This project aims to assist the reader with understanding the differences between Linux distributions so that the reader can distro-hop intelligently.
This project contains my notes on unix-like operating systems (mostly Linux) and desktop environments. I started writing these notes in the early 2010's to help understand the Linux ecosystem, and have since continued to update the notes as needed.
I am in the process of transitioning my notes from my EverNote system to this GitHub project.
These are the topics to consider when comparing Linux distro's
- Does the distribution landing page have a statement about why their distro exists?
- What operating system family is this distribution? (Linux, BSD, others)
- What is the target audience? (experienced, intermediate, beginner)
- What is the target useage? (server, desktop, embedded, everything)
- Is distro focused on stability or bleeding edge or something in between?
- Is the distro sponsored by a corporation or even owned by a corporation?
- Corporate sponsorship goes a long way to enabling the success of a distribution
- Is paid support available?
- Paying someone to fix your computer can save hours to weeks of your time.
- How many developers are working on the distro?
- Thousands, hundreds, dozens, a few, one?
- Distros with only a few developers can easily become abandoned
- Are packages downstream of another distro or are they pulled from the source
- What is the release type?
- What is the package management and supported package managers?
- What are the default application packaging format?
- What is the flagship Desktop Environment?
- What is the default Display manager?
- What is the default Display server?
- What Init System is used?
- What are the primary supported Filesystems?
- What bootloader is used?
- What system installer do they use?
The following notes contain a list of all the Linux distributions that I have tried or I at least am aware of.
I have split the list into 6 notes, each note is specific to a Linux ecosystem (except for the Independent list)
- Debian is the ecosystem that has the most distributions
- Arch.md is the fastest growing ecosystem today
- RHEL.md is the Red Hat ecosystem that included Fedora
- SUSE.md is a smaller ecosystem but is extremely good
- Gentoo is an ecosystem where all packages are compiled from source
- Independent lists all the distributions that are not part of the above 5 ecosystems
I have notes on Unix and Unix-like distributions as well as some non-unix-like distros worth mentioning.
I have notes on Kernel types and famous implementations that can be interesting, as well as information on Linux kernel types that are available to try.
Reading about Linux facts and statistics is entertaining
- My recommendations to you for for distro-hopping
- My warning to you about how the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) in your computer may affect your enjoyment of installing Linux
- My experience with Unix-like operating systems
- My favorite linux distributions