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Linux article - Wikipedia - at
en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Linux
(First, a description of Linux at the Wikipedia "open encyclopedia".
See the 'Linux Distributions' link at the bottom of the page.)
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Distro Watch - at
www.distrowatch.com
(A current overview of Linux distros.
Also see the Newsletter links and the Recommended links.)
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Ubuntu MATE Guide - at
guide.ubuntu-mate.org
(
Ubuntu MATE is my preferred Linux distro --- ever since updating
FROM Ubuntu 9.10, 2009oct, Karmic Koala TO Ubuntu MATE 18.14 LTS
circa 2019.)
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Linux Mint - at
www.linuxmint.com
(An Ubuntu-based 'distro' with Cinnamon, MATE, KDE, and Xfce 'desktop'
releases. Linux Mint also offers a non-Ubuntu, Debian-based release called
LMDE = Linux Mint Debian Edition)
(Circa 2017, I was considering a switch from
Ubuntu 9.10, the 2009 October version, to LinuxMint-MATE or LMDE-MATE
--- OR, if they do not satisfy, I was considering a switch to
Ubuntu-MATE --- OR, if that does not satisfy, I would consider
a switch to Debian and look for user-friendly packages to install
for wireless Internet connection and other applications.)
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Debian - at
www.debian.org
(The 'distro' on which Ubuntu and Linux Mint are based.
See comments on Linux Mint, above.)
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Ubuntu Linux - at
www.ubuntu.com
(Offers 'distros' named Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, and Edubuntu.)
(Ubuntu was my recommended Linux distro, as of 2009 and 2010.
I have described installing it on several computers on this
Ubuntu Installs page --- where I also provide a list of recommended
applications for web browsing, email, image processing, etc. I explain
there why I was pleased with Ubunutu 9.10 --- the 2009 October release,
'Karmic Koala'. When Ubuntu switched to its 'Unity'
desktop environment, from Gnome2, they killed a lot
of the productivity-enhancing features of Gnome2. I had to look
elsewhere for my next distro. Fortunately, the Ubuntu-MATE 'flavor'
appeared several years later.)
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Mandriva Linux - at
en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Mandriva
(revived as Mageia and OpenMandriva and ROSA Linux)
(The freeware LiveCD version of Mandriva, such as
"Mandriva Spring 2007", WAS my recommended "donation-ware" distro
in 2007. See the Mepis and Xandros distros below for my previous
preferences. See Ubuntu, above, for my 2009-2010 preference.
In summer 2007 I built a PC with 2 disk drives. I was going to
install Mepis Linux on it, but I found the GUI 'Parted'
[Partition Editor] utility used by Mepis would not
recognize the second of my two disk drives.
I tried Mandriva and found that the 'DiskDrak'
utility that Mandriva uses for partitioning and formatting disk drives
is much better than the utility used by Mepis. That utility
recognized both my disk drives and was quite user-friendly in
the process of specifying directory 'mount points' for the partitions.
In early 2007, I was wondering why the PClinuxOS distro was so
popular on the distrowatch.com site. When I found out that it is
based on Mandriva and uses the same disk partitioning utility,
I realized at least one probable reason why PClinuxOS is
becoming so popular.
If the Mandriva distributions were to
all become "commercial-ware" with no "donation-ware" versions
available, like Xandros did, then I would probably have switched to
PClinuxOS from Mandriva. And if that were not suitable, I would probably
have tried CentOS, a spin-off of the Fedora Linux distro, which is
based on Red Hat Linux. Red Hat has very sophisticated disk
partitioning utilities which can handle "logical volumes" as well
as multiple disk drives. BUT, as of 2009, my preference became Ubuntu.)
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MEPIS Linux - at
en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ MEPIS
(DEFUNCT)
(Before mid-2007, Mepis WAS my recommended "donation-ware" distro
--- after not-for-free Xandros Linux, below.
Xandros is easier to install for beginners and for quick
temporary installs.
The Mepis distro was the "next best" in hardware recognition,
i.e. ease of installation, in my experience --- if you don't have more than one
disk drive. AND Mepis has a nice choice of packages with very
little "getting" required after installation. You could try
Mepis out before install via a "Live CD". The Mepis motto is
"Easy to try, easy to install, easy to use." However, as of 2009,
my recommended distro became Ubuntu. See above.)
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Xandros Linux - at
en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Xandros
(DEFUNCT)
(I highly recommendED, in 2006, the Xandros distro as far as hardware recognition
--- but NOT for choice of pre-installed packages. Xandros has
no free lite or demo version after Xandros discontinued its
OCE [Open Circulation Edition] 3.x, circa 2006.
Xandros had a "4-click express install", with automatic disk
partitioning for dual-boot install. Very good automatic hardware
recognition and configuration --- network cards, sound cards,
even printers.
Unfortunately, no "LiveCD" for Xandros 4.x --- like the
free OCE = Open Circulation Editon 3.x, that was available
in 2005-2006. I think Xandros is making a big mistake,
no longer offering a LiveCD version. I emailed them on this.
No reply. As of 2009, my preferred distro became Ubuntu.)
Some BSD distros :
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Free BSD Unix for PCs - at
www.freebsd.org
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Net BSD Unix for PCs - at
www.netbsd.org
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Open BSD Unix for PCs - at
openbsd.org
Some other Linux distros :
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Knoppix Linux - at
www.knopper.net/ knoppix/ index-en.html
(
Knoppix is designed to be used as a Live CD or Live USG flash drive.
Sometimes used to recover files from hard drives with inaccessible
operating systems.)
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Open Suse - at
www.opensuse.org
(the "open development" project based on the Novell Suse commercial product)
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Novell Inc. - at
en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Novell
(bought Suse Linux circa 2005 ; Suse later spun Novell off)
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PCLinuxOS - at
www.pclinuxos.com
(
PCLinuxOS - Wikipedia uses the KDE desktop)
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Red Hat Linux - at
www.redhat.com
(
Red Hat - Wikipedia
is an 'enterprise grade' Linux ; acquired by IBM circa 2019)
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Fedora Linux - at
getfedora.org
(
Fedora Linux - Wikipedia
is based on Red Hat Linux)
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CentOS Linux - at
www.centos.com
(
CentOS - Wikipedia
is based on Red Hat & Fedora ; discontinued circa 2021)
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Arch Linux - at
www.archlinux.org
(
Arch Linux - Wikipedia
is a 'rolling-release' Linux distro)
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Slackware Linux - at
www.slackware.com
(
Slackware - Wikipedia
was one of the earliest Linux distros, circa 1993)
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Turbolinux - at
en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Turbolinux
(was a Japanese Linux distro that was started in Salt Lake City, Utah
circa 1992 ; ceased operations in Dec 2019)
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Kanotix Linux - at
www.kanotix.com/ changelang-eng.html
(not updated after 2019?)
Some sources of Linux distro CDs-DVDs :
(I usually download distro install files from the 'home' site
...
but here are some snail-mail sources of DVD's and CD's.)
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The Linux Shop - at
www.thelinuxshop.co.uk
("Buy Linux on CD, DVD and USB Sticks" ; since 2004)
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ALSO see the
MAGAZINES section below.
LinuxFormat, LinuxPro, and other magazines include or used to include
DVDs containing Linux distros as well as individual applications
and help files.
