Jump to content

Comparison of Linux distributions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 69.230.116.133 (talk) at 21:44, 7 July 2009 (→‎Technical). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Technical variations of Linux distributions include support for different hardware devices and systems or software package configurations. Organizational differences may be motivated by historical reasons. Other criteria include security, including how quickly security upgrades are available; ease of package management; and number of packages available.

These tables compare each noteworthy distribution's latest stable release on wide-ranging objective criteria. It does not cover each operating system's subjective merits, branches marked as unstable or beta, nor compare Linux distributions with other operating systems.

General

Basic general information about the distributions: creator or producer, release date and latest version, and so forth.

Distribution Creator Producer First public release (yyyy-MM-dd) Base distribution Latest release date Purpose
64 Studio Daniel James, Free Ekanayaka 64 Studio Ltd. 2005-05-09 Debian 2008-06-09 multimedia
Alinex Alinex Team, University of Évora Alinex Team, University of Évora 2005-12-06 Ubuntu 2008-03-07 general purpose
aLinux Jay Klepacs Jay Klepacs ? pre-1999-08-19 (1.1) Red Hat Linux 2006-11-08 desktop
ALT Linux ALT Linux Team ALT Linux Team / ALT Linux LLC 2001-03-21 none 2009-02-20 desktop, workstation, server
Annvix Vincent Danen Vincent Danen 2003-11-? Mandrake Linux server
Arch Linux Judd Vinet dev team 2002-03-11 none 2009-02-16 general purpose
Ark Linux Bernhard Rosenkraenzer dev team 2003-01-25 none 2008-05-14 desktop
Arudius Haidut dev team 2005-11-04 none 2006-02-06 information assurance, security
Asianux Red Flag Linux, Miracle Linux, Haansoft Linux dev team 2004-06-? RHEL 2007-09-22 workstation, server
Aurox Software-Wydawnictwo Sp. z oo Aurox Sp. z oo 2002-09-? Fedora 2006-08-31 general purpose
BackTrack Max Moser, Mati Aharoni & Martin J. Muench Remote-Exploit 2008-06-19 Slackware 2006-08-31 "The Swiss Army Knife for security assessments"
BLAG Brixton Linux Action Group Brixton Linux Action Group 2002-10-22 Fedora 2008-07-21 [1] desktop
Caixa Mágica Daniel Neves, José Guimarães, Paulo Trezentos Caixa Mágica Software 2000-10-28 Mandriva Linux 2009-06-03 desktop, server
CentOS CentOS Project CentOS Project 2003-12-? RHEL 2008-06-23 server
CrunchBang Philip Newborough Philip Newborough 2008-01-30 Ubuntu 2009-01-19 desktop
CRUX Per Liden CRUX Linux community 2001-01-20 none 2008-12-18 general purpose
Damn Small Linux John Andrews dev team 2003-?-? Knoppix 2008-04-22 portable
Debian Ian Murdock Debian Project 1993-08-16 none 2009-02-14 general purpose
Desktop Light Linux Henry Jensen Henry Jensen 2002-10-? none 2008-05-28 desktop
DeMuDi AGNULA AGNULA 2002-04-? Debian 2005-11-03 producing audio, video
dyne:bolic Jaromil Jaromil 2001-06-? none 2007-09-22 producing audio, video
Easy Peasy Jon Ramvi, Easy Peasy community Jon Ramvi, Easy Peasy community 2008-07-04 Ubuntu 2009-04-20 general purpose for netbooks
Elive Thanatermesis Thanatermesis 2005-01-01 Debian 2007-07-05 desktop
EnGarde Secure Linux Guardian Digital, Inc. Guardian Digital, Inc. 2001-?-? none 2008-04-? server
Fedora Fedora Project Fedora Project 2003-11-05 Red Hat Linux 2009-06-09 general purpose
Finnix Ryan Finnie Ryan Finnie 2000-03-22 Debian 2008-01-29 server administration
Foresight Linux Ken VanDine dev team 2004-12-? rPath 2008-11-24 desktop, workstation, gnome showcase
Frugalware Miklos Vajna dev team 2004-09-02[citation needed] Slackware 2009-03-22 general purpose
Gentoo Linux Daniel Robbins Gentoo Foundation, Inc. 2002-3-? none 2008-07-06 [2] general purpose
gNewSense Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley dev team 2006-11-02 Ubuntu (8.04) 2008-04-30 desktop
Gnoppix Klaus Knopper dev team ? pre-2003-07-17 (0.4) Knoppix 2005-09-07 live CD
gnuLinEx Regional Government of Extremadura dev team 2002-06-09 Debian 2006-06-20 desktop
GoboLinux Hisham Muhammad, Andre Detsch dev team 2002-03-20 none 2008-03-30 desktop
gOS Good OS LLC Good OS LLC 2007-11-01 Ubuntu 2008-02-07 desktop
Impi Linux Gauteng Linux Users Group Impi Linux (Pty) Ltd. 2003-11-? Debian 2006-01-31 desktop
Kanotix Jörg Schirottke (Kano) dev team 2003-12-24 Debian, Knoppix 2007-12-31 live CD, desktop
Kiran Linux Kiran Shila Kiran Shila 2008-08-19 Slackware 2008-08-19 desktop, workstation
Knoppix Klaus Knopper dev team ? pre-2003-01-19 (3.1) Debian 2008-03-27 live CD
KnoppMyth Cecil Watson dev team ? Debian, Knoppix 2007-09-09 Live Frontend, Desktop
Kuki Linux João Ferro kuki bakers ? Ubuntu ? Acer Aspire One
Kurumin Linux Carlos Morimoto GuiadoHardware 2003-01-? Knoppix 2007-02-21 desktop, live CD
Linspire Lindows.com, Inc. Linspire, Inc. 2002-03-? Debian 2007-10-10 desktop
Freespire Lindows.com, Inc. Linspire, Inc. 2002-03-? Debian/Ubuntu(developing) 2007-11-30 desktop
Linux4One ? ? 2009-02-28 Ubuntu 2009-04-06 desktop
Linux Mint Clement Lefebvre dev team 2006-08-27 Ubuntu 2009-06-24 desktop
Lunar Linux Chuck Mead, Lunar Penguin Project Foo-Projects.org 2002-03-? Sorcerer 2007-02-17 desktop, workstation, server
Mandriva Linux Mandrakesoft S.A. Mandriva S.A. 1998-7-23 (5.1 (venice)) Red Hat Linux 2008-10-09 general purpose
MontaVista Linux MontaVista Software MontaVista Software 1999-?-? Debian 2007-03-? embedded systems
Mutagenix Dan Barber Dan Barber 2005-7-7 Slackware 2007-08-16 rescue, general purpose
Musix GNU+Linux Marcos Guglielmetti ? ? Knoppix, Kanotix, Debian 2007-03-05 producing audio
NexusWare Core Performance Technologies, Inc dev team 1998-?-? Debian and others 2008-02-02 embedded systems
NimbleX Bogdan Radulescu Bogdan Radulescu 2005-12-? Slackware 2006-12-25 desktop
Nitix Net Integration Technologies, Inc. Net Integration Technologies, Inc. 2001-?-? none 2006-10-18 server
Open Enterprise Server on Linux Novell Novell, Inc. dev team 2003 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 2009-03-24 server
openSUSE SUSE Linux / Novell Novell, Inc. & openSUSE Project 1994-03-? SUSE Linux 2008-12-18 desktop, server
Paipix António Amorim António Amorim 2004-?-? Debian 2007-10-17 science
Pardus TUBITAK TUBITAK 2005-?-? none 2008-09-14 general purpose
Parsix Alan Baghumian Parsix Project 2005-01-25 Kanotix, Debian 2007-10-05 desktop
PCLinuxOS Bill Reynolds dev team 2003-11-? Mandriva 2007-05-21 desktop
Pie Box Enterprise Linux PixExcel PixExcel 2004-04-19 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2006-08-15 general purpose
Puppy Linux Barry Kauler Puppy Foundation 2002-07-12 (0.4) none 2008-11-03 [3] portable
QiLinux QiLinux team QiLinux team 2003-10-31 (1.0alpha2) none 2006-08-01 desktop, server
Red Flag Linux Institute of Software, Chinese Academy of Sciences, NewMargin Venture Capital Red Flag Software Co., Ltd. 1999-09-20 Asianux 2005-11-11 general purpose
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Red Hat Red Hat 2002-03-26 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 AS (Pensacola) Fedora 2008-05-21 business workstation, server
Red Hat Linux Red Hat Red Hat 1995-05-13 (1.0) none 2003-03-31 server, workstation
Rocks UCSD Supercomputing Center, Clustercorp UCSD Supercomputing Center, Clustercorp 2000-11-? Rocks 1.0 Red Hat Linux 2008-11-? Rocks 5.1 (V.1) business workstation, server
Rxart Pixart SRL Pixart SRL 2000-03-? Debian 2006-04-16 desktop, workstation, server
Sabayon Linux lxnay Design dev team ? Gentoo 2009-04-13 desktop
Satux Institute of Technology JRSC (iTJRSC) Institute of Technology JRSC (iTJRSC) 2007-?-? Debian 2007[4] desktop, end user
Scientific Linux CERN, Fermilab dev team 2004-5-10 RHL/RHEL 2008-06-28 science
sidux sidux team sidux team 2007-02-21 Debian Sid 2008-12-23 desktop
SimplyMEPIS Warren Woodford MEPIS LLC. 2003-09-05 Debian 2009-02-22 desktop
Slackware Patrick Volkerding dev team 1993-07-16 SLS 2008-05-02 desktop, workstation, server
SLAX Tomas Matejicek Tomas Matejicek 2002-06-16 Slackware 2008-04-18 live CD
SMS - Slack Mini Server gerasimos_h gerasimos_h 2007-08-10 Slackware 2009-02-28 server, live CD
SliTaz GNU/Linux Christophe Lincoln dev team 2009-04-16 none 2009-04-16 live CD
Source Mage GNU/Linux Ryan Abrams, Eric Schabell dev team 2002-06-? Sorcerer 2009-02-11 general purpose
SUSE Linux SUSE Linux / Novell Novell, Inc. dev team 1994-03-? Slackware, Jurix[5] 2008-05-21 business desktop, server
Symphony OS Ryan Quinn Ryan Quinn & Jason Spisak ? Debian 2006-12-13 desktop
SYS W.Landgraf W.Landgraf 2007-11-? Slackware 2009-06-02[6] desktop, development, server
Trustix Secure Linux Comodo Group, Inc. Comodo Group, Inc. 2000-02-? Red Hat Linux 2007-03-06 server
Ubuntu Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2004-10-20 Debian 2009-04-23 desktop, server
Kubuntu Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2005-04-08 Debian 2008-07-03 desktop
Xubuntu Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2006-06-01 Debian 2008-07-03 desktop
Edubuntu Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2005-10-13 Debian 2008-07-03 computer lab
Gobuntu Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2007-10-18 Debian 2008-07-03 desktop
Ubuntu Studio Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. 2007-05-11 Debian 2008-11-30 multimedia
Ututo GNU/Linux Diego Saravia, Daniel Olivera UTUTO dev-team 2000-?-? Gentoo Linux 2009-03-15 general purpose
VectorLinux Robert S. Lange dev team 1999-?-? Slackware 2007-05-17 desktop
Xandros Xandros Corp. Xandros, Inc. 2002-10-22 Corel Linux 2006-06-21 desktop
XBMC Live The XBMC Project Team-XBMC 2008-11-14 Ubuntu 2008-11-14 multimedia
Yellow Dog Linux Terra Soft Solutions Fixstars Solutions 1999 Fedora, CentOS 2008-11-19 desktop, workstation
Yoper Andreas Giradet The Yoper Team 2003-03-05 none 2007-10-03 desktop, workstation, server
Zenwalk Linux Jean-Philippe Guillemin dev team 2004-05-21 (as Minislack) Slackware 2009-03-07 desktop, server
Distribution Creator Producer First public release (yyyy-MM-dd) Base distribution Latest release date Purpose

Cost

The following distributions are completely without cost: aLinux, ALT Linux, Annvix, Arch Linux, Ark Linux, Arudius, Asianux, Aurox, BLAG Linux and GNU, CentOS, CRUX, Damn Small Linux, Debian, DeLi Linux, DeMuDi, Devil-Linux, dyne:bolic, Easy Peasy, Edubuntu, EnGarde Secure Linux, Fedora, Finnix, Foresight Linux, Freespire, Frugalware, Gentoo, gNewSense, gnuLinEx, GoboLinux, Gobuntu, Impi Linux, Kanotix, Knoppix, Knoppmyth, Kubuntu, Kurumin Linux, Linux Mint, Lunar Linux, Musix GNU+Linux, NimbleX, NUbuntu, openSUSE, Paipix, Pardus, Parsix, PCLinuxOS, Puppy Linux, QiLinux, SabayonLinux, Satux, Scientific Linux, sidux, Slackware, SLAX, SliTaz GNU/Linux, Source Mage GNU/Linux, Symphony OS, SYS, Trustix, Ubuntu, Ututo GNU/Linux, Super OS, Xubuntu, XBMC Live, Yoper and Zenwalk.

The following distributions have several editions, some of which are without cost and some of which do cost money : Caixa Mágica, Mandriva Linux, MEPIS and Red Flag Linux.

The following distributions cost money : Elive, Linspire,[7] Novell Open Enterprise Server,[8] Pie Box Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux,[9][10] Rxart,[11] SUSE Linux Enterprise.[12]

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

Technical

Information on technical aspects of the distributions.

Distribution Linux kernel C Compiler Default file system Commonly chosen desktop environment or window manager
Alinex 2.6.22 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 GNOME
aLinux 2.6.12 GCC 4.1.1 none KDE
ALT Linux 2.6.25 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 KDE, Xfce
Annvix 2.4.32 GCC 3.4.3 none
Arch Linux 2.6.30[13] GCC 4.3.3[14] none[15] any
Archie Xfce
Ark Linux 2.6.22.3 GCC 4.2.1 JFS[16] KDE
Arudius 2.6.13 GCC 3.3.6 ext3 Fluxbox
Asianux 2.6.18 GCC 4.1.1 ext3 KDE
Aurox 2.6.9 GCC 4.1.1 ext3 KDE
BackTrack 2.6.21.5 GCC 4.1.1 ext3 KDE, Fluxbox
BLAG Linux and GNU Based on 2.6.25 GCC 4.1.1 ext3 GNOME
Caixa Mágica ? GCC ? ? ?
CentOS 2.6.18 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 GNOME
CrunchBang Linux 2.6.27 GCC 4.3.1 ext3 Openbox
CRUX 2.6.27.8 GCC 4.3.2 none Openbox
Damn Small Linux 2.4.31 GCC 3.3.5, TCC ext3 JWM
Debian 2.6.26 GCC 4.3.2, 4.2.4, 4.1.2, 3.4.6 ext3 GNOME, KDE, LXDE or Xfce (depending on installation media)
DeLi Linux 2.4.32 GCC 2.95 ext3/ext2 IceWM
DeMuDi 2.6.12 GCC 3.3.5 ext3 GNOME
Dreamlinux Xfce
dyne:bolic 2.6.18 GCC 3.4.3 SquashFS, ext3 Xfce
Easy Peasy ext3 Gnome, Ubuntu Netbook Remix
Elive 2.6.15/2.6.18.2 GCC 3.4.3 SquashFS, ReiserFS Enlightenment
EnGarde Secure Linux 2.6.17 None ext3 none
Fedora 2.6.27 GCC 4.3.2 ? GNOME, KDE, Xfce (depending on spin)
Finnix 2.6.22 GCC 4.1.1 SquashFS none
Foresight Linux 2.6.27 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 GNOME
Frugalware 2.6.22.9 GCC 4.2.1 none none
Gentoo 2.6.27 GCC 4.3.3 none none
gnuLinEx 2.6.16 GCC 3.3.5 ext2 GNOME
GoboLinux 2.6.24.4 GCC 4.1.2 ReiserFS KDE
gNewSense 2.6.15.27 GCC 4.0.3 ext3 GNOME
Impi Linux 2.6.11.7 GCC 4.0.1 ? KDE
Kanotix 2.6.22 GCC 4.1.1 ext3 KDE
Knoppix 2.6.24.4 GCC 4.2.2 XFS ?
Kurumin Linux 2.6.18 GCC 4.1.1 ext3 KDE
Linspire 2.6.14 GCC 3.4.3 ReiserFS KDE
Linux Mint 2.6.28 GCC 4.3.3 ext3 GNOME, KDE or Xfce (depending on edition)
Lunar Linux 2.6.26 GCC 3.4.6
GCC 4.2.4[17] 		none none
Mandriva Linux 2.6.27 GCC 4.3.2 ext3 GNOME,KDE
MEPIS 2.6.22.14 GCC ? ReiserFS, ext3 KDE
Musix GNU+Linux 2.6.16 GCC 4.0.3 ? IceWM
Mutagenix 2.6.18 GCC ? ? KDE
NimbleX 2.6.11 ? SquashFS KDE
Nitix 2.4.21 GCC 3.3.4 ReiserFS none
openSUSE 2.6.27.7 GCC 4.3.34 ext3 GNOME, KDE, Xfce
Paipix 2.6.14 GCC 4.0.2 none KDE
Pardus 2.6.25 GCC 3.4.6 ext3 KDE
Parsix 2.6.23.9 GCC 4.2.2 ext3 GNOME
PCLinuxOS 2.6.16 GCC 3.3.1 none KDE
Pie Box Enterprise Linux 2.6.9 GCC 3.4.6 ext3 GNOME
Puppy Linux 2.6.25.16 GCC 3.3.4 SquashFS containing ext2 JWM
QiLinux 2.6.17 GCC 4.0.2 ReiserFS KDE
Red Flag Linux 2.6.9 GCC 3.4.3 ext3 KDE
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.6.18[18] GCC 4.1.2 ext3 GNOME
Rxart Desktop 2.6.11 ? ext3 KDE
Sabayon Linux 2.6.29.1 GCC 4.3.2 ext4[19] KDE
Satux 2.6.22 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 GNOME
Scientific Linux 2.6.18 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 GNOME
sidux 2.6.27.10 GCC 4.3.2 ext3 KDE
Slackware 2.6.24.4 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 [20] KDE
SLAX 2.6.24.4 GCC 4.2.3 SquashFS KDE
SMS - Slack Mini Server 2.6.27.7 GCC 4.2.4 ext3 KDE
SliTaz GNU/Linux 2.6.25.5 GCC 4.2.2 ext3 Openbox
Source Mage GNU/Linux any (iso uses 2.6.19) GCC 4.1.2 ext2 none
SUSE Linux 2.6.27.19 GCC 4.1.3 ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS GNOME, KDE, Xfce
Symphony OS 2.6.16 GCC 4.1.0 ReiserFS Mezzo
SYS 2.6.26.2 (iso) / 2.6.31-rc2 (repository [21], server [22]) GCC 4.2.4 ext3 KDE, GNOME, Xfce (selectable in kdm)
Ubuntu Edubuntu 2.6.27 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 GNOME
Kubuntu 2.6.27 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 KDE
XBMC Live 2.6.27 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 XBMC Media Center
Xubuntu 2.6.27 GCC 4.1.2 ext3 Xfce
Ututo GNU/Linux 2.6.27 GCC 4.3.2 ext3 GNOME
VectorLinux 2.6.13 GCC 3.4.6 ? Fluxbox, IceWM, Xfce
Xandros Desktop OS 2.6.15 GCC 3.3.5 ReiserFS KDE
Yoper 2.6 GCC 4.0, 4.2 ext3 KDE
Zenwalk Linux 2.6.28.7 GCC 4.2.3 ? Xfce
Distribution Linux kernel C Compiler Default file system Commonly chosen desktop environment or window manager

Architecture support

Distribution x86 x86-64 IA-64 ppc ppc64 sparc32 sparc64 arm hppa mips loongson s390 s390x alpha
64 Studio Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
aLinux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Alinex Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
ALT Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Annvix Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Arch Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Ark Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Arudius Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Asianux Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No
Aurox Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
BLAG Linux and GNU Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Caixa Mágica Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No
CentOS Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes
CrunchBang Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
CRUX Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Damn Small Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Debian[23] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?[24] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
DeLi Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
DeMuDi Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
dyne:bolic Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Eagle Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Elive Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
EnGarde Secure Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Fedora[25] Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No ? No No No No No No
Finnix Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No
Foresight Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Frugalware Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Gentoo Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes[26] Yes Yes[27][28] Yes Yes Yes Yes
gnuLinEx Yes Yes ? No No No No No No No No No No No
GoboLinux[29] Yes No No No No No No Yes No No No No No No
Impi Linux Yes Yes ? ? No ? ? No No No No No No No
Kanotix Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Knoppix Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Kurumin Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Linspire Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Linux Mint Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Lunar Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Mandriva Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
MEPIS Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Mutagenix Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Musix GNU+Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
NimbleX Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Nitix Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
OES2-Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No Yes No No
openSUSE[30] Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No No No No No
Paipix Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Pardus Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Parsix Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
PCLinuxOS Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Pie Box Enterprise Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Puppy Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
QiLinux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Red Flag Linux Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No
Red Hat Enterprise Linux[31] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No[32] Yes No
Rxart Desktop Yes No Yes No No No No No No No No No No No
Sabayon Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Satux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Scientific Linux Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No
sidux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Slackware Yes Yes No No No No No Yes No No No Yes No No
Slax Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
SMS -Slack Mini Server Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
SliTaz GNU/Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Source Mage GNU/Linux Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No No No No No
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server [33] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No Yes No
Symphony OS Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
SYS Yes ? No No No No No No No No No No No No
Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Edubuntu/Xubuntu Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No No No No No
UTUTO GNU/Linux Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
VectorLinux Yes ? No No No No No No No No No No No No
Xandros Desktop OS Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
XBMC Live Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Yellow Dog Linux No No No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No
Yoper Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Zenwalk Linux Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Distribution x86 x86-64 IA-64 ppc ppc64 sparc32 sparc64 arm hppa mips loongson s390 s390x alpha

Package management and installation

Information on features in the distributions. Package numbers are only approximate.

Distribution Approximate number of pre-compiled packages Approximate number of source packages Default package management tools Package Format Default installer Graphical installation procedure
Alinex 20300 APT DEB Yes
aLinux 1200 RPM RPM No
ALT Linux 8300[34] APT (apt-rpm), RPM RPM Yes
Annvix APT, RPM RPM
Arch Linux 15000 Pacman tar.gz No
Archie
Ark Linux 4000 RPM, APT RPM Yes
Arudius Slackware Pkgtools tgz No
Asianux mlupdater, RPM RPM Yes
Aurox 3000 RPM, yum RPM Yes
BLAG 10000 [35] RPM, yum, APT RPM Yes
Caixa Mágica 16000 urpmi, APT (apt-rpm) RPM Yes
CrunchBang Linux 23000 APT deb Yes
CRUX 1155 pkgutils tgz No
CentOS 1660 RPM, yum/up2date RPM Yes
Damn Small Linux 610 myDSL, APT .dsl, .tar.gz, .uci, .unc, deb No
Debian 25113 12123 APT deb Debian-Installer Yes
Desktop Light Linux 150 No
DeMuDi 875 APT deb Yes
Dreamlinux 23000 APT deb Yes
dyne:bolic none none Yes
Elive 20000 APT deb Yes
EnGarde Secure Linux 500 RPM, APT RPM
Fedora 8000 yum RPM Anaconda Yes
Finnix 350 APT deb No
Foresight Linux 15000 Conary, PackageKit[36] Yes
Frugalware 3000 Pacman .tar.bz Yes
Gentoo 80 13000 Portage ebuild Yes[37]
gnuLinEx 200 APT deb Yes
GoboLinux 2000 Manager,[38] Compile, InstallPackage recipes,tar.bz2 Yes
Impi Linux No
Kanotix 1200 APT deb Yes
KateOS
Knoppix 3600 APT deb No
Kurumin APT deb Yes
Linspire 2200 CNR "click and run" deb Yes
Linux Mint 23000 APT, mintInstall deb Ubiquity Yes
Lunar 3120 lin source Yes
Mandriva Linux 20000 urpmi, rpmdrake[39] RPM DrakX Yes
MEPIS 20000 APT deb Yes
Musix GNU+Linux 1300 APT deb Yes
Mutagenix tgz Yes
Mythbuntu 26000 APT deb Ubiquity
NimbleX 500 none tgz No
Nitix SoftUpdate, yum RPM Yes
openSUSE 22000 YaST, Zypper RPM YaST Yes
Paipix 2000 APT deb Yes
Pardus 1600 PiSi .pisi Yes
Parsix APT deb Yes
PCLinuxOS 5025 APT, RPM RPM Yes
Pie Box Enterprise Linux 1500 up2date, yum RPM Yes
Puppy 300 PupGet, DotPup .pup, .pet Yes
QiLinux 2500 RPM, APT RPM Yes[40]
Red Flag Red Flag Installer System, RPM RPM Yes
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3000 RPM, yum RPM Yes
Rxart 5000 APT deb Yes
Sabayon Linux 12000 Portage, Entropy ebuild Yes
SAM Linux
Satux dpkg,apt-get deb Yes
Scientific APT/yum RPM Yes
sidux 23000 APT deb Yes
Slackware 544 installpkg, upgradepkg tgz No
Slax 2050 none .lzm
SMS - Slack Mini Server 600 installpkg, upgradepkg tgz, .lzm No
SliTaz GNU/Linux 1400 Tazpkg .tazpkg Yes
Source Mage GNU/Linux 5514 Sorcery Package Manager src Yes
SUSE 22000 YaST, Zypper RPM YaST Yes
Symphony OS APT, OneClick RPM Yes
SYS 6000 installpkg, upgradepkg tgz No
Ubuntu,Kubuntu,Xubuntu 26000 APT deb Ubiquity Yes
Ututo 5000 UTUTO Package Manager ebuild
Vector Linux slapt-get, gslapt, installpkg tgz Yes
Xandros Desktop OS APT deb Yes
XBMC Live APT deb No
Yoper 2000 Smart RPM No
Zenwalk Linux netpkg, installpkg, upgradepkg tgz Yes
Distribution Approximate number of packages Approximate number of source packages Default package management tools Package Format Default installer Graphical installation procedure

Live CDs/DVDs/USBs

Distribution Size in MB RAM Use in MB Boots from CD-ROM Boots from DVD[clarification needed] Installable Live CD Installable Over USBs
ALT Linux Desktop or Lite 700 Yes Yes No
Archie Yes Yes
Ark Linux 700 Yes Yes
Austrumi 50 Yes Yes
BackTrack 700 Yes Yes
CentOS 700 Yes Yes
Damn Small Linux 50 8 to 16 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Debian Live 50 to 5120 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Dreamlinux 700 Yes Yes
dyne:bolic 650 Yes Yes
Elive 700 Yes Yes
Feather Linux 128 48 to 96 Yes Yes
Fedora
Live CD 		683 256 to 1024 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Finnix 100 to 130 28 to 64 Yes Yes No
Freespire 700 128 to 768 Yes No Yes
iloog 700 Yes No
Inquisitor live CD 210 96 Yes Yes Yes
Kanotix 700 Yes Yes
Knoppix CD
edition 		700 128 to 320 Yes Yes Only DVD edition is maintained
Knoppix DVD
"Maxi" edition 		4812.8 No Yes
Knoppix STD 497 Yes Yes No longer updated
Gnoppix 4812.8 No Yes No longer updated
gOS 700 Yes Yes Yes
Linux Mint 700 256 to 768 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mandriva One 700 128 to 768 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mandrake
MCNLive 350 Yes Yes
Morphix 700 Yes Yes
Musix 700 Yes Yes
NimbleX 200 96 to 320 Yes Yes
nUbuntu 265 Yes Yes
openGEU 700 192 to 512 Yes Yes
openSUSE 700 128 to 768 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Oralux 500 Yes Yes No longer updated
Parted Magic 30 Yes Yes
PCLinuxOS 130 to 700 96 to 512 Yes Yes Yes
Phlak 500 Yes Yes No longer updated
Puppy Linux (standard edition) 70 32 to 192 Yes Yes Yes
pure:dyne 542 Yes Yes
Red Hat Linux
Sabayon Linux Live CD 695 Yes Yes Yes
Sabayon Linux Live DVD 4000 No Yes Yes
SAM Linux 683 Yes Yes
sidux 400 to 1999 193 Yes Yes Yes
SimplyMEPIS 706 128 to 512 Yes Yes Yes
SLAX 200 96 to 320 Yes Yes Yes
SMS - Slack Mini Server 283 to 950 128 to 786 Yes Yes Yes Yes
SliTaz GNU/Linux 29 Yes Yes Yes Yes
SystemRescueCD 160 Yes Yes Yes
Trinity Rescue Kit 104 Yes Yes
Ubuntu 700 384 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Edubuntu 700 Yes Yes
Kubuntu 700 384 Yes Yes Yes Yes
XBMC Live 700 256 to 1024 Yes No Yes Yes
Xubuntu 700 256 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Distribution Size RAM Use Boots from CD-ROM Boots from DVD Installable Live CD Installable Over USBs

Security features

Distribution Compile Time Buffer Checks Mandatory access control Software executable space protection grsecurity RSBAC
Fedora Yes Yes (SELinux[41]) Yes (Exec Shield[42]) No No
Gentoo[43] Un­known Optional (SELinux) Optional (PaX) Optional Optional
Mandriva Un­known Yes (AppArmor[44]) Un­known Un­known Yes
SUSE Un­known Yes (AppArmor[45]) Un­known Un­known Un­known

See also

References

  1. ^ BLAG Linux And GNU - BLAG 90001 (oxygen) Released
  2. ^ Gentoo Linux - Gentoo Linux 2008.0 released
  3. ^ http://www.puppylinux.org/downloads/official-releases/puppy-linux-411
  4. ^ satux
  5. ^ http://ftp1.us.proftpd.org/pub/historic-linux/di-stributions/jurix/README.txt
  6. ^ http://ftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/SYS/
  7. ^ Linspire.com - Products
  8. ^ How to Buy: Novell Open Enterprise Server 2
  9. ^ redhat.com | Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  10. ^ redhat.com | Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Operating Systems
  11. ^ Linux- RXART- Soluciones Linux - Linux Solutions
  12. ^ SUSE Linux Enterprise Operating Systems from Novell
  13. ^ Pkg: kernel26 - Arch Linux Package Details
  14. ^ Pkg: gcc - Arch Linux Package Details
  15. ^ Official Arch Linux Install Guide: Set Filesystem Mountpoints
  16. ^ Installing - ArkWiki
  17. ^ http://foo-projects.org/git/?p=lunar/moonbase.git;a=blob_plain;f=compilers/gcc/DETAILS;hb=HEAD
  18. ^ redhat.com | Knowledgebase
  19. ^ http://forum.sabayonlinux.org/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=16766
  20. ^ Installing Slackware 12 on Linux Software RAID and LVM2
  21. ^ ftp://ftp5.gwdg.de/pub/linux/install/sys/
  22. ^ http://guyane.dyn-o-saur.com/info.php
  23. ^ Debian - Ports
  24. ^ Jurij Smakov. "Retiring the sparc32 port". debian-devel-announce (Mailing list). {{cite mailing list}}: Text "date 2007-07-18" ignored (help)
  25. ^ Fedora Architecture Specific Notes
  26. ^ "Gentoo Linux ARM Handbook".
  27. ^ "Gentoo Linux/MIPS Frequently Asked Questions".
  28. ^ "Gentoo/MIPS Linux Hardware Requirements".
  29. ^ GoboLinux - the alternative Linux distribution
  30. ^ openSUSE download page
  31. ^ Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Version comparison chart
  32. ^ RHEL 4 is the last version to support 31-bit s390. RHEL 5 only supports 64-bit s390x.
  33. ^ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Tech Specs
  34. ^ http://sisyphus.ru/
  35. ^ BLAG :: View topic - rolling or frozen
  36. ^ Foresight Linux | 1.4.1 Release Notes
  37. ^ Can be installed graphically (GTK+ and ncurses), but traditionally done by command line (install cd, live cd, netboot, and from distributions).
  38. ^ GoboLinux - the alternative Linux distribution
  39. ^ Mandriva 2008 release notes
  40. ^ Ncurses-based first stage and then KDE-based second stage installation GUI.
  41. ^ "Mandatory Access Control with SELinux" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-12-24.
  42. ^ "Fedora Core 1 Release Notes - Kernel Notes". Retrieved 2007-12-24.
  43. ^ "Hardened Gentoo - 4. Subprojects". Retrieved 2007-12-24.
  44. ^ "Mandriva Linux 2008 Release Notes: Apparmor has replaced RSBAC as the in-kernel application security tool".
  45. ^ "AppArmor".
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Comparison_of_Linux_distributions&oldid=300874281"