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 actively and 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.

General

Basic general information about the distributions: creator or producer, release date, the latest version, and such. References are not added here but can be found in respective articles.

Linux distributions endorsed by the Free Software Foundation[1] are marked 100% Free under the System distribution commitment column.

Distribution Founder Maintainer Initial release year Current stable version Security updates (years) Release date System distribution commitment Forked from Target audience Cost
Alpine Linux Alpine Linux Team Alpine Linux Team 2006 3.2.3 ? 2015-08-13[2] X – security, lightweight, general Gratis
ALT Linux ALT Linux Team ALT Linux Team, ALT Linux LLC 2001 7.0 ? 2013-07-10[3] X Mandriva Linux general, school Gratis
antiX Anticapitalista Anticapitalista 2007 15 ? 2013-05-39[4] X Debian - MEPIS old computers Gratis
ArchBang Willensky Aristide Stan McLaren 2010 Rolling Rolling ? X Arch Linux general Gratis
Arch Linux Judd Vinet dev team 2002 Rolling Rolling ? X – general Gratis
BLAG Brixton Linux Action Group Brixton Linux Action Group 2002 140k ? 2011-05-04 100% Free: GNU FSDG Fedora desktop Gratis
Bodhi Linux Bodhi Linux Team Bodhi Linux Team 2011 3.1.1 ? 2015-11-18 X Debian, Ubuntu desktop Gratis
CentOS CentOS Project CentOS Project 2003 7.0 10 years 2014-07-07 X Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) server, workstation Gratis
Chakra Jan Mette and Arch Linux KDEmod developers The Chakra Project Team 2010 Rolling Rolling ? X Arch Linux[5] desktop Gratis
Chromium OS ? ? 2009 ? ? ? X Chrome OS web applications Gratis
ClearOS Peter Baldwin ClearFoundation 2000 6.5.0 ? 2013-12-20 X RHEL, CentOS server, gateway, network Gratis
CrunchBang Linux Philip Newborough Philip Newborough 2008 11 ? 2013-05-06[6] X Debian desktop Gratis
Damn Small Linux John Andrews dev team 2003 4.4.10 ? 2008-11-18[7] X Debian, Knoppix portable, lightweight Gratis
Debian Ian Murdock Debian Project 1993 8.3 ~3 years[g 1] 2015-09-05[8] Debian Social Contract – general, server, desktop Gratis
Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre Matias A. Fonzo Matias A. Fonzo 2009 2.2 ? 2012-04-21 100% Free: GNU FSDG – general Gratis
dyne:bolic Jaromil Jaromil 2005 3.0.0 ? 2011-09-08 100% Free: GNU FSDG Debian multimedia Gratis
Elementary OS Daniel Foré elementary 2011 0.3.1 ? 2015-09-03[9] X Ubuntu general Gratis
ELinOS SYSGO SYSGO 1999 ? ? 2014-07-31[10] X – embedded systems ?
Elive Thanatermesis Thanatermesis 2005 2.0 ? 2010-03-04 X Debian desktop Gratis
Emdebian Grip Embedded Debian Project Embedded Debian Project 2009 3.1 End-of-life ? X Debian embedded systems Gratis
Fedora Fedora Project Fedora Project 2003 23 ? 2015-11-03[11] Fedora Licensing Guidelines – general Gratis
Distribution Founder Maintainer Initial release year Current stable version Security updates (years) Release date System distribution commitment Forked from Target audience Cost
Freespire Lindows.com, Inc. Linspire, Inc. 2002 ? ? ? X Debian desktop Gratis
Gentoo Linux Daniel Robbins Gentoo Foundation, Inc. 2002 Rolling Rolling ? Gentoo Social Contract – general Gratis
Guix System Distribution Ludovic Courtès Guix community ? Rolling Rolling ? 100% Free: GNU FSDG – general Gratis
gNewSense Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley Sam Geeraerts with sponsorship from the FSF 2006 3.1 (Parkes) ? 2014-02-09[12] 100% Free: GNU FSDG Debian general, server Gratis
gnuLinEx Regional Government of Extremadura dev team 2002 ? ? ? X Debian desktop Gratis
Grml Michael Prokop The Grml Team 2005 ? ? ? X Debian live, maintenance, security, network, forensic, accessibility Gratis
Instant WebKiosk Marco Buratto Binary Emotions 2012 ? ? ? X Debian web kiosks, digital signage, personal web navigation ?
Kali Linux Max Moser, Mati Aharoni, Martin J. Muench Remote-Exploit 2013 2.0 ? 2015-08-11[13] X Debian auditing, forensic, security, network Gratis
Knoppix Klaus Knopper dev team 2000 7.4.2 ? 2014-09-28[14] X Debian live Gratis
Kodibuntu The XBMC Project Team Kodi 2008 ? ? ? X Debian, Ubuntu multimedia Gratis
Korora Christ Smart Dev Team 2005 20 ? 2015-08-02[15] X Fedora desktop Gratis
LibreCMC/LibreWRT LibreWRT team LibreWRT team 2010 1.3 (LibreWRT was at 2.0) ? 2014-12-23 100% Free: GNU FSDG LibreWRT embedded systems Gratis
Linux Mint Clement Lefebvre dev team 2006 17.3 ~3 years (LMDE); 5 years (main editions) 2015-12-04[16] X Debian, Ubuntu desktop Gratis
Mageia Mageia Community mageia.org 2010 5 1 2015-09-13[17] X Mandriva Linux general Gratis
Mandriva Linux Mandrakesoft S.A. Mandriva S.A. 1998 ? ? ? X Red Hat Linux general ?
Manjaro Linux Roland Singer dev team 2012 Rolling Rolling 2011-07-10[18][19] X Arch Linux general Gratis
MEPIS Warren Woodford MEPIS LLC 2003 ? ? ? X Debian desktop, server Gratis
Musix GNU+Linux Musix team Musix team 2008 3.0.1 ? 2014-03-13 100% Free: GNU FSDG Debian multimedia Gratis
Netrunner Blue Systems dev team 2009 ? ? ? X Debian, Ubuntu, Kubuntu desktop Gratis
Distribution Founder Maintainer Initial release year Current stable version Security updates (years) Release date System distribution commitment Forked from Target audience Cost
Novell Open Enterprise Server Novell Novell, Inc. dev team 2003 ? ? ? X SUSE Linux Enterprise Server server Commercial
OpenELEC Stephan Raue, OpenELEC Team OpenELEC Team 2011 ? ? ? X – multimedia Gratis
openSUSE SUSE Linux, Novell openSUSE Project 2006 42.1 3 years[20] 2015-11-04 X – general, desktop Gratis
OpenWrt ? OpenWrt team 2007 ? ? ? X – embedded systems Gratis
Oracle Linux Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation 2006 2012 ? 2014 X Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) server Gratis
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre Parabola Hackers Parabola Hackers 2009 Rolling Rolling 2015-08-01[21] 100% Free: GNU FSDG followed in Parabola GNU/Linux-libre Social Contract Arch Linux general Gratis
Pardus Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) TÜBİTAK 2005 ? ? ? X – general Gratis
Parsix Alan Baghumian Parsix Project 2005 ? ? ? X Debian desktop Gratis
PCLinuxOS Bill Reynolds dev team 2003 ? ? ? X PCLinuxOS desktop Gratis
Pentoo Michael Zanetta, Rick Farina, Jens Pranaitis Pentoo 2005 ? ? ? X Gentoo Linux auditing, security ?
Porteus Fanthom Porteus 2010 ? ? ? X Slackware lightweight, portable Gratis
Puppy Linux Barry Kauler Puppy Foundation 2003 ? 6.0.2CE 2015-02-05 X – portable, lightweight Gratis
Qubes OS Joanna Rutkowska Invisible Things Lab 2012 3.0 (and R3 rc1) ? 2015-10-01[22] X Xen and Fedora Security by Compartmentalization, desktop Gratis
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Red Hat Red Hat 2002 7.2 ? 2015-11-19[23] X Red Hat Linux, Fedora server, workstation Commercial
Red Hat Linux Red Hat Red Hat 1995 9 ? ? X – server, workstation Gratis
Rocks Cluster Distribution UCSD Supercomputing Center, Clustercorp UCSD Supercomputing Center, Clustercorp 2000 6.2 ? 2015-05-12 X Red Hat Linux server, workstation ?
Sabayon Linux Fabio Erculiani dev team 2005 16.02 ? 2016-01-29[24] X Gentoo Linux general Gratis
Salix OS Cyrille Pontvieux, George Vlahavas, Pierrick Le Brun, Thorsten Mühlfelder Salix team 2009 ? ? ? X Slackware general Gratis
Distribution Founder Maintainer Initial release year Current stable version Security updates (years) Release date System distribution commitment Forked from Target audience Cost
Scientific Linux CERN, Fermilab dev team 2004 6.5 ? ? X Red Hat Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) server, workstation Gratis
Slackware Patrick Volkerding dev team 1993 14.1 ? 2013-11-07 X Softlanding Linux System (SLS) general Gratis
Slax Tomas Matejicek Tomas Matejicek 2002 ? ? ? X Slackware live Gratis
SliTaz GNU/Linux Christophe Lincoln dev team 2008 ? ? ? X – portable Gratis
SolydXK Arjen Balfoort dev team 2013 ? ? ? X Debian desktop Gratis
Source Mage GNU/Linux Ryan Abrams, Eric Schabell dev team 2002 ? ? ? Source Mage Social Contract Sorcerer general Gratis
SUSE Linux SUSE Linux, Novell Novell, Inc. dev team 1994 ? ? ? X Slackware, Jurix workstation, server Gratis
Tails ? ? 2009 1.8 ? 2015-12-15 X Debian security-focused aimed for anonymity and privacy Gratis
Tiny Core Linux Robert Shingledecker Team Tiny Core 2009 ? ? ? X Tiny Core Linux portable Gratis
Tor-ramdisk Anthony G. Basile dev team 2008 ? ? ? X Gentoo Linux Embedded, uClibc Tor server ?
Trisquel GNU/Linux Rubén Rodríguez Pérez (quidam) Rubén Rodríguez Pérez (quidam) 2005 7.0 5 years[g 2] 2014-11-03 100% Free: GNU FSDG Ubuntu LTS desktop Gratis
Ubuntu and Derivatives[25] Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2004 15.10 Standard releases – 9 months; LTS releases – 5 years 2015-10-22 X Debian general, server, desktop Gratis
Univention Corporate Server Univention GmbH Univention GmbH 2004 3.2-2 ? 2014-05-15 X Debian (small business) server ?
Ututo Diego Saravia, Daniel Olivera UTUTO dev team 2000 XS 2012 ? 2012-04-27 100% Free: GNU FSDG Gentoo Linux general Gratis
VectorLinux Robert S. Lange dev team 1999 7.1 ? 2015-06-27 X Slackware desktop Gratis
Void Linux Juan Romero Pardines dev team 2008 Rolling Rolling ? X – general Gratis
Webconverger Kai Hendry Webconverger Limited 2007 32.0 ? 2015-09-25 X Debian Kiosk software, digital signage Gratis
Zentyal eBox Technologies eBox Technologies 2005 ? ? ? X Debian, Ubuntu Small Business Server ?
Zenwalk Jean-Philippe Guillemin dev team 2004 7.9.6[26] ? 2015-10-31 X Slackware general ?
Distribution Founder Maintainer Initial release year Current stable version Security updates (years) Release date System distribution commitment Forked from Target audience Cost
  1. ↑ Debian releases are officially supported for 1 year after the subsequent release, with releases being approximately 2 years apart. The Debian LTS Project provides community based support extending the complete support period to 5 years.
  2. ↑ for more information visit: https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/trisquel

Cost

The majority of Linux distributions are available for free.

The following distributions come in several editions, some of which cost money and some do not: ClearOS, Mandriva Linux, MEPIS, Univention Corporate Server, Zentyal and Zorin OS.

The following distributions cost money: Novell Open Enterprise Server,[27] Red Hat Enterprise Linux,[28][29] SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.[30]

The following distributions had at least one version which used to cost money: Corel Linux OS (discontinued), Elive (now freely available), Linspire[31] (discontinued) and Xandros (discontinued)

Technical

The table below shows the default file system, but many Linux distributions support some or all of ext2, ext3, ext4, Btrfs, ReiserFS, Reiser4, JFS, XFS, GFS2, OCFS2, and NILFS. It is possible to install Linux onto most 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, by hobbyists, or adapted from Unix, Microsoft Windows, and other operating systems. Linux has full support for XFS and JFS, FAT (the DOS file system), and HFS, the main file system for the Macintosh. Support for Microsoft Windows NT's NTFS file system has been developed and is now comparable with 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 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 GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)), init systems (mainly sysvinit), desktop environments and window managers are widely supported.

Distribution Default file system Default init system Install-time desktop environment or window manager selection
Alpine Linux ext4 openrc none
ALT Linux ext3 systemd KDE Plasma Workspaces, Xfce
Arch Linux none[32] systemd none
BLAG ext3 sysvinit GNOME
Bodhi Linux ext4 sysvinit Moksha (Enlightenment fork)
CentOS xfs systemd GNOME
Chakra ext4 systemd KDE Plasma Workspaces
ClearOS ext3 ? GNOME
CoreOS ext4 systemd None
CrunchBang Linux ext4 sysvinit Openbox
Damn Small Linux ext3 sysvinit JWM
Debian ext4 systemd GNOME, KDE, Xfce, LXDE[33]
Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre ext4 runit Xfce
dyne:bolic ? ? ?
Elive SquashFS, ReiserFS initscripts Enlightenment
Fedora ext4 systemd GNOME
Funtoo none openrc None
Gentoo none openrc Awesome, Enlightenment, Fluxbox, GNOME, KDE, LXDE-Meta, Openbox, XBMC and Xfce (live DVD)[34]
gNewSense ext3 ? GNOME
gnuLinEx ext2 ? GNOME
Instant WebKiosk SquashFS ? Has no DE. It's a browser-only interface
Kali Linux ext3 sysvinit GNOME
Knoppix XFS microknoppix LXDE
LibreCMC/LibreWRT[35] ext4 busybox-init none
Linux Mint[36] ext4 upstart MATE, Cinnamon
Mageia ext4 systemd KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME
Mandriva Linux ext4 systemd KDE Plasma Workspaces
Manjaro Linux none[37] systemd Xfce, KDE[38]
MEPIS ext3, ext4 sysvinit KDE Plasma Workspaces
Musix GNU+Linux[39] ext4 initscripts LXDE
OpenELEC SquashFS shell script XBMC Media Center
openSUSE btrfs systemd KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME, Xfce
OpenWrt overlayfs+SquashFS/JFFS2[40] procd[41] none
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre none systemd none
Pardus ext4 ? KDE Plasma Workspaces
Parsix ext4 systemd GNOME
PCLinuxOS none sysvinit KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME, LXDE, Xfce, Enlightenment, Openbox
Pentoo SquashFS openrc Enlightenment
Porteus Squashfs, ext2, ext3, ext4, FAT32, reiser, xfs sysvinit KDE, LXDE, Xfce, Openbox, Razor-qt
Puppy Linux SquashFS containing ext2 busybox-init JWM
Red Hat Enterprise Linux xfs systemd GNOME
Rxart Desktop ext3 ? KDE Plasma Workspaces
Sabayon Linux ext4[42] systemd KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME
Scientific Linux ext4 sysvinit GNOME
Slackware ext4 sysvinit KDE Plasma Workspaces, Xfce, Fluxbox, Blackbox, twm
Slax SquashFS sysvinit KDE Plasma Workspaces
SliTaz GNU/Linux ext3 busybox-init Openbox
Source Mage GNU/Linux ext2 simpleinit-msb none
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop ext3 systemd GNOME
Tor-ramdisk ext2 ? none
Trisquel ext4, xfs upstart GNOME, LXDE
Ubuntu/Edubuntu ext4[43] systemd Unity on GNOME, Unity 2D for fallback
Kubuntu ext4[43] systemd KDE Plasma Workspaces
Xubuntu ext4[43] systemd Xfce
Ututo ext3 ? GNOME
VectorLinux ReiserFS sysvinit KDE, Openbox, Fluxbox, IceWM, Xfce
Void Linux none runit none
Webconverger gitfs sysvinit dwm enforcing a Browser-only interface
XBMC Live ext3 upstart XBMC Media Center
Zentyal ext4 ? LXDE
Zenwalk ext4 sysvinit Xfce
Distribution Default file system Default init system Install-time desktop environment or window manager selection

Instruction set architecture support

Most Linux distributions support the x86 instruction set architecture and its evolution the x86-64 architecture. To limit its size this table lists only distributions supporting other architectures.

Distribution x86 x86-64 ia64 ppc[44] ppc64 sparc32 sparc64 arm hppa[45] loongson mips[46] sh s390 s390x alpha[47] m68k[48]
Alpine Linux Yes Yes No No No No No Yes No No No No No No No No
Arch Linux Yes (>=i686) Yes No Discontinued unofficial port No No No Yes
Unofficial[49]		 No In progress. Unofficial port[50] No No No No No No
BackTrack Discontinued from BackTrack 5 and superseded by Kali Linux[51] Discontinued from BackTrack 5 and superseded by Kali Linux No No No No No Discontinued from BackTrack 5 and superseded by Kali Linux No No No No No No No No
Bodhi Linux Yes Yes No No No No No Discontinued
2013-10-23[52]		 No No No No No No No No
BOSS Linux Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No ? No No No No No No No No
CentOS Discontinued
2.1-6		 Yes Discontinued
3.5-3.8
4.1-4.7[53]		 Beta
4.0		 No Beta
4.2[53][54]		 No No No No No No Discontinued
3.5-3.8
4.1-4.7[53][55]		 Discontinued
3.5-3.8
4.1-4.7[53][55]		 Discontinued
4.2-4.3[53][56][57]		 No
Chakra No Yes No 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 No No
Debian[58] Yes Yes
4.0+		 Discontinued
3.0-7.0[59]		 Yes
2.2+		 Yes Discontinued
2.1-4.0[60]		 Discontinued
-7[61]		 Yes
2.2+		 Discontinued
3.0-5.0		 Yes Yes
3.0+		 In progress Discontinued
3.0-7		 Yes
7+		 Discontinued
2.1-5.0		 Discontinued
2.0-3.1
Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Fedora[62] Yes Yes Discontinued from
Fedora 9
[63]		 Yes Yes No Still active but slow in development, Last available is
Fedora 12,
Working on
Fedora 18
[64]		 Yes[65] No In progress Inactive from
Fedora 13
[66]		 No No Yes No No
Finnix Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No
Gentoo[67] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[68] Yes Yes[69] Yes[70][71] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
gNewSense Yes Yes No No No No No No No Yes Yes No No No No No
Kali Linux Yes Yes No No No No No Yes No No No No No No No No
LibreCMC/LibreWRT No No No No No No No No No No Yes XBurst No No No No No
Manjaro Linux Yes Yes No No No No No Yes
Unofficial[72]		 No No No No No No No No
MEPIS Yes Yes No No No No No Yes No No No No No No No No
OpenELEC Yes Yes No No No No No Yes No No No No No No No No
openSUSE[73] Yes Yes No No[74] No[74] No partial[75] partial[76] No No No No No No No No
OpenWrt[77] Yes No No Yes No No No Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No
Oracle Linux[78] Yes Yes Discontinued
5[79]		 No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre Yes Yes No No No No No Yes[80][81] No Yes Yes No No No No No
Red Flag Linux Discontinued
8.0[82]		 Discontinued
8.0[82]		 Discontinued
3[83]		 No Discontinued
3[83]		 No No No No No No No No No No No
Red Hat Linux[84] Discontinued
9.0		 No Discontinued
7.1-7.2		 Test release
5.1[85]		 No Discontinued
4.0-4.2
5.1-6.2		 Test release
5.1[85]		 No No No Test release
5.1[85]		 No Discontinued
7.2		 Yes Discontinued
2.1-7.1		 Test release
5.1[85]
Red Hat Enterprise Linux[86] Discontinued
2.1-6[87]		 Yes
3+		 Discontinued
2.1-5[88]		 Yes
3+		 Yes
3+		 No No No No No No No Discontinued
3-4[89]		 Yes
3+		 No No
Sabayon Linux Discontinued Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Scientific Linux Yes Yes Discontinued
3-4		 No No 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 No No
Slackware Yes Yes No No No Discontinued
?[90]		 No Yes No No No No Discontinued
?[91]		 Discontinued
?[91]		 Discontinued
8.1[92]		 No
Source Mage GNU/Linux Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No ? No No No No No No
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server[93] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No Yes No No
Tor-ramdisk Yes Yes[94] No No No No No No No No Yes[95] No No No No No
Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu/Lubuntu Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes, including 64-bit ARMv8-A No No No No No No No No
Ututo Yes Yes No No No No No No No In progress No No No No No No
Void Linux Yes Yes No No No No No Yes No No No No No No No No
XBMCbuntu Yes No No No No No No Yes 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 No No
Distribution x86 x86-64 ia64 ppc ppc64 sparc32 sparc64 arm hppa loongson mips sh s390 s390x alpha m68k

Package management and installation

Information on features in the distributions. Package numbers are only approximate (some distributions like Ubuntu tend to separate tools into different packages (usually stable release, development release, documentation and debug).

Distribution Approximate number of pre-compiled packages Approximate number of source packages Default package management tool(s) Package format Default installer Graphical installation process Netinstall Netboot
Alpine Linux 8,135[96] apk[97] .apk[98] setup-alpine No ? ?
ALT Linux 8,300[99] APT (APT-RPM), RPM RPM Yes ? ?
Arch Linux 13,628[100] 29,935 from AUR[101] Pacman .pkg.tar.xz None (install scripts only) No Yes iPXE
BLAG 10,000[102] RPM, yum, APT RPM Yes No No
Bodhi Linux 35,000 APT .dpkg Ubiquity Yes ? ?
CentOS 17,565[103] RPM, yum/up2date RPM Yes Yes ?
Chakra 3,074[104] CCR: 4,663[105] Pacman (will be replaced by Akabei in future) .pkg.tar.xz Package manager in development ? ?
ClearOS RPM, yum RPM No ? ?
CrunchBang Linux 23,000 APT .deb Yes ? ?
Damn Small Linux 610 myDSL, APT .dsl, .tar.gz, .uci, .unc, .deb No ? ?
Debian 56,864[106] 21,041[note 1] APT .deb Debian-Installer Yes Yes PXE
Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre 484 pkgsystem[107] .tlz ? No No No
dyne:bolic ? ? APT .deb Debian-Installer Yes No No
Elive 20,000 APT .deb Yes ? ?
Fedora 22,000 DNF, yum, PackageKit RPM Anaconda Yes ? ?
Gentoo 108[108] 18,721[109][note 2] Portage .ebuild, .tbz2 Yes[110] ? PXE[111]
gNewSense ? ? APT .deb Debian-Installer Yes Yes No
gnuLinEx 200 APT .deb Yes ? ?
Knoppix 3,600 APT .deb No ? ?
LibreCMC/LibreWRT 826 ? ? ? ? ? ?
Linux Mint 50,781 APT .deb Ubiquity Yes ? ?
Mageia 17,283 (i586), 11,409 (x86-64)[112] 8,834[113] urpmi, rpmdrake RPM DrakX Yes Yes ?
Mandriva Linux 22,600 urpmi, rpmdrake[114] RPM DrakX Yes ? ?
Manjaro Linux ? ? from AUR[115] Pacman .pkg.tar.xz None (install scripts only) Yes[116] Yes iPXE
MEPIS 20,000 APT .deb MEPIS Install Yes ? ?
Musix GNU+Linux 1819 APT .deb Debian-Installer Yes No No
OpenELEC 140[117] XBMCbuntu addon manager, own and 3rd party addons .zip Yes ? ?
openSUSE 69,367 34,891[118] YaST, Zypper RPM YaST Yes Yes ?
OpenWrt 2,000 opkg .ipk - No ? ?
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre 15,352[119] ? Pacman .pkg.tar.xz None (install scripts only) No MIPS64 No
Pardus 4,000 PiSi .pisi YALI Yes ? ?
Parsix 29,000 14,900 APT .deb Yes ? ?
PCLinuxOS 12,000 APT, RPM RPM Yes ? ?
Puppy 700 PupGet, DotPup .pup, .pet Yes ? ?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3,000 (plus 9,155 from EPEL[120]) RPM, yum RPM Yes ? ?
Rxart 5,000 APT .deb Yes ? ?
Sabayon Linux >13,130 Portage, Entropy ebuild, .tbz2 Calamares Yes ? ?
Scientific APT/yum RPM Yes ? ?
Slackware 2,292 installpkg, upgradepkg tgz, .txz, .tlz, .tbz No ? ?
Slax 2,050 none .lzm ? ?
SliTaz GNU/Linux 3,381[121] Tazpkg .tazpkg tazinst Yes iPXE iPXE
Source Mage GNU/Linux 5,514 Sorcery Package Manager src Yes ? ?
SUSE Linux 24,094 11,385 YaST, Zypper RPM YaST Yes ? ?
Tiny Core Linux 25,160 ab, tce-load tcz tc-install, core2usb Yes ? ?
Tiny SliTaz 50 Web site[122] tazpkg No ? iPXE
Tor-ramdisk none none No ? ?
Trisquel 52,748[123] ? APT .deb Ubiquity Yes ? ?
Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu 58,318[124] 24,474[note 3] APT .deb Ubiquity Yes Yes PXE
Ututo 5,000 ? UTUTO Package Manager ebuild ? ? No No
Vector Linux slapt-get, gslapt, installpkg tgz Yes ? ?
Void Linux 6,000 ? xbps .xbps No Yes ?
XBMC Live APT .deb No ? ?
Zentyal APT .deb dpkg Yes ? ?
Zenwalk 2,000 netpkg, installpkg, upgradepkg tgz, txz Yes ? ?
Distribution Approximate number of pre-compiled packages Approximate number of source packages Default package management tools Package format Default installer Graphical installation process Netinstall Netboot

Live media

Distribution Size of media (MB) RAM use (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[125] Yes Yes Yes Yes
AUSTRUMI Linux 280 Yes Yes Yes Yes
BLAG 700 ? Yes No ?
Bodhi Linux 500 80 Yes Yes Yes Yes
CentOS 700 to 3,400 DVD Yes Yes Officially not supported[126] Yes
Chakra 1,600 No Yes Yes Yes
ClearOS 700 Yes No
CrunchBang Linux 873 256 to 1024 No Yes Yes Yes
Damn Small Linux 50 16 to 24[127] Yes Yes Yes Yes
Debian Live 50 to 5,120 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre 650 ? Yes ? ? ?
dyne:bolic ? ? ? ? ? ?
Elive 700 Yes Yes
Feather Linux 128 48 to 96 Yes Yes
Fedora
live CD		 683 256 to 1,024 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Freespire 700 128 to 768 Yes No Yes
Gentoo 100 up to 128 Yes Yes Yes Yes
gNewSense ? ? ? ? ? ?
Grml 110 to 700 32 to 128 Yes No Yes Yes
Inquisitor live CD 210 96 Yes Yes Yes
Kali Linux 2,400 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Knoppix CD
edition		 700 128 to 320 Yes Yes Only DVD edition is maintained
Knoppix DVD
"Maxi" edition		 4,812.8 No Yes
LibreCMC/LibreWRT ? ? ? ? ? ?
Linux Mint 700 256 to 768 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mandriva Linux One 700 128 to 768 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Manjaro Linux 548 to 1,900[128] 256 to 1,024 Yes Yes Yes Yes
MEPIS 700 to 4,000 128 to 512 Yes Yes Yes Yes
MCNLive 350 Yes Yes
Musix GNU+Linux 2,000 ? No Yes Yes Yes
Nanolinux ≈14 ≈64 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Micro Core Linux ≈8 ≈48 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Network Security Toolkit (NST) 2,400 1,024 No Yes Yes Yes
nUbuntu 265 Yes Yes
OpenELEC 80 to 180 80 to 512 No No No 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
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre 531 ? Yes Yes Yes Yes
Pardus 1,256 to 1,276 256 to 1,024 Yes Yes Yes Yes
PCLinuxOS 130 to 700 96 to 512 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Pentoo 666 and 700 48 to 96 Yes Yes By hand[129] By hand
Puppy Linux (standard edition) 128 32 to 192 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Puredyne 542 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Sabayon Linux live CD 695 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Sabayon Linux live DVD 2,400 No Yes Yes Yes
Scientific Linux 431 to 2,300[130] 640 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Slax 200 96 to 320 Yes Yes Yes
SystemRescueCD 160 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Tiny Core Linux ≈10 ≈48 Yes Yes Yes Yes
SliTaz GNU/Linux 35 24 to 192 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Tails ≈900 ≈1,024 No Yes Yes Yes (when run from DVD)
Tiny SliTaz 1.44 ≈4 Yes Yes By SliTaz By SliTaz
Tor-ramdisk 5 256 or >[131] Yes Yes Yes Yes
Trinity Rescue Kit 104 Yes Yes
Trisquel 1,500[132] 384 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ubuntu 1,100[133] 384 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ututo 3,500 ? No Yes Yes ?
Edubuntu 2,900[134] Yes Yes Yes
Kubuntu 1,200[135] 384 Yes Yes Yes Yes
XBMC Live 700 256 to 1,024 Yes No Yes Yes
Zentyal 600 256 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Xubuntu 963[136] 256 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Distribution Size of media (MB) RAM use (MB) Boots from CD Boots from DVD Installable live CD/DVD Installable from USB

Security features

Distribution Compile time buffer checks Mandatory access control Software executable space protection grsecurity RSBAC
Alpine Linux Yes[137] Unknown PaX Yes Unknown
Debian/Ubuntu Yes SELinux,[138] AppArmor PaX optional Optional Optional
Fedora Yes SELinux[139] Exec Shield[140] No No
Gentoo[141] Optional SELinux PaX optional Optional Optional
gNewSense Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
Mandriva Unknown AppArmor[142] Unknown Unknown Yes
SUSE Linux Yes AppArmor[143] Hardware NX and other methods in mainline kernel and toolchain[144] No No
Tor-ramdisk Unknown Unknown PaX Yes No
Trisquel Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
Ututo Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ From the Sources.gz files in the main, contrib and non-free sections of Debian Jessie. On the 2015-11-21, Debian Sid, the development release, have 24757 source packages.
  2. ↑ Note this number is just of packages in the Official Gentoo Overlay (or Portage Tree). Several hundred other packages are available from other overlays
  3. ↑ From the Sources.gz files in the main,universe, multiverse and restricted sections of Ubuntu Wily.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html
  2. ↑ http://www.alpinelinux.org/posts/Alpine-3.2.3-released.html
  3. ↑ http://www.altlinux.com/en/news/archive/2013/07/item/697/
  4. ↑ http://antix.mepis.org/index.php?title=Main_Page#News
  5. ↑ "Chakra - History". Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  6. ↑ http://crunchbang.org/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=306356#p306356
  7. ↑ http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/static/act-ST/f-4/t-20519.html
  8. ↑ https://www.debian.org/News/2015/20150905
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  11. ↑ "Fedora 23 released". Fedora Magazine. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  12. ↑ http://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnewsense-users/2014-02/msg00002.html
  13. ↑ https://www.kali.org/news/kali-linux-20-released/
  14. ↑ http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/knoppix742-en.html
  15. ↑ csmart. "Korora 22 (Selina) - Available". Retrieved 2015-08-02.
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  17. ↑ https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Mageia_5_Release_Notes
  18. ↑ Singer, Roland (ying) (2011-07-10). "Manjaro Linux Distribution". Community Contributions, Arch Linux Forums. Retrieved 2015-12-12. Hi all, I am working now since a longer time on my arch linux livecd. It is called manjaro linux and uses the Desktop Environment Xfce. I uploaded a first testing livecd which is very experimental and many features are still missing. I would be thankful for any bugs reported,.... or if somebody wants to help and join the project he is always welcome.
  19. ↑ "[0.8.8] Release Candidate 4 released (XFCE/Openbox) - Final images". manjaro.org. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
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  25. ↑ "Ubuntu Ecosystem - Recognised Flavors".
  26. ↑ "Zenwalk Linux". distrowatch.org. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  27. ↑ How to Buy: Novell Open Enterprise Server
  28. ↑ redhat.com | Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  29. ↑ redhat.com | Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Operating Systems
  30. ↑ How to Buy | SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
  31. ↑ Linspire.com - Products
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  35. ↑ "LibreCMC package sources". Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  36. ↑ DistroWatch.com: Linux Mint
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  38. ↑ "Get Manjaro". Manjaro Linux. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
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  40. ↑ http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/techref/filesystems
  41. ↑ http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/techref/procd
  42. ↑ Sabayon Forums • View topic - Sabayon Linux 4.1 KDE: Stable release
  43. 1 2 3 "ReleaseNotes". Retrieved 2015-03-03.
  44. ↑ penguinppc.org
  45. ↑ PA-RISC Linux
  46. ↑ LinuxMIPS
  47. ↑ AlphaLinux
  48. ↑ The Linux/m68k Home Pages
  49. ↑ Arch Linux ARM
  50. ↑ https://www.parabola.nu/packages/?sort=-last_update&arch=mips64el
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  52. ↑ "Dropping Official Support for ARM Devices". Retrieved 2014-05-13.
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  54. ↑ Pasi Pirhonen (2006-05-24). "EOL notice for CentOS-4/sparc beta release". CentOS-announce (Mailing list).
  55. 1 2 Pasi Pirhonen (2005-06-24). "CentOS-4.1 s390(x) Release Announcement". CentOS-announce (Mailing list).
  56. ↑ Pasi Pirhonen (2005-06-26). "CentOS-4/alpha 4.1beta is there to play". CentOS-announce (Mailing list).
  57. ↑ Pasi Pirhonen (2006-06-25). "EOL notfication for CentOS-4/axp (alpha)". CentOS-announce (Mailing list).
  58. ↑ Debian - Ports
  59. ↑ Cyril Brulebois (2014-03-19). "Debian Installer Jessie Alpha 1 release". debian-devel-announce (Mailing list).
  60. ↑ Jurij Smakov (2007-07-18). "Retiring the sparc32 port". debian-devel-announce (Mailing list).
  61. ↑ Philipp Kern (2014-04-26). "SPARC removed from Jessie". debian-devel-announce (Mailing list).
  62. ↑ Fedora Architectures Specific Notes
  63. ↑ "Architectures/IA64". Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  64. ↑ "Architectures/SPARC". Retrieved 2012-05-19.
  65. ↑ "Architectures/ARM". Retrieved 2010-07-20.
  66. ↑ "Architectures/MIPS". Retrieved 2011-01-27.
  67. ↑ Gentoo Linux -- Where to Get Gentoo Linux
  68. ↑ "Gentoo Linux ARM Handbook".
  69. ↑ Project:MIPS
  70. ↑ "Gentoo Linux/MIPS Frequently Asked Questions".
  71. ↑ "Gentoo/MIPS Linux Hardware Requirements".
  72. ↑ Manjaro ARM
  73. ↑ openSUSE download page
  74. 1 2 no longer listed at site
  75. ↑ openSUSE:SPARC - openSUSE
  76. ↑ openSUSE ARM Portal
  77. ↑ OpenWrt
  78. ↑ Oracle Linux Technical Information
  79. ↑ Oracle Linux Operating System,Specifications
  80. ↑ Delgado, André Fabian Silva (3 October 2015). "Parabola GNU/Linux-libre supports ARMv7". Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  81. ↑ "ARM Installation Guide". Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  82. 1 2 红旗桌面版 Red Flag inWise V8.0全新发布
  83. 1 2 Red Flag 4 server
  84. ↑ Red Hat Linux archive
  85. 1 2 3 4 Linux Rough Cuts
  86. ↑ Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Version comparison chart
  87. ↑ 7.0 Release Notes
  88. ↑ Red Hat Enterprise Linux, version 2.1
  89. ↑ RHEL 4 is the last version to support 31-bit s390. RHEL 5 only supports 64-bit s390x.
  90. ↑ Slackware Linux for SPARC
  91. 1 2 No updates since Dec-2009
  92. ↑ Slackware Linux for the Alpha
  93. ↑ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Tech Specs
  94. ↑ "Tor-ramdisk x86_64 Port". Retrieved 2011-04-15.
  95. ↑ "Tor-ramdisk MIPS Port". Retrieved 2011-04-15.
  96. ↑ http://git.alpinelinux.org/cgit/aports/tree/
  97. ↑ http://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Alpine_Linux_package_management
  98. ↑ http://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Alpine_package_format
  99. ↑ Sisyphus - intro
  100. ↑ Arch Linux package search
  101. ↑ Arch Linux AUR repository
  102. ↑ BLAG :: View topic - rolling or frozen
  103. ↑ "Fedora Package Database". fedoraproject.org. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  104. ↑ The Chakra Project Packages
  105. ↑ Chakra Community Repository
  106. ↑ "All Debian Packages in "jessie"".
  107. ↑ http://dragora.org/wiki/doku.php/guides/d2/pkgmanager
  108. ↑ "Search Results for -bin". packages.gentoo.org. Gentoo Foundation, Inc. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  109. ↑ "Gentoo Packages". packages.gentoo.org. Gentoo Foundation, Inc. 28 November 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  110. ↑ Can be installed graphically (GTK+ and ncurses), but traditionally done by command line (install cd, live cd, netboot, and from distributions).
  111. ↑ Diskless install using PXE boot
  112. ↑ "Linux Free Software Catalog and Packages Search". Linux Free Software Catalog and Packages Search. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
  113. ↑ Build system status
  114. ↑ Mandriva 2008 release notes
  115. ↑ Arch Linux AUR repository
  116. ↑ Manjaro Wiki: Graphical Software Managers
  117. ↑ https://github.com/OpenELEC/OpenELEC.tv/tree/master/packages
  118. ↑ Stats for openSUSE_(Factory|Tumleweed) for Jan 12, 2016, using the script http://inai.de/files/dist/countpkg-suse3 -r 'openSUSE_(Factory|Tumbleweed)', which inspects the project list from the openSUSE.org Build Service instance and discounts non-SUSE and home projects. Numbers for 13.2: 63438 bin, 32707 src; for 42.1: 43401 bin, 17428 src.
  119. ↑ https://parabolagnulinux.org/packages/
  120. ↑ Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux
  121. ↑ SliTaz Packages Database, the package query webtool
  122. ↑ Tiny SliTaz, the configuration builder webtool
  123. ↑ "All Trisquel Packages in "belenos"". Trisquel. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
  124. ↑ "All Ubuntu Packages in "Wily"". Canonical. Retrieved 2015-10-23.
  125. ↑ "Arch Linux - Downloads". Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  126. ↑ The CentOS LiveCD Project
  127. ↑ Archived April 27, 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  128. ↑ "Manjaro Linux - Downloads". Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  129. ↑ Pentoo Development Website Archived January 8, 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  130. ↑ "Scientific Linux i386 Live CD/DVD". Retrieved 2012-09-26.
  131. ↑ "Tor-ramdisk Quickstart Guide". Retrieved 2011-04-15.
  132. ↑ "Download Trisquel GNU/Linux". trisquel.info. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  133. ↑ "Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet)". ubuntu.com. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  134. ↑ "Edubuntu 14.04.3 LTS (Trusty Tahr)". ubuntu.com. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  135. ↑ "Kubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet)". ubuntu.com. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  136. ↑ "Xubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet)". ubuntu.com. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  137. ↑ http://pkgs.alpinelinux.org/package/main/x86/fortify-headers
  138. ↑ "Debian SELinux". Retrieved 2012-07-22.
  139. ↑ "Mandatory Access Control with SELinux" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-12-24.
  140. ↑ "Fedora Core 1 Release Notes - Kernel Notes". Retrieved 2007-12-24.
  141. ↑ "Hardened Gentoo - 4. Subprojects". Retrieved 2007-12-24.
  142. ↑ "Mandriva Linux 2008 Release Notes: Apparmor has replaced RSBAC as the in-kernel application security tool.".
  143. ↑ "AppArmor".
  144. ↑ "Security Features". Archived from the original on December 4, 2010. Retrieved 2009-11-23.

External links

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