| Desktop Linux distributions -- from A to Z |
(Updated April 26, 2007)
There are hundreds of Linux distributions. This handy reference guide includes the ones we think are especially interesting for desktop Linux users -- from Arch Linux to Zenwalk -- and we plan to update the list on an ongoing basis.
Whether you're looking for an easy Windows-to-Linux migration distro, one for home use or serious enterprise workstation use, a free one, a commercial one, a tiny one to fit alongside Windows 98 on an old underpowered laptop, or one aimed at educational institutions, we think you'll find something suitable, below.
Arch Linux
 This is a Linux distribution whose designers believe in KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid). It's a lightweight desktop distribution that's optimized for the i686 and x86-64 architectures. Footprint: approximately 540MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
CRUX Linux
 Another Linux distribution whose designers believe in simplicity. Sweden-based CRUX is a lightweight desktop optimized for the i686 architecture; it also has a ports system which makes it easy to install and upgrade applications. Another unique attribute of CRUX is that it "was built from scratch and has never been based on any other Linux distribution," the team says. Footprint: approximately 240MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
Damn Small Linux
 The name says it all. Damn Small Linux (DSL) is a Linux that can fit into a credit-card CD or a small USB key drive and run well on a system as obsolete as a 16MB 486--try that with any of the rest of these distributions! Footprint: approximately 50MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
Fedora
 Red Hat may be spending most of its time working on its best-selling full-featured, Linux server distribution. RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux), but Fedora (formerly Fedora Core), its community-based, but Red Hat controlled, community distribution has many desktop fans. While Fedora is primarily a product of Red Hat's engineers, the project also welcomes outside developers. Fedora is a cutting edge distribution with releases of the operating system about 2-3 times a year. Footprint: approximately 690MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
Foresight Linux
 Foresight is a desktop-oriented Linux distribution based on rPath Linux's Conary package management. It showcases the latest work from the GNOME project, and includes a number of innovative software packages--such as Beagle, Zeroconf, and Mono--together with a "clean default theme and artwork," according to the project. Footprint: approximately 1.3 GB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
Freespire
 Freespire 1.0 is Linspire's free Linux distribution. It was originally a Debian-based desktop Linux operating system, using the DCC Alliance approach to Debian, but it was switched over to Ubuntu's code base in early 2007. It combines open-source software with legally-licensed proprietary drivers, codecs, and applications. For software management, Freespire comes pre-installed with Linspire's commercial CNR (Click N Run) technology, an easy-to-use application download and patching system. Additionally, experienced Linux users can use Debian's apt-get or Synaptic to download new programs. Footprint: approximately 660MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
Gentoo
 With Linux, you get the source code so you can do anything you want with it. right? Well, yes, but only one distribution, Gentoo, takes that to its logical conclusion. With Gentoo, and its software distribution system, Portage, every distribution and all its programs are customized from the source-code. Footprint: approximately 680MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
Knoppix/Parallel Knoppix
 You could argue about who created the first live Linux CD, but there's no question that Knoppix is the distribution that popularized the idea. It's an outstanding Debian-based distribution, which just happens to run quite nicely from a CD. ParallelKnoppix is a remastered live CD edition of Debian/Knoppix that allows the clustering of machines for parallel processing. Footprint: approximately 700MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
Linspire
 Linspire is the commercial big-brother distro to Freespire. It does not include proprietary drivers, codecs, and applications at this time. Footprint: approximately 660MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
Mandriva
 Mandriva is a full-featured distro that represents the convergence of the Mandrake (France) and Conectiva (Brazil) distros. It gives users a large range of software options. For example, you can select from among GNOME Office, KOffice, or OpenOffice.org for a business suite; or between Evolution and Thunderbird for an email client. Mandriva Linux (formerly Mandrakelinux) was created in 1998 with the goal of making Linux easier to use for everyone. Footprint: approximately 4.3GB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
openSUSE
 openSUSE is a community program sponsored by Novell. The openSUSE project's main goals are to make openSUSE the most widely used Linux distribution in the world; leverage open source collaboration to make openSUSE the world's most usable Linux distribution and desktop environment for new and experienced Linux users; and makes it commercial big-brother SLED (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) the Linux desktop of choice for businesses. Footprint: approximately 1.7GB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
PCLinuxOS
 PCLinuxOS comes from Mandrake Linux, and in its brief three-year history, it's been striving to become a strong desktop contender in its own right. Footprint: approximately 690MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
Puppy Linux
 Australia-based Puppy's best feature is that it has a small footprint yet is full-featured, including all sorts of configuration and application installation wizards. The whole OS is small enough to run directly from system RAM. The result is that all applications start quickly and respond to user input instantly. Another advantage is that Puppy can often be a great choice for older, under-powered hardware. Footprint: approximately 90MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
Sabayon Linux
 Sabayon Linux, whose name refers to a light, airy, Italian custard, is a live CD or installation distro designed to transform a computer into a Gentoo Linux system in less than 5 minutes. Gentoo Linux is a Linux distribution powered by a software install manager engine called "Portage." Besides functioning as a live DVD, Sabayon Linux can also be installed on a hard disk, acting effectively as an easy-to-use Gentoo installation disk. Footprint: approximately 700MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
SAM Linux
 SAM Linux 2007 is a lightweight PCLinuxOS-based live/installation CD featuring the Xfce 4.4 desktop. The Germany-based distro is positioned as a complete desktop environment suitable for older hardware. According to the project team, "To run SAM all you need is at least 128MB of RAM and a 300MHz CPU. Lesser is possible (down to 64MB RAM with a existing swap partition), but not recommended." Footprint: 699MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
SimplyMEPIS
 SimplyMEPIS is an easy-to-use live CD/DVD edition that installs or runs right from the disk. The bootable DVD edition features more than 1,900 packages. The latest release is an Ubuntu-based distro that uses the Dapper LTS package pool and the KDE desktop as a default. Footprint: approximately 690MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
 Novell/SUSE has a clear objective for SLED (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop): beat out Vista for the hearts and minds of business desktop users. To get there, this distribution includes a large software collection, Active Directory integration, and a 3D desktop. Footprint: installation encompasses 5 CDs.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
Ubuntu
 Ubuntu is a complete desktop Linux operating system. It's freely available with both community and professional support. The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Manifesto: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customize and alter their software in whatever way they see fit. "Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others." The Ubuntu distribution, which is built on top of Debian, brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world. It is perhaps the most popular modern Linux distribution. Ubuntu is offered in a growing range of versions, including Ubuntu itself (based on GNOME), Kubuntu (based on KDE), Xubuntu (based on XFce), and Edubuntu (an version aimed at schools). Footprint: approximately 670MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
VectorLinux
 Vector Linux is touted as a relatively small, fast, Intel-based Linux operating system for PCs. According to the Canada-based project team, the distribution offers casual users a fast desktop with graphical programs to handle daily activities ranging from web surfing, to sending and receiving email, to chatting on ICQ or IRC, to running an ftp server. For power users all the tools are provided for compiling programs, or for using the system as a server or gateway for home or office networks. The Standard version is based on Slackware 11.0; the SOHO version is based on its own VL code. Footprint: approximately 700MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
Xandros
 Xandros Desktop 4 is touted as a beginner-friendly distribution with a customized version of KDE and a host of intuitive desktop utilities designed to ease migration from Windows to Linux. Xandros says its Debian-based Linux desktop combines highly regarded open source technologies with a corporate attention to completeness, usability, and support. Based in Ottawa, Xandros's team includes the developers and architects of the first major commercial Linux desktop: Corel Linux OS, which was the foundation for this distribution. Footprint: 614MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
Yellow Dog Linux
 Yellow Dog Linux is an operating system that offers the best features of Linux for Apple G3, G4 and G5 machines. Yellow Dog Linux includes a wide-variety of applications and utilities, elegant graphical environments, server applications, and hard-core programming tools. Starting with version 5.0, the company has also built a specialized edition for Sony PlayStation 3. Footprint: approximately 3.4GB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
Zenwalk
 Zenwalk Linux (formerly Minislack) is a Slackware-based Linux operating system which makes it a point to use only one application per task, in order to conserve footprint. Despite its footprint conservation, however, Zenwalk features a complete programming environment and libraries for application programmers, according to the project. Footprint: approximately 420MB.
Website:Recent news:Reviews:
Please note: We intend to update this guide periodically, so be sure to stop by for the latest snapshots of popular and emerging desktop Linux distributions.
Other Related Stories
(Click here for further information)
|
|
|
7 Advantages of D2D Backup
For decades, tape has been the backup medium of choice. But, now, disk-to-disk (D2D) backup is gaining in favor. Learn why you should make the move in this whitepaper.
4 Legal Reasons to Control Internet Access
The Internet is obviously a valuable resource for many organizations. However, many are exposed to legal liability concerns because they fail to control Internet access. Learn if you're safe in this white paper.
Rapidly Resolve J2EE Application Problems
Whether you are in the process of building J2EE applications or have J2EE applications already running in production, you must ensure that they deliver the expected ROI. Learn how in this white paper.
Load Testing 2.0 for Web 2.0
There are many unknowns in stress testing Web 2.0 applications. Find out how to test the performance of Web 2.0 in this white paper.
Build Better Games Online
For the game infrastructure providers, life is complex. Making money from games has become more complicated. Why? Find out in this white paper.
Building a Virtual Infrastructure from Servers to Storage
This white paper discusses the virtual storage solutions that reduce cost, increase storage utilization, and address the challenges of backing up and restoring Server environments.
Gaining Faster Wireless Connections with WiMAX
Welcome to what is quickly becoming the hyperconnected world where anything that would benefit from being connected to the network will be connected. Learn more in this white paper.
Is Your Desktop a Security Threat?
The new wave of sophisticated crimeware not only targets specific companies, but also targets desktops and laptops as backdoor entryways into those business’ operations and resources. Learn how to stay safe in this white paper.
Increasing SAN Reliability by 100 Percent
Storage area networks (SAN) are a strong part of storage plans. Learn how to increase your reliability and uptime by 100 percent in this case study.
|
|
|
|
|
news feed