Comparison of Linux distributions

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.

Distribution	Founder	Maintainer	Initial release year	Current stable version	Security updates (years)	Release date	System distribution commitment	Forked from	Target audience	Cost	Status
AlmaLinux	AlmaLinux OS Foundation	AlmaLinux OS Foundation	2021	9.5[2]	10 years[3]	2024-11-18	X	Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)	general	None	Active
Alpine Linux	Alpine Linux Team	Alpine Linux Team	2006	3.21.3[4]	?	2025-02-13	X	LEAF Project	security, lightweight, general	None	Active
ALT Linux	ALT Linux Team	ALT Linux Team, ALT Linux LLC	2001	10.4[5]	?	2024-12-17	X	Mandrake Linux	general, school	None	Active
antiX	Anticapitalista	Anticapitalista	2007	23.2[6]	?	2024-10-06	X	Debian, MEPIS	old computers	None	Active
ArchBang	Willensky Aristide	Stan McLaren	2011	Rolling	Rolling	Rolling	X	Arch Linux (UKM Edition)	general	None	Active
Arch Linux	Judd Vinet	dev team	2002	Rolling	Rolling	Rolling	X	Independent, inspired from CRUX	general	None	Active
BLAG	Brixton Linux Action Group	Brixton Linux Action Group	2002		?		100% Free: GNU FSDG[7]	Fedora	desktop	None	Inactive
Bodhi Linux	Bodhi Linux Team	Bodhi Linux Team	2011	7.0.0[8]	?	2023-08-21	X	Debian, Ubuntu	desktop, lightweight	None	Active
Canaima	CANTV / CNTI / CENTIDEL / Edelca / VIT / FUNDACITE / Free software community	CANTV / CNTI / CENTIDEL / Edelca / VIT / FUNDACITE / Free software community	2007	8.0[9]	?	2024-10-18	X	Debian, Ubuntu	Government of Venezuela	None	Active
CentOS	CentOS Project	CentOS Project	2003	10[10]	10 years[11]	2024-12-12	X	Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)	server, workstation	None	Inactive
CentOS Stream	CentOS Project	CentOS Project	2019	9[12]	5 years[13]	2021-12-03	X	Upstream of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)	server, workstation	None	Active
Chakra	Jan Mette and Arch Linux KDEmod developers	The Chakra Project Team	2010	Rolling	Rolling	2017.10	X	Arch Linux[14]	desktop	None	Inactive
Chimera Linux	q66	Chimera Linux team	2021	Rolling	Rolling	Rolling	X	Independent	general	None	Active
ChromeOS	Sundar Pichai	Google	2011	134.0.6998.107[15]	Rolling	2025-03-18	X	Gentoo Linux	web applications	None	Active
Clear Linux OS	Arjan van de Ven	Intel	2015	Rolling	Rolling	Rolling	X	Independent	container, server, desktop	None	Active
ClearOS	Peter Baldwin	ClearFoundation	2000	7.8[16]	?	2020-06-23	X	RHEL, CentOS	server, gateway, network	Some editions are free of charge	Active
CrunchBang Linux	Philip Newborough	Philip Newborough	2008		?		X	Debian	desktop	None	Inactive
CRUX	Per Lidén	CRUX Community	2002	3.8[17]	?	2025-04-21	X	Independent	general	None	Active
Damn Small Linux	John Andrews	dev team	2003	4.4.10[18]	?	2008-11-18	X	Debian, Knoppix	lightweight, portable	None	Inactive
Debian	Ian Murdock	Debian Project	1993	12.10[19]	~5 years,[g 1] 10 years Freexian ELTS(paid)	2025-03-15	Debian Social Contract and DFSG (main was 100% free, till 2022,[20][21] non-free packages were optional)[22]	Independent, inspired by Softlanding Linux System (SLS)[23]	general, server, desktop	None	Active
Debian Edu		Debian Project	2004	12.10[19]	~3 years[g 1]	2025-03-15	Debian Social Contract and DFSG	Debian	schools	None	Active
Devuan	The "Veteran Unix Admins" (VUA)	The "Veteran Unix Admins" (VUA)	2016	5.0.0[24]	?	2023-08-15	X[g 2]	Debian	general	None	Active
Deepin	Wuhan Deepin Technology Co., Ltd.	Wuhan Deepin Technology Co., Ltd.	2004	23.1[25]	?	2025-04-16	X	Debian	general	None	Active
Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre	Matias A. Fonzo	Matias A. Fonzo	2009	3.0-beta2[26]	?	2023-04-26	100% Free: GNU FSDG[7]	Independent, inspired from Slackware	general	None	Active
dyne:bolic	Jaromil	Jaromilx	2005	3.0.0[27]	?	2011-09-08	100% Free: GNU FSDG[7]	Debian	multimedia	None	Inactive
Elementary OS	Danielle Foré	elementary LLC	2011	8.0.1[28]	?	2025-03-18	X	Ubuntu, Debian	general	None	Active
ELinOS	SYSGO	SYSGO	1999	7.1[29]	?	2022-04	X	Independent	embedded systems	Partial	Active
Emdebian Grip	Embedded Debian Project	Embedded Debian Project	2009	3.1[30]	End-of-life	2023-06-15	X	Debian	embedded systems	None	Inactive
EndeavourOS	Bryan Poerwoatmodjo	EndeavourOS	2019	Rolling	?	2022-09-14	X	Arch Linux	general	None	Active
Fedora Linux	Fedora Project	Fedora Project	2003	42[31]	1 year + 1 month	2025-04-15	Fedora Licensing Guidelines[32]	Red Hat Linux	general	None	Active
Freespire	Lindows.com, Inc.	PC/OpenSystems LLC	2001	10[33]	?	2023-12-07	X	?	desktop	None	Active
Gentoo Linux	Daniel Robbins	Gentoo Foundation, Inc.	2002	Rolling	Rolling	Rolling	Gentoo Social Contract	Enoch Linux	general	None	Active
Guix System	Ludovic Courtès	Ludovic Courtès, Ricardo Wurmus, the Guix community	2012	1.4.0[34]	Rolling	2022-12-19	100% Free: GNU FSDG[7]	Independent, inspired by NixOS	general	None	Active
gNewSense	Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley	Sam Geeraerts with sponsorship from the Free Software Foundation	2006	4.0[35]	?	2016-05-02	100% Free: GNU FSDG[7]	Debian	general, server	None	Inactive
Grml	Michael Prokop	The Grml Team	2005	2024.02[36]	?	2024-02-28	X	Debian	live, maintenance, security, network, forensic, accessibility	None	Active
Hyperbola GNU/Linux-libre	Hyperbola Founders	Hyperbola Founders	2017	0.4.4[37]	3 years (stable), 5 years (old stable)[38]	2024-01-05	100% Free: GNU FSDG[7] followed in Hyperbola Social Contract	Arch Linux	general	None	Active[39]
Kali Linux	Max Moser, Mati Aharoni, Martin J. Muench	Offensive Security	2013	2025.1a[40]	?	2025-03-19	X	Debian	auditing, forensic, security, network	None	Active
Knoppix	Klaus Knopper	dev team	2000	9.3[41]	?	2022-05-05	X	Debian	live	None	Active
Korora	Chris Smart	Dev Team	2005	26[42]	?	2017-09-16	X	Fedora	desktop	None	Inactive
LibreCMC	LibreCMC team	LibreCMC team	2010	1.5.14[43]	?	2023-10-03	100% Free: GNU FSDG[7]	Merged from LibreWRT	embedded systems	None	Active
Linspire	Linspire, Inc.	Linspire, Inc.	2001	12 SP1[44]	?	2023-05-29	X	?	?	Commercial[45]	Active
Linux Mint	Clement Lefebvre	dev team	2006	22.1[46]	5 years (main editions); ~3 years (LMDE)	2025-01-16	X	Debian (LMDE), Ubuntu (main editions)	desktop	None	Active
Linux Lite	Jerry Bezencon	Linux Lite Team	2012	7.4[47]	?	2025-03-31	X	Ubuntu	desktop	None	Active
Mageia	Mageia Community	mageia.org	2010	9[48]	1 year	2023-09-04	X	Mandriva Linux	general	None	Active
Mandriva Linux	Mandrakesoft S.A.	Mandriva S.A.	1998	2011.0[49]	?	2011-08-28	X	Red Hat Linux	general	Some editions are free of charge	Inactive
Manjaro Linux	Roland Singer	dev team	2012[50]	Rolling	Rolling	Rolling	X	Arch Linux	general	None	Active
MEPIS	Warren Woodford	MEPIS LLC	2003	11.9.92[51]	?	2013-08-10	X	Debian	desktop, server	None	Inactive
MIRACLE LINUX	Cybertrust Japan	Cybertrust Japan	2000	9[52]	10 years	2022-11-01	X	Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)	server	None	Active
Musix GNU+Linux	Musix team	Musix team	2008	3.0.1[53]	?	2014-03-13	100% Free: GNU FSDG[7]	Debian	multimedia	None	Inactive
Netrunner	Blue Systems	dev team	2009	25[54]	as per Debian	2025-02-10	X	Debian	desktop	None	Active
NixOS	Eelco Dolstra and Armijn Hemel	NixOS Foundation	2003		0.5 years		X	–	general, server, desktop	None	Active
Novell Open Enterprise Server	Novell	Novell, Inc. dev team	2003	2023	?	2022-10	X	SUSE Linux Enterprise Server	server	Commercial[55]	Active
OpenELEC	Stephan Raue, OpenELEC Team	OpenELEC Team	2011	8.0.4	?	2017-06-04	X	Kodi	multimedia	None	Inactive
openSUSE	SUSE Linux	openSUSE Project	2006	15.6[56]	1.5 years[57]	2024-06-12	X	Slackware, Jurix	general, desktop	None	Active
OpenWrt	?	OpenWrt team	2007	24.10.1 [58]	?	2025-04-15	X	Independent	embedded systems	None	Active
OpenMandriva Lx	OpenMandriva Association	OpenMandriva Association	2013	6.0[59]	?	2025-04-20	X	Mandriva Linux	general	None	Active
Oracle Linux	Oracle Corporation	Oracle Corporation	2006	9.5[60]	?	2024-11-20	X	Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)	server	None	Active
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre	Parabola Hackers	Parabola Hackers	2009	Rolling[61]	Rolling	2021-08-11[62]	100% Free: GNU FSDG[7] followed in Parabola Social Contract	Arch Linux	general	None	Active
Pardus	Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK)	TÜBİTAK	2005	23.2[63]	?	2024-07-16	X	Gentoo (2011.2) Debian	general	None	Active
Parrot OS	Lorenzo "Palinuro" Faletra	Parrot Dev Team	2013	6.3[64]	Rolling	2025-01-31	X	Debian	security, desktop	None	Active
Parsix	Alan Baghumian	Parsix Project	2005	8.15[65]	?	2017-01-25	X	Debian	desktop	None	Inactive
Parted Magic	Patrick Verner	Parted Magic LLC.	2007	2025_01_22[66]	?	2025-01-22	X	Independent	live, maintenance	Commercial[67]	Active
PCLinuxOS	Bill Reynolds	dev team	2003	2022.12	Semi-rolling	2022-12-12	X	Mandriva Linux	desktop	None	Active
Pop! OS	Carl Ritchell	System76	2017	22.04 LTS[68]	2 years for LTS releases. 2–3 months after the next release for other releases.	2022-04-25	X	Ubuntu	desktop, laptop	None	Active
Pentoo	Michael Zanetta, Rick Farina, Jens Pranaitis	Pentoo	2005	2019.1	?	2019-01-17	X	Gentoo Linux	auditing, security	None	Active
Porteus	Fanthom	Porteus	2010	5.01[69]	?	2023-09-26	X	Slackware	lightweight, portable	None	Active
ProteanOS		Libiquity	2011	Rolling	Rolling	Rolling	100% Free: GNU FSDG[7]	?	embedded	None	Active
Puppy Linux	Barry Kauler	Puppy Foundation	2003	9.5[70]	?	2020-09-17	X	Independent, inspired from Vector linux	lightweight, portable	None	Active
PureOS	Todd Weaver	Purism	2009	10.3[71]	Stable and Rolling	2023-06-14	100% Free: GNU FSDG[7]	Debian	general, security, privacy	None	Active
Qubes OS	Joanna Rutkowska	Invisible Things Lab	2012	4.2.4[72]	?	2025-02-18	X	Xen and Fedora	security by compartmentalization, desktop	None	Active
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)	Red Hat	Red Hat	2002	9.5[73]	12 years[74]	2024-11-13	X	Red Hat Linux, Fedora	general	Commercial[75][76]	Active
Red Hat Linux	Red Hat	Red Hat	1995	0.9[77]  alias Shrike	?	1994-10-31	X	–	server, workstation	None	Inactive
Rocks Cluster Distribution	UCSD Supercomputing Center, Clustercorp	UCSD Supercomputing Center, Clustercorp	2000	7.0[78]	?	2017-12-01	X	Red Hat Linux	server, workstation	None	Active
Rocky Linux	Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation	Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation	2021	9.5[79]	10 years	2024-11-19	X	Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)	general	None	Active
ROSA	?	LLC NTC IT ROSA	2011	13[80]	?	2025-02-28	X	Mandriva	server, general	None	Active
Sabayon Linux	Fabio Erculiani	dev team	2005	19.03 [81]	?	2019-03-31	X	Gentoo Linux	general	None	Inactive
Salix OS	Cyrille Pontvieux, George Vlahavas, Pierrick Le Brun, Thorsten Mühlfelder	Salix team	2009		?		X	Slackware	general	None	Active
Scientific Linux	CERN, Fermilab	dev team	2004	7.9[82]	?	2020-10-20	X	Red Hat Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)	server, workstation	None	Inactive
Slackware	Patrick Volkerding	dev team	1993	15.0[83]	?	2022-02-02	X	Softlanding Linux System (SLS)	general	None	Active
Slax	Tomas Matejicek	Tomas Matejicek	2002	12.2.0[84]	?	2023-10-10	X	Debian, Slackware (until Slax 9)	live	None	Active
SliTaz GNU/Linux	Christophe Lincoln	dev team	2008	Rolling	Rolling	2020-02-23[85]	X	Independent	portable	None	Active
Solus	Ikey Doherty	dev team	2005	Rolling	Rolling	2021-07-11	X	Pardus Linux	desktop	None	Active
SolydXK	Arjen Balfoort	dev team	2013	12 [86]	Debian packages as per Debian	2023-12-04	X	Debian	desktop	None	Active
SparkyLinux	?	Sparky Linux team	2012	7.5[87]	?	2024-09-18	X	Debian	general, video games	None	Active
Source Mage GNU/Linux	Ryan Abrams, Eric Schabell	dev team	2002	0.62-11[88]	?	2017-09-22	Source Mage Social Contract	Sorcerer	general	None	Active
SteamOS	Valve	Valve	2013	3.6.21[89]	?	2025-02-12	X	Debian (2.0) Arch Linux (3.0)	video games	None	Active
SUSE Linux Enterprise	SUSE	SUSE	2000	15[90] SP5[91]	13 years per version[92]	2023-06-20	Common code base for x86-64, Power, System z, Arm64	Slackware, Jurix	edge, workstation, server, supercomputer	Commercial[93]	Active
Tails	?	Tails Development Team	2009	6.14.2[94]	–[g 3]	2025-04-15	X	Debian	security-focused aimed for anonymity and privacy	None	Active
Tiny Core Linux	Robert Shingledecker	Team Tiny Core	2009	16.0[95]	?	2025-03-31	X	Independent, inspired from Damn Small Linux	portable	None	Active
Trisquel GNU/Linux	Rubén Rodríguez Pérez (quidam)	Rubén Rodríguez Pérez (quidam)	2005	11.0[96]	3 years	2023-03-19	100% Free: GNU FSDG[7]	Ubuntu LTS	desktop	None	Active
TurnKey GNU/Linux	Alon Swartz, Liraz Siri	TurnKey GNU/Linux Team	2008	18.0[97]	Debian packages as per Debian; TurnKey packages for life of current major version (plus backports per request)	2023-09-14	Debian Social Contract and DFSG	Debian	server based software appliance library aiming to balance security and ease of use	None	Active
Ubuntu and Derivatives[98]	Canonical Ltd.	Canonical Ltd.	2004	25.04[99]  24.04.2 LTS[100]	Standard releases 9 months, LTS releases 5 years. Flavor LTS releases 3 or 5 years. Ubuntu Pro 10 years.	2025-04-17 2025-02-20	X	Debian	general, server, desktop, supercomputer, IBM mainframe	None	Active
Univention Corporate Server	Univention GmbH	Univention GmbH	2004	5.0-8[101]	up to 6 months for free Core Edition; up to 7 years if maintenance is purchased, see:[102]	2024-06-11	X	Debian	home, business, and school	Core Edition is free of charge	Active
Ututo	Diego Saravia, Daniel Olivera	UTUTO dev team	2000	XS 2012	?	2012-04-27	100% Free: GNU FSDG[7]	Ututo XS: Gentoo Linux, Ututo UL: Ubuntu	general	None	Inactive
VectorLinux	Robert S. Lange	dev team	1999	7.2[103]	?	2017-08-28	X	Slackware	desktop	None	Inactive
Void Linux	Juan Romero Pardines	Juan RP and contributors	2008	Rolling	Rolling	2022-10-17	X	Independent, partially inspired by FreeBSD/NetBSD	general	None	Active
Webconverger	Kai Hendry	Webconverger Limited	2007	35.0[104]	?	2016-05-19	X	Debian	kiosk software, digital signage	Commercial	Inactive
Xandros	Xandros Incorporated	Xandros Incorporated	2001	4.2	?	2007-07-26	X	Corel Linux	?	Commercial	Inactive
Zentyal	eBox Technologies	eBox Technologies	2005	8.0[105]	?	2024-02-26	X	Debian, Ubuntu	small business server	Some editions are free of charge	?
Zenwalk	Jean-Philippe Guillemin	dev team	2004	15.0-221106[106]	?	2022-11-06	X	Slackware	general	None	Active
Zorin OS	Zorin Group	Zorin Group	2009	17.3[107]	?	2025-03-26	X	Ubuntu	general, desktop	Zorin OS Lite & Core are free, while Business and Ultimate are paid	Active
Distribution	Founder	Maintainer	Initial release year	Current stable version	Security updates (years)	Release date	System distribution commitment	Forked from	Target audience	Cost	Status

1. 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.
2. Default ISOs included non-free software
3. Security updates are released every six weeks.

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
Alpine Linux	Binary blobs	ext4	openrc	none	In progress[108]
ALT Linux	Binary blobs	ext3	systemd	KDE Plasma Workspaces, Xfce	No
Arch Linux	Binary blobs[109]	none[110]	systemd	Awesome, bspwm, Budgie, Cinnamon, COSMIC, CuteFish, Deepin, Enlightenment, GNOME, Hyprland, i3, KDE, LXQt, MATE, Qtile, Sway, Xfce[111]	In progress[112]
BLAG	Linux-libre	ext3	sysvinit	GNOME	No
Bodhi Linux	Binary blobs	ext4	systemd	Moksha (Enlightenment fork)	No
Canaima	Binary blobs[109]	?	systemd	GNOME, KDE Plasma and Xfce	No
CentOS	Binary blobs[109]	xfs	systemd	GNOME	No
Chakra	Binary blobs	ext4	systemd	KDE Plasma Workspaces	No
Chimera Linux	Binary blobs	none	dinit	GNOME, KDE Plasma	No
Clear Linux OS	?	?	?	GNOME
ClearOS	Binary blobs	ext3	systemd	none (Web based)	No
CoreOS	Binary blobs	ext4	systemd	None	No
CrunchBang Linux	Binary blobs	ext4	sysvinit	Openbox	No
Damn Small Linux	Binary blobs	ext3	sysvinit	JWM	No
Debian	Linux-libre(debian)[113] with separate non-free binary blobs hosted and sponsored.[109]	ext4	systemd	GNOME, KDE, Xfce, LXDE[114]	In progress[115][116]
Devuan	Binary blobs	ext4	sysvinit	Xfce	No
Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre	Linux-libre	ext4	runit	Xfce	No
dyne:bolic	Linux-libre	?	systemd	GNOME	No
Fedora	Binary blobs	btrfs[117]	systemd	GNOME (default Workstation Edition), Spins for: KDE, Xfce, Cinnamon, MATE (with Compiz), i3, LXQt, LXDE, Phosh, Sway and Budgie	In progress[118]
Funtoo	Binary blobs	none	openrc	None	No
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. [119]	none	openrc	Awesome, Enlightenment, Fluxbox, GNOME, KDE, LXDE-Meta, Openbox, XBMC and Xfce (live DVD)[120]	No
gNewSense	Linux-libre(debian), and (unlike Debian) blobs cannot be installed[113]	ext3	sysvinit	GNOME	No
Guix System	Linux-libre, Hurd (in progress)[121][122]	ext4	GNU Shepherd	GNOME, Xfce, MATE, Enlightenment, Openbox, awesome, i3, ratpoison, EXWM	In progress[123][124]
Hyperbola GNU/Linux-libre	Linux-libre	none	openrc[125]	none	No
Kali Linux	Binary blobs	ext4	systemd	GNOME	No
Knoppix	Binary blobs	xfs	microknoppix	LXDE	No
LibreCMC[126]	Binary blobs	ext4	busybox-init	none	No
Linux Mint[127]	Binary blobs[109]	ext4	systemd	MATE, Cinnamon, KDE 4, XFCE	No
Mageia	Binary blobs	ext4	systemd	KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME	No
Mandriva Linux	Binary blobs	ext4	systemd	KDE Plasma Workspaces	No
Manjaro Linux	Binary blobs	none[128]	systemd	Xfce, KDE, GNOME[129]	No
MEPIS	Binary blobs	ext4	sysvinit	KDE Plasma Workspaces	No
MIRACLE LINUX	Binary blobs	ext4	systemd	GNOME	No
Musix GNU+Linux[130]	Linux-libre	ext4	initscripts	LXDE	No
NixOS	Binary blobs or Linux-libre[131]	none	systemd	GNOME or KDE Plasma (Default), CDE, Cinnamon, Enlightment, Kodi, Lumina, LXQt, MATE, Pantheon, Phosh, RetroArch, Xfce, Xterm. 40 window managers[132]	In progress[133]
OpenELEC	Binary blobs	SquashFS	shell script	XBMC Media Center	No
openSUSE	Binary blobs	btrfs	systemd	KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME, Xfce	In progress[134]
OpenWrt	Binary blobs	overlayfs+SquashFS/JFFS2[135]	procd[136]	none	In progress[137]
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre	Linux-libre	none	openrc or systemd	none	No
Pardus	Binary blobs	ext4	systemd	KDE Plasma Workspaces	No
Parsix	Binary blobs	ext4	systemd	GNOME	No
PCLinuxOS	Binary blobs	none	sysvinit	KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME, LXDE, Xfce, Enlightenment, Openbox	No
Pentoo	Binary blobs	SquashFS	openrc	Enlightenment	No
Porteus	Binary blobs	?	sysvinit	KDE, LXDE, Xfce, Openbox, Razor-qt	No
Puppy Linux	Binary blobs	SquashFS containing ext2	busybox-init	JWM	No
PureOS	Linux-libre(debian). Binary blobs are not hosted and discouraged while can be manually installed.[138]	ext4	systemd	GNOME	No
Red Hat Enterprise Linux	Binary blobs	xfs	systemd	GNOME	No
Rxart Desktop	Binary blobs	ext3	?	KDE Plasma Workspaces	No
Sabayon Linux	Binary blobs	ext4[139]	systemd	KDE Plasma Workspaces, GNOME	No
Scientific Linux	Binary blobs	ext4	sysvinit, systemd[140]	GNOME	No
Slackware	Binary blobs[109]	?	RC.d and sysvinit compatible	KDE, XFCE Fluxbox, Blackbox, fvwm2 twm	No
Slax	Binary blobs	SquashFS	sysvinit	KDE Plasma Workspaces	No
SliTaz GNU/Linux	Binary blobs	ext3	busybox-init	Openbox	No
Solus	Binary blobs	ext4	systemd	Budgie, Gnome, MATE, KDE	No
Source Mage GNU/Linux	Binary blobs	ext2	simpleinit-msb	none	No
SteamOS	Binary blobs	btrfs, ext4[141]	systemd	Steam, KDE Plasma[142]	No
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop	Binary blobs[109]	btrfs[143]	systemd	GNOME	No
Tails	Vanilla Linux[109]	?	systemd	GNOME	Reproducible ISO and USB images[144][145]
Trisquel	Linux-libre	?	systemd	MATE	No
TurnKey GNU/Linux	Binary blobs	ext4	systemd	none - headless server by design; provides Webmin for administration	No
Ubuntu/Edubuntu	Binary blobs[109]	ext4[146]	systemd	GNOME	No
Ubuntu GNOME	Binary blobs	ext4	systemd	GNOME 3	No
Ubuntu MATE	Binary blobs	ext4	systemd	MATE	No
Kubuntu	Binary blobs	ext4[146]	systemd	KDE Plasma Workspaces	No
Xubuntu	Binary blobs	ext4[146]	systemd	Xfce	No
Lubuntu	Binary blobs	ext4	systemd	LXQt	No
Ututo	Ututo XS (stable) is de-blobbed with Linux-libre tools.[147] Ututo UL (development) uses Linux-libre. Ututo UL means "Ubuntu-Libre"	ext3	systemd	GNOME	No
VectorLinux	Binary blobs	ReiserFS	sysvinit	KDE, Openbox, Fluxbox, IceWM, Xfce	No
Void Linux	Binary blobs	none	runit	none	No
Webconverger	Binary blobs	gitfs	sysvinit	dwm enforcing a Browser-only interface	No
XBMC Live	Binary blobs	ext3	systemd	XBMC Media Center	No
Zentyal	Binary blobs	ext4	systemd	LXDE	No
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[148]	ppc64	sparc32	sparc64	hppa[149]	loongarch64	mips[150]	sh	s390	s390x	alpha[151]	m68k[152]	riscv
Alpine Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	riscv64 3.20+
Arch Linux	Unofficial[153] Official discontinued 2017-11-08[154]	Yes	Unofficial[155]	No	Discontinued unofficial port	Unofficial[156]	No	No	No	Unofficial[157]	No	No	No	No	No	No	Unofficial[158]
BackTrack	Discontinued from BackTrack 5 and superseded by Kali Linux[159]	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
BLAG	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Bodhi Linux	Yes	Yes	Discontinued 2013-10-23[160]	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
BOSS Linux	Yes	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
CentOS	AltArch	Yes	AltArch	Discontinued 3.5-3.8 4.1-4.7[161]	Beta, Discontinued 4.0	AltArch	Beta 4.2[161][162]	No	No	No	No	No	Discontinued 3.5-3.8 4.1-4.7[161][163]	Discontinued 3.5-3.8 4.1-4.7[161][163]	Discontinued 4.2-4.3[161][164][165]	No	No
Chakra	No	Yes	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Chimera Linux	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Clear Linux OS	?	Yes	?	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
CRUX	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Debian[166]	Yes	Yes 4.0+	Yes 2.2+	Discontinued 3.0-7.0[167]	Discontinued 2.2-8	Yes	Discontinued 2.1-4.0[168]	Discontinued -7[169]	Discontinued 3.0-5.0	Official port requested[170]	Yes 3.0+	In progress	Discontinued 3.0-7	Yes 7+	Discontinued 2.1-5.0	Discontinued 2.0-3.1	Officially testing[171]
Devuan	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre	Yes	Yes	No	No	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	No	No	No
Fedora[172]	Discontinued from Fedora 30	Yes	Yes[173]	Discontinued from Fedora 9 [174]	Discontinued from Fedora 17	Yes	No	Inactive from Fedora 12[175]	No	In progress	Inactive from Fedora 13 [176]	No	No	Yes	No	No	In progress[177]
Finnix	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Gentoo[178]	Yes	Yes	Yes[179]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes[180]	Yes[181][182]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes[183]
gNewSense	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Guix System[184]	Yes	Yes	Yes, ARMv7 and AArch64	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	In progress[185]
Hyperbola GNU/Linux-libre	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	In progress[186]	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	In progress[187]
Kali Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
LibreCMC	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes XBurst	No	No	No	No	No	No
Manjaro Linux	Yes Unofficial[188]	Yes	Yes[189]	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
MEPIS	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
MIRACLE LINUX	Discontinued 8.0	Yes	No	No	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	No	No	No
NixOS	Unofficial	Yes	Yes	No	Unofficial	Unofficial	No	No	No	No	No	No	Unofficial	Unofficial	No	Unofficial	Unofficial
OpenELEC	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
openSUSE Leap	No	Yes	v7 64	No	No	ppc64le	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
openSUSE Tumbleweed	Yes	Yes	v6 v7 64	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	RV64G
OpenWrt[190]	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Oracle Linux[191]	Yes	Yes	No	Discontinued 5[192]	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre	Yes	Yes	Yes, ARMv7[193][194]	No	No	Test release[195]	No	No	No	No	Discontinued[196]	No	No	No	No	No	Test release[197]
Red Flag Linux	Discontinued 8.0[198]	Discontinued 8.0[198]	No	Discontinued 3[199]	No	Discontinued 3[199]	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Red Hat Linux[200]	Discontinued 9.0	No	No	Discontinued 7.1-7.2	Test release 5.1[201]	No	Discontinued 4.0-4.2 5.1-6.2	Test release 5.1[201]	No	No	Test release 5.1[201]	No	Discontinued 7.2	Yes	Discontinued 2.1-7.1	Test release 5.1[201]	No
Red Hat Enterprise Linux[202]	Discontinued 2.1-6[203]	Yes 3+	Yes[204]	Discontinued 2.1-5[205]	Yes 3+	Yes 3+	No	No	No	No	No	No	Discontinued 3-4[206]	Yes 3+	No	No	No
Sabayon Linux	Discontinued	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Scientific Linux	Yes	Yes	No	Discontinued 3-4	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
SHR	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Slackware	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Discontinued ?[207]	No	No	No	No	No	Discontinued ?[208]	Discontinued ?[208]	Discontinued 8.1[209]	No	No
Solus	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Source Mage GNU/Linux	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server[210]	Yes	Yes	AArch64 only[211]	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Trisquel GNU/Linux	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
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
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+[212]	No	No	No
Ututo	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	In progress	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Void Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Unofficial[213]	Unofficial[213]	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
XBMCbuntu	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
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
Alpine Linux	Free, and nonfree	13,888[214][215]	?	apk	.apk	setup-alpine	No	?	iPXE[216]
ALT Linux	Free, and nonfree	8,300[217]	?	APT (APT-RPM), RPM	RPM		Yes	?	?
Arch Linux	Free, and nonfree	13,751[218]	90,138 from AUR[219]	Pacman	.pkg.tar.zst[220]	arch-install-scripts[221] and archinstaller[222]	No	Yes	iPXE
BLAG	Free only	10,000[223]	?	RPM, yum, APT	RPM		Yes	No	No
Bodhi Linux	Free, and nonfree	[a][224]	?	APT	.dpkg	Ubiquity	Yes	?	?
Canaima	Free, and nonfree	?	?	APT	.deb	debian-installer	Yes	?	?
CentOS	Free, and nonfree	6,813[b][225]	?	RPM, yum/up2date	RPM	Anaconda	Yes	Yes	?
Chakra	Free, and nonfree	3,074[226]	CCR: 5,342[227]	Pacman (will be replaced by Akabei in future)	.pkg.tar.xz		Package manager in development	?	?
Chimera Linux	Free, and nonfree	12,826	2,648	apk	.apk	None	No	Yes	No
ClearOS	Free, and nonfree	[c]	?	RPM, yum	RPM		No	?	?
Clear Linux OS	?	?	?	Swupd	?	?	?	?	?
CrunchBang Linux	Free, and nonfree	[d][224]	?	APT	.deb		Yes	?	?
Debian	Free, and nonfree	171,937[224]	28,923[e]	APT	.deb	Debian-Installer	Yes	Yes	PXE
Devuan	Free, and nonfree	[f][224]	?	APT	.deb	Debian-Installer	Yes	Yes	PXE
Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre	Free only	484	?	pkgsystem	.tlz	?	No	No	No
dyne:bolic	Free only	?	?	APT	.deb	Debian-Installer	Yes	No	No
Fedora	Free, and nonfree	68,419[228]	41,231[229]	DNF, yum, PackageKit	RPM	Anaconda	Yes	Yes	?
Gentoo	Free, and nonfree	118[230][231]	19,105[232][g]	Portage	.ebuild, .tbz2	None (third-party install scripts only)	Yes[h]	Yes	PXE
gNewSense	Free only	?	?	APT	.deb	Debian-Installer	Yes	Yes	No
Guix System	Free only	20,571[233]	20,571	Guix	.scm, .go	guix system init[234]	Yes[235]	Yes[236]	No
Hyperbola GNU/Linux-libre	Free only	6,128[237]	?	Pacman	.pkg.tar.lz	None (third-party install scripts only)	No	Yes	?
Knoppix	Free, and nonfree	[i][224]	?	APT	.deb		No	?	?
LibreCMC	Free only	826	?	?	?		No	No	No
Linux Mint	Free, and nonfree	[j][224]	?	APT	.deb	Ubiquity	Yes	?	?
Mageia	Free, and nonfree	17,283 (i586), 11,409 (x86-64)[238]	8,834[239]	urpmi, rpmdrake	RPM	DrakX	Yes	Yes	?
Mandriva Linux	Free, and nonfree	22,600	?	urpmi, rpmdrake	RPM	DrakX	Yes	?	?
Manjaro Linux	Free, and nonfree	?	[k][219]	Pacman	.pkg.tar.xz	Calamares[240]	Yes[241]	Yes	iPXE
MEPIS	Free, and nonfree	[l][224]	?	APT	.deb	MEPIS Install	Yes	?	?
MIRACLE LINUX	Free, and nonfree	7,109	2,899	RPM, yum, dnf	RPM	Anaconda	Yes	Yes	No
Musix GNU+Linux	Free only	1,819	?	APT	.deb	Debian-Installer	Yes	No	No
NixOS	Free, and nonfree	71,311[242]	124,166[243]	nix	.nix	Calamares	Yes	Yes[244]	Yes[245]
OpenELEC	Free, and nonfree	140[246]	?	XBMCbuntu addon manager, own and 3rd party addons	.zip		Yes	?	?
openSUSE	Free, and nonfree	42,236 with PackMan[247]	34,000	YaST, Zypper	RPM	YaST	Yes	Yes	?
OpenWrt	Free, and nonfree	2,000	?	opkg	.ipk	-	No	?	?
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre	Free only	23,000[248]	?	Pacman	.pkg.tar.xz	None (third-party install scripts only) or Calamares	Yes	Yes	?
Pardus	Free, and nonfree	4,000	?	APT	.deb	Debian-Installer	Yes	?	?
Parsix	Free, and nonfree	[m][224]	14,900	APT	.deb		Yes	?	?
PCLinuxOS	Free, and nonfree	12,000	?	APT, RPM	RPM		Yes	?	?
Puppy	Free, and nonfree	700	?	PupGet, DotPup	.pup, .pet		Yes	?	?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux	Free, and nonfree	3,000 (plus 9,155 from EPEL[249])	?	RPM, yum	RPM	Anaconda	Yes	?	?
Rxart	Free, and nonfree	[n][224]	?	APT	.deb		Yes	?	?
Sabayon Linux	Free, and nonfree	[o]	?	Portage, Entropy	ebuild, .tbz2	Calamares	Yes	?	?
Scientific	Free, and nonfree	[p]	?	APT/yum	RPM		Yes	?	?
Slackware	Free, and nonfree	2,292	7,705 from SlackBuilds[250]	slackpkg	tgz, .txz, .tlz, .tbz	bash script[251]	No	Yes	Yes
Slax	Free, and nonfree	2,050	?	none	.lzm			?	?
SliTaz GNU/Linux	Free, and nonfree	3,381[252]	?	Tazpkg	.tazpkg	tazinst	Yes	iPXE	iPXE
Solus	Free, and nonfree	9,500	?	eopkg	.eopkg	os-installer	Yes	No	No
Source Mage GNU/Linux	Free, and nonfree	118	8,876	Sorcery Package Manager	src		Yes	?	?
SUSE Linux	Free, and nonfree	24,094	11,385	YaST, Zypper	RPM	YaST	Yes	?	?
Tiny Core Linux	Free, and nonfree	25,160	?	ab, tce-load	tcz	tc-install, core2usb	Yes	?	?
Tiny SliTaz	Free, and nonfree	50	?	Web site[253]	tazpkg		No	?	iPXE
Trisquel	Free only	52,748[254]	?	APT	.deb	Ubiquity	Yes	Yes	?
TurnKey GNU/Linux	Free, and nonfree	[q][224] (plus ≈30 custom packages)	21,041[r] (currently TurnKey only supplies source code for custom packages)	APT	.deb	DI-Live (custom fork of Debian Installer)	No	No	No
Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu	Free, and nonfree	110,066[s][224][255]	24,474[t]	APT	.deb	Ubiquity	Yes	Yes	PXE
Ututo	Free only	5,000	?	UTUTO Package Manager	ebuild	?	?	No	No
Vector Linux	Free, and nonfree	?	?	slapt-get, gslapt, installpkg	tgz		Yes	?	?
Void Linux	Free, nonfree and multilib	6,000	6,719	xbps	.xbps	ncurses script	Yes	Yes	No
XBMC Live	Free, and nonfree	?	?	APT	.deb		No	?	?
Zentyal	Free, and nonfree	[u][224]	?	APT	.deb	dpkg	Yes	?	?
Zenwalk	Free, and nonfree	2,000	?	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

Distribution	Size of media (MB)	RAM use (MB)	Boots from CD	Boots from DVD	Installable live CD/DVD	Installable from USB
Alpine Linux	63 (Virtual) 1,019 (Xen)[256]	min 96 GUI 2,048[257]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Arch Linux	742	min 80	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
AUSTRUMI	426		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
BLAG Linux and GNU	696	?	Yes	No	?
Bodhi Linux	1,024	80	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
CentOS	603 (Minimal) 4,096 (DVD)		Yes	Yes	Yes (installable since 6.0)	Yes
Chakra	2,150		No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Chimera Linux	649 to 1,223	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Clear Linux OS	4,443	?	?	?	?	?
Damn Small Linux	50[258]+[259]	24[258] to 64[259]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Debian	1,420[260][261]	Up to 2,048[262]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Devuan	868		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre	655	?	Yes	?	?	?
dyne:bolic	1,650	?	up to version 2.x	Yes	?	?
Fedora	1,434	256 to 1,024	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gentoo	260 (Minimal) 2,048 (Live DVD)	up to 128	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
gNewSense[263]	1,200	512	?	?	Yes	?
Grml	460	32 to 128	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Guix System[264]	814	233	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hyperbola GNU/Linux-libre	1,124	?	up to version 0.3.x	Yes	Yes	Yes
Knoppix CD	700	128 to 320	Yes	Yes	Only DVD edition is maintained
Knoppix DVD	4,813	128 to 500	No	Yes
LibreCMC	?	?	No	No	No	No
Mandriva Linux One	700	128 to 768	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manjaro Linux	473 to 2,200[265]	256 to 1,024	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
MEPIS	700 to 4,000	128 to 512	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Musix GNU+Linux	2,000	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nanolinux	18	≈64	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
NixOS	780 (Minimal) 1,700 (Plasma) 2,200 (GNOME)	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
openGEU	700	192 to 512	Yes		Yes
openSUSE (Not 42.1)	700	128 to 768	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
OpenWrt	min 4	min 16	No	No	No	No
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre	400 to 3,300	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pardus	1,256 to 1,276	256 to 1,024	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PCLinuxOS	130 to 700	96 to 512	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pentoo	666 and 700	48 to 96	Yes	Yes	By hand[266]	By hand
Porteus	224 to 373	min 36	?	?	Yes	Yes
Puppy Linux (Slacko)	235	32 to 192	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Puredyne	542		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sabayon Linux Live CD	695		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sabayon Linux Live DVD	2,400		No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Scientific Linux	431 to 2,300[267]	640	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Slackware	2,600	64 to 1,024[268]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Slax	200	96 to 320	Yes	Yes		Yes
Solus	1,200	1,024	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
SystemRescueCD	459		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
SliTaz GNU/Linux	50	48 to 256	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tails	≈900	≈1,024	No	Yes	Yes	Yes (when run from DVD)
Tiny Core Linux	17 (Core) 248 (Core Plus)[269]	28 to 128[270]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tiny SliTaz	1.44	4	Yes	Yes	By SliTaz	By SliTaz
Trisquel	1,500[271]	384	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
TurnKey GNU/Linux Core (base) appliance ISO	212	~173	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ubuntu	1,700[272]	384	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Edubuntu	2,900[273]		Yes	Yes	Yes
Kubuntu	1,400[274]	384	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Xubuntu	1,200[275]	256	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ututo	3,500	?	No	Yes	Yes	?
XBMC Live	700	256 to 1,024	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Zentyal	600	256	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Distribution	Size of media (MB)	RAM use (MB)	Boots from CD	Boots from DVD	Installable live CD/DVD	Installable from USB

Security features

Distribution	Compile time buffer checks	Mandatory access control	Software executable space protection	grsecurity	RSBAC
Alpine Linux	Yes[276]	Un­known	PaX	Discontinued in 3.8.0	Un­known
Arch Linux	Un­known	SELinux(Unofficial)[277],AppArmor	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known
BLAG	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known
Android (operating system)	Yes	Yes, since Android Marshmallow	Optional	Optional	Optional
Clear Linux OS	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known
Debian	Yes	SELinux, AppArmor	PaX optional	Optional	Optional
Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known
dyne:bolic	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known
Fedora	Yes	SELinux[278]	Exec Shield[279]	No	No
Gentoo	Optional	SELinux, AppArmor	PaX optional	Optional	Optional
gNewSense	Un­known	SELinux, AppArmor[v]	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known
Guix System	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known
LibreCMC	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known
Mandriva	Un­known	AppArmor	Un­known	Un­known	Yes
MIRACLE LINUX	Un­known	SELinux	Un­known	No	Un­known
Musix GNU+Linux	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre	Un­known	Optional[280]	Un­known	Optional[280]	Un­known
Slackware	Un­known	AppArmor, tomoyo	Un­known	Un­known	Optional
SUSE Linux	Yes	AppArmor[281]	Hardware NX and other methods in mainline kernel and toolchain[282]	No	No
Solus	Yes	AppArmor	Un­known	No	Un­known
Trisquel	Un­known	SELinux, AppArmor[w]	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known
Ubuntu	Yes[283]	SELinux, AppArmor [283]	PaX optional	Optional	Optional
Ututo	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known

Apple Silicon Support

Distribution	Direct Install	Working Virtualisation	Community Version
Kali	Un­known	Yes[284]	—
Ubuntu	Un­known	Yes[285]	—
Fedora	Un­known	Yes[286]	—

See also

• Free and open-source software portal
• Linux portal

• Comparison of netbook-oriented Linux distributions
• Comparison of operating systems
• DistroWatch
• List of Linux distributions

Notes

1. Based on Debian
2. Based on Fedora
3. Based on Fedora
4. Based on Debian
5. From the Sources.gz files in the main, contrib and non-free sections of Debian Buster. On the 2020-06-12, Debian Sid, the development release, have 31717 source packages.
6. Based on Debian
7. Note this number is just of packages in the Official Gentoo Overlay (or Portage Tree). Several hundred other packages are available from other overlays
8. Can be installed graphically (GTK+ and ncurses), but traditionally done by command line (install cd, live cd, netboot, and from distributions).
9. Based on Debian
10. Based on Debian
11. Based on AUR
12. Based on Debian
13. Based on Debian
14. Based on Debian
15. Based on Gentoo
16. Based on Fedora
17. Based on Debian
18. From the Sources.gz files in the main, contrib and non-free sections of Debian Jessie. On the 2015-11-21, Debian Sid, the development release, have 24757 source packages.
19. Based on Debian
20. From the Sources.gz files in the main,universe, multiverse and restricted sections of Ubuntu Wily.
21. Based on Debian
22. Based on Debian
23. Based on Ubuntu