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Comparison of Linux distributions

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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.


General

Basic general information about the distributions: creator/company, license/price etc.

Creator First public release date Predecessor Stable version Cost (US Dollars) Preferred License2 Target audience
Arch Linux Judd Vinet 03/11/2002 CRUX 0.7 Free GPL Enthusiast
Debian Debian Project August 1993 None 3.0r4 (woody) Free any DFSG-free Server, workstation, enthusiast
Fedora Core Fedora Project November 2003 Red Hat Linux 3 Free GPL Server, workstation
Ubuntu Canonical Ltd. October 2004 based on Debian 4.10 Free GPL Workstation
Gentoo Gentoo Foundation, Inc March 2002 Enoch 2004.3 Free GPL Server, workstation, enthusiast
Mandrakelinux Mandrakesoft July 1998 Red Hat Linux 10.1 Free (Download edition) GPL Workstation, enthusiast
MEPIS Warren Woodford September 2003 based on Debian SimplyMEPIS 2004.06 Free (Download edition) GPL Server, workstation, enthusiast
Slackware Linux Patrick Volkerding July 1993 SLS 10.1 Free GPL Server, workstation, enthusiast
SUSE Linux SUSE March 1994 Slackware 9.2 $79.95 Professional, available for free download GPL Server, workstation, enthusiast
PLD Linux Distribution PLD November 2002 None 1.0 Free GPL Server, workstation, enthusiast
Creator First public release date Predecessor Stable version Cost (US Dollars) Preferred License2 Target Audience

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, ext3, JFS, XFS, FAT, NTFS, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS, ReiserFS x86 (i686) Pacman Pacman Various (no default) pre-LSB with C, various other
(POSIX conforming)
Debian ext3/ext2 ext2, ext3, 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 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, ReiserFS x86, x86-64, PPC, PowerPC 970, SPARC, SPARC64, Alpha, MIPS emerge Portage Various (no default) ?
Mandrakelinux ext3 ext2, ext3, 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, ext3, JFS, XFS, FAT, NTFS, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS, ReiserFS x86 (i586) APT dpkg and APT Various (no default) LSB with C, various other
(POSIX conforming)
Slackware ReiserFS, ext3/ext2 ext2, ext3, JFS, XFS, FAT, NTFS, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS, ReiserFS x86, IA64, S/390 Swaret, Slaptget, 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 x86, IA64, x86-64, PPC YaST2 RPM, YAST Various (no default) LSB with C, various other
(POSIX conforming)
PLD Linux Distribution ext3/ext2/XFS ext2, ext3, JFS, XFS, 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)
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.

Graphics software and capabilites1 Default Filesystem Browser Default desktop environment Default window manager Default GUI styling Default package manager
Arch Linux User programs:
X Window System 		none
(all optional) 		none
(all optional) 		none
(all optional) 		none
(all optional) 		Pacman
Debian User programs:
X Window System
others like Berlin/Fresco, SVGALib 		none
(all optional) 		none
(all optional) 		none
(all optional) 		none
(all optional) 		dpkg/ APT
Fedora Core User program:
X Window System 		Nautilus GNOME Metacity Bluecurve theme RPM
Ubuntu User programs:
X Window System 		Nautilus GNOME Metacity Human theme dpkg/ APT
Gentoo User programs:
X Window System
others like SVGALib 		none
(all optional) 		none
(all optional) 		none
(all optional) 		none
(all optional) 		Portage
Mandrakelinux User program:
X Window System 		Konqueror KDE kwin Mandrakegalaxy theme Urpmi
MEPIS User programs:
X Window System 		Firefox KDE kwin plastik theme dpkg/ APT
Slackware User programs:
X Window System 		none
(all optional) 		none
(all optional) 		none
(all optional) 		none
(all optional) 		tarball
SUSE Linux User program:
X Window System 		Konqueror KDE kwin ThinKeramik Theme YaST
PLD Linux Distribution User program:
X Window System 		none
(all optional) 		none
(all optional) 		none
(all optional) 		none
(all optional) 		Poldek
Graphics software and capabilites1 Default Filesystem Browser Default desktop environment Default window manager Default GUI styling Default package manager

Reference

See also

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