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Comparison of Linux distributions
The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of distributions of the Linux operating system.
The tables specifically do not include subjective viewpoints on the merits of each operating system. For this kind of information, please see operating system advocacy.
To compare Linux distributions with other operating systems, please see comparison of operating systems.
Please note that Mandriva was formerly Mandrakesoft, creator of Mandrakelinux, now Mandriva Linux.
General
Basic general information about the distributions: creator/company, license/price etc.
|
| Creator
| First public release date
| Predecessor
| Stable version
| Cost (USD)
| Preferred license2
| Target audience
| Origin
|
| Arch Linux
| Judd Vinet
| March 2002
| None
| 0.7
| Free
| GPL
| Enthusiast
| Canada
|
| Aurox
| Aurox
| September 2002
| Fedora
| 10.1
| Free
| GPL
| Server, workstation, enthusiast
| Poland
|
| Debian
| Debian Project
| August 1993
| None
| 3.0r5 (woody)
| Free
| any DFSG-free
| Server, workstation, enthusiast
| Worldwide
|
| Fedora Core
| Fedora Project
| November 2003
| Red Hat Linux
| 3
| Free
| GPL
| Server, workstation, enthusiast
| USA
|
| Gentoo
| Gentoo Foundation
| March 2002
| Enoch
| 2005.0
| Free
| GPL
| Server, workstation, enthusiast
| Worldwide
|
| Knoppix
| Klaus Knopper
| ?
| based on Debian
| 3.8.1
| Free
| GPL
| Server, workstation, enthusiast
| Germany
|
| Linspire
| Linspire, Inc
| March 2002
| based on Debian
| 5-0
| $49.95
| GPL/Commercial
| Workstation
| USA
|
| Lycoris Desktop/LX
| Lycoris
| December 2001
| Caldera OpenLinux
| 1.4
| $40-$75
| A Lycoris License
| Workstation
| USA
|
| Mandriva Linux
| Mandriva
| July 1998
| Red Hat Linux
| Limited Edition 2005
| Free (Download edition)
| GPL
| Workstation, enthusiast
| France
|
| MEPIS
| Warren Woodford
| September 2003
| based on Debian
| SimplyMEPIS 3.3
| Free (Download edition)
| GPL
| Server, workstation, enthusiast
| USA
|
| PLD Linux Distribution
| PLD
| November 2002
| None
| 1.0
| Free
| GPL
| Server, workstation, enthusiast
| Poland
|
| Slackware Linux
| Patrick Volkerding
| July 1993
| SLS
| 10.1
| Free
| GPL
| Server, workstation, enthusiast
| USA
|
| SUSE Linux
| SUSE
| March 1994
| Jurix
| 9.3
| $79.95 Professional,
available for free download
| GPL
| Server, workstation, enthusiast
| Germany
|
| Ubuntu
| Canonical Ltd
| October 2004
| based on Debian
| 5.04
| Free
| GPL
| Workstation
| Isle of Man
|
| Xandros Desktop OS
| Xandros
| October 2002
| based on Corel Linux
| 3.0
| $50-$90 or free for
Open Circulation Edition.
| Proprietary
| Server, workstation
| Canada
|
|
| Creator
| First public release date
| Predecessor
| Stable version
| Cost (USD)
| Preferred license2
| Target Audience
| Origin
|
Technical
Information on technical aspects of the distributions.
|
| Default file system
| Other major file systems supported
| Architectural support
(first, primary platform)
| Default online OS update tool
| Default package management/
software installation tool
| Main API and language
for GUI applications
| Main API and language
for textual/CLI applications
|
| Arch Linux
| ext3
| ext2, JFS, XFS, FAT, NTFS, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS, ReiserFS
| x86 (i686)
| Pacman
| Pacman
| Various (no default)
| pre-LSB with C, various other
(POSIX conforming)
|
| Aurox
| ext3
| ext2, ReiserFS, FAT, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS, NTFS
| x86
| yum
| RPM, yum
| Various (no default)
| LSB with C, various other
(POSIX conforming)
|
| Debian
| ext3/ext2
| JFS, XFS, FAT, NTFS, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS, ReiserFS
| x86, IA64, PPC, SPARC, SPARC64, Alpha, MIPS, ARM, PA-RISC, Mac/VME 68k, S/390
| APT
| dpkg and APT
| Various (no default)
| pre-LSB with C, various other
(POSIX conforming)
|
| Fedora Core
| ext3
| ext2, ReiserFS, FAT, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS
| x86, x86-64, experimental PowerPC
| up2date, yum, APT (limited)
| RPM, yum
| Various (no default)
| LSB with C, various other
(POSIX conforming)
|
| Gentoo
| User Determined
| ext2, ext3, JFS, XFS, FAT, NTFS, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS, Reiser4, ReiserFS
| x86, x86-64, PPC, PowerPC 970, SPARC, SPARC64, Alpha, MIPS
| emerge
| Portage
| Various (no default)
| ?
|
| Knoppix
| XFS
| Probably same as Debian.
| x86
| APT
| dpkg and APT
| Various
| ?
|
| Linspire
| ReiserFS
| ext2, ext3, JFS, XFS, FAT, NTFS, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS, Reiser4
| x86
| Click-N-Run (apt-get)
| Click-N-Run (apt-get)
| Qt, English
| Probably same as Debian.
|
| Lycoris Desktop/LX
| ext3
| ?
| x86
| Update Wizard
| RPM/Software Installer
| Qt, English
| ?
|
| Mandriva Linux
| ext3
| ext2, JFS, XFS, FAT, NTFS, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS, ReiserFS
| x86 (i586), x86-64, PPC
| urpmi
| RPM
| Various (no default)
| LSB with C, various other
(POSIX conforming)
|
| MEPIS
| ReiserFS/ext3
| ext2, JFS, XFS, FAT, NTFS, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS
| x86 (i586)
| APT
| dpkg and APT
| Various (no default)
| LSB with C, various other
(POSIX conforming)
|
| PLD Linux Distribution
| ext3/ext2/XFS
| JFS, FAT, NTFS, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS, ReiserFS
| x86(i386, i586, i686 and Athlon), PPC, AMD64, SPARC, SPARC64, Alpha,
| Poldek
| Poldek, RPM
| Various (no default)
| LSB with C, various other
(POSIX conforming)
|
| Slackware
| ReiserFS, ext3/ext2
| JFS, XFS, FAT, NTFS, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS
| x86, IA64, S/390
| Swaret, Slapt-get, many other not official
| installpkg and upgradepkg
| Various (no default)
| LSB with C, various other
(POSIX conforming)
|
| SUSE Linux
| ReiserFS
| ext2, ext3, JFS, XFS, FAT, NTFS, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS, Reiser4
| x86, IA64, x86-64, PPC
| YaST2
| RPM, YaST
| Various (no default)
| LSB with C, various other
(POSIX conforming)
|
| Ubuntu
| ext3
| ext2, NTFS, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS
| x86, x86-64, PowerPC
| Ubuntu Update Manager (APT)
| Synaptic Package Manager
| ?
| ?
|
| Xandros Desktop OS
| ReiserFS
| ext2, ext3, JFS, XFS, FAT, NTFS, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS
| x86
| Xandros Networks (APT)
| Xandros Networks (APT)
| Qt
| Probably same as Debian
|
|
| Default file system
| Other major file systems supported
| Architectural support
(first, primary platform)
| Default online OS update tool
| Default package management/
software installation tool
| Main API and language
for GUI applications
| Main API and language
for textual/CLI applications
|
Features
Information on features in the distributions.
[*] Note about Gentoo: there is no interactive install process at all for Gentoo - just documentation to guide users through the manual process of installation.
See also
External links
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