Linux distribution in the context of GNU

The iPAQ is a discontinued line of Pocket PC devices produced from 2000 until 2010. It was first unveiled by Compaq in April 2000. iPAQ included PDA-devices, smartphones and GPS-navigators. A substantial number of devices were outsourced from Taiwanese HTC corporation.

Following Hewlett-Packard (HP)'s acquisition of Compaq, the product had been marketed by HP. The devices use a Windows Mobile interface. In addition to this, there are several Linux distributions that also operate on some of these devices. Earlier units were modular. Sleeve accessories were released called "jackets", which slide around the unit and add functionality such as a card reader, wireless networking, GPS, and extra batteries. Later versions of iPAQs have most of these features integrated into the base device itself, some including GPRS mobile telephony (SIM card slot and radio).

Linux (/ˈlɪnʊks/ LIN-uuks) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution (distro), which includes the kernel and supporting system software and libraries—most of which are provided by third parties—to create a complete operating system, designed as a clone of Unix and released under the copyleft GPL license.

Thousands of Linux distributions exist, many based directly or indirectly on other distributions; popular Linux distributions include Debian, Fedora Linux, Linux Mint, Arch Linux, and Ubuntu, while commercial distributions include Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise, and ChromeOS. Linux distributions are frequently used in server platforms. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses and recommends the name "GNU/Linux" to emphasize the use and importance of GNU software in many distributions, causing some controversy. Other than the Linux kernel, key components that make up a distribution may include a display server (windowing system), a package manager, a bootloader and a Unix shell.

Free and open-source software (FOSS) is software available under a license that gives users the right to use, share, modify, and distribute the software – modified or not – to everyone and provides the means to exercise those rights using the software's source code. FOSS is an inclusive umbrella term encompassing free software and open-source software. The rights guaranteed by FOSS originate from the "Four Essential Freedoms" of The Free Software Definition and the criteria of The Open Source Definition. All FOSS can have publicly available source code, but not all source-available software is FOSS. FOSS is the opposite of proprietary software, which is licensed restrictively or has undisclosed source code.

The historical precursor to FOSS was the hobbyist and academic public domain software ecosystem of the 1960s to 1980s. Free and open-source operating systems such as Linux distributions and descendants of BSD are widely used, powering millions of servers, desktops, smartphones, and other devices. Free-software licenses and open-source licenses have been adopted by many software packages. Reasons for using FOSS include decreased software costs, increased security against malware, stability, privacy, opportunities for educational usage, and giving users more control over their own hardware.

In software development, a fork is a codebase that is created by duplicating an existing codebase and, generally, is subsequently modified independently of the original. Software built from a fork initially has identical behavior as software built from the original code, but as the source code is increasingly modified, the resulting software tends to have increasingly different behavior compared to the original. A fork is a form of branching, but generally involves storing the forked files separately from the original; not in the repository. Reasons for forking a codebase include user preference, stagnated or discontinued development of the original software or a schism in the developer community. Forking proprietary software (such as Unix) is prohibited by copyright law without explicit permission, but free and open-source software, by definition, may be forked without permission.

Debian (/ˈdɛbiən/) is a free and open source Linux distribution, developed by the Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock in August 1993. Debian is one of the oldest operating systems based on the Linux kernel, and is the basis of many other Linux distributions.

As of September 2025, Debian is the second-oldest Linux distribution still in active development; only Slackware is older. The project is coordinated over the Internet by a team of volunteers guided by the Debian Project Leader and three foundation documents: the Debian Social Contract, the Debian Constitution, and the Debian Free Software Guidelines.

Ubuntu (/ʊˈbʊntuː/ uu-BUUN-too) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed primarily of free and open-source software. Developed by the British company Canonical and a community of contributors under a meritocratic governance model, Ubuntu is released in multiple official editions: Desktop, Server, and Core for IoT and robotic devices.

Ubuntu is published on a six-month release cycle, with long-term support (LTS) versions issued every two years. Canonical provides security updates and support until each release reaches its designated end-of-life (EOL), with optional extended support available through the Ubuntu Pro and Expanded Security Maintenance (ESM) services.

SteamOS is a gaming-focused operating system released by Valve that incorporates the company's video game storefront, Steam. Based on Arch Linux and built specifically to support Steam, it is the default Linux distribution for Valve's line of gaming hardware, including the Steam Deck, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame. Beginning in 2025, Valve expanded official support to include third-party devices designated as "SteamOS Compatible", such as handhelds like the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally. It can also be installed on personal computers without official support from Valve. The core operating system is free and open-source software, while the Steam client remains proprietary.

SteamOS was first released in 2013, with versions 1.0 and 2.0 based on Debian and designed primarily as a client for streaming games over a local network from a gaming PC, with limited support for native gameplay. Valve promoted the platform as part of a broader effort to expand Linux gaming. In 2022, Valve introduced SteamOS 3.0 alongside the launch of the Steam Deck. This version transitioned to an Arch Linux base which used a rolling release model that Valve felt was better suited for hardware support. It has a dual‑mode interface: a console‑style mode powered by Steam's Big Picture UI, and a KDE Plasma desktop environment for traditional computing use. SteamOS 3.0 also incorporates Valve’s Proton compatibility layer, enabling many Windows games to run on Linux.

The Linux kernel is a free and open-source Unix-like kernel that is used in many computer systems worldwide. The kernel was created by Linus Torvalds in 1991 and was soon adopted as the kernel for the GNU operating system (OS) which was created to be a free replacement for Unix. Since the late 1990s, it has been included in many operating system distributions, many of which are called Linux. One such Linux kernel operating system is Android which is used in many mobile and embedded devices.

Most of the kernel code is written in C as supported by the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) which has extensions beyond standard C. The code also contains assembly code for architecture-specific logic such as optimizing memory use and task execution. The kernel has a modular design such that modules can be integrated as software components – including dynamically loaded. The kernel is monolithic in an architectural sense since the entire OS kernel runs in kernel space.

Media player software is a type of application software for playing multimedia computer files like audio and video files. Media players commonly display standard media control icons known from physical devices such as tape recorders and CD players, such as play (), pause (), fastforward (⏩️), rewind (⏪), and stop () buttons. In addition, they generally have progress bars (or "playback bars"), which are sliders to locate the current position in the duration of the media file.

Mainstream operating systems have at least one default media player. For example, Windows comes with Windows Media Player and it’s 2022 successor, while macOS comes with QuickTime Player and Apple Music. Linux distributions come with different media players, such as SMPlayer, Amarok, Audacious, Banshee, MPlayer, mpv, Rhythmbox, Totem, VLC media player, and xine. Android comes with YouTube Music for audio and Google Photos for video, and smartphone vendors such as Samsung may bundle custom software.

This page provides general information about notable Linux distributions in the form of a categorized list. Distributions are organized into sections by the major distribution or package management system they are based on.

Fedora Linux is a free and open-source 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.

Linux Mint is a community-developed Linux distribution based primarily on Ubuntu, with an alternative version based on Debian known as Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE). It is available for x86-64 systems, while LMDE supported the IA-32 architecture until 2025. First released in 2006, Linux Mint is often noted for its ease of use, out-of-the-box functionality, and appeal to desktop users. It comes bundled with a selection of free and open-source software. The default desktop environment is Cinnamon, developed by the Linux Mint team, with MATE and Xfce available as alternatives.

Arch Linux (/ɑːrtʃ/) is an open source, rolling release Linux distribution. Arch Linux is kept up-to-date by regularly updating the individual pieces of software that it comprises. Arch Linux is intentionally minimal, and is meant to be configured by the user during installation so they may add only what they require.

Arch Linux provides monthly "snapshots" which are used as installation media. The newest snapshot as of December 8, 2025, is 2025.12.01, featuring Linux kernel 6.17.9.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a commercial Linux distribution developed by Red Hat. 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 serve as its upstream sources. 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.

A "Unix shell" is a shell that provides a command-line user interface for a Unix-like operating system. A Unix shell provides a command language that can be used either interactively or for writing a shell script. A user typically works within a Unix shell via a terminal emulator; however, direct access via serial hardware connections or a Secure Shell are common for server systems. Although use of a Unix shell is popular with some users, others prefer to use a graphical shell in a windowing system, such as those provided in desktop Linux distributions or macOS, instead of a command-line interface (CLI).

A user may have access to multiple Unix shells with one configured to run by default when the user logs in interactively. The default selection is typically stored in a user's profile (for example, in the local passwd file or in a distributed configuration system such as NIS or LDAP). A user may use other shells nested inside the default shell.

Fedora Linux is a popular Linux distribution developed by the Fedora Project. Fedora attempts to maintain a six-month release schedule, offering new versions in spring and fall, although some releases have experienced minor delays.