ext2 none
SUSE Linux 2.6.32.13 GCC 4.3.4 ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS GNOME, KDE, Xfce
Symphony OS 2.6.16 GCC 4.1.0 ReiserFS Mezzo
SYS 2.6.26.2 (iso) / 2.6.35-rc1 (repository [34], server [35]) GCC 4.2.4 ext3 KDE, GNOME 2.28, Xfce (selectable in kdm)
Ubuntu/Edubuntu 2.6.32[36] GCC 4.4.3[37] ext4 [38] GNOME
Kubuntu 2.6.32[36] GCC 4.4.3[37] ext4[38] KDE
XBMC Live 2.6.27 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 XBMC Media Center
Xubuntu 2.6.32[36] GCC 4.4.3[37] ext4[38] Xfce
Ututo 2.6.27 GCC 4.3.2 ext3 GNOME
VectorLinux 2.6.27.12 GCC 4.2.3 ? Fluxbox, IceWM, Xfce
Wolvix 2.6.27.7 GCC 4.2.4 ext3 XFCE, OpenBox
Xandros Desktop OS 2.6.15 GCC 3.3.5 ReiserFS KDE
Yellow Dog Linux 2.6.29 GCC 4.1.2 ? Enlightenment
Yoper 2.6.33 GCC 4.2.1 ext3 KDE
Zenwalk 2.6.33.4[39] GCC 4.4.4[40] ext4 Xfce
Distribution Linux kernel C Compiler Default file system Commonly chosen desktop environment or window manager

Architecture support

Distribution x86 x86-64 IA-64 ppc ppc64 sparc32 sparc64 arm hppa mips loongson 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 No No No No No 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 No No No No No No No No No No No No No
BLAG Linux and GNU 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 No 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[41] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[42] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
DeLi Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
DeMuDi 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
Eagle Linux 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[43] Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes[44] Yes[45] 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[46] Yes Yes[47][48] Yes Yes Yes Yes
gnuLinEx Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
GoboLinux[49] 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
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
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[50] Yes Yes No No No No Pending[51] No No No No No No No
OpenWrt[52] No No No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No No
Oracle Enterprise Linux[53] Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No
Pardus Yes No 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 Yes 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[54] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No[55] 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
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server [56] 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
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 Live Yes No No No No No No No 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 loongson 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[57] APT (APT-RPM), RPM RPM Yes
Annvix APT, RPM RPM
Arch Linux 4720 i686 / 4755 x86_64 [58] 23616 [59] Pacman tar.xz AIF No
Archie
Ark Linux 4000 RPM, APT RPM Yes
Asianux mlupdater, RPM RPM Yes
BLAG 10000 [60] 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 23200[15] 12123 APT .deb Debian-Installer Yes
DeLi Linux 150 No
DeMuDi 875 APT .deb Yes
Draco GNU/Linux pkgsrc tar.gz, source
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[61] Yes
Frugalware 3000 Pacman .tar.bz Yes
Gentoo 80 14000 Portage ebuild Yes[62]
gnuLinEx 200 APT .deb Yes
GoboLinux 2000 Manager,[63] 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, mintInstall .deb, .mint Ubiquity Yes
Lunar 3120 lin source Yes
Mandriva Linux 20000 urpmi, rpmdrake[64] RPM DrakX Yes
MEPIS 20000 APT .deb MEPIS Install Yes
Musix GNU/Linux 1300 APT .deb Yes
Mythbuntu 35000[65] APT .deb Ubiquity
Network Security Toolkit 8280 8280 yum RPM Anaconda Yes
NimbleX 500 none tgz No
Nitix SoftUpdate, yum RPM Yes
openSUSE 22000 YaST, Zypper RPM YaST Yes
OpenWrt opkg opk opkg No
Pardus 1600 PiSi .pisi Yes
Parsix 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[66]
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
SUSE Linux 22000 YaST, Zypper RPM YaST Yes
Symphony OS APT, OneClick RPM Yes
SYS 6000 installpkg, upgradepkg tgz No
Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu 35000[65] 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 1200 netpkg, installpkg, upgradepkg tgz Yes
Distribution Approximate number of packages Approximate number of source packages Default package management tools Package Format Default installer Graphical installation procedure

Live CDs/DVDs/USBs

Distribution Size in MB RAM Use in MB Boots from CD-ROM Boots from DVD Installable Live CD Installable Over USBs
ALT Linux Desktop or Lite 700 Yes Yes No
Archie Yes Yes
Ark Linux 700 Yes Yes
Austrumi Linux 50 Yes Yes
BackTrack 1570 Yes Yes Yes Yes
CentOS 700 MB to 3.4 GB DVD Yes Yes Officially not supported[67]
ClearOS 700 MB Yes No
Damn Small Linux 50 16 to 24[68] 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 CD		 683 256 to 1024 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Finnix 100 to 130 28 to 64 Yes Yes No
Freespire 700 128 to 768 Yes No Yes
iloog 700 Yes No
Inquisitor live CD 210 96 Yes Yes Yes
Kanotix 700 Yes Yes
Knoppix CD
edition		 700 128 to 320 Yes Yes Only DVD edition is maintained
Knoppix DVD
"Maxi" edition		 4812.8 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[69]
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
Morphix 700 Yes Yes
Musix GNU/Linux 700 Yes Yes Yes
Network Security Toolkit
Live CD/DVD		 483 to 1300 256 to 1024 Yes Yes Yes Yes
NimbleX 200 96 to 320 Yes Yes
nUbuntu 265 Yes Yes
openGEU 700 192 to 512 Yes Yes
openSUSE 700 128 to 768 Yes Yes Yes Yes
OpenWrt < 100 < 64 No No No No
Oralux 500 Yes Yes No longer updated
Parted Magic 30 Yes Yes
PCLinuxOS 130 to 700 96 to 512 Yes Yes Yes
Pentoo 666 and 700 48 to 96 Yes Yes By hand[70] By hand
PHLAK 500 Yes Yes No longer updated
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
SliTaz GNU/Linux 30 16 to 192 Yes Yes Yes Yes
SystemRescueCD 160 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[71]) Yes (Exec Shield[72]) No No
Gentoo[73] Unknown Optional (SELinux) Optional (PaX) Optional Optional
Mandriva Unknown Yes (AppArmor[74]) Unknown Unknown Yes
SUSE Linux Yes Yes (AppArmor[75]) Yes (Hardware NX and other methods in mainline kernel and toolchain [76]) No No

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://ftp1.us.proftpd.org/pub/historic-linux/di-stributions/jurix/README.txt
  2. ↑ Linspire.com - Products
  3. ↑ How to Buy: Novell Open Enterprise Server 2
  4. ↑ redhat.com | Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  5. ↑ redhat.com | Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Operating Systems
  6. ↑ Linux- RXART- Soluciones Linux - Linux Solutions
  7. ↑ SUSE Linux Enterprise Operating Systems from Novell
  8. ↑ Xandros
  9. ↑ Pkg: kernel26 - Arch Linux Package Details
  10. ↑ Pkg: gcc - Arch Linux Package Details
  11. ↑ Official Arch Linux Install Guide: Set Filesystem Mountpoints
  12. ↑ http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=archie
  13. ↑ Installing - ArkWiki
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=BLAG
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "What's new in Debian GNU/Linux 5.0". http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/release-notes/ch-whats-new.en.html. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 "DistroWatch.com: Dreamlinux". http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=dreamlinux. 
  17. ↑ http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=easypeasy
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "DistroWatch.com: Fedora". http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=fedora. 
  19. ↑ "Frugalware 1.2 (Locris) released". http://frugalware.org/news/163. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "DistroWatch.com: gNewSense". http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=gnewsense. 
  21. ↑ "KNOPPIX 6.2.1 Release Notes". http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/knoppix62-en.html. 
  22. ↑ http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=mint
  23. ↑ http://foo-projects.org/git/?p=lunar/moonbase.git;a=blob_plain;f=kernel/linux-2.6/DETAILS;hb=HEAD
  24. ↑ http://foo-projects.org/git/?p=lunar/moonbase.git;a=blob_plain;f=compilers/gcc/DETAILS;hb=HEAD
  25. ↑ http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=mandriva
  26. ↑ "Musix2.0 R0 announce". http://musix.org.ar/wiki/index.php/Musix2.0_R0_announce. Retrieved 2010 July 17. 
  27. ↑ http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=nst
  28. ↑ "Parsix GNU/Linux 3.5r0 Release Notes". http://www.parsix.org/html/index.php?module=pnWikka&tag=ReleaseNotes35r0. 
  29. ↑ redhat.com | Knowledgebase
  30. ↑ http://forum.sabayonlinux.org/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=16766
  31. ↑ Depending on target machine
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "Slackware Release Announcement". http://www.slackware.com/announce/13.1.php. 
  33. ↑ http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=SourceMage
  34. ↑ ftp://ftp5.gwdg.de/pub/linux/install/sys/
  35. ↑ http://guyane.dyn-o-saur.com/info.php
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 "Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Technical Overview". https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LucidLynx/TechnicalOverview. 
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 "“gcc” binary package in Ubuntu Lucid i386". Launchpad. https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/lucid/i386/gcc/. 
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 "Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Release Notes". https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LucidLynx/ReleaseNotes. 
  39. ↑ http://www.zenwalk.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=107
  40. ↑ http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=zenwalk
  41. ↑ Debian - Ports
  42. ↑ 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. 
  43. ↑ Fedora Architecture Specific Notes
  44. ↑ https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/SPARC
  45. ↑ "Architectures/ARM". https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM. Retrieved 2010-07-20. 
  46. ↑ "Gentoo Linux ARM Handbook". http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-arm.xml. 
  47. ↑ "Gentoo Linux/MIPS Frequently Asked Questions". http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-mips-faq.xml#hw-what. 
  48. ↑ "Gentoo/MIPS Linux Hardware Requirements". http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/mips-requirements.xml. 
  49. ↑ GoboLinux - the alternative Linux distribution
  50. ↑ openSUSE download page
  51. ↑ http://en.opensuse.org/SPARC
  52. ↑ [1]
  53. ↑ Oracle Enterprise Linux Technical Information
  54. ↑ Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Version comparison chart
  55. ↑ RHEL 4 is the last version to support 31-bit s390. RHEL 5 only supports 64-bit s390x.
  56. ↑ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Tech Specs
  57. ↑ http://sisyphus.ru/
  58. ↑ Arch Linux package search
  59. ↑ Arch Linux AUR repository
  60. ↑ BLAG :: View topic - rolling or frozen
  61. ↑ Foresight Linux | 1.4.1 Release Notes
  62. ↑ Can be installed graphically (GTK+ and ncurses), but traditionally done by command line (install cd, live cd, netboot, and from distributions).
  63. ↑ GoboLinux - the alternative Linux distribution
  64. ↑ Mandriva 2008 release notes
  65. ↑ 65.0 65.1 "All Ubuntu Packages in "lucid"". Canonical. http://packages.ubuntu.com/lucid/allpackages?format=txt.gz. Retrieved 2010-06-01. 
  66. ↑ NeoTool, a zenity installation GUI for Openmoko devices
  67. ↑ The CentOS LiveCD Project
  68. ↑ http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/FAQ#Will_DSL_ever_get_bigger_than_50_MBytes.3F
  69. ↑ http://wiki.lunar-linux.org/index.php/Installation:No_CD#Usb_bootable_lunar
  70. ↑ Pentoo Development Website
  71. ↑ "Mandatory Access Control with SELinux". http://w3.linux-magazine.com/issue/69/Access_Control_with_SELinux.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-24. 
  72. ↑ "Fedora Core 1 Release Notes - Kernel Notes". http://docs.fedoraproject.org/release-notes/fc1/x86/#kernel-notes. Retrieved 2007-12-24. 
  73. ↑ "Hardened Gentoo - 4. Subprojects". http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/hardened/#doc_chap4. Retrieved 2007-12-24. 
  74. ↑ "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. 
  75. ↑ "AppArmor". http://en.opensuse.org/AppArmor. 
  76. ↑ "Security Features". http://en.opensuse.org/Security_Features. Retrieved 2009-11-23. 

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