Linux
Arch Linux
Arch Linux is an independently developed, x86-64 general-purpose Linux distribution that strives to provide the latest stable versions of most software by following a rolling-release model. The default installation is a minimal base system, configured by the user to only add what is purposely required.
Pacman, a package manager written specifically for Arch Linux, is used to install, remove and update software packages.
Arch Linux uses a rolling release model, meaning there are no “major releases” of completely new versions of the system; a regular system update is all that is needed to obtain the latest Arch software; the installation images released every month by the Arch team are simply up-to-date snapshots of the main system components.
Arch Linux has comprehensive documentation, consisting of a community-run wiki known as the ArchWiki.
Parabola
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre is an operating system for the i686, x86-64 and ARMv7 architectures. It is based on many of the packages from Arch Linux and Arch Linux ARM, but distinguishes from the former by offering only free software. It includes the GNU operating system components common to many Linux distributions and the Linux-libre kernel instead of the generic Linux kernel.[4] Parabola is listed by the Free Software Foundation as a completely free operating system, true to their Free System Distribution Guidelines.
Parabola uses a rolling release model like Arch, such that a regular system update is all that is needed to obtain the latest software. Development focuses on system simplicity, community involvement and use of the latest free software packages.
Debian
Debian also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of Debian (0.01) was released on September 15, 1993, and its first stable version (1.1) was released on June 17, 1996. The Debian Stable branch is the most popular edition for personal computers and servers. Debian is also the basis for many other distributions, most notably Ubuntu.
Debian is one of the oldest operating systems based on the Linux kernel, and is, as of September 2023, the second oldest Linux distribution still in active development, only behind Slackware. The project is coordinated over the Internet by a team of volunteers guided by the Debian Project Leader and three foundational documents: the Debian Social Contract, the Debian Constitution, and the Debian Free Software Guidelines. New distributions are updated continually, and the next candidate is released after a time-based freeze.
Since its founding, Debian has been developed openly and distributed freely according to the principles of the GNU Project. Because of this, the Free Software Foundation sponsored the project from November 1994 to November 1995. When the sponsorship ended, the Debian Project formed the nonprofit organization Software in the Public Interest to continue financially supporting development.
Ubuntu
Ubuntu is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed mostly of free and open-source software. Ubuntu is officially released in multiple editions: Desktop, Server, and Core for Internet of things devices and robots. All of the editions can run on a computer alone, or in a virtual machine. Ubuntu is a popular operating system for cloud computing, with support for OpenStack.
An upgrade to Ubuntu is released every six months, with long-term support (LTS) releases every two years. As of April 2023, the most-recent release is 23.04 (“Lunar Lobster”), and the current long-term support release is 22.04 (“Jammy Jellyfish”).
Ubuntu is developed by the British company Canonical, and a community of other developers, under a meritocratic governance model. Canonical provides security updates and support for each Ubuntu release, starting from the release date until the release reaches its designated end-of-life (EOL) date. Canonical generates revenue through the sale of premium services related to Ubuntu and donations from those who download the Ubuntu software.
Ubuntu is named after the Nguni philosophy of ubuntu, which Canonical indicates means “humanity to others” with a connotation of “I am what I am because of who we all are”.
Fedora
Fedora Linux is a Linux distribution developed by the Fedora Project. It was originally developed in 2003 as a continuation of the Red Hat Linux project. It contains software distributed under various free and open-source licenses and aims to be on the leading edge of open-source technologies. It is now the upstream source for CentOS Stream and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Since the release of Fedora 21 in December 2014, three editions have been made available: personal computer, server and cloud computing. This was expanded to five editions for containerization and Internet of Things (IoT) as of the release of Fedora 37 in November 2022. A new version of Fedora Linux is released every six months.
As of February 2016, Fedora Linux has an estimated 1.2 million users, and is also the distro of choice by Linus Torvalds (as of May 2020), creator of the Linux kernel.
Red Hat Enterprise
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a commercial Linux distribution developed by Red Hat for the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86-64, Power ISA, ARM64, and IBM Z and a desktop version for x86-64. Fedora Linux and CentOS Stream serves as its upstream source. All of Red Hat’s official support and training, together with the Red Hat Certification Program, focuses on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform.
The first version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux to bear the name originally came onto the market as “Red Hat Linux Advanced Server”. In 2003, Red Hat rebranded Red Hat Linux Advanced Server to “Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS” and added two more variants, Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES and Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS.
Red Hat previously used strict trademark rules to restrict free re-distribution of their officially supported versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux but still freely provided its source code. Third-party derivatives were able to be built and redistributed by stripping away non-free components like Red Hat’s trademarks. Examples include community-supported distributions like Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux, and commercial forks like Oracle Linux. However, in 2023, Red Hat decided to stop making the source code of Red Hat Enterprise Linux available to the public. The code is still available to Red Hat customers, as well as developers using free accounts, though under conditions that forbid redistribution of the source code. As of September 2023, it is unclear if these conditions that forbid redistribution of the source code violate the GNU GPL, which forbids companies from preventing redistribution of GPL licensed code.
Void Linux
Void Linux is an independent Linux distribution that uses the X Binary Package System (XBPS) package manager, which was designed and implemented from scratch, and the runit init system. Excluding binary kernel blobs, a base install is composed entirely of free software (but users can access an official non-free repository to install proprietary software as well).
Gentoo
Gentoo Linux is a Linux distribution built using the Portage package management system. Unlike a binary software distribution, the source code is compiled locally according to the user’s preferences and is often optimized for the specific type of computer. Precompiled binaries are available for some packages.
Gentoo Linux was named after the gentoo penguin, the fastest swimming species of penguin. The name was chosen to reflect the potential speed improvements of machine-specific optimization, which is a major feature of Gentoo. Gentoo package management is designed to be modular, portable, easy to maintain, and flexible. Gentoo describes itself as a meta-distribution because of its adaptability, in that the majority of users have configurations and sets of installed programs which are unique to the system and the applications they use.
