Comparison of Linux distributions
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Template:Use dmy dates 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 notable 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
The table below shows general information about the distributions: founder or producer, maintainer, release date, the latest version, etc.
Linux distributions endorsed by the Free Software Foundation[1] are marked 100% Free under the System distribution commitment column. Template:Sort-under
| Distribution | Founder | Maintainer | Initial release year | Current stable version | Security updates (years) | Release date | System distribution commitment | Forked from | Target audience | Cost | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Rh | AlmaLinux | AlmaLinux OS Foundation | AlmaLinux OS Foundation | 2021 | Template:Wikidata | 10 years[2] | Template:Wikidata | X | Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Alpine Linux | Alpine Linux Team | Alpine Linux Team | 2006 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | LEAF Project | security, lightweight, general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | ALT Linux | ALT Linux Team | ALT Linux Team, ALT Linux LLC | 2001 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Mandrake Linux | general, school | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | antiX | Anticapitalista | Anticapitalista | 2007 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian, MEPIS | old computers | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | ArchBang | Willensky Aristide | Stan McLaren | 2011 | Rolling | Rolling | Rolling | X | Arch Linux (UKM Edition) | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Arch Linux | Judd Vinet | dev team | 2002 | Rolling | Rolling | Rolling | X | Independent, inspired from CRUX | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | BLAG | Brixton Linux Action Group | Brixton Linux Action Group | 2002 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | 100% Free: GNU FSDG[3] | Fedora | desktop | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | Bodhi Linux | Bodhi Linux Team | Bodhi Linux Team | 2011 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian, Ubuntu | desktop, lightweight | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Canaima | CANTV / CNTI / CENTIDEL / Edelca / VIT / FUNDACITE / Free software community | CANTV / CNTI / CENTIDEL / Edelca / VIT / FUNDACITE / Free software community | 2007 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian, Ubuntu | Government of Venezuela | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | CentOS | CentOS Project | CentOS Project | 2003 | Template:Wikidata | 10 years[4] | Template:Wikidata | X | Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) | server, workstation | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | CentOS Stream | CentOS Project | CentOS Project | 2019 | 9[5] | 5 years[6] | 2021-12-03 | X | Upstream of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) | server, workstation | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Chakra | Jan Mette and Arch Linux KDEmod developers | The Chakra Project Team | 2010 | Rolling | Rolling | 2017.10 | X | Arch Linux[7] | desktop | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | Chimera Linux | q66 | Chimera Linux team | 2021 | Rolling | Rolling | Rolling | X | Independent | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | ChromeOS | Sundar Pichai | 2011 | Template:Wikidata | Rolling | Template:Wikidata | X | Gentoo Linux | web applications | None | Template:Site active | |
| Template:Rh | Clear Linux OS | Arjan van de Ven | Intel | 2015 | Rolling | Rolling | Rolling | X | Independent | container, server, desktop | None | Template:Site inactive[8] |
| Template:Rh | ClearOS | Peter Baldwin | ClearFoundation | 2000 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | RHEL, CentOS | server, gateway, network | Some editions are free of charge | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | CrunchBang Linux | Philip Newborough | Philip Newborough | 2008 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian | desktop | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | CRUX | Per Lidén | CRUX Community | 2002 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Independent | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Damn Small Linux | John Andrews | dev team | 2003 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian, Knoppix | lightweight, portable | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | Debian | Ian Murdock | Debian Project | 1993 | Template:Wikidata | ~5 years,[g 1] 10 years Freexian ELTS(paid) | Template:Wikidata | Debian Social Contract and DFSG (main was 100% free, till 2022,[9][10] non-free packages were optional)[11] | Independent, inspired by Softlanding Linux System (SLS)[12] | general, server, desktop | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Debian Edu | Debian Project | 2004 | Template:Wikidata | ~3 years[g 1] | Template:Wikidata | Debian Social Contract and DFSG | Debian | schools | None | Template:Site active | |
| Template:Rh | Devuan | The "Veteran Unix Admins" (VUA) | The "Veteran Unix Admins" (VUA) | 2016 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X[g 2] | Debian | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Deepin | Wuhan Deepin Technology Co., Ltd. | Wuhan Deepin Technology Co., Ltd. | 2004 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre | Matias A. Fonzo | Matias A. Fonzo | 2009 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | 100% Free: GNU FSDG[3] | Independent, inspired from Slackware | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | dyne:bolic | Jaromil | Jaromilx | 2005 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | 100% Free: GNU FSDG[3] | Debian | multimedia | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | Elementary OS | Danielle Foré | elementary LLC | 2011 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Ubuntu, Debian | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | ELinOS | SYSGO | SYSGO | 1999 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Independent | embedded systems | Partial | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Emdebian Grip | Embedded Debian Project | Embedded Debian Project | 2009 | Template:Wikidata | End-of-life | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian | embedded systems | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | EndeavourOS | Bryan Poerwoatmodjo | EndeavourOS | 2019 | Rolling | ? | 2022-09-14 | X | Arch Linux | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Fedora Linux | Fedora Project | Fedora Project | 2003 | Template:Wikidata | 1 year + 1 month | Template:Wikidata | Fedora Licensing Guidelines[13] | Red Hat Linux | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Freespire | Lindows.com, Inc. | PC/OpenSystems LLC | 2001 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | ? | desktop | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Gentoo Linux | Daniel Robbins | Gentoo Foundation, Inc. | 2002 | Rolling | Rolling | Rolling | Gentoo Social Contract | Enoch Linux | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Guix System | Ludovic Courtès | Ludovic Courtès, Ricardo Wurmus, the Guix community | 2012 | Template:Wikidata | Rolling | Template:Wikidata | 100% Free: GNU FSDG[3] | Independent, inspired by NixOS | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | gNewSense | Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley | Sam Geeraerts with sponsorship from the Free Software Foundation | 2006 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | 100% Free: GNU FSDG[3] | Debian | general, server | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | Grml | Michael Prokop | The Grml Team | 2005 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian | live, maintenance, security, network, forensic, accessibility | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Hyperbola GNU/Linux-libre | Hyperbola Founders | Hyperbola Founders | 2017 | Template:Wikidata | 3 years (stable), 5 years (old stable)[14] | Template:Wikidata | 100% Free: GNU FSDG[3] followed in Hyperbola Social Contract | Arch Linux | general | None | Template:Site active[15] |
| Template:Rh | IPFire | Michael Tremer | IPFire Project | 2004 | 2.29 - Core Update 197 | Rolling | 2025-9-19 | X | Independent | firewall, router, security | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Kali Linux | Max Moser, Mati Aharoni, Martin J. Muench | Offensive Security | 2013 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian | auditing, forensic, security, network | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Knoppix | Klaus Knopper | dev team | 2000 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian | live | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Korora | Chris Smart | Dev Team | 2005 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Fedora | desktop | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | LibreCMC | LibreCMC team | LibreCMC team | 2010 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | 100% Free: GNU FSDG[3] | Merged from LibreWRT | embedded systems | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Linspire | Linspire, Inc. | Linspire, Inc. | 2001 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | ? | ? | Commercial[16] | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Linux Mint | Clement Lefebvre | dev team | 2006 | Template:Wikidata | 5 years (main editions); ~3 years (LMDE) | Template:Wikidata Template:Wikidata |
X | Debian (LMDE), Ubuntu (main editions) | desktop | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Linux Lite | Jerry Bezencon | Linux Lite Team | 2012 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Ubuntu | desktop | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Mageia | Mageia Community | mageia.org | 2010 | Template:Wikidata | 1 year | Template:Wikidata | X | Mandriva Linux | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Mandriva Linux | Mandrakesoft S.A. | Mandriva S.A. | 1998 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Red Hat Linux | general | Some editions are free of charge | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | Manjaro Linux | Roland Singer | dev team | 2012[17] | Rolling | Rolling | Rolling | X | Arch Linux | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | MEPIS | Warren Woodford | MEPIS LLC | 2003 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian | desktop, server | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | MIRACLE LINUX | Cybertrust Japan | Cybertrust Japan | 2000 | Template:Wikidata | 10 years | Template:Wikidata | X | Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) | server | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Musix GNU+Linux | Musix team | Musix team | 2008 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | 100% Free: GNU FSDG[3] | Debian | multimedia | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | MX Linux | MX Linux team | MX Linux team | 2013 | 23.6 | 5 years | 2025-04-13 | X | Debian, MEPIS, antiX | desktop | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Netrunner | Blue Systems | dev team | 2009 | Template:Wikidata | as per Debian | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian | desktop | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | NixOS | Eelco Dolstra and Armijn Hemel | NixOS Foundation | 2003 | Template:Wikidata | 0.5 years | Template:Wikidata | X | – | general, server, desktop | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Novell Open Enterprise Server | Novell | Novell, Inc. dev team | 2003 | 2023 | ? | 2022-10 | X | SUSE Linux Enterprise Server | server | Commercial[18] | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | OpenELEC | Stephan Raue, OpenELEC Team | OpenELEC Team | 2011 | 8.0.4 | ? | 2017-06-04 | X | Kodi | multimedia | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | openSUSE | SUSE Linux | openSUSE Project | 2006 | Template:Wikidata | 1.5 years[19] | Template:Wikidata | X | Slackware, Jurix | general, desktop | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | OpenWrt | ? | OpenWrt team | 2007 | Template:Wikidata[20] | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Independent | embedded systems | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | OpenMandriva Lx | OpenMandriva Association | OpenMandriva Association | 2013 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Mandriva Linux | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Oracle Linux | Oracle Corporation | Oracle Corporation | 2006 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) | server | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Parabola GNU/Linux-libre | Parabola Hackers | Parabola Hackers | 2009 | Rolling[21] | Rolling | 2021-08-11[22] | 100% Free: GNU FSDG[3] followed in Parabola Social Contract | Arch Linux | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Pardus | Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) | TÜBİTAK | 2005 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Gentoo (2011.2) Debian |
general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Parrot OS | Lorenzo "Palinuro" Faletra | Parrot Dev Team | 2013 | Template:Wikidata | Rolling | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian | security, desktop | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Parsix | Alan Baghumian | Parsix Project | 2005 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian | desktop | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | Parted Magic | Patrick Verner | Parted Magic LLC. | 2007 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Independent | live, maintenance | Commercial[23] | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | PCLinuxOS | Bill Reynolds | dev team | 2003 | 2022.12 | Semi-rolling | 2022-12-12 | X | Mandriva Linux | desktop | None | Active |
| Template:Rh | Pop! OS | Carl Ritchell | System76 | 2017 | Template:Wikidata | 2 years for LTS releases.
2–3 months after the next release for other releases. |
Template:Wikidata | X | Ubuntu | desktop, laptop | None | Active |
| Template:Rh | Pentoo | Michael Zanetta, Rick Farina, Jens Pranaitis | Pentoo | 2005 | 2019.1 | ? | 2019-01-17 | X | Gentoo Linux | auditing, security | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Porteus | Fanthom | Porteus | 2010 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Slackware | lightweight, portable | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | ProteanOS | Libiquity | 2011 | Rolling | Rolling | Rolling | 100% Free: GNU FSDG[3] | ? | embedded | None | Template:Site inactive | |
| Template:Rh | Puppy Linux | Barry Kauler | Puppy Foundation | 2003 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Independent, inspired from Vector linux | lightweight, portable | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | PureOS | Todd Weaver | Purism | 2009 | Template:Wikidata | Stable and Rolling | Template:Wikidata | 100% Free: GNU FSDG[3] | Debian | general, security, privacy | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Qubes OS | Joanna Rutkowska | Invisible Things Lab | 2012 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Xen and Fedora | security by compartmentalization, desktop | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) | Red Hat | Red Hat | 2002 | Template:Wikidata | 12 years[24] | Template:Wikidata | X | Red Hat Linux, Fedora | general | Commercial[25][26] | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Red Hat Linux | Red Hat | Red Hat | 1995 | Template:Wikidata alias Shrike | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | – | server, workstation | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh class="table-rh" | Rocks Cluster Distribution | UCSD Supercomputing Center, Clustercorp | UCSD Supercomputing Center, Clustercorp | 2000 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Red Hat Linux | server, workstation | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Rocky Linux | Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation | Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation | 2021 | Template:Wikidata | 10 years | Template:Wikidata | X | Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | ROSA | ? | LLC NTC IT ROSA | 2011 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Mandriva | server, general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Sabayon Linux | Fabio Erculiani | dev team | 2005 | Template:Wikidata[27] | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Gentoo Linux | general | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | Salix OS | Cyrille Pontvieux, George Vlahavas, Pierrick Le Brun, Thorsten Mühlfelder | Salix team | 2009 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Slackware | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Scientific Linux | CERN, Fermilab | dev team | 2004 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Red Hat Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) | server, workstation | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | Slackware | Patrick Volkerding | dev team | 1993 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Softlanding Linux System (SLS) | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Slax | Tomas Matejicek | Tomas Matejicek | 2002 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian, Slackware (until Slax 9) | live | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | SliTaz GNU/Linux | Christophe Lincoln | dev team | 2008 | Rolling | Rolling | 2020-02-23[28] | X | Independent | portable | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Solus | Ikey Doherty | dev team | 2005 | Rolling | Rolling | 2021-07-11 | X | Pardus Linux | desktop | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | SolydXK | Arjen Balfoort | dev team | 2013 | Template:Wikidata[29] | Debian packages as per Debian | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian | desktop | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | SparkyLinux | ? | Sparky Linux team | 2012 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian | general, video games | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Source Mage GNU/Linux | Ryan Abrams, Eric Schabell | dev team | 2002 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | Source Mage Social Contract | Sorcerer | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | SteamOS | Valve | Valve | 2013 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian (2.0) Arch Linux (3.0) |
video games | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | SUSE Linux Enterprise | SUSE | SUSE | 2000 | Template:WikidataSP5[30] | 13 years per version[31] | 2023-06-20 | Common code base for x86-64, Power, System z, Arm64 | Slackware, Jurix | edge, workstation, server, supercomputer | Commercial[32] | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Tails | ? | Tails Development Team | 2009 | Template:Wikidata | –[g 3] | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian | security-focused aimed for anonymity and privacy | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Tiny Core Linux | Robert Shingledecker | Team Tiny Core | 2009 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Independent, inspired from Damn Small Linux | portable | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Trisquel GNU/Linux | Rubén Rodríguez Pérez (quidam) | Rubén Rodríguez Pérez (quidam) | 2005 | Template:Wikidata | 3 years | Template:Wikidata | 100% Free: GNU FSDG[3] | Ubuntu LTS | desktop | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | TurnKey GNU/Linux | Alon Swartz, Liraz Siri | TurnKey GNU/Linux Team | 2008 | Template:Wikidata | Debian packages as per Debian; TurnKey packages for life of current major version (plus backports per request) | Template:Wikidata | Debian Social Contract and DFSG | Debian | server based software appliance library aiming to balance security and ease of use | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Ubuntu and Derivatives[33] | Canonical Ltd. | Canonical Ltd. | 2004 | Template:Wikidata Template:Wikidata |
Standard releases 9 months, LTS releases 5 years. Flavor LTS releases 3 or 5 years. Ubuntu Pro 10 years. | Template:Wikidata Template:Wikidata |
X | Debian | general, server, desktop, supercomputer, IBM mainframe | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Univention Corporate Server | Univention GmbH | Univention GmbH | 2004 | Template:Wikidata | up to 6 months for free Core Edition; up to 7 years if maintenance is purchased, see:[34] | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian | home, business, and school | Core Edition is free of charge | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Ututo | Diego Saravia, Daniel Olivera | UTUTO dev team | 2000 | XS 2012 | ? | 2012-04-27 | 100% Free: GNU FSDG[3] | Ututo XS: Gentoo Linux, Ututo UL: Ubuntu | general | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | VectorLinux | Robert S. Lange | dev team | 1999 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Slackware | desktop | None | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | Void Linux | Juan Romero Pardines | Juan RP and contributors | 2008 | Rolling | Rolling | 2022-10-17 | X | Independent, partially inspired by FreeBSD/NetBSD | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Webconverger | Kai Hendry | Webconverger Limited | 2007 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian | kiosk software, digital signage | Commercial | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | Xandros | Xandros Incorporated | Xandros Incorporated | 2001 | Template:Wikidata | ? | 2007-07-26 | X | Corel Linux | ? | Commercial | Template:Site inactive |
| Template:Rh | Zentyal | eBox Technologies | eBox Technologies | 2005 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Debian, Ubuntu | small business server | Some editions are free of charge | ? |
| Template:Rh | Zenwalk | Jean-Philippe Guillemin | dev team | 2004 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Slackware | general | None | Template:Site active |
| Template:Rh | Zorin OS | Zorin Group | Zorin Group | 2009 | Template:Wikidata | ? | Template:Wikidata | X | Ubuntu | general, desktop | Zorin OS Lite & Core are free, while Business and Ultimate are paid | Template:Site active |
| Distribution | Founder | Maintainer | Initial release year | Current stable version | Security updates (years) | Release date | System distribution commitment | Forked from | Target audience | Cost | Status |
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ a b 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.
- ↑ Default ISOs included non-free software
- ↑ Security updates are released every six weeks.
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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 Linux kernel | Default file system | Default init system | Install-time desktop environment or window manager selection | Reproducible builds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Rh | Alpine Linux | Binary blobs | ext4 | openrc | none | In progress[35] |
| Template:Rh | ALT Linux | Binary blobs | ext3 | systemd | KDE Plasma Workspaces, Xfce | No |
| Template:Rh | Arch Linux | Binary blobs[36] | none[37] | systemd | Awesome, bspwm, Budgie, Cinnamon, COSMIC, CuteFish, Deepin, Enlightenment, GNOME, Hyprland, i3, KDE, LXQt, MATE, Qtile, Sway, Xfce[38] | In progress[39] |
| Template:Rh | BLAG | Linux-libre | ext3 | sysvinit | GNOME | No |
| Template:Rh | Bodhi Linux | Binary blobs | ext4 | systemd | Moksha (Enlightenment fork) | No |
| Template:Rh | Canaima | Binary blobs[36] | ? | systemd | GNOME, KDE Plasma and Xfce | No |
| Template:Rh | CentOS | Binary blobs[36] | xfs | systemd | GNOME | No |
| Template:Rh | Chakra | Binary blobs | ext4 | systemd | KDE Plasma Workspaces | No |
| Template:Rh | Chimera Linux | Binary blobs | none | dinit | GNOME, KDE Plasma | No |
| Template:Rh | Clear Linux OS | ? | ? | ? | GNOME | |
| Template:Rh | ClearOS | Binary blobs | ext3 | systemd | none (Web based) | No |
| Template:Rh | CoreOS | Binary blobs | ext4 | systemd | None | No |
| Template:Rh | CrunchBang Linux | Binary blobs | ext4 | sysvinit | Openbox | No |
| Template:Rh | Damn Small Linux | Binary blobs | ext3 | sysvinit | JWM | No |
| Template:Rh | Debian | Linux-libre(debian)[40] with separate non-free binary blobs hosted and sponsored.[36] | ext4 | systemd | GNOME, KDE, Xfce, LXDE[41] | In progress[42][43] |
| Template:Rh | Devuan | Binary blobs | ext4 | sysvinit | Xfce | No |
| Template:Rh | Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre | Linux-libre | ext4 | runit | Xfce | No |
| Template:Rh | dyne:bolic | Linux-libre | ? | systemd | GNOME | No |
| Template:Rh | Fedora | Binary blobs | btrfs[44] | systemd | GNOME (default Workstation Edition), Spins for: KDE, Xfce, Cinnamon, MATE (with Compiz), i3, LXQt, LXDE, Phosh, Sway and Budgie | In progress[45] |
| Template:Rh | Funtoo | Binary blobs | none | openrc | None | No |
| Template:Rh | Gentoo | By default, there are no binary blobs in the kernel. Binary blobs can be installed, but the user must edit a file to accept any license. [46] | none | openrc | Awesome, Enlightenment, Fluxbox, GNOME, KDE, LXDE-Meta, Openbox, XBMC and Xfce (live DVD)[47] | No |
| Template:Rh | gNewSense | Linux-libre(debian), and (unlike Debian) blobs cannot be installed[40] | ext3 | sysvinit | GNOME | No |
| Template:Rh | Guix System | Linux-libre, Hurd (in progress)[48][49] | ext4 | GNU Shepherd | GNOME, Xfce, MATE, Enlightenment, Openbox, awesome, i3, ratpoison, EXWM | Yes[50][51] |
| Template:Rh | Hyperbola GNU/Linux-libre | Linux-libre | none | openrc[52] | none | No |
| Template:Rh | IPFire | Binary blobs | ext4 | sysvinit | N/A | No |
| Template:Rh | Kali Linux | Binary blobs | ext4 | systemd | GNOME | No |
| Template:Rh | Knoppix | Binary blobs | xfs | microknoppix | LXDE | No |
| Template:Rh | LibreCMC[53] | Binary blobs | ext4 | busybox-init | none | No |
| Template:Rh | Linux Mint[54] | Binary blobs[36] | ext4 | systemd | MATE, Cinnamon, KDE 4, XFCE | No |
| Template:Rh | Mageia | Binary blobs | ext4 | systemd | KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME | No |
| Template:Rh | Mandriva Linux | Binary blobs | ext4 | systemd | KDE Plasma Workspaces | No |
| Template:Rh | Manjaro Linux | Binary blobs | none[55] | systemd | Xfce, KDE, GNOME[56] | No |
| Template:Rh | MEPIS | Binary blobs | ext4 | sysvinit | KDE Plasma Workspaces | No |
| Template:Rh | MIRACLE LINUX | Binary blobs | ext4 | systemd | GNOME | No |
| Template:Rh | Musix GNU+Linux[57] | Linux-libre | ext4 | initscripts | LXDE | No |
| Template:Rh | MX Linux | Binary blobs | ext4 | sysvinit | Fluxbox, KDE and Xfce | No |
| Template:Rh | NixOS | Binary blobs or Linux-libre[58] | none | systemd | GNOME or KDE Plasma (Default), CDE, Cinnamon, Enlightment, Kodi, Lumina, LXQt, MATE, Pantheon, Phosh, RetroArch, Xfce, Xterm. 40 window managers[59] | In progress[60] |
| Template:Rh | OpenELEC | Binary blobs | SquashFS | shell script | XBMC Media Center | No |
| Template:Rh | openSUSE | Binary blobs | btrfs | systemd | KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME, Xfce | In progress[61] |
| Template:Rh | OpenWrt | Binary blobs | overlayfs+SquashFS/JFFS2[62] | procd[63] | none | In progress[64] |
| Template:Rh | Parabola GNU/Linux-libre | Linux-libre | none | openrc or systemd | none | No |
| Template:Rh | Pardus | Binary blobs | ext4 | systemd | KDE Plasma Workspaces | No |
| Template:Rh | Parsix | Binary blobs | ext4 | systemd | GNOME | No |
| Template:Rh | PCLinuxOS | Binary blobs | none | sysvinit | KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME, LXDE, Xfce, Enlightenment, Openbox | No |
| Template:Rh | Pentoo | Binary blobs | SquashFS | openrc | Enlightenment | No |
| Template:Rh | Porteus | Binary blobs | ? | sysvinit | KDE, LXDE, Xfce, Openbox, Razor-qt | No |
| Template:Rh | Puppy Linux | Binary blobs | SquashFS containing ext2 | busybox-init | JWM | No |
| Template:Rh | PureOS | Linux-libre(debian). Binary blobs are not hosted and discouraged while can be manually installed.[65] | ext4 | systemd | GNOME | No |
| Template:Rh | Red Hat Enterprise Linux | Binary blobs | xfs | systemd | GNOME | No |
| Template:Rh | Rxart Desktop | Binary blobs | ext3 | ? | KDE Plasma Workspaces | No |
| Template:Rh | Sabayon Linux | Binary blobs | ext4[66] | systemd | KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME | No |
| Template:Rh | Scientific Linux | Binary blobs | ext4 | sysvinit, systemd[67] | GNOME | No |
| Template:Rh | Slackware | Binary blobs[36] | ? | RC.d and sysvinit compatible | KDE, XFCE Fluxbox, Blackbox, fvwm2 twm | No |
| Template:Rh | Slax | Binary blobs | SquashFS | sysvinit | KDE Plasma Workspaces | No |
| Template:Rh | SliTaz GNU/Linux | Binary blobs | ext3 | busybox-init | Openbox | No |
| Template:Rh | Solus | Binary blobs | ext4 | systemd | Budgie, Gnome, MATE, KDE | No |
| Template:Rh | Source Mage GNU/Linux | Binary blobs | ext2 | simpleinit-msb | none | No |
| Template:Rh | SteamOS | Binary blobs | btrfs, ext4[68] | systemd | Steam, KDE Plasma[69] | No |
| Template:Rh | SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop | Binary blobs[36] | btrfs[70] | systemd | GNOME | No |
| Template:Rh | Tails | Vanilla Linux[36] | ? | systemd | GNOME | Template:Partial success[71][72] |
| Template:Rh | Trisquel | Linux-libre | ? | systemd | MATE | No |
| Template:Rh | TurnKey GNU/Linux | Binary blobs | ext4 | systemd | none - headless server by design; provides Webmin for administration | No |
| Template:Rh | Ubuntu/Edubuntu | Binary blobs[36] | ext4[73] | systemd | GNOME | No |
| Template:Rh | Ubuntu GNOME | Binary blobs | ext4 | systemd | GNOME 3 | No |
| Template:Rh | Ubuntu MATE | Binary blobs | ext4 | systemd | MATE | No |
| Template:Rh | Kubuntu | Binary blobs | ext4[73] | systemd | KDE Plasma Workspaces | No |
| Template:Rh | Xubuntu | Binary blobs | ext4[73] | systemd | Xfce | No |
| Template:Rh | Lubuntu | Binary blobs | ext4 | systemd | LXQt | No |
| Template:Rh | Ututo | Ututo XS (stable) is de-blobbed with Linux-libre tools.[74] Ututo UL (development) uses Linux-libre. Ututo UL means "Ubuntu-Libre" | ext3 | systemd | GNOME | No |
| Template:Rh | VectorLinux | Binary blobs | ReiserFS | sysvinit | KDE, Openbox, Fluxbox, IceWM, Xfce | No |
| Template:Rh | Void Linux | Binary blobs | none | runit | none | No |
| Template:Rh | Webconverger | Binary blobs | gitfs | sysvinit | dwm enforcing a Browser-only interface | No |
| Template:Rh | XBMC Live | Binary blobs | ext3 | systemd | XBMC Media Center | No |
| Template:Rh | Zentyal | Binary blobs | ext4 | systemd | LXDE | No |
| Template:Rh | Zenwalk | Binary blobs | ext4 | sysvinit | Xfce | No |
| Distribution | Default Linux kernel | Default file system | Default init system | Install-time desktop environment or window manager selection | Reproducible builds |
Instruction set architecture support
Linux kernel portability to instruction set architectures other than x86, was an early feature added to the kernel.
| Distribution | x86 | x86-64 | arm | ia64 | ppc[75] | ppc64 | sparc32 | sparc64 | hppa[76] | loongarch64 | mips[77] | sh | s390 | s390x | alpha[78] | m68k[79] | riscv |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Rh | Alpine Linux | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | riscv64 3.20+ |
| Template:Rh | Arch Linux | Unofficial[80] Official discontinued 2017-11-08[81] |
Yes | Unofficial[82] | No | Discontinued unofficial port,[83] Unofficial[84] | Unofficial[84] | No | No | No | Unofficial[85] | No | No | No | No | No | No | Unofficial[86] |
| Template:Rh | BackTrack | Discontinued from BackTrack 5 and superseded by Kali Linux[87] | Discontinued from BackTrack 5 and superseded by Kali Linux | Discontinued from BackTrack 5 and superseded by Kali Linux | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | BLAG | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Bodhi Linux | Yes | Yes | Discontinued 2013-10-23[88] |
No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | BOSS Linux | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | CentOS | AltArch | Yes | AltArch | Discontinued 3.5-3.8 4.1-4.7[89] |
Beta, Discontinued 4.0 |
AltArch | Beta 4.2[89][90] |
No | No | No | No | No | Discontinued 3.5-3.8 4.1-4.7[89][91] |
Discontinued 3.5-3.8 4.1-4.7[89][91] |
Discontinued 4.2-4.3[89][92][93] |
No | No |
| Template:Rh | Chakra | No | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Chimera Linux | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Template:Rh | Clear Linux OS | ? | Yes | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | CRUX | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Debian[94] | Discontinued 1.1-12.12[95] |
Yes 4.0+ |
Yes 2.2+ |
Discontinued 3.0-7.0[96] |
Discontinued 2.2-8 |
Yes | Discontinued 2.1-4.0[97] |
Discontinued -7[98] |
Discontinued 3.0-5.0 |
Official port requested[99] | Discontinued 3.0-12.12[100] |
In progress | Discontinued 3.0-7 |
Yes 7+ |
Discontinued 2.1-5.0 |
Discontinued 2.0-3.1 |
Officially testing[101] |
| Template:Rh | Devuan | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | dyne:bolic | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Fedora[102] | Discontinued from Fedora 30 |
Yes | Yes[103] | Discontinued from Fedora 9 [104] |
Discontinued from Fedora 17 |
Yes | No | Inactive from Fedora 12[105] |
No | In progress | Inactive from Fedora 13 [106] |
No | No | Yes | No | No | In progress[107] |
| Template:Rh | Finnix | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Gentoo[108] | Yes | Yes | Yes[109] | Discontinued 2024-08-14[110] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[111] | Yes[112][113] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[114] |
| Template:Rh | gNewSense | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Guix System[115] | Yes | Yes | Yes, ARMv7 and AArch64 | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | In progress[116] |
| Template:Rh | Hyperbola GNU/Linux-libre | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | In progress[117] | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | In progress[118] |
| Template:Rh | IPFire | Discontinued in 2021[119] | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Under Development |
| Template:Rh | Kali Linux | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | LibreCMC | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes XBurst | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Manjaro Linux | Yes Unofficial[120] |
Yes | Yes[121] | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | MEPIS | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | MIRACLE LINUX | Discontinued 8.0 |
Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Musix GNU+Linux | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | MX Linux | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | NixOS | Unofficial | Yes | Yes | No | Unofficial | Unofficial | No | No | No | No | No | No | Unofficial | Unofficial | No | Unofficial | Unofficial |
| Template:Rh | OpenELEC | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | openSUSE Leap | No | Yes | v7 64 | No | No | ppc64le | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | openSUSE Tumbleweed | Yes | Yes | v6 v7 64 | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | RV64G |
| Template:Rh | OpenWrt[122] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Oracle Linux[123] | Yes | Yes | No | Discontinued 5[124] |
No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Parabola GNU/Linux-libre | Yes | Yes | Yes, ARMv7[125][126] | No | No | Test release[127] | No | No | No | No | Discontinued[128] | No | No | No | No | No | Test release[129] |
| Template:Rh | Red Flag Linux | Discontinued 8.0[130] |
Discontinued 8.0[130] |
No | Discontinued 3[131] |
No | Discontinued 3[131] |
No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Red Hat Linux[132] | Discontinued 9.0 |
No | No | Discontinued 7.1-7.2 |
Test release 5.1[133] |
No | Discontinued 4.0-4.2 5.1-6.2 |
Test release 5.1[133] |
No | No | Test release 5.1[133] |
No | Discontinued 7.2 |
Yes | Discontinued 2.1-7.1 |
Test release 5.1[133] |
No |
| Template:Rh | Red Hat Enterprise Linux[134] | Discontinued 2.1-6[135] |
Yes 3+ |
Yes[136] | Discontinued 2.1-5[137] |
Yes 3+ |
Yes 3+ |
No | No | No | No | No | No | Discontinued 3-4[138] |
Yes 3+ |
No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Sabayon Linux | Discontinued | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Scientific Linux | Yes | Yes | No | Discontinued 3-4 |
No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | SHR | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Slackware | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Discontinued ?[139] |
No | No | No | No | No | Discontinued ?[140] |
Discontinued ?[140] |
Discontinued 8.1[141] |
No | No |
| Template:Rh | Solus | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Source Mage GNU/Linux | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | SUSE Linux Enterprise Server[142] | Yes | Yes | AArch64 only[143] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Trisquel GNU/Linux | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | TurnKey GNU/Linux | Selected ISOs available |
Yes | No - but under development by community | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu/Lubuntu | Discontinued from Ubuntu 20.04 |
Yes | Yes, including 64-bit ARMv8-A | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Ubuntu only, 16.04+[144] | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Ututo | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | In progress | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Void Linux | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Unofficial[145] | Unofficial[145] | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | XBMCbuntu | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Yellow Dog Linux | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Distribution | x86 | x86-64 | arm | ia64 | ppc | ppc64 | sparc32 | sparc64 | hppa | loongson | mips | sh | s390 | s390x | alpha | m68k | riscv |
Package management and installation
Information on features in the distributions. Package numbers are only approximate. Some distributions like Debian tend to separate tools into different packages – usually stable release, development release, documentation and debug. Also counting the source package number varies. For debian and rpm based entries it is just the base to produce binary packages, so the total number of packages is the number of binary packages. For Arch based entries, it is additional.
| Distribution | Free software repositories | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Rh | Alpine Linux | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts[146][147] | ? | apk | .apk | setup-alpine | No | ? | iPXE[148] |
| Template:Rh | ALT Linux | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts[149] | ? | APT (APT-RPM), RPM | RPM | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Template:Rh | Arch Linux | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts[150] | Template:Nts from AUR[151] | Pacman | .pkg.tar.zst[152] | arch-install-scripts[153] and archinstaller[154] | No | Yes | iPXE |
| Template:Rh | BLAG | Free only | Template:Nts[155] | ? | RPM, yum, APT | RPM | Yes | No | No | |
| Template:Rh | Bodhi Linux | Free, and nonfree | Template:Efn[156] | ? | APT | .dpkg | Ubiquity | Yes | ? | ? |
| Template:Rh | Canaima | Free, and nonfree | ? | ? | APT | .deb | debian-installer | Yes | ? | ? |
| Template:Rh | CentOS | Free, and nonfree | Template:NtsTemplate:Efn[157] | ? | RPM, yum/up2date | RPM | Anaconda | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Template:Rh | Chakra | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts[158] | Template:Nts[159] | Pacman (to be replaced by Akabei in future) | .pkg.tar.xz | Package manager in development | ? | ? | |
| Template:Rh | Chimera Linux | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | apk | .apk | None | No | Yes | No |
| Template:Rh | ClearOS | Free, and nonfree | Template:Efn | ? | RPM, yum | RPM | No | ? | ? | |
| Template:Rh | Clear Linux OS | ? | ? | ? | Swupd | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Template:Rh | CrunchBang Linux | Free, and nonfree | Template:Efn[156] | ? | APT | .deb | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Template:Rh | Debian | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts[156] | Template:NtsTemplate:Efn | APT | .deb | Debian-Installer | Yes | Yes | PXE |
| Template:Rh | Devuan | Free, and nonfree | Template:Efn[156] | ? | APT | .deb | Debian-Installer | Yes | Yes | PXE |
| Template:Rh | Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre | Free only | Template:Nts | ? | pkgsystem | .tlz | ? | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | dyne:bolic | Free only | ? | ? | APT | .deb | Debian-Installer | Yes | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Fedora | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts[160] | Template:Nts[161] | DNF, yum, PackageKit | RPM | Anaconda | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Template:Rh | Gentoo | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts[162][163] | Template:Nts[164]Template:Efn | Portage | .ebuild, .tbz2 | None (third-party install scripts only) | YesTemplate:Efn | Yes | PXE |
| Template:Rh | gNewSense | Free only | ? | ? | APT | .deb | Debian-Installer | Yes | Yes | No |
| Template:Rh | Guix System | Free only | Template:Nts[165] | Template:Nts | Guix | .scm, .go | guix system init[166]
|
Yes[167] | Yes[168] | No |
| Template:Rh | Hyperbola GNU/Linux-libre | Free only | Template:Nts[169] | ? | Pacman | .pkg.tar.lz | None (third-party install scripts only) | No | Yes | ? |
| Template:Rh | IPFire | Free, and nonfree | ? | ? | pakfire | custom format | IPFire installer | No | No | Yes |
| Template:Rh | Knoppix | Free, and nonfree | Template:Efn[156] | ? | APT | .deb | No | ? | ? | |
| Template:Rh | LibreCMC | Free only | Template:Nts | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | |
| Template:Rh | Linux Mint | Free, and nonfree | Template:Efn[156] | ? | APT | .deb | Ubiquity | Yes | ? | ? |
| Template:Rh | Mageia | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts (i586), Template:Nts (x86-64)[170] | Template:Nts[171] | urpmi, rpmdrake | RPM | DrakX | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Template:Rh | Mandriva Linux | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts | ? | urpmi, rpmdrake | RPM | DrakX | Yes | ? | ? |
| Template:Rh | Manjaro Linux | Free, and nonfree | ? | Template:Efn[151] | Pacman | .pkg.tar.xz | Calamares[172] | Yes[173] | Yes | iPXE |
| Template:Rh | MEPIS | Free, and nonfree | Template:Efn[156] | ? | APT | .deb | MEPIS Install | Yes | ? | ? |
| Template:Rh | MIRACLE LINUX | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | RPM, yum, dnf | RPM | Anaconda | Yes | Yes | No |
| Template:Rh | Musix GNU+Linux | Free only | Template:Nts | ? | APT | .deb | Debian-Installer | Yes | No | No |
| Template:Rh | MX Linux | Free, and nonfree | Template:Efn[156] | ? | APT | .deb | Gazelle Installer | Yes | No | No |
| Template:Rh | NixOS | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts[174] | Template:Nts[175] | nix | .nix | Calamares | Yes | Yes[176] | Yes[177] |
| Template:Rh | OpenELEC | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts[178] | ? | XBMCbuntu addon manager, own and 3rd party addons | .zip | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Template:Rh | openSUSE | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts with PackMan[179] | Template:Nts | YaST, Zypper | RPM | YaST | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Template:Rh | OpenWrt | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts | ? | opkg | .ipk | - | No | ? | ? |
| Template:Rh | Parabola GNU/Linux-libre | Free only | Template:Nts[180] | ? | Pacman | .pkg.tar.xz | None (third-party install scripts only) or Calamares | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Template:Rh | Pardus | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts | ? | APT | .deb | Debian-Installer | Yes | ? | ? |
| Template:Rh | Parsix | Free, and nonfree | Template:Efn[156] | Template:Nts | APT | .deb | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Template:Rh | PCLinuxOS | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts | ? | APT, RPM | RPM | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Template:Rh | Puppy | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts | ? | PupGet, DotPup | .pup, .pet | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Template:Rh | Red Hat Enterprise Linux | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts (plus Template:Nts from EPEL[181]) | ? | RPM, yum | RPM | Anaconda | Yes | ? | ? |
| Template:Rh | Rxart | Free, and nonfree | Template:Efn[156] | ? | APT | .deb | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Template:Rh | Sabayon Linux | Free, and nonfree | Template:Efn | ? | Portage, Entropy | ebuild, .tbz2 | Calamares | Yes | ? | ? |
| Template:Rh | Scientific | Free, and nonfree | Template:Efn | ? | APT/yum | RPM | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Template:Rh | Slackware | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts | Template:Nts from SlackBuilds[182] | slackpkg | tgz, .txz, .tlz, .tbz | bash script[183] | No | Yes | Yes |
| Template:Rh | Slax | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts | ? | none | .lzm | ? | ? | ||
| Template:Rh | SliTaz GNU/Linux | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts[184] | ? | Tazpkg | .tazpkg | tazinst | Yes | iPXE | iPXE |
| Template:Rh | Solus | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts | ? | eopkg | .eopkg | os-installer | Yes | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Source Mage GNU/Linux | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Sorcery Package Manager | src | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Template:Rh | SUSE Linux | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | YaST, Zypper | RPM | YaST | Yes | ? | ? |
| Template:Rh | Tiny Core Linux | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts | ? | ab, tce-load | tcz | tc-install, core2usb | Yes | ? | ? |
| Template:Rh | Tiny SliTaz | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts | ? | Web site[185] | tazpkg | No | ? | iPXE | |
| Template:Rh | Trisquel | Free only | Template:Nts[186] | ? | APT | .deb | Ubiquity | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Template:Rh | TurnKey GNU/Linux | Free, and nonfree | Template:Efn[156] (plus ≈30 custom packages) | Template:NtsTemplate:Efn (currently TurnKey only supplies source code for custom packages) | APT | .deb | DI-Live (custom fork of Debian Installer) | No | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu | Free, and nonfree | Template:NtsTemplate:Efn[156][187] | Template:NtsTemplate:Efn | APT | .deb | Ubiquity | Yes | Yes | PXE |
| Template:Rh | Ututo | Free only | Template:Nts | ? | UTUTO Package Manager | ebuild | ? | ? | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Vector Linux | Free, and nonfree | ? | ? | slapt-get, gslapt, installpkg | tgz | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Template:Rh | Void Linux | Free, nonfree and multilib | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | xbps | .xbps | ncurses script | Yes | Yes | No |
| Template:Rh | XBMC Live | Free, and nonfree | ? | ? | APT | .deb | No | ? | ? | |
| Template:Rh | Zentyal | Free, and nonfree | Template:Efn[156] | ? | APT | .deb | dpkg | Yes | ? | ? |
| Template:Rh | Zenwalk | Free, and nonfree | Template:Nts | ? | netpkg, installpkg, upgradepkg | tgz, txz | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Distribution | Free software repositories | 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
Security features
| Distribution | Compile time buffer checks | Mandatory access control | Software executable space protection | grsecurity | RSBAC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Rh | Alpine Linux | Yes[208] | Unknown | PaX | Discontinued in 3.8.0 | Unknown |
| Template:Rh | Arch Linux | Unknown | SELinux(Unofficial),[209]AppArmor | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Template:Rh | BLAG | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Template:Rh | Android (operating system) | Yes | Yes, since Android Marshmallow | Optional | Optional | Optional |
| Template:Rh | Clear Linux OS | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Template:Rh | Debian | Yes | SELinux, AppArmor | PaX optional | Optional | Optional |
| Template:Rh | Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Template:Rh | dyne:bolic | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Template:Rh | Fedora | Yes | SELinux[210] | Exec Shield[211] | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Gentoo | Optional | SELinux, AppArmor | PaX optional | Optional | Optional |
| Template:Rh | gNewSense | Unknown | SELinux, AppArmorTemplate:Efn | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Template:Rh | Guix System | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Template:Rh | IPFire | Yes | No | No | Discontinued in 2018 | No |
| Template:Rh | LibreCMC | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Template:Rh | Mandriva | Unknown | AppArmor | Unknown | Unknown | Yes |
| Template:Rh | MIRACLE LINUX | Unknown | SELinux | Unknown | No | Unknown |
| Template:Rh | Musix GNU+Linux | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Template:Rh | Parabola GNU/Linux-libre | Unknown | Optional[212] | Unknown | Optional[212] | Unknown |
| Template:Rh | Slackware | Unknown | AppArmor, tomoyo | Unknown | Unknown | Optional |
| Template:Rh | SUSE Linux | Yes | AppArmor[213] | Hardware NX and other methods in mainline kernel and toolchain[214] | No | No |
| Template:Rh | Solus | Yes | AppArmor | Unknown | No | Unknown |
| Template:Rh | Trisquel | Unknown | SELinux, AppArmorTemplate:Efn | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Template:Rh | Ubuntu | Yes[215] | SELinux, AppArmor [215] | PaX optional | Optional | Optional |
| Template:Rh | Ututo | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
Apple Silicon Support
| Distribution | Direct Install | Working Virtualisation | Community Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kali | Unknown | Yes[216] | — |
| Ubuntu | Unknown | Yes[217] | — |
| Fedora | Unknown | Yes[218] | — |
| Red Hat | Unknown | Yes[219] | — |
See also
Script error: No such module "Portal".
- Comparison of netbook-oriented Linux distributions
- Comparison of operating systems
- DistroWatch
- List of Linux distributions
Notes
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Prior to v7.0, Scientific Linux used sysvinit. Since v7.0, it uses systemd. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ [1] Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ RHEL 4 is the last version to support 31-bit s390. RHEL 5 only supports 64-bit s390x.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ apk list command, Alpine Linux v3.13
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ yum list all command, CentOS Linux 8
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ eix -- -bin$ command, Gentoo Linux (8 April 2025)
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ found this in /usr/lib/setup/setup
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
External links
- Linux free distros (Free Software Foundation)
- Repository tracking
- The LWN.net Linux Distribution List – Categorized list with information about each entry.
- Distrowatch – Announcements, information, links and popularity ranking for many Linux distributions.
- Linux Distros – Information and ISO files for many oldest Linux distributions.
Script error: No such module "Navbox". Script error: No such module "Navbox". Script error: No such module "Navbox".