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Leading distributions have usually been around for a while and are
well-established. They will support several architectures from low-end
x86 versions to high-end versions for IBM mainframes and the latest
64-bit technology. Some come from companies that supply service and
support contracts for their products, others are community projects.
Leading distributions usually support many languages.
Debian GNU/Linux
http://www.debian.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/debian/
The Debian Project is one of the oldest distributions and is currently
the largest volunteer based distribution provider. The distribution
supports many languages and hardware platforms, for example the Etch
release supports i386, amd64, powerpc, alpha, arm, hppa, ia64,
mips/mipsel, sparc and s390. Several architectures offer a choice between
32-bit and 64-bits kernel.. The old stable version (still supported)
is Debian 3.1 (sarge) - initial release June 6, 2005 - now at revision 8
released April 13, 2008. The current stable version 4.0 (etch) was
released April 8, 2007 - now at revision 3 released February 18,
2008. Debian users who want a more current desktop distribution are
encouraged to use the testing branch, which is where the next stable
release (currently codenamed Lenny) is prepared and which should normally
be quite stable. Debian Developers and users who want to live on the
bleeding edge can run the unstable branch (Sid) or even try packages from
experimental.
Fedora
http://fedoraproject.org/
Fedora Project wiki
http://freshmeat.net/projects/fedora_project/
The Fedora Project is Red Hat's community distribution. It is intended
to be a fast-paced distribution for those that like to stay on the
leading edge of technology. It is also a test-bed for Red Hat's
Enterprise Linux products. The Fedora contains all the packages
necessary to run a functional desktop or small server. The first Fedora
Core release was dated November 5, 2003. Fedora strives for a new
release every 6 months and releases will be supported for 13 months.
The old, old stable version is Fedora 7, released May 31, 2007 -
supported until June 13, 2008. The old stable version is Fedora 8,
released November 8, 2007. The current stable version is Fedora 9,
released May 13, 2008.
Gentoo Linux
http://www.gentoo.org/
Gentoo Linux is a source-based distribution that can be optimized and
customized for just about any application or need. Gentoo offers extreme
performance, configurability and a top-notch user and developer
community. Users keep their systems up-to-date using Portage, which is
based on BSD Ports. Gentoo is a meta-distribution with a large number of
packages available (nearly 11,000 as of April 2006). Gentoo Linux 2005.1 is
currently available for Alpha, AMD64, PPC, PPC64, SPARC, X86, IA64 and
SPARC32. Gentoo Linux 2006.0 was released February 27, 2006. Gentoo
Linux 2006.1 was released August 30, 2006. Gentoo Linux 2007.0 was
released May 7, 2007. Gentoo Linux 2008.0-beta2 was release April 29,
2008.
Mandriva Linux
http://www.mandrivalinux.com/
Mandriva
Mandriva Brazil
Mandriva is a new name for two popular distribution companies resulting
from the merger of the French company Mandrakesoft and the Brazilian
company Conectiva. Mandriva has also acquired Lycoris assets and hired
Lycoris founder and CEO, Joesph Cheek on June 15, 2005. Mandriva Linux
2006 merged technology from MandrakeSoft, Conectiva and Lycoris. This
version became generally available on October 13, 2005 and reached an end
of support on April 13, 2007. Mandriva Linux One is a combined live and
install CD, first released in March 2006. The Mandriva Corporate Server
4.0 was released September 19, 2006. Mandriva Corporate Desktop 4.0 was
released June 21, 2007. Mandriva Linux 2008 was released October 9,
2007. ML 2008.1 was released April 9, 2008. ML 2008.1 Xfce edition was
released May 1, 2008.
Red Hat Enterprise
http://www.redhat.com/
Red Hat, Inc. provides one of the the best known distributions in the
world. In 2003 the company announced its decision to drop its popular
Red Hat Linux in order to concentrate on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux
line. The Fedora Project (see above) has replaced the Red Hat Linux line
for the home user or small business. Red Hat Linux 9 was released April
7, 2003, and official Red Hat support ended on May 1, 2004. Red Hat
Enterprise Linux comes with service and support contracts for those Red
Hat customers who require a stable, supported system. Red Hat Enterprise
Linux 3 was released October 22, 2003. The seventh update for RHEL 3 was
released March 15, 2006. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (Nahant) was
released February 15, 2005. The sixth update for RHEL 4 was released
November 15, 2007. RHEL 5 was released March 14, 2007. RHEL 5.1 was
released November 7, 2007. Version 5.2 was released May 21, 2008.
Slackware Linux
http://www.slackware.com/
Slackware German forum:
http://www.slackforum.de/
Slackware (Italian style)
http://www.slack.z00.it/slack/slack.html
http://freshmeat.net/projects/slackware/
The Slackware project is headed by Patrick J. Volkerding, with a cast of
volunteers and a loyal following. It is the oldest active Linux
distribution with the first release dated July 16, 1993. The official
Slackware project supports only x86 platforms, however others have made
ports to other platforms. Slackware 10.2 was released September 14,
2005. Slackware 11.0 was released October 3, 2006. Slackware 12.0 was
released July 1, 2007. Slackware 12.1 was released May 2, 2008.
SuSE Linux
http://www.novell.com/linux/
openSUSE
Nuremberg based SuSE Linux AG is one of the older Linux distributions.
It became the the European UnitedLinux partner, and supplied much of the
code base for UnitedLinux and for Sun's Java Desktop System (both now
unsupported). SuSE was later acquired by US company Novell (finalized
January 12, 2004). SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) supports x86,
x86-64, IPF (ia64), POWER (32 & 64bit, ppc & ppc64) and
Mainframes (32 & 64bit, s390 & s390x). OpenSUSE is the community
distribution beginning with SUSE Linux 10.0, released October 6, 2005.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
(SLED) are available for enterprise customers. SLES/SLED 10 became
generally available July 17, 2006, now at Service Pack 2, released May
21, 2008. openSUSE 10.3 was released October 4, 2007. The 10.3 Live
edition is also available. SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 10 was
released November 27, 2007. The third beta release of openSUSE 11.0 is
available for testing.
Ubuntu
http://www.ubuntu.com/
Kubuntu
Edubuntu
Xubuntu
Mythbuntu
Ubuntu Studio
Supported by Canonical Ltd. and
the Ubuntu
Foundation. Ubuntu and its close cousins are freely available
distributions. Ubuntu takes a snapshot of Debian unstable and then
creates a small fork, recompiling and stabilizing the code to get a final
stable release. It usually takes 6 months between the snapshot and the
release. Ubuntu comes with the GNOME desktop, Kubuntu with the KDE
desktop, Xubuntu features XFCE and Edubuntu comes with educational
packages. Mythbuntu integrates the MythTV package. Ubuntu Studio
integrates packages for multimedia creation. Gobuntu (announced July 10,
2007) aims to be completely free (as defined
by the FSF) will be merging with gNewSense. The first Ubuntu release
(4.10 Preview released September 15, 2004) supported Intel x86
(IBM-compatible PC), AMD64 (Hammer) and PowerPC (Apple iBook and
Powerbook, G4 and G5) architectures. SPARC64 support was added for v6.06
LTS. Supported versions: 6.06 LTS "Dapper Drake", 7.04 "Feisty Fawn",
7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon" and 8.04 LTS "Hardy Heron". V6.06.2 LTS (the second
maintenance release) was made available January 21, 2008. "Hardy Heron"
aka v8.04 LTS was released April 24, 2008, available in desktop and server
editions. Edubuntu is now available as an add-on to Ubuntu. Kubuntu
8.04 is available with KDE 3 or KDE 4. Other available 8.04 variants
include Xubuntu, UbuntuStudio and Mythbuntu. The next development
branch, Intrepid Ibex, is underway.
There is often a fine line between "leading" and "well-known"
distributions. Some polls now show that a few of these "well-known"
distributions are currently more popular than some of the "leading"
distributions.
ASPLinux
http://www.asplinux.ru/en/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/asplinux/
ASPLinux is an RPM-based general purpose Linux distribution. It features
an intuitive GUI install with integrated partition resizer (supported
types are ext2fs, fat16, fat32, and ntfs) and comprehensive packages
set. The distribution provides full compatibility with Red Hat RPMs, and
it is available in English, Russian, Korean, and Chinese languages. ASP
7.3 (vostok) was released August 13, 2002. ASPLinux 11 was released
March 6, 2006.
MEPIS Linux
http://www.mepis.org/
MEPIS Linux is a Debian-based system for the desktop or as a dedicated
server. It is designed for both personal and business purposes. MEPIS
is a member of the DCC Alliance.
The first official release was version 2003.0, dated May 10, 2003. The
live CD allows installation or functions as a recovery CD. SimplyMEPIS
3.4-3 was released February 9, 2006. SimplyMEPIS started using Ubuntu
packages starting with 6.0-beta, but with 6.9.51prebeta came another
change. SimplyMEPIS will use its own binary packages, compliled from
Debian and Ubuntu sources. Also available: MEPISLite 3.3.2. SimplyMEPIS
6.0-1 Linux Bootable DVD was released September 9, 2006. SimplyMEPIS
6.5 was released April 4, 2007. AntiX, an Ultra-Lite MEPIS
Derivative. released v6.5 "Spartacus" on July 9, 2007. SimplyMEPIS 7.0
was released December 23, 2007. AntiX 7.2 was released May 14, 2008.
PCLinuxOS
http://www.pclinuxos.com/
GetPCLinuxOS
TinyMe
Forum
PCLinuxOS 2K4 started out as a live CD based on Mandriva. These
days it's popular KDE-centric desktop distribution in own right. The
2007 release has been rebuilt from the ground up with Gcc 4.1.1 and
contains lots of cutting edge software. PCLinuxOS 2K4 Preview 4 was the
current version as of December 17, 2003. PCLinuxOS 0.93a MiniME was
released August 4, 2006. PCLinuxOS 0.93a Junior was released August 9,
2006. PCLInuxOS Full Edition aka Big Daddy was released August 21,
2006. PCLinuxOS 2007 was released May 20, 2007. TinyMe is a smaller
version of PCLOS (less than 200 MB on a live CD). TinyMe 2008.0 was
released May 23, 2008. PCLOS Gnome 2008 was released April 1, 2008.
PCLinuxOS MiniMe 2008 was released January 7, 2008.
Rock Linux
http://www.rocklinux.org/
ROCK Linux is a source-based Linux distribution and a Distribution Build
Kit. You can configure your personal build of ROCK Linux to get the
distribution you want. ROCK Linux supports i686, Generic Sparc, Server
PPC and Router ARM architectures. ISO images are available for Crystal
ROCK, the general purpose distribution, and the ROCK Linux LiveCD. The
ROCK Linux Live CD incorporates a full KDE desktop and other applications
like mplayer and xine in the last release, dated October 16, 2005.
ROCK 3 was released July 27, 2006.
Turbolinux
http://www.turbolinux.com/
Turbolinux supports a variety of platforms and Asian languages. They
were the Asian arm of UnitedLinux. March 15, 2004 Turbolinux became a
wholly owned subsidiary of Livedoor, a large Japanese ISP. Turbolinux 10
Desktop was released October 2, 2003. Turbolinux 10 F, designed for home
computer users, was released April 27, 2004. Turbolinux 10 Server (10S)
was released October 5, 2004. Turbolinux 10 for AMD64/EM64T preview
edition was released February 16, 2005. Turbolinux FUJI Desktop Version
11 was released November 2005. Turbolinux FUJI Version 11 became
generally available May 30, 2006. Turbolinux 11 Server was released
November 29, 2007.
These are designed to be user-friendly, easy to install
distributions with plenty of desktop applications.
AltimatOS
http://www.altimatos.com/
AltimatOS is an easy to use desktop with the K Desktop Environment. The
project was announced April 9, 2008 and is currently is under heavy
internal development by the core development team, as we build the
various components and create numerous new tools to make the desktop
experience friendlier to use. An installable live DVD is expected to be
released in late April or early May.
Ark Linux
http://www.arklinux.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/arklinux/
Ark Linux is a Linux distribution designed especially for desktop use,
primarily for people without prior Linux experience. Its main goal is
ease of use, and the inclusion of many tools end users will need. Early
Ark Linux was based on Red Hat 7.3 / 8.0, with KDE, with the initial
Freshmeat announcement of version 1.0-0.alpha7.1, released March 14,
2003. Ark Linux 2006.1 and Ark Linux Live 2006.1 were released August 3,
2006. Ark Linux 2008.1 was released May 14, 2008.
Athene Operating System
http://www.rocklyte.com/athene/
Athene is a commercial operating system developed by Rocklyte Systems for
use in the home and office. Athene combines years of Rocklyte's R&D
with the latest Linux technology to create one of the fastest operating
systems available today. With boot times as fast as four seconds and
advanced graphics technology not available in standard Linux
distributions. Athene 5.0 Beta 4 was released February 22, 2007.
BabelDisc
http://www.babeldisk.com/
BabelDisc is a Linux live CD distribution aimed at Windows users. The
company provides BabelBank, online, password protected storage data, for
a small monthly fee.
DARKSTAR
http://www.darkstarlinux.ro/
DARKSTAR Linux is a desktop oriented, easy to install, configure and use,
distribution that targets the beginners in Linux. This Slackware based
distribution has a lot of easy to use GUI tools, a lot of applications of
office, multimedia and games. The operating system is designed to work
out of the box. DARKSTAR Linux 2008.1 was released January 8, 2008.
DeLi Linux
http://www.delilinux.org/
http://delilinux.de/
http://delili.lens.hl-users.com/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/delilinux/
DeLi Linux stands for "Desktop Light" Linux, a desktop distribution for
older computers, from 486 to Pentium MMX 166 or so. Slackware 7.1-based
DeLi includes plenty of desktop software such as email clients, a
graphical Web browser, an office package with word processor and
spreadsheet, etc. A full install, including XFree86 and development
tools, needs no more than 300 MB of harddisk space. DeLi uses the 2.2.19
kernel for a smaller footprint and rocksolid stability on older hardware.
Initial version 0.1 was released November 3, 2002. Version 0.7.2 was
released May 17, 2007.
eAR OS
http://www.earos.dk/
eAR OS is a state-of-the-art Operating System. It can run directly from a
Live-CD and optionally be installed to a hard disk. eAR OS comes with
the eAR Media Center. Furthermore, eAR OS comes with the newest version
of following applications: Wine for using Windows applications, Audacity
Sound and Recording Editor, Audio CD extractor with FLAC and MP3 support,
k3B CD- and DVD Burner, Kaffeine for DVB-S and DVB-T TV and DVD playback,
VLC for Broadband TV, Firefox 3.0 Webbrowser, Thunderbird E-mail/News,
Pidgin internet Messenger for MSN, F-Spot Photo Manager, GIMP Image
Editor, and several utilities and accessories. With its package manager
you can further install more than 15000 applications. eAR was added to
the list May 20, 2008 with the release of eAR OS Free Edition version
1.08.
ELX, Everyone's Linux
http://www.elxlinux.com/
Elx provides an easy-to-use desktop (BizDesktop) distribution and a
server offering (ISPserver). BizDesktop 4.0 is based on kernel 2.4.20
and contains a variety of applications suitable for business and home
usage. ELX BizDesktop 4.0 became available for free download January 10,
2005. This site shows several products for sale, from desktops to
servers, but no download area that I found on April 24, 2008.
FoX Desktop
http://www.foxlinux.org/
FoX Desktop is based on Fedora Core and designed for the desktop. It
offers a single CD install with a KDE desktop and lots of other desktop
software, optimized for i686. FoX joins the list with FoXDesktop 1
released December 25, 2005. FoX Desktop 1.0 Professional was released
April 4, 2006. FoXLinux Community 2.0 was released August 4, 2007.
Freezy Linux
http://www.freezylinux.com/
Freezy Linux is a free, easy-to-use Linux-based operating system for the
home. The initial version was based on Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron and the
GNOME desktop environment. It comes as a live CD which can be installed
to the hard drive if desired. FreezyLinux 1.0 was released in late April
2008.
GKLinuxOS
http://www.gklinuxos.net
GKLinuxOS is based on PCLinuxOS 2007 and comes with lots of applications
including OpenOffice.org and other office software, graphics and drawing,
multimedia audio-video programs, programs for web-browsing, email and
chat, and much more. GKLinuxOS 2008 was released May 14, 2008.
OpenGEU
http://opengeu.intilinux.com/
Formerly called Geubuntu, OpenGEU is an Ubuntu-based desktop distribution
that uses parts of GNOME with Enlightenment DR17. OpenGEU 7.10 Luna
Nuova was released December 6, 2007.
gOS
http://www.thinkgos.com/
gOS is an Ubuntu based distribution that aims to be a simple, user
friendly, beautiful desktop for normal people. It features the
Enlightenment window manager. The initial version was based on Ubuntu
7.10 and Enlightenment E17. gOS 2.0 "Rocket" was released January 7,
2008.
Granular Linux
http://www.granularproject.org/
Granular is a Linux operating system that is easy to use, user-friendly
and filled with lots of fun. Designed for both newbies and experienced
Linux users, Granular is based on PCLinuxOS and features easy switching
between the KDE and XFCE desktop environments. Granular 0.90, code-named
Esto Vello, was released July 3, 2007. Granular FunWorks 2007 was
released October 7, 2007. Granular 1.0 Preview was released March 15,
2008.
Ignalum Linux OS
http://www.ignalum.com/index.php
Ignalum Linux OS is an intuitive graphical environment that works right
out of the box and offers compatibility with Microsoft Windows and
Ignalum's Internet-sharing and IPv6-over-NAT capabilities. Currently at
version 9.0b, released September 13, 2004. Ignalum 9.2 Yum Repository
went live April 7, 2006.
Klikit-Linux
http://klikit.org/
Klikit-Linux is a non-formal project oriented on developing a modern,
free, user-friendly and fun Linux desktop. It is based on Kubuntu and
uses KDE (K Desktop Environment). Klikit-Linux can run as a LIVE-CD on
practically any PC (x86), and can be installed to your hard drive in just
a few minutes. It features the Klikit-Linux Storehouse, a free, easy,
one-click on-line service to install and remove Linux programs
(packages), libraries and drivers. Klikit joins the list at version
0.1-7B (beta), released October 17, 2007. DVD image: 0.1-9 (release
candidate 1) was released February 27, 2008.
Linare Linux OS
http://www.linare.com/
Linare bundles a user-friendly Linux OS with lots of open source
applications and installs the software on low cost desktop PCs and
laptops, or you can buy a box set of the software.
Linspire
http://www.linspire.com/
LinspireEspanol
Freespire
Linspire (once known as Lindows) was first announced in October 2001 as
LindowsOS. The distribution was renamed Linspire in April 2004 and the
company was renamed the following September. Linspire is a Debian-based
distribution targeted at non-technical Windows users and it comes in a
live CD version as well as a fully installable desktop. Some proprietary
software is bundled into Linspire. Version 4.5, released December 16,
2003, supports English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Portuguese.
Freespire Linux OS 1.0 was released August 7, 2006. Freespire 2.0 was
released August 8, 2007. Freespire 2.0.3 was released Septmeber 24,
2007. Linspire 6.0 was released October 10, 2007.
Linux Mint
http://linuxmint.com/
Linux Mint aims to produce an elegant, up to date and comfortable
GNU/Linux desktop based on Ubuntu. Linux Mint is like a customized
version of Ubuntu. It uses the same repositories and the same
packages. It follows the Ubuntu releases and innovations. Basically, it
is 98% Ubuntu, with a few differences, notably the default inclusion of
patented or proprietary technologies for an easy-to-use desktop out of
the box. Linux Mint 2.0 "Barbara", based on Ubuntu 6.10, was released
November 13, 2006. Next was Linux Mint 2.2 "Bianca", the "Bianca Light
Edition" and Linux Mint 2.2 KDE Edition. Linux Mint 3.0 was codenamed
Cassandra, and also had a Light Edition, the XFCE Community Edition, and
the "Cassandra" KDE Community Edition. Linux Mint 3.1 (Celena) was
released September 24, 2007. Linux Mint 4.0 Daryna is based on Celena
and Ubuntu Gutsy. Linux Mint 4.0 Daryna XFCE Community Edition BETA 008
was released November 2, 2007. The Daryna KDE Community Edition was
released March 3, 2008. Linux Mint 4.0 Daryna was released November 15,
2007. Daryna Fluxbox CE BETA 028 was released January 3, 2008. Daryna
Debian Edition ALPHA 023 was released January 3, 2008. Linux Mint 5
Elyssa beta 032 was released May 12, 2008.
Linux XP Desktop
http://www.linux-xp.com/
Linux XP Desktop is a full-featured PC operating system like Windows but
based on Linux. Thousands of Windows applications have been tested for
compatibility, so you can run them on your Linux XP Desktop. If you dual
boot you can use data from your Windows data drives, share folders or
even logon to Windows. The Linux XP Desktop was first developed as a
simple, friendly OS for the Russian market. Some proprietary software is
included in this distribution. The first version was released in
December 2005. Linux XP Desktop 2006 SR2 was released September 21,
2006. Linux XP Desktop 2008 was released April 8, 2008.
Myah OS
http://myah.org/
Myah OS is a performance destkop operating system originally based on
Slackware, but more recently it has been rewritten from the ground up.
Myah OS joined the list at version 2.2, released September 19, 2006,
which used Slackware 11.0 packages. Now Myah OS is made for home use
with a focus on Internet, Office, and multimedia. It has been optimized
for i686 processors for fast performance. Myah OS is now an original Linux
distribution, compiled from build scripts written by Jeremiah Cheatham.
Myah OS 3.0 beta 1 was released February 1, 2008.
PCFluxboxOS
http://pcfluxboxos.wikidot.com/
TinyFlux
PCFluxboxOS is a remaster series of PCLinuxOS with Fluxbox as the window
manager. PCFluxboxOS gives you all the power of PCLinuxOS through
Synaptic and the Control Center, whilst delivering a lightning fast
operating system, even on older hardware. TinyFlux is a related project
with an even lighter footprint. TinyFlux 1.0 was released November 2,
2007.
Pioneer Linux
http://www.tapioneer.com/
Pioneer Linux by Technalign is a desktop distribution for home or
business. It is based on Kubuntu and MEPIS. You can download the
distribution for free, but Technalign is also selling box sets, Pioneer
Linux OnTheGo on a USB key and, of course support and customization.
Available for x86 and x86_64 now, with PPC in the works. The initial
release of Pioneer Linux in 32 and 64 bit versions is dated December 4,
2006. Pioneer Rifleman Alpha 2 (eye candy edition) was released April
13, 2007. Pioneer Explorer 1.1 community edition was released September
7, 2007, followed by the Server Final release on September 12, 2007.
Pioneer Basic 3.0, including MigrationSERVER and Stagecoach, was released
September 21, 2007. Pioneer Explorer was released available November 27,
2007. Pioneer Basic 3.1 was released February 5, 2008.
Santa Fe Linux
http://www.nmxs.com/company_santafe.html
New Mexico Software created the Debian-based Santa Fe Desktop and put it
on a live CD. The distribution can be easily installed to a hard drive
if desired. SFL Community Test Release 1 (CTR1) was made available
August 3, 2004. CTR3 was released September 28, 2004.
Shift Linux
http://www.shiftlinux.net/
Shift Linux is an attempt by the Neowin community to create a Linux
distribution. It's based on Morphix/Debian and the project was started
in late June of 2006. Shift Linux 0.3.1 Gnome was released October 17,
2006. Shift Linux 0.5 was released November 25, 2007. This version
includes GNOME, KDE or Fluxbox. Shift Linux 6.0 was released January 26,
2008. Shift Linux 0.6.5 was released March 24, 2008.
SLYNUX
http://www.slynux.co.nr/
SLYNUX is a user friendly GNU/Linux OS for beginners. It can be run
completely from CD without installation. There is also an option to
install to hard disk. Anyone who is familiar with Microsoft Windows can
handle this operating system. The desktop is designed to be easy to use
and friendly. SLYNUX also comes with a wide range of applications.
SLYNUX is a Debian/Knoppix-based GNU/Linux system. The current version
was 2.0 in May 2005.
SaxenOS
http://stibs.cc/stx/
SaxenOS (formerly STX Linux) is a desktop Linux distribution especially
targeted to older hardware. It also works quite well on new PC's.
Version 1.0 is based on Slackware 10.2 with a hard disk installer
borrowed from Pocketlinux. STX Linux joined the list at 1.0 rc3,
released December 29, 2005. STX Linux 1.0 final was released January 9,
2006. Zenwalk 4.2-based SaxenOS Desktop 1.1 RC2 was released January 26,
2007. English 1.1 rc2 iso with a graphical installer was released
February 13, 2007. There will be no 1.1 final release. SaxenOS 2.0
was released March 17, 2007. SaxenOS 2008 Beta 2 was released March 30,
2008.
Symphony OS
http://www.symphonyos.com/
Symphony OS is based on Debian and KNOPPIX. It uses a lightweight window
manager, includes its own package mangement system that can install deb
packages, source packages and Symphony binary packages, and includes the
Orchestra application development environment. Beta 1 Preview 1 was
released October 25, 2005. SymphonyOS 2006-12 was released December 13,
2006. Symphony OS 2007.06 (the first Ubuntu-based release) was released
June 6, 2007. SymphonyOne 2008.1 (based on Ubuntu 7.10) was released
April 11, 2008.
Ulteo
http://www.ulteo.com/
Ulteo strives to be the easiest system to use on computers. Ulteo is a
new concept of an easy-to-use open-source operating system which could
change the way we all use computers. The project was founded by
Mandrake/Mandriva founder Gaël Duval, in late 2006. Ulteo currently
consists of the Ulteo Online Desktop (Ulteo OD, version 1 - released
March 18, 2008) and the Ulteo Application System (Ulteo AS, beta1 -
released April 3, 2008).
Underground Desktop
http://www.ludos.org/portal/
Underground Desktop is a GNU/Linux distribution targeted to the desktop
user, featuring a graphical installation (using Anaconda for Debian by
Progeny). It is based on Debian 'unstable', optimized for i686, with a
KDE desktop. The current versions of Underground Desktop: 012 (ISO CD
image) and 013 (Upgrade Pack). Entry added August 24, 2005. Development
version 022 was released February 4, 2006. Underground Desktop 029 was
released October 12, 2006.
Vidalinux Desktop OS
http://desktop.vidalinux.com/
http://www.vidalinux.com/
Vidalinux Desktop OS aims to be a powerful, stable and easy-to-use Linux
distribution. It comes from Puerto Rico. The desktop OS is based on
Gentoo Linux and uses the GNOME desktop environment, OpenOffice, Ximian
productivity suite with Evolution mail and calendar client, and Mozilla
browser. Vidalinux features Porthole, a GUI front-end for and the
portage package manager. Vidalinux Desktop OS also includes additional
multimedia and productivity applications for the home user including
media players, browser plugins for Flash, RealPlayer, PDF viewer, media,
graphics design and administration tools. Vidalinux was still in its
first beta edition when added to the list on July 14, 2004. VLOS 1.2,
based on Gentoo Linux and Red Hat's anaconda graphical installer, was
released August 2, 2005. VLOS 1.3 was released October 18, 2006. VLOS
1.3.1-rc1 was released December 2, 2006.
Vixta.org
http://vixta.sourceforge.net/
Vixta.org is Linux distribution that tries to capture the look and feel
of Windows Vista. The project goals include: Absolutely free, in every
sense, spread linux to the "masses", ABN - Absolutely No Config,
User-Frendly, Eye-catching, and Familiar look and Feel. Vixta joins the
list at v094, released October 6, 2007. This release is based on a test
version of Fedora 8.
Webconverger
http://webconverger.com/
Webconverger uses Debian Live technology to provide a Web platform for
kiosks, thin clients, or anywhere else you want a secure, dedicated web
browser. It runs from a live CD or USB device. A hard drive install
option will probably be available in the future. The maxi version of
Webconverger has good support for CJK languages, such as Korean. This
entry was added to the list April 23, 2008 when the latest version was
Webconverger 3 beta with Firefox 3 beta.
WinLinux
http://www.winlinux.net/
WinLinux 2001 was designed and built to be the easiest to use Linux
system. Its installation and configuration tasks are performed
directly from Windows using graphical tools. WinLinux 2003 is currently
available.
Xandros Linux
http://www.xandros.com/
Xandros Desktop OS (formerly Corel's Debian-based distribution) is a
desktop system designed to peacefully co-exist and inter-operate
with Windows desktop and server systems. The first version of the
Xandros Desktop OS was released October 22, 2002. Xandros Server is also
out. Xandros released an enterprise package with the Xandros Business
Desktop and OS on March 11, 2004. Xandros Desktop OS version 3.0 was
released December 8, 2004, and went into open circulation February 14,
2005. Version 3 of the Xandros Business Desktop OS was released June 8,
2005. The Xandros Server, Standard Edition began shipping on May 1,
2006. Xandros Server for 64-bit processors was released June 1, 2006.
Xandros Desktop 4 Home Edition and Home Edition - Premium were released
June 21, 2006. Xandros Desktop 4 Professional was released November 28,
2006.
These distributions should be suitable for desktop and server
applications. Most should have current versions available.
Absolute
http://www.pcbypaul.com/absolute/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/absolute-os/
Absolute is a customized Slackware distribution, assembled to make
installation and maintenance of Slackware easier. It's built for speed,
stability, security, ease of use and development. It is lightweight and
should run on older hardware. Absolute joined the list with the release
of v12.0, July 16, 2007. Absolute Linux 12.0.7 was released October 12,
2007. Absolute 12.1 was released May 19, 2008.
ALT Linux
http://www.altlinux.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/alt-linux/
LWN distribution survey completed May 3, 2002.
ALT Linux got its start as a Linux-Mandrake Russian Edition Spring 2001.
Designed to be a universal distribution, suitable for server
organization, for user workstations and for software development, ALT
Linux has diverged from its roots and split into several projects, all
with the same code base. For example, there's Castle, a secured, RSBAC-enabled,
server distribution; and ALT Linux Junior, a single-disk distribution for
home computers, designed especially for beginners, easy to install and
use. The unstable Sisyphus
branch changes daily. ALT Linux Master 2.2 was released March 7,
2003. ALT Linux Junior 2.2 (Plum) was released March 26, 2003. ALT
Linux Junior 2.3 beta was released September 26, 2003. ALT Linux Compact
3.0.4 was released June 28, 2007. ALT Linux Server 4.0.1 was released
June 27, 2007. ALT Linux 4.0 Personal Desktop was released August 29,
2007.
Arch Linux
http://www.archlinux.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/archlinux/
Arch Linux is an i686-optimized Linux distribution. It is lightweight and
contains the latest stable versions of software. Packages are in .tar.gz
format and are tracked by a package manager that is designed to allow
easy package upgrades. Arch is designed to be streamlined while allowing
for a customized configuration, with newer features such as reiserfs/ext3
and devfs. The inital version, 0.1, was released March 11, 2002.
Arch Linux released Pacman 2.1 (package manager) on August 22, 2002.
Arch released an x86_64 edition April 12, 2006. Arch 0.8 (Voodoo) for
i686 and x86_64 was released March 31, 2007. Archlinux 2007.08-2 "Don't
Panic" was released October 7, 2007. Archlinux 2008.04-RC was released
April 15, 2008.
Aurox Linux
http://www.aurox.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/aurox/
Aurox Linux is an international distribution, hailing from Poland. It is
available in several european countries, in different language versions,
including Polish, Czech, German, French and Spanish. Aurox is based on
Red Hat, with Aurox 9.0 the most recent stable offering. Added to list
June 11, 2003. Aurox 10.0 (Amber) was released October 6, 2004. Aurox
Live 1.4.2 was released March 29, 2004. Aurox 11.1 was released March
2006.
Bent Linux
http://bent.latency.net/
Bent Linux is a compact Linux distribution. It's inspired by Linux From
Scratch, but uses Busybox, uClibc, and static linking. It's particularly
suited to building dedicated servers, initrds for custom installers and
rescue disks, and systems with a nice crisp mid-1980s mouthfeel to
satisfy the mid-life crises of crusty curmudgeons. Bent works on older
systems without much processing power or RAM. Entry added November 16,
2005.
BLAG Linux and GNU
http://www.blagblagblag.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/blag/
BLAG Linux and GNU by the Brixton Linux Action Group is an operating
system. It comes with everything you need to get a computer up and
running--it needs no other software. It has Internet, graphics, video,
sound, office, security, file sharing, and more applications. It's fast,
reliable, runs on older machines, and flies on fast boxes. You can
install miniblag (the smallest install at less than 350 Megs), deskblag
(includes a Gnome desktop with all the typical apps), serverblag (all the
server daemons but no GUI) or get it all with blagblagblag. BLAG starts
with Fedora and adds applications from Dag, Freshrpms, NewRPMS, and
includes custom packages. BLAG9000 was the current version when the
entry was added, November 11, 2003. BLAG 60001 was released May 10,
2007. BLAG 70000 (sugarwater) was released November 12, 2007.
Bluewall GNU/Linux
http://bluewall.es.gnu.org/
Bluewall is a GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian and pkgsrc. It aims
to create a complete pkgsrc-based GNU/Linux distribution. Bluewall 1.2
was released February 5, 2006.
Buffalo Linux
http://www.mcalesterlinux.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/buffalo/
Buffalo Linux is a derivative distribution based on Vector/Slackware. It
is targeted for the small business workstation market. This is the free
base version. Enhanced versions with pre-installed database access (DB2
and Oracle) and Microsoft product execution using Codeweavers products
are available. Buffalo joins the list at version 1.0.3, released
December 7, 2003. Version 1.7.3-9 was released June 3, 2005. Buffalo
now comes as a Live CD which can be used for regular installation.
cAos
http://caos.caosity.org/
http://www.caosity.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/caos/
cAos is a Linux distribution created by the community, for the
community. The purpose is to provide a stable Linux solution for
organizations and individuals that do not need or want to purchase their
Linux solution. The kernel and almost every application that makes up a
Linux distribution are free and supported by their respective development
groups. cAos is simply a project that allows them to integrate together
into a usable product. This distribution is focused on becoming an
enterprise level community produced solution. The project was announced
November 8, 2003, followed by the first alpha release on December 1,
2003. cAos 2 was released May 13, 2005 for ia32 & x86_64. Caos
Server 3.0 BETA-1 was released September 20, 2006.
Catapulta
http://www.catapulta.org/
Catapulta is an Ubuntu-based server platform that is designed and
packaged specifically for high-performance network monitoring
applications using commodity hardware. Catapulta distinctly incorporates
enhancements tailored for high-speed packet capture, including kernel
modifications and software optimizations. It integrates PF_RING, a
zero-copy packet capture technology, and Streamline, a fast stream
reassembler and filter -- as standard kernel features. Catapulta RC2 was
released February 19, 2008.
CCux Linux
http://ccux-linux.de/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/ccuxlinux/
CCux Linux is especially optimized for i686 and higher processor
architectures. For package management it uses the RPM format in
connection with the apt tools, which give it automatic dependency
resolving when installing new software and therefore makes the
installation of new software much easier. CCux Linux joins the list with
the Alpha 0.9.4 release, dated October 14, 2004. CCux Linux 0.9.8
(Alibaba) was released April 20, 2006.
CentOS
http://www.centos.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/centos/
CentOS, the Community ENTerprise Operating System, is an Enterprise-class
Linux Distribution derived from sources freely provided to the public by
a prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendor. CentOS conforms
fully with the upstream vendors redistribution policy and aims to be 100%
binary compatible. (CentOS mainly changes packages to remove upstream
vendor branding and artwork.) Support is provided by the cAos
Foundation. This project dates back to late 2003. CentOS 3.9 was
released on July 26, 2007. CentOS 4.5 was released for i386, x86_64, and
ia64 on May 17, 2007. CentOS 5.1 for i386 and x86_64 was released
December 2, 2007. The CentOS 5.1 i386 Live CD was released February 18,
2008. CentOS 4.6 was released for i386, x86_64, s390, s390x and ia64 on
December 16, 2007.
CRUX
http://www.crux.nu/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/crux/
CRUX is a lightweight, i686-optimized Linux distribution targeted at
experienced Linux users. The primary focus of this distribution is
"keep it simple", which is reflected in a simple tar.gz-based
package system, BSD-style initscripts, and a relatively small
collection of trimmed packages. The secondary focus is utilization
of new Linux features and recent tools and libraries. Version 1.1 was
released March 24, 2003. CRUX 1.3.1 for PowerPC was released February
25, 2004. CRUX 2.2 was released April 9, 2006. Crux PPC 2.2.0.2rc1 was
released February 10, 2007. CRUX 2.3 was released March 20, 2007. CRUX
2.4 was released December 22, 2007.
DCC Alliance
http://dccalliance.org/
The DCC Alliance (Debian Common Core Alliance) is a diverse group of
Linux vendors and nonprofits with strong Debian ties that have partnered
to assemble a common, standards-based core for Debian-based
distributions. Founding members are credativ, Knoppix, LinEx, Linspire,
MEPIS, Progeny, Sun Wah, UserLinux, and Xandros, with membership open to
additional organizations with an interest in a strong commercial presence
for Debian and Debian-based solutions. The initial release, DCC 3.0 PR1,
was made available September 15, 2005. The LSB 3.0 based DCC 3.0 was
released December 6, 2005.
Draco GNU/Linux
http://www.dracolinux.org/
Draco is a semi source based GNU/Linux distribution. It has roots in
Slackware and uses pkgsrc, a package management system from NetBSD.
Draco separates the system from the third-party packages, for a simple
and clean distribution to use as you see fit. Draco joined the list at
v0.3.0, released April 10, 2008.
Eadem Enterprise Linux
http://www.eadem.com/
Eadem is a Canadian company providing service and support for Eadem
Enterprise Linux. Eadem Enterprise V3.0 was released March 17, 2004.
EzPlanet One Linux
http://www.EzPlanetOne.com/
EzPlanet One is a Linux distribution tuned for Enterprise solutions.
EzPlanet One integrates advanced technologies, flexibility, quality and
security. Built with the Enterprise in mind, it features also several
tools for the Professionals and Individual users, that make its use more
fun. EzPlanet One version 2.0 was released January 2005.
FaunOS
http://www.faunos.com/
FaunOS is a portable (easy-to-carry), fully integrated Linux operating
system with over 500 preinstalled packages. It is specifically designed
to run from a portable USB Memory Device (USB Flash Drive). It can also
run from a DVD. Hard drive install is also supported. FaunOS
fortytwo-0.3.2 was released September 5, 2007.
Fluxbuntu
http://fluxbuntu.org/
Fluxbuntu is a LPAE-standard compliant, Ubuntu-based distribution. It is
lightweight, swift and efficient. These features support the Fluxbuntu
Linux Project's Goal of running on a wide range of mobile devices and
computers (low-end & high-end). The first test release is expected
July 19, 2007, timed with the Gutsy Tribe 3 release.
Foresight Desktop Linux
http://foresightlinux.com/
http://www.foresightlinux.org/
Foresight Linux is a Distribution which showcases some of the latest and
greatest from GNOME. Some of the things that may not be mature enough for
some of the other distros. As of March 10, 2005 Foresight includes GNOME
2.10, Mono 1.1.4 and many Mono applications, GNOME Office, Howl, Conary
and more. Foresight 0.9.3 was released December 15, 2005. The first
Foresight LiveCD, released March 7, 2007, includes GNOME 2.18.0 Release
Candidate (2.17.92). Foresight 1.4.1 was released October 19, 2007.
Foresight Linux 2.0 (with GNOME 2.22) was released March 12, 2008.
free-EOS
http://free-eos.org/modules/news/
Free-EOS is a French distribution with the aim of being incredibly easy
to set up and get a set of services running. Version 1.1 was released
June 14, 2003. Version 1.3-1a was released November 27, 2004.
Frugalware Linux
http://frugalware.org/news.php
Frugalware is general purpose Linux distribution, designed for
intermediate users. It has a current, a testing and a stable branch.
The current branch is updated daily, with packages pushed to testing
about every two months, and plans to update the stable branch every 6
months. Frugalware Linux 0.3-i686 was released October 13, 2005.
Frugalware 0.8 (Kalgan) was released March 11, 2008. Frugalware 0.9pre1
(Solaria) was released May 13, 2008.
FullPliant
http://fullpliant.org/
http://pliant.cx/
Uses Pliant as an whole operating system on top of a Linux kernel.
Release 93 is dated November 7, 2004.
GenieOS
http://genieos.toluenterprises.com/
GenieOS is a Debian based system that aims to provide a new-user-friendly
install while remaining compatible with Debian repositories. Version 0.5
was released December 18, 2005.
gNewSense
http://www.gnewsense.org/
gNewSense is a GNU/Linux project that aims to remove all the binary blobs
out of a rather popular distribution and make it all free. So far the
project has produced a set of scripts to create a GNU/Linux Distribution
based on Ubuntu. Version 0.91 (beta) was released August 23, 2006.
gNewSense 1.1 was released January 22, 2007. gNewSense 2.0 "DeltaH", was
released May 1, 2008. This version is based on Ubuntu Hardy, with Blag's
deblob scripts for removing binary blobs from the kernel.
G-ZyX
http://www.g-zyx.com/
G-Zyx is a Fedora based distribution with a collection of open source
software that runs from a single CD/DVD. Optional configurationless
installation (smart caching) to available hard disk or flash based
storage is supported. G-ZyX is the flagship manifestation of the ViROS
distribution generation platform. ViROS leverages popular open and free
RPM based *nix distributions to generate custom purpose live-CDs.
G-ZyX's predecessor cousin TVOS is suited for home theater applications,
while G-ZyX is suited for general purpose computing and development.
G-ZyX was still in alpha development when this entry was added, November
15, 2005.
H3Knix
http://h3knix.open-element.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/h3knix/
H3Knix is a small, source-based, desktop Linux distribution. It provides
a custom package management system based on "capsules", which allows the
user to select the functionality they require (e.g., "Dialup Internet
access"), and it will automatically retrieve all required applications,
including relevant dependencies. H3Knix joins the list at version 1.2
released July 14, 2004. Version 2.2 was released May 27, 2005.
Hedinux
http://hedinux.org/
Hedinux (formerly Octoz GNU/Linux) is inspired by Linux From Scratch.
Version 0.1rc1 was released September 27, 2005. Hedinux GNOME live-cd
2006.1 alpha2 (with GNOME 2.14) was released March 27, 2006.
Heretix GNU/Linux
http://www.h-e-r-e-t-i-x.org/
Heretix was once known as Rubyx. Heretix is a Gnu/Linux based operating
system, built and maintained by heretix, a simple script written in the
ruby language. The heretix script can download and build the entire os
from source to your exact specifications, handle all subsequent package
management and can even create a bootable iso image. Heretix is not for
beginners, but it is designed to be simple and reliable. If you have a
grasp of partitioning and formatting disks and some understanding of boot
loaders, you can install Heretix.
Hidden Linux
http://www.hiddenlinux.com/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/hidden/
Hidden Linux is an enterprise grade Linux distribution, created to
address the needs of organizations wishing to develop a secure Internet
presence. It is designed for experienced Linux administrators and can be
used as a mail, Web, database, FTP, print, Samba (PDC), PPTP, IPSec
gateway server and client, firewall, DHCP, cache/proxy, and time server.
Hidden joins the list at version 1.2, released July 2, 2004.
IBLS
http://www.ibls.org/
IBLS (Itty Bitty Linux Server) is a compact, easy to use webserver that
you can run from a live CD, even on older hardware. It will run on a
P133 with 32MB RAM, or possibly less. IBLS got its start in the UK,
using Damn Small Linux as a base. It has since been rebuilt from scratch
by an international community of developers. IBLS is modular and uses
its own package management system, designed to run from the CD or from a
hard drive. IBLS was updated December 31, 2005 to use the 2.6.14.5
kernel.
IDMS Linux
http://idms.lbsd.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/idms-linux/
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=30440
IDMS Linux is NOT a home user distribution. It is intended solely as the
base for high end server software. No GUI's, No X, No fancy stuff. The
initial Freshmeat announcement was for version 2.0.25, dated June 22,
2002. Version 3.0.3 was released July 26, 2004.
Kate OS
http://www.kateos.org/
Kate OS is a multitasking operating system from Poland. Kate OS aims for
high efficiency, safety, reliability and low system requirements for
programmers, webmasters, administrators and home users. Kate OS contains
full support for generally used multimedia. Kate OS 2.3 was released
December 7, 2005. KateOS 3.0 LIVE was released September 4, 2006. KateOS
3.2 was released December 21, 2006. KateOS LIVE 3.2 beta was released
February 12, 2007. KateOS 3.6 was released September 17, 2007.
Lineox
http://www.lineox.com/
Lineox Enterprise Linux is built from modified Red Hat Enterprise Linux
sources. The Finnish company Lineox offers customers an enterprise level
Linux operating system without bundled support options. The Always
Current Lineox Enterprise Linux makes updates and errata available to
customers. Lineox Enterprise Linux was first released January 29, 2004.
Lineox Enterprise Linux Desktop v3.140 with Update 7 was released March
17, 2006. An Advanced Server 2.1 edition was released August 30, 2004.
Lineox Enterprise Linux 4.0 was released February 25, 2005, Lineox
Enterprise Linux 4.0 x86_64 and Always Current x86_64 Lineox Enterprise
Linux 4.x Versions released March 14, 2005. Always Current Lineox
Enterprise Linux 4.076 with Update 4 was released August 13, 2006.
Linux4Geeks
http://www.linux4geeks.de/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/linux4geeks/
Linux4Geeks is a LFS-based small distro which works around several
problems and issues mainstream Linux distributions have. It offers
different versions compiled for each architecture and has all the
packages required for a slim installation including a firewall and
network administration tools, amongst others. Version 0.01 was released
June 11, 2003.
Lunar-Linux
http://www.lunar-linux.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/lunarlinux/
Lunar-Linux began as a fork of Sorcerer GNU/Linux. Lunar-Penguin, the
development group behind Lunar-Linux, say they plan for this fork to
stay close to the bleeding edge. This is a source-based Linux
distribution with a unique package management system that builds each
software package or module for the machine it is being installed
on. Although a complete installation can take some time, it tends to be
quite fast once installed. The initial ISO image lunar-20020321.iso.bz2
was released March 21, 2002. Lunar-1.5.0 "Indium Phosphide" was released
May 23, 2005. Lunar 1.6.1 installer iso "Moose Drool" was released for
i686 and x86_64, February 18, 2007. Lunar 1.6.2-beta1 (i686) ISO was
released July 29, 2007.
MostlyLinux
http://mostlylinux.com/
MostlyLinux is a software company based in Jharkhand, India. The company
does mostly the same things other Linux companies do including enterprise
support and service, corporate training and custom distributions. They
also are building a distribution called MostlyLinux. MostlyLinux 9.1 is
the latest offering. The distribution is based on Fedora core 1 with
lots of additional software, including multimedia applications, LTSP
packages and more. This entry added August 24, 2004.
MURIX Linux
http://murix.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/murix/
MURIX is a distribution based on LinuxFromScratch for building bootable
CD-ROMs. Since you build it from source, MURIX should function on almost
any hardware. Version 20020205, the initial release, became available on
February 24, 2002. Version 1.1 was released November 24, 2002. Version
2004.2 was released December 25, 2004.
NetMAX
http://www.netmax.org/
http://www.netmax.com/
Cybernet Systems makes the NetMAX server and NetMAX Desktop. The server
product does not appear to be available for download, but the NetMAX
DeskTOP Live CD, 1.7 beta released May 18, 2005 is completely GNU GPL
free software.
Nitix
http://www.net-itech.com/products/nitix.php
Net Integration Technologies Inc. presents Nitix, a server OS with
autonomic computing features -- self-management, self-healing,
self-configuring and self-optimizing capabilities.
NixOS
http://nix.cs.uu.nl/nixos/
NixOS is a Linux distribution based on Nix, a purely functional package
management system. NixOS is an experiment to see if we can build an
operating system in which software packages, configuration files, boot
scripts and the like are all managaed in a purely functional way, that
is, they are all built by deterministic functions and they never change
after they have been built.
OEone HomeBase
http://www.axentra.com/
Axentra provides Internet appliances for servers and desktops using the
OEone Linux-based operating system.
Onebase Linux
http://www.ibiblio.org/onebase/
Onebase Linux (OL) is an independent meta source distribution originally
created in July 2003. It aims to be a free distribution, both powerful
and easy to use. OL 2005 was released April 30, 2005. OnebaseGo 3.0 and
GamesGo 1.0 were released July 12, 2005. Onebase DevelopGo is a live CD
with plenty of software developement tools. DevelopGo 1.0 was released
July 30, 2005. StudioGo 1.0 was released August 17, 2005.
paldo
http://www.paldo.org/
paldo stands for "pure adaptable linux distribution". It is a Upkg
driven GNU/Linux distribution and it's a mix of a source and a binary
distribution. Even though it builds packages like a source distribution
it provides binary packages. paldo joined the list at v1.12, released
November 5, 2007. paldo 1.14 was released May 10, 2008.
Peachtree Linux
http://peachtree.burdell.org/
Peachtree Linux is a Linux distribution being developed by several
students/former students at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Since
it's inception in the fall of 2002, Peachtree Linux has aimed to be a
small system for the seasoned Linux user. In the interests of staying
small, this distribution does not include GNOME or KDE and generally
there is only one program per any task. Release 1 (Atlanta) is dated
February 26, 2005, and it is available for Pentium II and higher x86
systems, NewWorld Power Macintosh systems, and Digital Alpha systems.
Pie Box Enterprise Linux
http://www.piebox.com/
PixExcel is a UK company that
seeks to provide a maintained, stable and trusted Linux distribution
without costly support contracts. Pie Box Enterprise Linux is built from
the source RPMs of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The initial release, Pie
Box Enterprise Linux 3 AS, was made available in April 2004; AS 3 Update
9 was released June 15, 2007. Pie Box Enterprise Linux 4 AS was
released February 28, 2005; version 4 Update 6 was released November 17,
2007.
easys GNU/Linux
http://easys.gnulinux.de/en/
easys (formerly known as Pocketlinux) has been founded to offer custom
Enterprise Linux solutions. The easys approach differs from most other
companies. Our aim is to integrate open source software with your
existing network to help you replace unstable and insecure closed source
software. It is based on Slackware and uses KDE Light. The first public
release of pocketlinux, version 1.1, was released August 21, 2005. easys
GNU/Linux 2.1 was released May 6, 2006. easys GNU/Linux 3.0, based on
Slackware 11.0, was released October 4, 2006. easys GNU/Linux 4.1 was
released May 1, 2008.
ROOT Linux
http://www.rootlinux.org/
http://rootlinux.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/rootlinux/
ROOT Linux is an advanced GNU/Linux operating system. It aims to be
fast, stable and flexible. ROOT Linux is not recommended as a first
Linux distribution. People should have experience with Linux and
computers in general. Version 1.3 was released August 27, 2002. Version
1.4 was released December 16, 2004.
rPath Linux
http://www.rpath.com/
http://www.specifix.com/
rPath Linux started out as Specifix, a Linux distribution built around
the Conary package management system. rPath Linux is a freely-available
Linux operating system distribution, built with the Conary distributed
software management system, supported and maintained by rPath, Inc. The
rPath Linux distribution contains high-quality, up-to-date software, and
is the base development platform for creating software appliances and
purpose-built distributions using rBuilder Online. rPath Linux is also a
fully functioning Linux distribution in its own right. Installing rPath
Linux is the easiest way to get familiar with using Conary to manage
software and systems. Specifix Linux 0.13 (ALPHA) was released October
26, 2004. The distribution was renamed rPath Linux with version 0.24
(ALPHA) (x86 and x86_64), released June 2, 2005. rPath Linux 1 (x86 and
x86_64) was released February 15, 2006. rPath 1.0.7 (x86 and x86_64) was
released October 12, 2007. rPath Linux: Live Images Beta was released
June 21, 2006. rPath Linux 2 was released May 16, 2008.
Rubix
http://www.rubixlinux.org/
Rubix is a Slackware based distribution that uses the pacman package
management from Arch Linux. Rubix 1.0 was released March 5, 2006.
Sabayon
http://www.sabayonlinux.org/
Previously known as RR4 Linux and RR64 Linux, Sabayon provides
Gentoo-based live DVD images that can be installed to a hard drive or run
from the DVD. Version 2.65.1 was released November 28, 2005. RR64 Linux
3.0 RC1 was released May 3, 2006. RR4 Linux 3.0RC1 miniEdition was
released May 14, 2006. RR4 Linux 3.0RC1 full edition was released June
18, 2006. RR4 Linux 3.0 RC1 miniEdition was released July 1, 2006.
SabayonLinux x86/x86-64 miniEdition 3.3 was released March 25, 2007.
Sabayon Linux x86/x86-64 1.0 "Business Edition" was released July 15,
2007. SabayonLinux x86/x86-64 3.4 Revision F (Stable) was released
September 7, 2007. Sabayon Linux 3.4 x86/x86-64 miniEdition was released
September 23, 2007. The Professional Edition was released October 23,
2007. Sabayon Linux 3.5 x86/x86-64 3.5 Loop 3 beta was released May
15, 2008.
Server optimized Linux
http://www.sol-linux.com/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/sol/
SoL (Server optimized Linux) is a product of antitachyon, an Austrian
company located in Vienna. Built from the ground up from original
sources, SoL aims to be stable and fast server distribution. SoL 18.00
was released May 18, 2004. Antitachyon also provides the SoL-DESKTOP and
XoL (Diskless X office Linux). SoL 25.00 was released June 26, 2007.
Slack/390
http://www.slack390.org/
Slack/390 is port of Slackware Linux to IBM's S/390 hardware. Slack/390
10.0 was released February 11, 2005. The company Sine Nomine Associates will be offering
commerical support for Slack/390.
Slamd64
http://www.slamd64.com/
Slamd64 is an unofficial port of Slackware Linux to the x86_64
architecture; despite the name containing AMD64, Slamd64 should work both
on K8 (AMD64) and EM64T (some Intel) processors. It was started from
Slackware -current in 2004, and was created by cross-compiling from
scratch, rather than using an existing 64-bit distribution as a base.
Slamd64 is a multi-lib distribution, which means that you can run 32-bit
applications easily, without a chroot. You can directly install most
packages targeted at x86 Slackware. Slamd64 10.2 was released September
15, 2005. Slamd64 12.0 was released October 19, 2007.
SLAMPP
http://slampp.abangadek.com/
SLAMPP is a generic Linux distribution which can boot and run directly
off CD-ROM or installed to a hard drive. It is based on Slackware and
SLAX and uses Linux Live Scripts to build the Live CD. SLAMPP is
designed to be used as an instant home server. SLAMPP 1.1 was released
November 18, 2005. SLAMPPLite 2.0 was released April 11, 2006.
SME Server
http://contribs.org/
Once known as e-smith, this server and gateway distribution has gone
through several owners, including Mitel Networks (where it became SME
server), Lycoris and Resource Strategies, Inc. Mitel released version 5.5
of the SME Server on July 3, 2002. As of March 5, 2005 Ruffdogs has
taken possession of Contribs.org and is developing a Roadmap for the
rebuilding of the Contribs.org community. SME Server 7.0 was released
July 1, 2006. SME Server 7.3 was released January 1, 2008.
Source Mage GNU/Linux
http://www.sourcemage.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/sourcemage/
Source Mage GNU/Linux is a source-based GNU/Linux distribution based on a
Sorcery metaphor of "casting" and "dispelling" programs, which are
referred to as "spells". Sorcery 0.1.3 was released into cvs on March
26, 2002. Source Mage 0.9.6 for PPC and x86 was released March 13, 2006.
Stable grimoire v0.21 was released May 20, 2008.
StartCom Linux
http://www.startcom.org/
StartCom Ltd. is based in Eilat, Israel, offering Linux distributions,
service and support. StartCom Linux distributions are based on Red Hat
Advanced Server 3 source code, and modified to fit various tasks.
StartCom plans to release four flavors of SmartCom Linux: Enterprise
Linux, the MultiMedia Edition, the Office Edition and the Developer
Edition. The first release was the StartCom Linux Enterprise AS-3.0.0
dated August 2, 2004. StartCom Enterprise Linux AS-3.0.6 was released
August 29, 2006. The x86_64 edition of 4.0.0 was released May 27, 2005.
StartCom Enterprise Linux AS-4.0.5 was released November 25, 2007.
StartCom Enterprise Linux AS-5.0.1 was released November 12, 2007.
StartCom MultiMedia Edition ML-5.0.6 (Kessem) was released October 31,
2007. StartCom MultiMedia Edition ML-5.0.7 (Kessem) Update RC1 was
released January 15, 2008.
T2
http://www.t2-project.org/
T2 is a flexible open source System Development Environment or
Distribution Build Kit. T2 allows the creation of custom distributions
with bleeding edge technology. Currently the Linux kernel is normally
used, but there are plans to expand to Hurd, OpenDarwin and OpenBSD, and
more. T2 started as a community driven fork from the ROCK Linux Project
with the aim of creating a decentralized development and clean a
framework for spin-off projects and customized distributions. Live CD
2.2.0-beta was released May 21, 2005. T2 2.1.1 "lychee punch" was
released January 14, 2006. The T-Resc target provides a tiny rescue
system based on uClibC and K-drive Xvesa/Xfb for minimal size, released
January 20, 2007. T2 6.0.3 "Spring Fever" was released March 28, 2007.
T2 SDE 7.0-rc2 "autumn leaves" was released November 12, 2007.
tinysofa
http://www.tinysofa.org/
tinysofa classic server
tinysofa is an enterprise grade operating system based on the Linux
kernel. Optimized for i586 and up, tinysofa aims to be stable, secure,
well-supported, easily managed and free. Trustix Secure Linux was used
as a base for tinysofa. Version 1.0 was released April 29, 2004.
tinysofa enterprise server v2.0 Update 1 (Odin) was released February 21,
2005. tinysofa classic server (Ceara) 2.0 Update 6 was released October
17, 2006. Trustix Secure Linux 3.0.5 was released March 6, 2007.
Tomahawk Desktop
http://www.tomahawkcomputers.com/
Singapore based Tomahawk Computers was launched in April 2005 with the
goal of creating a modular operating system, in which most components are
open source packages, and also incorporating in-house and third-party
proprietary software. Currently the Tomahawk Desktop Lite and the
Tomahawk Desktop Standard have been release. Yet to come are the
Tomahawk Desktop Professional and the Tomahawk Server. Tomahawk Desktop
1.1 was released March 1, 2006.
Ultima Linux
http://www.ultimalinux.com/
http://ultima-inet.kicks-ass.org/ultimalinux/
Ultima Linux is a Slackware-based system that aims to be fast, powerful,
stable, and secure, for Intel-compatible computers. Ultima Linux 4-SP1
was released September 24, 2005. The Ultima Linux 8.0.1 was released
June 21, 2006. Ultima Linux 8.3 was released January 7, 2007.
Univention Corporate Server (UCS)
http://www.univention.de/ucs.html
Univention GmbH offers a range of Linux-based products and services,
including the Univention Corporate Server, Groupware Server and Corporate
Desktop. This entry was added July 12, 2006.
UserLinux
http://userlinux.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl
UserLinux is a Debian Customized distribution for the enterprise. It is
(or will be) available in server, desktop and soho versions. A beta
version of a Morphix-based LiveCD of the desktop was released September
17, 2004. Ubuntu Hoary meta-packages became available April 2005.
Project is currently stalled and possibly historical.
Voltalinux
http://www.sicurezzarete.com/voltalinux/
Voltalinux is a GNU/Linux distribution based on Slackware GNU/linux and
the pkgsrc package system from NetBSD. This project aims to deliver a
prebuilt distribution with the clean design of Slackware and the
availability of about 5400 ports (packages) ready to install. Version
1.0 was released June 9, 2006. Version 2.0 was released January 12,
2008.
Webfish Linux
http://webfish-linux.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/webfish-linux/
Webfish Linux is a small, stripped down Linux distribution based on GNU
source packages. Webfish is built with the more experienced user in mind
and is aimed at small, fast, secure server and workstation systems with a
minimum of installed packages. The initial release of Webfish Linux,
version 0.9b, was released June 20, 2002. Version 2.0pre3 was released
on April 21, 2004. The Webfish Linux Firewall-1 branch released its
initial verion, 1.1, on July 24, 2002. Fishwall 1.2 was released August
27, 2002. Webfish-2.0pre3 was released April 15, 2004.
White Box Linux
http://whiteboxlinux.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/wbel/
White Box Linux is an effort to rebuild Red Hat's Enterprise product from
source, including only Free/Open source software. The first set of
Release Candidate ISO images were released November 17, 2003. Version
4.0 was released May 6, 2005. Version 4 Respin 2 was released June 20,
2007.
Xline
http://www.xline.fr/
Xline is a European distribution of Linux, an advanced operating system
based on the GNU/Linux core with many additional packages. It is
compatible with the architectures x86 (included Pentium and Athlon),
amd64 (included Opteron, Athlon 64 and EM64T), Alpha/AXP, IA-64, PC-98,
UltraSPARC and PowerPC. Development is open to everyone; developers,
testers, translators, etc. GNOME is the default desktop, at least in the
initial development of Xline. Xline joins the list March 16, 2005.
X/OS Linux
http://www.xoslinux.org/
X/OS Linux is a GNU/Linux distribution for business and enterprise
users. It's based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux sources and the company
offers long term availability of security updates and software
enhancements. X/OS Linux 3 was updated October 7, 2004 to include
updates from RHEL3 update 3. X/OS Linux 5.1 was released January 1,
2008.
YES Linux
http://www.yeslinux.org/
YES (YourESale) provides the YES business appliance, an easy-to-use
Business in a Box designed specifically for the small businesses and
non-profits to be able compete with the larger businesses. YES Linux, at
the core of the appliance, contains the tools neeeded to create a
website, set up email and more. YES Linux joins the list at version
2.0.8, released May 23, 2004. YES Linux 2.2.2 was released September 11,
2005.
Yoper
http://www.yoper.com/
Yoper (Your Operating System) is a product of Yoper, Ltd., a New Zealand
based consulting company. Yoper is a fast and stable operating system
for the business user's i868 desktop. Ydesktop-3.2.1 Release Candidate 3
released January 12, 2003. Yoper Ydesktop V2 was released July 12,
2004. Yoper Linux 2.1.0 was released August 25, 2004. Yoper 3.0.1
'TITANIUM' was released October 4, 2007. Yoper 3.1 beta was released
April 22, 2008.
This is mix of distributions used by educational institutions, and
distributions that are designed to be educational to install and
use.
2-Disk Xwindow embedded Linux
http://natld.berlios.de/
http://www.angelfire.com/linux/floorzat/2diskXwin.htm
http://freshmeat.net/projects/natld/
2-Disk Xwindow embedded Linux is provided by Mungkie Associates Inc., as
a demonstration of the company's embedded appliance development
environment. Disk 1 provides a minimal Linux base system with an X
system implementation on a second disk. The 2-disk system is free for
personal use, but restrictions apply to commercial usage. Default
version 1.4rc802 was released November 6, 2002. Source code version
1.2.12 was released June 16, 2004. 1disk version 1.2.13 binary was
released October 12, 2004. Version 1.5 was released March 15, 2005.
Bifrost
http://bifrost.slu.se/
English:
http://bifrost.slu.se/index.en.html
The Bifrost Network Project aims to find stability, performance, filter
capabilities, administration, computer security, scalability and
development possibilities of a Linux based streamlined router/firewall
system. The hardware is basically a standard PC with two (or more)
network interfaces (using preferably the Intel Tulip chip or an e1000
Gigabit card) and a 45 or 48 MB flash disk. The operating system is a
modified, minimal and optimized Linux distribution, with the kernel
configured for firewalling and routing. The filter which controls the
firewall security policy, is part of the kernel code and can be
configured via ipfwadm, ipchains or iptables.
Blue Cat Embedded Linux
http://www.lynuxworks.com/products/bluecat/bluecat.php3
BlueCat Embedded Linux from LynuxWorks is an implementation of Linux for
a wide range of embedded systems. Version 5.0 was released January 20,
2004.
DIET-PC
http://diet-pc.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/diet-pc/
DIET-PC (DIskless Embedded Technology Personal Computer) is a
Do-It-Yourself open source thin client software kitset, allowing IT
professionals to construct generic- or special-purpose thin clients using
commodity x86 PC hardware. DIET-PC is based on an embedded Linux O/S
running entirely in RAM, loaded over the network via TFTP. The O/S is
fully self-contained and - except for the basic service protocol -
communicates with its environment only by means of industry standard IP
protocols, such that the Linux nature of the O/S is largely hidden from
and irrelevant to the user. Technologies used include Etherboot, Linux
kernel with ext2 initrd, devfs, Busybox, XFree86, RDesktop, TightVNC and
Citrix ICA Client. An alpha version was released May 10, 2002. Version
2 was released April 4, 2005.
ELinOS
http://www.elinos.com/
From German firm SYSGO Real-Time Solutions GMBH, ELinOS is an
embedded Linux distribution for Industrial Applications. ELinOS
v2.0 includes PowerPC-Support, Real-Time Extension RTAI, Linux
Kernel v2.4 and more.
Embedded Debian
http://www.emdebian.org/
EmDebian.org. Embedded Debian is a project to make Debian GNU/Linux a
mainstream choice for embedded projects. Embedded Debian tries to strip
Debian down to be a much smaller system whilst keeping all the good
things.
EtLinux
http://www.prosa.it/etlinux/
Prosa is an Italian free software company and the providers of
EtLinux, an embedded GNU/Linux distribution that can run on a 386sx
with 2Mb of ram. Etlinux 1.1.3 was released March 16, 2005.
Franki/Earlgrey Linux
http://www.angelfire.com/linux/wills/stubs.html
http://freshmeat.net/projects/freglx/
Franki and Earlgrey Linux are proof-of-concept source-based Linux
distributions whose configuration is controlled by a loosely-knit suite
of scripts designed to produce utility toolchains, known as STUBS. Based
around the uClibc library and busybox utilities, Earlgrey Linux boots
from floppy or CD with iso- or sys-linux and hosts enough utilities in
4MB of RAM to replicate the ramdisk content on hard disk or run its own
('egp') installer to do the same; "Franki" Linux is merely the codename
for the finished result. The first version we know of was 0.3.16,
released Sepember 5, 2003. Version 0.7.1pre2 was released October 3,
2004.
KaeilOS
http://www.kaeilos.com/
http://www.klinux.org/
Koan Software
KaeilOS (formerly Klinux) is an Italian GNU/Linux embedded distribution
for industrial applications from Koan Software. It includes an
integrated development environment (IDE) and debugging instruments for
embedded and real time systems. KaeilOS is based on kernel 2.6.15 and
2.4.31. It supports the processor families x86, ARM, PPC. Version 2.0
was released in July 2004. The current version of KaeilOS is 2.4.0.
LEAF (Linux Embedded Appliance Firewall)
http://leaf.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/leaf/
LEAF (Linux Embedded Appliance Firewall) is an easy-to-use embedded
Linux system that is meant for creating network appliances for use
in small office, home office, and home automation environments. There are
several branches of LEAF.
Linux/Coldfire
http://www.uclinux.org/ports/coldfire/
Here is a site dedicated to making available a Linux based system
for the Motorla ColdFire processor family. The core is a port of
the Micro-controller Linux (uC-Linux) kernel to the ColdFire
processors. Additionally there is a growing number of ports of
GNU/Linux utilities to the ColdFire. It is currently possible to
build stable, complete, fully functional, embedded, Linux systems
using uClinux/ColdFire. uClinux/Coldfire uses the 2.6 kernel as of
February 18, 2004. UClinux/Coldfire fully supports the Linux kernel 2.6
series as of October 14, 2005.
Mamona
http://dev.openbossa.org/trac/mamona/
Mamona is an embedded Linux distribution for ARM EABI. The main goal of
Mamona Project is to offer a completely open source
alternative/experimental SDK package and flash image generation process
for the Maemo Platform using only free and open source components.
Mamona 0.1 was released November 15, 2007.
MIZI
http://www.mizi.com/
MIZI is a Korean company that uses mobile Linux in a variety of
products and digital devices. This company has been developing
comprehensive Linux solutions for embedded devices for many years. This
entry was updated February 6, 2008.
MontaVista Linux
http://www.hardhatlinux.com/
http://www.mvista.com/
Once known as Hard Hat Linux this embedded distribution from MontaVista,
Inc., provides a cross development platform and a set of tool kits
designed specifically for embedded solutions along with a Linux
platform. A long list of microprocessors are supported. Renamed
MontaVista Linux with the release of v2.1 on January 29, 2002.
MontaVista Linux now comes in Professional Edition, Carrier Grade
Edition, and Consumer Electronics Edition. MontaVista Linux Carrier
Grade Edition 4.0 was released May 16, 2005. MontaVista Linux
Professional Edition 5.0 was released April 4, 2007. MontaVista Linux
Carrier Grade Edition 5.0 was released November 21, 2007. MontaVista
Mobilinux 5.0 is the current (as of February 2008) version used in phones
and other mobile devices.
NexusWare
http://www.pt.com/products/prod_nexusware.html
NexusWare is a Carrier-Grade Linux (CGL) registered distribution that
provides a full operating system on Performance Technologies' hardware
platforms, as well as a robust application development environment that
is tightly coupled to Performance Technologies' broad range of COTS
embedded hardware solutions. Version 12.0 was released June 2007.
Openembedded
http://oe.handhelds.org/
OpenEmbedded is a full-featured development environment allowing users to
target operating systems and complete distributions to a wide variety of
(embedded) devices. OpenEmbedded uses compilation and configuration
caching at most levels to increase developer productivity.
Poky
http://www.pokylinux.org/
Poky is an embedded Linux build system, distribution and developer
environment which builds upon OpenEmbedded technologies. Poky's focus is
purely on building stable optimised GNOME Embedded type platforms
(X11/Matchbox/GTK+) together with a streamlined system layer and cross
development environment. Poky was added to the list with the release of
v3.0-blinky on August 1, 2007.
RedBlue Linux
http://www.esfia.com/
Esfia, Inc. is based in Taipei, Taiwan. Its RedBlue Linux is used
in the company's BlueTooth enabled PDA.
RedIce-Linux
http://www.redsonic.com/
REDSonic's REDICE-Linux is a real-time Linux kernel, designed to
support mission and time critical applications and provide quality
of service to your system.
RTLinux
http://www.fsmlabs.com/
FSMLabs makes RTLinux, providing hard real-time solutions.
SansaLinux
http://www.SansaLinux.org
SansaLinux is port of iPodLinux for the Sandisk Sansa e200 MP3player
series. It is useable only with the original e200 series, but not with
the V2 models. Sansalinux comes with a bootloader, a 2.4 Linux-kernel, a
modified podzilla2 and some podzilla-plugins. It needs no repartitioning
of the Sansa-flash. It runs directly from an ext2 loop-filesystem which
is stored on the FAT-filesystem. Added to the list April 8, 2008.
Tynux
http://www.palmpalm.com/
PalmPalm Technology is a Korean based company. They put Tynux into
the Zaurus PDA and other appliances.
uClinux
http://www.uclinux.org/pub/uClinux/dist/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/uclinux/
The Linux/Microcontroller project is a port of Linux to systems
without a Memory Management Unit (MMU). Pronounced "you-see-linux",
the name uClinux comes from combining the greek letter "mu" and the
english capital "C". "Mu" stands for "micro", and the "C" is for
"controller". uClinux was first ported to the Motorola MC68328:
DragonBall Integrated Microprocessor. The first target system to
successfully boot is the 3Com PalmPilot using a TRG SuperPilot Board
with a custom boot-loader created specifically for our
Linux/PalmPilot port. Version 20020701 was initially released on
Freshmeat on July 16, 2002. V. test-20051209 was released January 4,
2006. uClinux v.20070130 was released January 30, 2007.
Voyage Linux
http://linux.voyage.hk/
Wiki
Voyage Linux is Debian derived distribution that is best run on a
x86-based embedded platforms such as WRAP and Soekris 45xx/48xx boards.
It can also run on low-end x86 PC platforms. Typical installation
requires 128MB disk space, although larger storage allows more packages
to be installed. Voyage Linux is so small that it is best suitable for
running a full-feature firewall, wireless access point, VoIP gateway and
network storage device. Voyage Linux joined the list at version 0.3.1
(etch-based), released April 14, 2007.
Familiar (iPAQ)
http://familiar.handhelds.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/familiar/
The Familiar Project is composed of a group of loosely knit
developers all contributing to creating the next generation of PDA
OS. Currently, most development time is geared towards producing a
stable, and full featured Linux distribution for the Compaq iPAQ
h3600-series of handheld computers, as well as apps to run on top of
the distribution. Familiar v0.5.3 was released July 11, 2002. Familiar
v0.8.2 was released April 13, 2005. Familiar v0.8.4 was released August
20, 2006.
Gentoo For Zaurus
http://gentooforzaurus.opensistemas.com/
http://www.opensistemas.com/Gentoo_for_Zaurus.715.0.html
http://freshmeat.net/projects/gentooforzaurus/
Gentoo For Zaurus is a port of the Gentoo Distribution to the Zaurus
PDA, based on Cacko X11 Rom and The Emerde Project. It can be mounted
over NFS so no changes to a current configuration are needed. It
includes a native gcc environment for ARM, the zgcc-3.3.1 cross compiler
for the main PC with distcc configured so that the main PC does the
actual compiling, and X11 for testing applications. The first public
release was version 0.1.1, dated January 6, 2004. Version 0.2.2 was
released February 2, 2004.
Linux DA OS
http://www.linuxda.com/
More info on
LinuxDevices.com
Empower Technologies makes this embedded OS for the Motorola
Dragonball platform, TI's OMAP5912 dual-core processors, and others.
LinuxDA powers the PowerPlay brand of PDAs.
OpenZaurus
http://openzaurus.org/
http://openzaurus.sourceforge.net/
The OpenZaurus project was aimed at building a kernel and filesystem for
the Sharp SL-5000d and SL-5500. Version 2.9.5.5 was released August
8, 2002. After that the project became a Debian based embedded
distribution built from source. It is quite similar to other embedded
debian-based distributions, such as Familiar for the Ipaq. This is still
an open source Linux for the Sharp Zaurus, using the latest available
Opie. Ports of OpenZaurus to other PDAs and/or other embedded systems
are imminent (as of January 28, 2003). OpenZaurus 3.5.4 was released
March 18, 2006.
OpenPsion
http://linux-7110.sourceforge.net/
OpenPsion (formerly PsiLinux) is a project to port Linux to a group of
palmtops produced by Psion, and related machines such as the Geofox One.
At present, working Linux systems can be installed on any of the Series
5, Series 5MX, Series 5MX-Pro, Revo (Revo+, Mako), and Series 7/netBook
machines. Debian 3.1 "Sarge" was released for the Series 7/netBook
September 6, 2005.
TuxMobil
http://tuxmobil.org/
TuxMobil is a good site for all things Linux on mobil computers,
including handhelds, laptops, phones, etc.
Adamantix
http://www.adamantix.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/adamantix/
Adamantix, formerly known as TrustedDebian, aims to create a highly
secure but usable Linux platform. To accomplish this, the project will
use currently available security solutions for Linux (like kernel
patches, compiler patches, security related programs and techniques) and
knit these together to a highly secure Linux platform. The initial
release, version 0.9, became available March 18, 2003. Version 1.0.4 was
released August 17, 2004.
Annvix
http://annvix.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/annvix/
Annvix is a Mandrakelinux-based secure Linux server distribution that
aims to provide a small, easy-to-use server with high security. Features
include a secure kernel, gcc with SPP stack protection patches, and
secure defaults for all services. It also includes unique features such
as running all services under DJB's daemontools and auditing tools such
as rsec (msec's baby brother), tripwire, snort, and chkrootkit. Initial
version 1.0-CURRENT alpha1 was released June 3, 2004. Annvix 3.0-RELEASE
(Freya) was released December 30, 2007.
Arudius
http://arudius.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/arudius/
Arudius is a live CD Linux distribution based on Slackware and Zenwalk.
It contains an extensive set of software tools used by IT security
professionals for penetration testing and vulnerability analysis. Its
goal is to include the most complete set of useful security tools and
still maintain a small footprint. Verion 0.1 was released November 4,
2005. Version 0.5 was released February 7, 2006.
Astaro Security Linux
http://www.astaro.com/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/asl/
A firewall and VPN product. Available for free download but not
completely open source. Version 2.033 was released April 25, 2003. Sun
Cobalt: v 2.033 April 28, 2003. Stable 4.x (i386): v 4.031 was released
February 28, 2006. Stable 5.x: 5.211 was released March 21, 2006. ASL
v6.201 was released April 6, 2006. ASG V7.1 GA was released December 3,
2007. ASG V7.200 BETA was released March 26, 2008.
BackTrack
http://www.remote-exploit.org/backtrack.html
BackTrack is the result of the merging of two Penetration Testing live
Linux distributions, Auditor Security Linux and WHAX. BackTrack is based
on SLAX (Slackware) and provides user modularity. This means the
distribution can be easily customised by the user to include personal
scripts, additional tools, customised kernels, and so on. The merger was
introduced February 5, 2006. BackTrack v.1.0 Final was released May 26,
2006. BackTrack 2.0 Final was released March 7, 2007.
Castle
http://castle.altlinux.ru/
Castle is a server distribution from the ALT Linux Team in Russia.
Installation instructions and some other documentation is available
in English.
CensorNet
http://www.censornet.com/
CensorNet is a Debian-based Linux distribution must be installed on a
dedicated machine with a minimum of two Ethernet adapters. The Console
Configuration Tool is used to configure system settings and perform
system maintenance, and the Web Administration Tool designed for day to
day control of users, workstations and filtering rules. CensorNet 3.3
was the current version in April 2005.
Debian Hardened
http://www.debian-hardened.org/doku.php
http://sourceforge.net/projects/debianhardened
Debian Hardened is a custom Debian distribution aimed at bringing high
security to Debian GNU/Linux, with hardening features such as a hardened
kernels and packages (Stack Smashing Protector + PIE compiled), the DHKP
and linux entropy pool enhancements (and the LTRNG) for strong
cryptography. Ubuntu Hardened is a related project.
Endian Firewall Community
http://www.endian.it/en/
Endian Firewall Community is a "turn-key" Linux security distribution that
turns every system into a full featured security appliance. The software
has been designed with "usability in mind" and is very easy to install,
use and manage, without losing its flexibility. This distribution was
added to the list at version 2.1, released January 9, 2007. Endian
Firewall Community 2.1.2 was released July 10, 2007. Version 2.2 RC1 was
released May 13, 2008.
Engarde Secure Linux
http://www.engardelinux.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/esl/
EnGarde is a secure distribution of Linux engineered from the
ground-up to provide organizations with the level of security
required to create a corporate Web presence or even conduct
e-business on the Web. It can be used as a Web, DNS, e-mail,
database, e-commerce, and general Internet server where security is
a primary concern. Version 1.2 (Professional) was released June 28,
2002. Version 1.3 (Community Edition) was released April 28, 2003.
EnGarde Secure Community 3.0.19 was released April 15, 2008.
Euronode
http://euronode.org/
The Euronode Project provides a set of distributions, originally based on
Debian GNU/Linux Woody Release 2. Three distributions are available:
Euronode Minimal Woody, Euronode Simple Firewall, and Euronode Advanced
Firewall. The Debian Sarge based Euronode 6.1, with 2.6.13 Linux kernel,
was released January 10, 2006.
FIRE
http://biatchux.dmzs.com/
http://fire.dmzs.com/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/biatchux/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/fire-biatchux/
FIRE is a portable bootable cdrom based distribution with the goal of
providing an immediate environment to perform forensic analysis, incident
response, data recovery, virus scanning and vulnerability assessment.
The initial version (v.0.1.0.5b) was released February 28, 2002.
FIRElite v0.2b was released August 19, 2002. FIRE 0.4a was released May
14, 2003.
Helix
http://www.e-fense.com/helix/
Helix is a customized version of the Knoppix Live Linux CD with many
applications dedicated to Incident Response and Forensics. Helix 1.7 was
released March 7, 2006. Helix 1.9E was released July 31, 2007.
IPCop Firewall
http://www.ipcop.org/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ipcop
IPCop Firewall is a Linux firewall distro. It will be geared towards
home and SOHO users. The difference with existing firewalls is that
the IPCop interface will be very user-friendly and task-based. IPCop
v0.1.1 was released January 17, 2002. Version 1.4.18 was released
December 2, 2007.
Knoppix-STD
http://www.knoppix-std.org/
STD (security tools distribution) is a collection of hundreds if not
thousands of open source security tools on a Live Linux CD. Its sole
purpose in life is to put as many security tools at your disposal with as
slick an interface as it can. The initial version, Knoppix-STD 0.1 CD,
was released January 23, 2004.
NetSecL
http://netsecl.unixsol.org/
NetSecL is a Slackware based distribution with Grsecurity, chroot
hardening, /tmp race prevention, extensive auditing and many other
security features. Many scanners and sniffers are included to help keep
your system secure. NetSecL joins the list with v2.1, released July 16,
2007. NetSecL 2.2 was released February 18, 2008.
Network Security Toolkit (NST)
http://www.networksecuritytoolkit.org/nst/
http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=602238
The Network Security Toolkit (NST), is a bootable ISO live CD is based on
Fedora Core 2. The toolkit was designed to provide easy access to
best-of-breed Open Source Network Security Applications and should run on
most x86 platforms. NST also makes an excellent tool to help one with
all sorts of crash recovery troubleshooting scenarios and situations.
Version 1.2.3 was released September 5, 2005. Version 1.5.0 was released
February 13, 2007.
nUbuntu
http://www.nubuntu.org/
nUbuntu aims to create an Ubuntu-derived distribution with a focus on
security testing. The initial version, nUbuntu - SP2, was released
January 6, 2006. nUbuntu Live was released January 17, 2006. nUbuntu
6.06 was released June 26, 2006.
OpenNA Linux
http://www.openna.com/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/opennalinux/
The OpenNA Linux Operating System provides a highly secure and fast
Linux server. Dedicated for mission critical tasks in the servers
domain, the OpenNA Linux operating system provides a secure, strong,
reliable and fast solution. A beta4 development version was released
July 22, 2002. Release Candidate 2 was released March 24, 2003. Version
1.0 was released November 11, 2003. The change log for the
development branch of OpenNA Linux 2.0 looks at changes from January
2004/January 2005.
Openwall GNU/Linux
http://www.openwall.com/Owl/
"Owl" (or "Openwall GNU/*/Linux") is a security-enhanced operating
system with Linux and GNU software as its core, compatible with
other major distributions of GNU/*/Linux. It is intended as a server
platform. The Owl 0.1-prerelease was released on May 11, 2001. Openwall
GNU/*/Linux (Owl) 2.0 was released February 16, 2006.
Operator
http://www.ussysadmin.com/operator/
Operator is a complete Linux (Debian) distribution that runs from a
single bootable CD and runs entirely in RAM. The Operator contains an
extensive set of Open Source network security tools that can be used for
monitoring and discovering networks. This virtually can turn any PC
into a network security pen-testing device without having to install any
software. Operator also contains a set of computer forensic and data
recovery tools that can be used to assist you in data retrieval on the
local system. The 3.3 version of Operator starts from scratch with a
basic Debian install to which KNOPPIX functionality is added afterwards.
The current version was 3.3.20 when this entry was added, March 15,
2006.
ProTech
http://www.techm4sters.org/
The Techm4sters team has created ProTech, a security distribution for
networks administrators, pentesters and other forensic analysis. It's a
live CD based on Ubuntu Feisty. The first beta was made available for
download February 13, 2007, with a final version expected in April 2007
when the Ubuntu Feisty release is finalized.
redWall Firewall
http://www.redwall-firewall.com/
redWall is a bootable CD-ROM Firewall. It's goal is to provide a feature
rich firewall solution, with a web interface for all the logfiles
generated. Version 0.5.5 was released May 8, 2005. redWall Firewall
version 2.2.3 was released October 31, 2006.
Securepoint Firewall & VPN Server
http://www.securepoint.cc/
The Securepoint Firewall & VPN server is a high end firewall and VPN
solution for protecting your Internet gateway. Securepoint can also be
used with existing firewalls and to protect interconnected locations or
divisions and lets you create and manage VPN tunnels.
Languages supported: English, German, Russian, and Korean.
Sectoo Linux
http://www.sectoo.org/
Sectoo Linux is a live CD based on Gentoo, with tools related to network
security. It does port scanning, packet sniffing, OS fingerprinting,
intrusion detection, and much more. A pre-alpha version was released
August 4, 2006.
SmoothWall
http://www.smoothwall.org/
SmoothWall was first released to the world in July 2000 as a
hardened internet firewall device. Products include Smoothwall Server
and Smoothwall GPL, renamed Smoothwall Express. Smoothwall GPL 1.0 was
released December 10, 2002. Smoothwall Express 2.0 was released December
17, 2003. SmoothWall Express 3 Alpha was released September 1, 2005.
SmoothWall Express 2.0 SP1 (stable update) was released December 22,
2006. SmoothWall Express 3.0 "Polar" was released August 22, 2007.
ThePacketMaster
http://www.thepacketmaster.com/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/tpmsecurityserver/
https://sourceforge.net/projects/tpm-secserver/
ThePacketMaster Linux Security Server is a CD-based security auditing
tool that boots and runs penetration testing and forensic analysis
tools. It is handy for security auditors. Some tools included are nessus,
ethereal, The Coroner's Toolkit, chntpw, and minicom. It includes modules
for any Linux 2.4.20 SCSI driver. Initial version 1.0.0 was released
July 5, 2003. Version 1.2.1 was released January 30, 2004.
Trustix Secure Linux
http://www.trustix.org/
Trustix Secure Linux, briefly known as Tawie Server Linux, is for servers
with a focus on security and stability. TSL now belongs to the Comodo Group. TSL 3.0 was
released July 6, 2005. The Trustix Enterprise Firewall 4.6 was released
August 17, 2005. Trustix Secure Linux 3.0.5 was released March 6,
2007. Comodo has announced that it will discontinue all distribution,
updates and direct support for Trustix Secure Linux effective December
31, 2007. The user support
forum will continue to remain online throughout 2008.
All the distributions listed in this category are specialized for a
particular task. Most of them are small, since limiting the functionally
can also limit the size. However there are some Special Purpose
distributions listed here that are not small.
64 Studio
http://64studio.com/
64 Studio is developing a collection of software for digital content
creation on x86_64 hardware (that's AMD's 64-bit CPUs and Intel's EM64T
chips). It's based on the pure 64 port of Debian GNU/Linux, but with a
specialized package selection and lots of other customizations. 64
Studio 1.1.0 was released January 11, 2007. Development release 1.4.0
was announced May 22, 2007. 64 Studio 2.0 'Electric' was released July
27, 2007. 64 Studio 2.1rc1 was released March 11, 2008.
Adriane Knoppix
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-adriane/index-en.html
Adriane Knoppix aims to be an easy-to-use desktop system, which can be
used entirely without vision oriented output devices, suitable for blind
or visually impaired people with few or no computer skills. The live CD
can be installed to a hard drive and provides access to standard Internet
services like email, www, chat, and using mobile phone extension services
like SMS and MMS (over the user's own mobile phone via bluetooth). Klaus
Knopper, creator of Knoppix, and his visually impaired wife Adriane are
the principle developers. ADRIANE is also an acronym for Audio Desktop
Reference Implementation and Networking Environment.
Agnula
http://www.agnula.info/
DeMuDi
The Agnula Project aims to develop a reference distribution for the
GNU/Linux operating system completely based on Free Software and devoted
to professional and consumer audio applications and multimedia
development. There was a Red Hat based branch (ReHMuDi), but it never got
very far. The Debian based DeMuDi is still in progress. AGNULA/ReHMuDi
2.0 was announced September 15, 2004. AGNULA/DeMuDi 1.2.0 was released
September 30, 2004. DeMuDi 1.2.1 was released July 7, 2005. Agnula lost
it's funding in early 2006 and lost it's .org domain name after that, but
the .info domain works for now.
amaroK Live CD
http://amaroklive.com/
The amaroK Live CD was developed as a way to demonstrate the features of
the amaroK music player, not as a complete system. It is based on the
KDE-centric PCLinuxOS. Version 1.3 was released October 3, 2005.
APODIO
http://apodio.org/
http://www.apo33.org/apodio/doku.php
APODIO is a Mandriva based distribution containing audio, text-friendly,
graphic and video tools. It can be used as a liveCD or be installed on a
partition of your hard disk. Version 4.3.6 was released May 11, 2006.
Version 4.3.9 test was released July 28, 2006.
ArcheOS
http://www.spcnet.it/arc-team/
ArcheOS is short for Archeological Operating System. It is a live CD
GNU/Linux distribution built for archaeological aims and based on
PCLinuxOS. ArcheOS is developed following the Oparc project guidelines
and it's released under the General Public License (GPL). ArcheOS
Akhenaton v1.0.1 was the current version when this entry was added,
January 9, 2006. ArcheOS v 1.1.6 was released June 27, 2006.
ArtistX
http://www.artistx.org/
ArtistX is a live DVD which turns a computer into a full multimedia
production studio. It is based on Debian GNU/Linux and contains nearly
all the available free audio, 2D and 3D graphics, and video software for
the GNU/Linux computing platform. It doesn't need to be installed, and
boots directly into a running system without touching hard drives. The
files produced with ArtistX can be easily stored on USB devices or CD/DVD
medium while it is running. ArtistX joined the list with its 0.3
release, April 2, 2007. ArtistX 0.4 was released November 18, 2007.
AspisOS Linux
http://aspisos.berlios.de/
AspisOS Linux is targeted for SBCs (Single Board Computers) or dedicated
desktop PCs that will function as wireless access points. It's optimized
for size and security. Version 0.0.1 was released September 16, 2005.
Version 0.0.4 was released January 25, 2006.
Asterisk Live! CD
Asterisk Live! CF
http://www.automated.it/asterisk/
http://www.automated.it/asterisk/asterisk-cf.htm
Asterisk PBX is Linux based, open source PBX software that provides voice
over IP in three protocols and is interoperable with most standards-based
telephony equipment using comparatively inexpensive hardware. If you
want to play around with Asterisk check out this distribution which is
available as a Live CD and a Compact Flash install. The Getting Started With
Asterisk guide provides an excellent starting point.
BG-Rescue Linux
http://omnibus.uni-freiburg.de/~giannone/rescue/current/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/bgrescue/
BG-Rescue Linux is a Busybox 0.60.5 and uClibc 0.9.19 based rescue system
with kernel 2.4.21. It is loaded either from two floppy disks or from one
2.8MB El Torito CD. The system runs entirely in RAM. It joins the list
at version 0.1.2, released July 12, 2003. Version 0.4.1 was released
March 2, 2005.
BioBrew Linux
http://biobrew.bioinformatics.org/
BioBrew Linux is an open source Linux distribution based on the NPACI
Rocks cluster software and enhanced for bioinformaticists and life
scientists. It automates cluster installation, includes all the HPC
software a cluster enthusiast needs, and contains popular bioinformatics
applications. BioBrew was at v3.0 when added to the list February 28,
2005. BioBrew v4.1.2 was released May 15, 2006.
BIOKNOPPIX
http://bioknoppix.hpcf.upr.edu/
BIOKNOPPIX comes from the University of Puerto Rico High Performance
Computing facility (HPCf) and the Puerto Rico Biomedical Research
Infrastructure Network (BRIN-PR). It's a Live-CD Linux distribution,
based on KNOPPIX, specialized to include tools for bioinformatics.
Bio-Knoppix beta version 0.2 was released February 13, 2004. Version
0.2 was still the current stable release as of March 2007.
Bio-Linux
http://envgen.nox.ac.uk/biolinux.html
http://envgen.nox.ac.uk/live_dvd.html
Bio-Linux is based on the Debian GNU/Linux
distribution. Bioinformatics-related customisations include the inclusion
of a large number of bioinformatics programs and programming libraries,
the addition of graphical menus for much of the bioinformatics software,
and links from the desktop to key documentation and applications. The
system also includes a comprehensive, categorised and searchable
documentation system for bioinformatics software. The Bio-Linux project
began in 2002 and was designed as a mechanism to deploy bioinformatics
and data management software on a powerful computing platform to
researchers funded by the NERC Environmental Genomics Thematic
Programme. Bio-Linux version 1.0 was released in 2002 and the latest
version, Bio-Linux 4.0 was released January 5, 2005. A live DVD version
was released November 2005. Version 1.3 of the live DVD was released
July, 19 2006.
BlackRhino GNU/Linux
http://blackrhino.xrhino.com/main.php?page=home
http://playstation2-linux.com/projects/blackrhino/
BlackRhino is a free Debian-based GNU/Linux software distribution for the
Sony PlayStation 2. It contains over 1,200 software packages to aid in
using and creating programs for the Sony PlayStation 2 Linux kit. The
programs range in functionality from simple games, to text editors,
compilers, web servers, windowing systems, database systems, graphics
packages, mail servers and a variety of other tools and utilities.
Version 1.0 was released March 4, 2003.
BRaiLleSPEAK
http://www.brlspeak.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/brlspeak/
BRLSPEAK is a Braille and Speech oriented mini-distribution of Linux
for the visually impaired. Support for English, French, Italian and
Dutch (Netherlands). Initial version 7.0-1, released November 22, 2001,
was based on Slackware. Version 07-10-2003, released October 8, 2003,
is Debian-based.
Bugnux
http://www.bugnux.org/
Bugnux is a live CD Linux distribution made specifically for software
testers. This Mandriva based distribution runs from a single bootable CD
and runs entirely in RAM. Bugnux contains an extensive set of open
source software testing tools that can be used for functional and
performance testing. It also has standalone tools to test GUI
applications and Mozilla Firefox extensions as well as a set of stress
and load testing tools that can be used to assist in testing performance
of web applications. Bugnux Test release-1 was released April 14, 2007.
CAELinux
http://www.caelinux.com/CMS/
CAELinux is a live DVD distribution for Computer Aided Engineering. It
is based on PCLinuxOS 2007 and incorporates the open source CAE
applications Salomé and Code_Aster.
Catux-USB
http://www.catux.org/catux-usb/index.php?idioma=en
http://freshmeat.net/projects/catux-usb/
Catux-USB is a distribution created by the GNU/LINUX User Association
from central Catalonia, that boots and runs from USB devices such as
Pendrives. It is useful with Pendrives with 128 MB or 256 MB, but it can
be resized to other capacities. It is Debian-based, with Knoppix scripts
to autodetect hardware. It includes XFree86, some email clients, Web
clients, etc., but using apt-get you can install or remove packages. It
uses the e2compr patch to write to Pendrives more efficiently. Catux-USB
was released initially at version 0.0.1, dated July 23, 2004.
CDMEDIC
http://cdmedicpacsweb.sourceforge.net/
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=61662
CDMEDIC is a Knoppix-based live CD with software appropriate for
radiologists, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy physicians and MDs,
neurologists and neurosurgeons and also other branches related to medical
imaging. Version 6.2 was released August 8, 2005. The fusion.iso v2.0
was released April 2, 2006.
ChainSaw Linux
http://www.chainsawlinux.com/
Crimson Chain Productions, a Maryland based film & video production
company, brings you CHAINSAWLINUX - a Linux distribution designed solely
for video editing, CGI, & 3D animation. The current version of
ChainSaw is 0.0.1, where it's been for some time. A "We're not Dead"
notice was posted April 27, 2006.
CHAOS
http://www.purehacking.com/chaos/
CHAOS is a CD or PXE based Linux and openMosix cluster distribution. The
CHAOS is a tiny (6Mbyte) Linux distribution, that will boot any
586/Pentium (or better) computer into a working openMosix node, without
disturbing (or even touching) the contents of the local hard disk. CHAOS
aims to be the fastest, most compact, secure and straight-forward
openMosix cluster platform available.
Clonezilla Live
http://clonezilla.sourceforge.net/clonezilla-live/
The Free Software Lab at the NCHC has combined Debian Live with
Clonezilla to produce "Clonezilla Live," a live CD that can be used to
easily clone individual machines. The primary benefit of Clonezilla Live
is that it eliminates the need to set up a DRBL server ahead of time and
the need for the computer being cloned to boot from a network.
Clonezilla Live can be used to clone individual computers using a CD/DVD
or USB flash drive. Though the image size is limited by the boot media's
storage capacity, this problem can be eliminated by using a network
filesystem such as sshfs or samba. Clonezilla live 1.0.9-19 (stable) was
released March 14, 2008.
ClusterKnoppix
http://clusterknoppix.sw.be/
http://bofh.be/clusterknoppix/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/clusterknoppix/
ClusterKnoppix is a basically a modified Knoppix with the openMosix
kernel. Bittorrent: clusterKNOPPIX_V3.2-2003-05-20-EN-cl1.iso was
released May 28, 2003. Version V3.6-2004-08-16-EN-cl1 was released
September 1, 2004.
Compact Flash Linux Project
http://www.cflinux.hu/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/cflinux/
The Compact Flash Linux Project is a Linux distribution designed to run
on a compact flash card in read-only mode. It is as small as possible,
and currently needs around 14 MB. It includes OpenSSH, quagga, iptables,
hostap, madwifi, wireless-tools, pppoe, tcpdump, bridge-utils, and more.
The initial release was v0.1.1, dated January 8, 2004. cflinux-1.0p2.img
was released August 13, 2006.
Debian-Med
http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-med/
Debian-Med is an internal Debian project to support tasks of people in
medical care. The goal of Debian-Med is to build a a complete system for
all tasks in medical care, using only free software.
DietLinux
http://lart.info/~bwachter/projects/dietlinux/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/dietlinux/
DietLinux is a dietlibc-based Linux distribution. The initial version,
0.1, was released May 16, 2003. Version 0.2-pre0 was released January 31,
2005.
DNA Linux
http://www.dnalinux.com/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/dnalinux/
DNA Linux is a live Linux distribution with bioinformatics software
preloaded. It is for people who find it hard to install EMBOSS, Primer3,
BLAST, and other bioinformatics software or who want to have a test
system for class or demonstration purposes. The first public version was
0.13, released January 31, 2004. Version 0.592, based on SLAX 5.10, was
released April 18, 2006.
EeeDora
http://eeedora.rmbsanalytics.com/
http://code.google.com/p/eeedora/
EeeDora is a Fedora based distribution for the Asus eeePC. The current
version was 2008-01-25_12h58m (spun from Fedora  when the entry was
added; January 29, 2008.
Elive
http://www.elivecd.org/
Elive is based on Debian 'etch'. It's a live CD featuring the
Enlightenment window manager. Elive also supports a hard disk install.
Version 0.4.2 was released March 4, 2006. Elive 1.0 was released July 5,
2007. A development release of Elive 0.9 Beta9 "MacBook" was released
August 28, 2007. Elive development version 1.5.0 has some big changes,
including a completely rewritten boot system and an update to Debian
Lenny. It was released January 18, 2008. Elive 1.7.2 development
version was released May 4, 2008.
Ewrt
http://www.portless.net/menu/ewrt/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/ewrt/
Ewrt is a Linux distribution for the Linksys WRT54G that was forked from
the Linksys and Sveasoft code bases. It is designed to meet the needs of
open wireless network operators by providing a captive portal based on
NoCatSplash and large-scale management functionality on a stable and
low-cost platform. The first public release, version 0.2 beta1, became
available April 27, 2004. Ewrt-0.4 was released March 2006.
Exherbo
http://www.exherbo.org/
Exherbo is a distribution designed for people who know what they're doing
with Linux. It is inspired in many places by Gentoo -- in particular, it
supports flexible source-based installation with up-front configuration.
Exherbo is not ready for prime time, it's a place for developers to
experiment. Expect things to be broken. Added to the list May 21, 2008.
EZWebPC
http://www.livekiosk.com/
EZWebPC is a thin client Linux distribution and administrative interface,
from LiveKiosk. The distribution runs as a live CD or flash disk.
EZWebPC v. 1.4.2 is available for download.
FAN
http://fannagioscd.sourceforge.net/drupal/
FAN (Fully Automated Nagios) aims to provide a CD based on CentOS in
order to simplify installation of Nagios and other Nagios tools. Tools
installed by FAN are: Linux, MySQL, Nagios, Nagios Plugins, NaReTo,
NagVis, Centreon, Net-SNMP and NDOUtils. FAN was added to the list with
the release of version 0.3 on May 27, 2008.
Featherweight Linux
http://www.featherweightlinux.org/
Featherweight Linux is a Live-CD, installable Linux distribution
remastered from Feather Linux. It aims to be a full featured
distribution for older hardware. Version 1.3 was released September 27,
2005.
FireCast
http://www.wirespring.com/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/firecast/
FireCast is a Linux-based software suite for building and managing
interactive kiosk networks. It is designed for use with standard PC
hardware, and bundles a tamper-resistant kiosk environment, customizable
user interface, Web browser, and full multimedia support with a plug-
and-play Linux operating system. It also includes a complete set of Web-
based remote management and advertising control tools for scheduling
content, monitoring device status, and creating and tracking ad
campaigns. It requires no prior knowledge of Linux, and uses a familiar
graphical interface for all administrative functions. This is a
proprietary package, with a free trial.
Firenet mini linux
http://firenet.ik8.com/
http://redice.8800.org/
Firenet mini linux contains busybox and a Linux kernel. No other binary
files are included. It supports inetd, telnetd, httpd, devfsd,
networking, dhcpd, and more. The system uses busybox's init and
implements a Debian-style SysV-init boot script, which is helpful when
adding a new system service. The system is also a good example of using
busybox in an embedded system. The initial public release of Firenet,
version 0.1, was released November 23, 2003.
Firmware Linux
http://landley.net/code/firmware/
Firmware Linux is build system that produces a bootable single file linux
system for various hardware platforms. Along the way, the build produces
a relocatable cross compiler for the target hardware, and also a native
build environment. Development on Firmware Linux began in August 2006.
Version 0.2.0 was released March 6, 2007. Version 0.3.1 was released
January 29, 2008.
Flash Linux
http://flashlinux.org.uk/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/flashlinux/
Flash Linux is a customised Linux distribution based on Gentoo Linux,
designed to be run directly off a USB key or other (similar) forms of
bootable flash memory. It should work within the contraints of 256Mb of
(flash) memory although larger devices may also be used. Flash Linux
release 0.3.1 became available November 27, 2004. FlashLinux 0.3.4 was
released February 9, 2005.
FreeMed Live
http://freemedsoftware.org/
The FreeMed Software Foundation has a live CD, based on Kubuntu 5.04
(Hoary) with FreeMED 0.8.0 and REMITT 0.3 configured for test use.
Version 0.1 was released September 29, 2005. FreeMED 0.8.3 was released
August 11, 2006.
Freepia
http://freepia.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/freepia/
Freepia is a small GNU/Linux distribution designed to run on Via Epia-M
Mainboards. It currently runs on the M-9000 and M-10000 (ezra and
nehemiah cpu) but with some modifications like kernel and X11 modules it
should run on others too. The main motivation behind this project is to
build a full featured, low noise media box to play movies/MP3s/images
etc. For this it uses freevo but in the future there may be support for
others like mythtv or vdr. Website returns an error on September 21,
2006.
Gamix
http://www.gamix.org/
Gamix is Mandriva-based Linux build that facilitates the creation of boot
CDs so developers may create Gamix versions of their original software.
Basesystem Beta 3 was released January 22, 2007.
GeeXboX
http://www.geexbox.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/geexbox/
GeeXboX is a standalone media player Linux distribution, similar to
MoviX. It's a small bootable CD which allows you to play your favorites
video (DivX, XviD, FFMpeg, MPEG 1/2, VCD, DVD, OggMedia, Windows Media,
RealMedia, etc.) and audio (MP3, Audio CD, Ogg/Vorbis, etc.) files. It is
based on MPlayer, and can be used on every x86 computer. It supports
TV-out for various cards such as S3, nVidia, and ATI. A bootable ISO is
available, but it's easy to modify the sources to build your own GeeXboX
or even to install it on a HDD or USB Key or to boot from network via
PXE. It also supports networking, TV tuners and WiFi cards. The initial
public release of version 0.90-1 was made available May 17, 2003.
GeeXboX 2.x technological preview was released December 31, 2006.
GeeXboX 1.1 was released July 1, 2007.
GENDIST
http://www.bablokb.de/gendist/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/gendist/
GENDIST (the Linux Distribution Generator) allows you to create your own
special mini-distribution. It creates a makefile-based build system for
your distribution, and helps you to automate the following three tasks:
maintaining your root filesystem, maintaining your "CD filesystem" (in
case you create a bootable CD), and packaging everything on media.
GENDIST 1.6.0 (Stable) was released September 14, 2003.
GentooX
http://gentoox.shallax.com/
GentooX is Gentoo for the XBox. Gentoox Pro v3.0, Gentoox Home v5.0,
Gentoox Sparkle v2.0, Gentoox Resctoox v4.0 were all released July 4,
2006. Resctoox v5.1 was released August 1, 2006. Gentoox Pro v4.1 was
released August 21, 2006. Gentoox Home v6.1 was released August 23,
2006.
GhostWriter LiveCD
http://billy-bob-ming.com/ghostwriter/
The GhostWriter LiveCD is a Slax-based Linux system for writers. It
comes with a help browser; the LyX word-processor; templates for novels,
screenplays, articles, and letters; a PDF viewer to check your work; and
The Gimp to create illustrations. LyX exports text, LaTeX, PDF, and
PostScript -- all publishing industry standards. And you can use the PDFs
to print your work on any machine that has Adobe Acrobat. The current
version was 0.2.3 when this entry was added to the list, January 18,
2006. Version 0.2.5 was released June 6, 2006. More GPL free software
can be found at Billy-Bob
Ming.
GoboLinux
http://www.gobolinux.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/gobolinux/
GoboLinux is an alternative Linux distribution that redefines the entire
filesystem hierarchy. Package management is performed through the
directory layout itself by storing each program in its own
/Programs/[AppName]/[Version] directory. GoboLinux joins the list at
version 007, released on October 25, 2003. GoboLinux 013 was released
November 3, 2006. GoboLinux 014 was released January 1, 2008. GoboLinux
014.01 was released April 2, 2008.
Grafpup Linux
http://www.grafpup.com/
Grafpup Linux is a desktop operating system with a focus on providing a
complete and stable workflow for digital imaging professionals and
graphic artists in a very compact package. It runs as a live CD while
allowing for persistent storage for your data and a nice package
management system for addon software. Packages can even be installed when
running the OS from the live CD and will remain there when you reboot. It
can also installed on a USB thumbdrive or hard disk. It's based on Puppy
Linux, and includes packages like, GIMP, Inkscape, Scribus, Cinepaint and
more, while keeping the size of the CD to around 75MB. Grafpup was added
to the list January 18, 2006, when the current version was 1.0.1.
Grafpup_standard-1.0.2 was released February 12, 2006. Grafpup-104 was
released June 19, 2006. Grafpup-2.0 was released June 2, 2007.
Ichthux
http://www.ichthux.com/
Ichthux is an operating system aimed at Christian users. It is based on
Kubuntu with addition software for bible study and other Christian
programs and settings. Ichthux 6.09 "Amazing Grace" was released in
September 2006.
JackLab
http://jacklab.net/
http://jacklab.org/
http://www.opensuse.org/JackLab
JackLab is a noncommercial private initiative, supervised by volunteers.
It aims to add media and music software as an extension to openSUSE.
JackLab was added to the list January 17, 2006. JackLab Audio
Distribution 1.0 alpha3 was released April 27, 2007. JAD 1.0 was
released September 15, 2007.
Kaboot
http://kaboot.ainkaboot.co.uk/
Kaboot provides bootable ISO images for the creation of live CDs and USB
devices. This Gentoo-based distribution currently comes in four flavors,
Recovery, Lite, Science and Kaboot Komplete for a full-featured KDE
desktop. Kaboot was added to the list February 21, 2006.
KnoppMyth
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html
KnoppMyth combines Knoppix and MythTV to provide an easy-to-use TV settop
box using Linux. KnoppMyth R5F27 was released September 9, 2007.
Kororaa
http://www.kororaa.org/
The Kororaa project is a way of installing Gentoo Linux easily and
quickly, similar to Gentoo's "Stage3 with GRP packages" install. A live
CD showcasing Xgl technology was released March 8, 2006. Kororaa Xgl
Live CD 0.2 was released April 6, 2006. Kororaa AIGLXgl 0.3 Live CD was
released October 3, 2006.
Lintrack
http://www.lintrack.org/
Lintrack is a small, easy to configure and highly integrated GNU/Linux
distribution for routers, firewalls, network access servers, content
filters and more. It is targeted especially to small and medium-sized
wireless Internet service providers. Lintrack 2.0 "Hockenheim", released
October 15, 2006, was the current version when this entry was added to
the list.
LinuxConsole
http://linuxconsole.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/linuxconsole/
LinuxConsole is a "live" Linux distribution that comes from France. You
can boot it from CD, HD, USB, or PXE. There is a "core" ISO image (55MB),
with all the drivers (3D and ADSL included) needed to install it or just
try it. LinuxConsole joins the list at version 0.4RC2 released March 10,
2004. This version is based on Mandrakelinux 9.1. Version 0.4.5.1 was
released September 20, 2004. LinuxConsole 1.0.2007 was released June
25, 2007.
linuX-gamers.net Live
http://live.linux-gamers.net/
The project live.linuX-gamers.net was founded with the idea to present
Linux games at the Linuxtag exhibition in a novel way. A collection of
games should be shown to directly run from DVD without the user in need
to know about Linux or care about his system. After some intense
brainstorming sessions the team decided to create and publish this DVD as
a live distribution project. The first public release of the live DVD,
v0.9.1, was released June 16, 2007.
Linux For Clinics
http://www.linuxforclinics.org/
The Linux For Clinics (LFC) Project consists of a team of people who have
a common interest in health, medicine, humanity and free and open source
software (FOSS). This is a Ubuntu based distribution that is focused on
providing reliable clinical laboratory and medical practice software.
The first alpha testing release was announced April 4, 2007.
LinuxMCE
http://www.linuxmce.com/
LinuxMCE is a free, open source distribution based on Kubuntu. It
includes a complete whole-house media solution with PVR and distributed
media, and the most advanced smarthome solution available. It is stable,
easy to use, and requires no knowledge of Linux and only basic computer
skills. LinuxMCE joined the list at version 0704, released August 7,
2007.
Linux Router Project
http://lr101.linux-it-solutions.de/
The Linux Router Project - LR101 was started in the summer of 2003 with
the goal of developing a real hardware based Linux router. The web site
is in German. More information can also be found in this English
language info sheet (pdf format). LR101 Release 1.0 is available.
LinVDR
http://linvdr.org/projects/linvdr/index.en.php
http://freshmeat.net/projects/linvdr/
LinVDR is a small, lightweight, ready-to-run and easy-to-install
distribution of VDR which can turn almost any PC with a DVB-s (digital
satellite) card into a digital hard disk recorder. It contains VDR Admin
for Web administration and Samba shares to upload your MP3 files or
download DVD images made from your TV recordings. It's compatible with
Debian (woody). Version 0.2 was released September 29, 2003. Version
0.7 was released December 7, 2004.
LiveContent
http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Livecontent
Creative Commons and the Fedora project have created the LiveContent CD,
a live CD used to showcase free and open content released under a
Creative Commons license. The initial version was announced August 7,
2007 and contained Fedora 7 with addition CC content. Future plans
include live DVD and USB versions.
Mindi Linux
http://www.mondorescue.org/
Mindi builds boot/root disk images using your existing kernel,
modules, tools and libraries. Version 0.71_20021109 was released
November 10, 2002. Version 0.87 was released October 30, 2003.
MondoRescue 2.2.1 was released January 2, 2007.
Monoppix
http://www.monoppix.com/
Monoppix is a Live CD Linux distribution (based on Knoppix), showcasing
and spreading Mono technology. Mono is a free .NET framework
implementation for Linux/Unix operating systems. Version 1.1.8 was
released August 24, 2005.
MoviX
http://movix.sourceforge.net/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/movix/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/movix/
MoviX is a CD-ready tiny (~5MB) Slackware-based Linux distribution
containing all you need to boot a PC from CD (using syslinux) and
automagically play all the avi files you put in the CD root with mplayer
through the framebuffer. You can use it to play all your movies, even on
a diskless PC. MoviX2 is a related distribution aimed at transforming
your PC into a powerful multimedia box. The initial release of MoviX,
version 0.2, was announced September 16, 2002. Version 0.8.3 was
released April 6, 2004. MoviX2 v0.3.1rc2 was released August 13, 2004.
eMoviX is another branch, a micro (7MB) Linux distro meant to be embedded
in a CD together with all the video/audio files you want. eMoviX version
0.9.0 was released June 28, 2005.
Musix GNU+Linux
http://musix.org.ar/
Musix is a 100% Free Debian based Operating system intended for musicians
and all kinds of users. It contains an enormous collection of free
programs. It can run as a live CD/DVD and can also be installed to a hard
drive. Currently supported languages (as of February 2006): English,
French, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalán, Vascuence and Gallego. Version
0.39 was released March 31, 2006. Version 0.99 was released March 5,
2007. Musix GNU+Linux 1.0 R4 Live-DVD/CD was released May 22, 2008.
Myrinix
http://myrinix.com/
Myrinix- Digital Home Edition is a Linux (Debian and sidux) based live
CD. Using Myrinix you can connect a High Definition Plasma TV or a big
LCD screen to a central server that can record and play DVD or internet.
The Myrinix 2007-08/4 live CD/DVD was released March 19, 2008.
MythDora
http://swik.net/MythDora
MythDora is a Fedora Core and MythTV linux-distribution that is packed on
a single DVD. The DVD loads a preconfigured Fedora Core 5 installation
and installs and configures MythTV-0.20. Also included are MythTV
modules and addons: MythArchive, MediaMVP and MythStreamTV. MythDora 3.2
was the current version as of March 28, 2007. MythDora 5.0, based on
Fedora 8 and MythTV-0.21, was released April 27, 2008.
Navyn OS
http://navynos.linux.pl/
Navyn OS is a Gentoo-based distribution with an emphasis on network
security. It can be run as a live CD or installed to hard disk. The
current version was 2005.1 when this distribution was added to the list
on June 1, 2005. Current efforts seem to be going into the Nao File Manager (version 0.4.0 rc1
released March 21, 2007).
NimbleX
http://www.nimblex.net/
http://custom.nimblex.net/
NimbleX is a small but versatile operating system which is able to boot
from a small 8 cm CD, from flash memory like USB pens or MP3 players and
even from the network. Because it runs entirely from a CD, USB or
network it doesn't require installation or even much hardware. NimbleX
is based on Slackware with the use of linux-live scripts. NimbleX 2007
was released December 25, 2006. NimbleX 2007v2 was released April 25,
2007. Custom NimbleX allows you to generate a customized Linux
distribution. Custom NimbleX 2 RC1 was released August 3, 2007. NimbleX
2007 v2 now comes in a sub100MB Edition. An updated sub100 was released
September 28, 2007. NimbleX 2008 RC was released March 21, 2008.
NSLU2-Linux
http://www.nslu2-linux.org/
Wiki Home
Page
The NSLU2-Linux project exists to discuss, develop and modify the
firmware and hardware of the Linksys NSLU2, the Synology DS101, the
Iomega NAS100d, the D-Link DSMG600, and other ixp4xx-based devices with
large attached storage. SlugOS is the collective name for a group of
firmware distributions which are derived from a common source base (and
therefore share common documentation as a result of that). The latest
version of SlugOS is 3.10. OpenSlug uses the OpenEmbedded package
repository, and is designed for use with an external disk. UcSlugC also
uses the OpenEmbedded package repository, but is designed to be the basis
of some other application-specific firmware distribution, rather than a
firmware distribution in its own right. SlugOS/LE (formerly known as
DebianSlug) uses the Debian package repository and is an alternative for
those people who want to run Debian on their NSLU2.
OpenWrt
http://openwrt.org/
OpenWrt is a Linux distribution for the Linksys WRT54G. Instead of trying
to cram every possible feature into one firmware, OpenWrt provides only a
minimal firmware with support for add-on packages. For users this means
the ability to custom tune features, removing unwanted packages to make
room for other packages and for developers this means being able to focus
on packages without having to test and release an entire firmware.
WhiteRussian 0.9 was released February 3, 2007.
Overclockix
http://overclockix.octeams.com/
Overclockix features a system of shell scripts to make using Distributing
Computing clients (Folding@Home 4.0, Seti@Home and Prime95) simple and
automated. In addition to Distributed Computing, there are other burn-in
applications such as Memtest and cpuburn for torturing your hardware to
prove stability and a variety of rescue/recovery tools. Based on the
unofficial Knoppix 3.4 Cebit magazine edition, Overclockix 3.4 V2 was
released April 30, 2004. Overclockix 3.79 was released August 21, 2005.
PAIPIX GNU/Linux
http://www.paipix.org/
PAIPIX GNU/Linux focuses on scientific software. It was originally a
remastered KNOPPIX CD, but now it comes on a DVD which can be started in
live mode or in the installation mode. The DVD also contains a
repository of packages re-built from Debian. PAIPIX joins the list at
version 7, released August 22, 2007. PAIPIX 7.10 was released October
17, 2007.
Parted Magic
http://partedmagic.com/
Parted Magic is a Linux LiveCD/USB/PXE with its elemental purpose being
to partition hard drives. Optimized at approximately 30MB, the Parted
Magic OS employs core programs of GParted and Parted to handle
partitioning tasks with ease, while featuring other useful programs
(e.g. Partition Image, TestDisk, fdisk, sfdisk, dd, ddrescue, etc.) and
an excellent set of documentation to benefit the user. An extensive
collection of fileystem tools are also included, as Parted Magic supports
the following: ext2, ext3, ext4, fat16, fat32, hfs, hfs+, jfs,
linux-swap, ntfs, reiserfs, reiser4, and xfs. Parted Magic 2.2 was
released May 7, 2008.
PelicanHPC
http://pareto.uab.es/mcreel/PelicanHPC/
PelicanHPC picks up where ParallelKnoppix left off, providing a live CD
that will let you set up a high performance computing cluster in a few
minutes. The frontend node (either a real computer or a virtual machine)
boots from the CD image. The compute nodes boot by PXE, using the
frontend node as the server. All of the nodes of the cluster get their
filesystems from the same CD image, so it is guaranteed that all nodes
run the the same software. The CD image is created by running a single
script, which takes advantage of the Debian Live infrastructure. If you
need to add packages, it is very easy to create a custom version by
adding the package names to the script and then running it. Pelican v1.0
was released January 10, 2008. Pelican 1.5.1 was released May 20, 2008.
Pentoo
http://www.pentoo.ch/
Pentoo is a Linux LiveCD, based on Gentoo, with a focus on penetration
testing. The current version was 2005.1 when Pentoo was added to this
list on June 1, 2005. V2006.0 was released February 2, 2006.
Mini-Pentoo 2006.1 was released July 5, 2006.
Pg_live
http://www.nycbug.org/index.php?NAV=Library;SUBM=10101
Pg_live is a free Linux Live CD community project. It is an enhanced
adaptation of Xubuntu, designed and optimized expressly for the
PostgreSQL Database administrator and enthusiast. Pg_live 8.2.1.2 was
released March 1, 2007. pg_live 8.3.0.1 was released February 15,
2008.
Puppy Linux
http://www.puppylinux.org/
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/PuppyLinuxMainPage
Puppy Linux is a very small, yet quite fully featured distribution.
Up to and including version 0.6, all applications in Puppy were written
in C and used only the Athena/neXtaw or GTK+ v1.2 widget libraries. From
version 0.7 onwards C++ applications and the Qt library v2.3 (for
Konqueror and Scribus) were also used. Puppy 0.7.6 was released May 11,
2003. Chubby Puppy version 1.0.5 was released September 29, 2005. Puppy
Linux 1.09 Community Edition was released May 15, 2006. BareBones Puppy
v2.00 was released June 2, 2006. OneBone Puppy (no X/GUI applications)
version 2.00rev.1 was released June 9, 2006. Puppy Linux 2.15 Community
Edition was released April 6, 2007. Puppy Linux v4.00 was released
May 5, 2008.
Pyramid Linux
http://pyramid.metrix.net/
Pyramid, formerly known as Pebble Linux is a smallish distribution image
designed for embedded style devices. It comes pre-installed on all
Metrix Kits. Pebble was based on Debian. Pyramid was initially based on
the Ubuntu Breezy Badger release. Pyramid 1.0b5 was released January 25,
2007.
Recovery Is Possible! (RIP)
http://www.tux.org/pub/people/kent-robotti/looplinux/rip/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/recoveryispossible/
RIP is a CD or floppy boot/rescue/backup system. It has support for a
lot of filesystem types (Reiserfs, ext2/3, iso9660, UDF, XFS, JFS, UFS,
HPFS, MINIX, MS DOS, NTFS, UMSDOS, and VFAT) and contains a bunch of
utilities for system recovery. It might also be possible to install and
boot it from a LS-120 floppy drive. It has been designed for
non-networked stand-alone home PC hard drive booting and rescue. Only the
CD version has UDF/HPFS/MINIX/XFS/JFS filesystem support. RIP joined the
list at verion 51, released March 21, 2002. RIP 4.3 was released
December 22, 2007.
RedHawk Linux
http://www.ccur.com/
RedHawk Linux is the product of Concurrent Computer Corporation and is
used in Concurrent's hardware solutions. It's an industry-standard,
POSIX-compliant, real-time version of Linux, based on the Red Hat Linux
distribution. RedHawk features high I/O throughput, fast response to
external events, and optimized interprocess communication. Version 1.3
was released May 22, 2003. RedHawk 4.2 for Intel and AMD was released
April 17, 2007. RedHawk 5.1 was released April 17, 2008.
Rocks Cluster Distribution
http://www.rocksclusters.org/
Rocks Cluster emphasizes ease of management, configurability and security
in clusters. An early version was based on Red Hat Linux 7.3. Rocks is
now based on CentOS release 4/update 5 and all updates as of July 4,
2007. Rocks 4.0.0 (Whitney) was released June 7, 2005 with support for
Athlon, Itanium, Nocona (EM64T), Opteron, and Pentium. Rocks 4.3 (Mars
Hill) was released July 6, 2007, for i386 and x86_64 CPU architectures.
Rocks 5.0 was released April 30, 2008.
RUNT
http://runt.mybox.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/runt/
RUNT (ResNet USB Network Tester) is Slackware Linux designed to run off
of a 128 MB USB pen drive. It consists of a boot floppy image and a zip
file, similar to zipslack. It is intended to be a fairly complete Linux
installation for use as a testing tool capable of booting on any x86
computer with a USB port and a bootable floppy drive. RUNT 0.92, the
initial version, was released November 27, 2002. Version 4.0 was
released November 11, 2004. RUNT 5.0 was released February 1, 2007.
Scyld Beowulf
Penguin Computing offers Scyld
Beowulf, the original cluster virtualization platform, created by Donald
Becker, for Linux 2.4.X-based HPC clusters. The current shipping version
of Scyld Beowulf is Series30 (as of April 2007). Penguin Computing also
provides Scyld ClusterWare HPC 4.0, a fully integrated software platform
for HPC that provides a bundled Linux distribution CentOS 4 (optional
support for Red Hat Enterprise Server 4).
SkatOS
http://omnibus.uni-freiburg.de/~giannone/skatos/current/
SkatOS is a bootable stand alone XSkat card playing system that fits on
either one single floppy disk or one eltorito-boot CD. It features full
network client/server support so you can play Skat over LAN with your
friends. Version 1.0 was released August 8, 2004. Version: 2.0 was
released February 4, 2007.
SliTaz GNULinux
http://www.slitaz.org/
SliTaz is a very small desktop system that runs from live CD or live
USB. SliTaz v1.0 is the first stable version to be released, after two
years of development. This version, released March 22, 2008, weighs in
at under 25Mb using light-weight packages like the JWM window manager and
the lighttpd web server.
SPB-Linux
http://spblinux.sourceforge.net/
SPB-Linux is a USB distribution that boots from a memory stick.
SPB-Linux joins this list at version 2.0, added July 29, 2003. The
current version is 2.1, as of February 2006. The current version was
still 2.1 as of April 12, 2007.
stresslinux
http://www.stresslinux.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/stresslinux/
stresslinux is a minimal Linux distribution that runs from a bootable
CDROM or via PXE. It makes use of some utitlities such as stress,
cpuburn, hddtemp, lm_sensors, etc. It is dedicated to users who want to
test their system(s) entirely on high load and monitor the health of
these systems. Initial version 0.1.5b was released July 4, 2003.
Version 0.3.1 was released May 31, 2006.
SuperGamer
http://supergamer.org/
SuperGamer is a live DVD with lots of games. All Games are Linux
Native. It was originally based on PCLinuxOS, but the latest version
(SuperGamer-VL) is based on VectorLinux. A test release of SuperGamer-VL
was announced June 29, 2007.
SystemRescueCd
http://www.sysresccd.org/
SystemRescueCd is a Linux system on a bootable CDROM for repairing your
system and your data after a crash. It also aims to provide an easy way
to carry out admin tasks on your computer, such as creating and editing
the partitions of the hard disk. It contains a lot of system utilities
(parted, partimage, fstools, ...) and basic ones (editors, midnight
commander, network tools). It aims to be very easy to use: just boot from
the CDROM, and you can do everything. The kernel of the system supports
most important file systems (ext2/ext3, reiserfs, xfs, jfs, vfat, ntfs,
iso9660), and network ones (samba and nfs). Available in French, English
and with a Linux speakup option for the blind. SystemRescueCd is based
on the Gentoo LiveCd. Version 0.3.3 was released March 1, 2007. Version
1.0.2 was released April 28, 2008.
Tempest Showroom
http://www.dirk-loss.de/tempest-showroom.htm
Tempest for Eliza by Erik Thiele makes your computer monitor send out
special radio signals so that you can then hear computer generated music
in your radio. Tempest Showroom is a live CD with everything you need to
run Tempest for Eliza on a PC. Tempest Showroom 0.9.7 was released
November 19, 2006.
ThinStation
http://thinstation.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/thinstation/
ThinStation is a Linux distribution that enables you to convert standard
PCs into full-featured diskless thinclients supporting all major
connectivity protocols. It can be booted from the network using
Etherboot/PXE or from standard media like floppy/CD/hd/flash-disk etc.
The configuration is centralized to simplify terminal management. The
initial Freshmeat release was on May 15, 2003, version 0.91. Version
2.2 was released October 17, 2006.
ThinTUX
http://thintux.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/thintux/
ThinTUX is a small Linux distribution for thin clients. It has support
for all major remote access protocols like ICA, RDP, XDM, telnet, ssh,
and more. The distribution can be booted from the network using a network
card with PXE-support or from standard media storage devices like floppy,
CD, hard disk, or disk-on-chip. The configuration is stored on a DHCP
server to simplify terminal management. The initial version of ThinTUX,
0.1, was released January 22, 2004. Version 0.21 was released September
29, 2005.
Tkfp Live!
http://tkfp.sourceforge.net/
Tkfp Live! started out as a bootable CD with Slackware 9.0, the
WindowMaker window manager, and Tkfp. Tkfp is an electronic medical
record information system suitable for a solo or small group Physician's
office for storing clinical information on patients. S live CD with
Tkfp59 and Puppy Linux 2.12 was released December 29, 2006.
trixbox
http://www.trixbox.org/
trixbox is a telephony application platform based on Asterisk Open Source
PBX Software. The trixbox application platform makes it fast and simple
to install and configure your business-class telephony system. With
unlimited extensions, voicemail-to-email, music on hold, call parking,
analog lines or high density T1/E1 circuits and many other features,
trixbox provides all the functionality your business needs. trixbox
brings big business PBX features to small and medium-sized businesses.
trixbox 2.2 was released May 3, 2007. trixbox CE 2.4 was released
January 4, 2008.
Ubuntu Christian Edition
http://www.whatwouldjesusdownload.com/christianubuntu/
Ubuntu Christian Edition is a free, open source operating system geared
towards Christians. It is based on Ubuntu Linux and is suitable for both
desktop and server use. Along with the standard Ubuntu applications,
Ubuntu Christian Edition includes the best available Christian
software. The latest release contains GnomeSword, a top of the line Bible
study program for Linux based on the Sword Project. There are several
modules installed with GnomeSword including Bibles, Commentaries, and
Dictionaries. Ubuntu CE v1.4 (based on Ubuntu 6.06.1 LTS) was released
October 3, 2006. The Feisty-based Ubuntu CE v3.3 was released July 29,
2007.
UbuntuME
http://www.ubuntume.com/
UbuntuME stands for Ubuntu Muslim Edition. Ubuntu Muslim Edition is a
free, open source operating system based on the Ubuntu Linux with Islamic
software (prayer times, Quran study tool, web content filtering tool,
etc.) and a different design. The Feisty-based UbuntuME 7.04 was
released October 14, 2007. UbuntuME 7.10 was released November 27,
2007. UbuntuME 8.04 was released May 16, 2008.
ubuntutrinux
http://code.google.com/p/ubuntutrinux/
Old Trinux site
Trinux: A Linux Security Toolkit was a ramdisk-based Linux distribution
that was under active development from 1998-2003. ubuntutrinux seeks to
integrate elements (and code, where appropriate) of Trinux with the
Debian/Ubuntu mkinitramfs infrastructure to allow easy development and
packaging Ubuntu binary (and ultimately package and repository)
compatible ramdisk distributions using recent 2.6.x kernels. Although
small ISO images will be released, the primary focus of the project is
development and documentation of a flexible build environment based on
Ubuntu Dapper LTS.
VideoLinux
http://videolinux.net/
VideoLinux is an easy to use distribution for video enthusiasts. It's
based on PCLinuxOS and it includes video encoding and editing tools.
VideoLinux2007 Preview 1 was released January 14, 2007.
Vigyaan
http://www.vigyaancd.org/
Vigyaan is an electronic workbench for computational biology and
computational chemistry. It has been designed to meet the needs of both
beginners and experts, with ready to use modeling software. VigyaanCD
v0.1 was based on KNOPPIX v3.3 and it was released April 14, 2004.
KNOPPIX v3.7-based VigyaanCD v1.0 was released September 7, 2005.
VMKnoppix
http://www.rcis.aist.go.jp/project/knoppix/vmknoppix/index-en.html
old Xenoppix page
VMKnoppix (formerly Xenoppix) is a Debian/Knoppix based live medium Linux
distribution featuring a collection of Virtual Machine (VM) software,
such as Xen, KVM, VirtualBox, QEMU, KQEMU (QEMU with accelerator) and
UserMode Linux. Xenoppix knoppix v4.0 20050608 linuxtag xen-20050912 +
IPAFont (Stable) was released September 15, 2005. The Xenoppix
(Xen3.0.4 + KNOPPIX5.1.1) CD was released in early 2007. VMKnoppix
5.3.1CD was released May 19, 2008.
Vyatta
http://www.vyatta.com/
The Vyatta Community Edition is a freely-available, community-supported
release of Vyatta's open-source router/firewall product. Vyatta
Community Edition 2 was released February 19, 2007. Vyatta Community
Edition 2.2 (Camarillo) was released August 31, 2007. Vyatta Community
4.0 was released April 21, 2008.
Warewulf
http://warewulf-cluster.org/
http://www.perceus.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/warewulf/
Warewulf and Perceus are clustering solutions from Infiscale. Both
Warewulf and Perceus can be built as standalone solutions (monitoring or
provisioning), and when combined offer a complete clustering platform.
The initial version of Warewulf, 0.3, was released March 11, 2002.
Warewulf 3.0 was released February 2, 2007.
Wicker
http://theredpost.com/wicker/
Launchpad page
Wicker is a modified version of Ubuntu that runs on digital signs from
RedPost. It boots from USB flash on an embedded device for use as a
digital photo frame or as a web-connected digital sign. You can also
download it and install it on your own hardware. Wicker is developed as
an open source project by RedPost. Wicker beta-2008-05-19 was released
May 19, 2008.
wrt54g-linux
http://www.batbox.org/wrt54g-linux.html
http://freshmeat.net/projects/wrt54g/
wrt54g-linux is a mini-distribution for the Linksys wrt54g 802.11b/g
access point and router. It includes basic tools such as sh, syslog,
telnetd, httpd (with cgi-bin support), vi, snort, mount, insmod, rmmod,
top, grep, find, nfs modules, etc. The installation script runs in about
20 seconds and installs strictly to the RAM disk. The initial release,
version 0.1, is dated September 6, 2003. BatBox wrt54g distribution
v0.61 was released December 31, 2006.
xbox-linux
http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/xbox-linux/
The Xbox Linux project aims to create a version of GNU/Linux that runs on
the Microsoft Xbox gaming console. Initial version 0.1 was released
August 17, 2002. Version 0.2 was released August 26, 2002. Version
11-01-2003 was released January 17, 2003. Xebian 1.0.2 was released
April 22, 2004.
Xorcom Rapid
http://www.xorcom.com/
Xorcom Rapid is a Debian/Asterisk distribution program that features an
auto-install for Debian Linux and pre-configured Asterisk. It quickly
and effortlessly converts any PC to a functioning Asterisk PBX. Version
1.0 was released February 6, 2005. Version 1.1 was the current version
as of April 2007.
Zenwalk
http://www.zenwalk.org/
Zenwalk was formerly known as Minislack, a lightweight Slackware
derivative. Zenwalk Linux focuses on Internet applications, multimedia
and coding tools. The first Zenwalk release, v1.2, was released August
12, 2005. The first ZenLive Linux LiveCD was released June 30, 2006.
Zenwalk.fr has released ZenEdu-0.3 on December 17, 2006. Zenwalk 4.6
"Red Pill" was released June 1, 2007. Zenserver 0.5 was released June
13, 2007. Zenwalk Live 4.6 was released July 6, 2007. Zenwalk 4.8 was
released October 6, 2007. Zenwalk Live 4.8 was released November 16,
2007. ZenEdu Live Special Edition was released December 22, 2007.
Zenwalk 5.0 was released January 18, 2008. Zenwalk Live 5.0 was released
March 25, 2008. Zenwalk 5.2 beta was released May 22, 2008.
Zeroshell
http://www.zeroshell.net/eng/
Zeroshell is a Linux distribution aimed at providing the main network
services a LAN requires. It uses Netfilter and Linux iptables for
firewalling. It runs from a live CD or bootable compact flash.
Zeroshell 1.0.beta4 was released February 18, 2007.
a-Linux
http://linuxassembly.org/asmutils.html
http://freshmeat.net/projects/a-linux/
a-Linux is an x86 floppy-based mini-distribution, where assembly code
meets Linux kernel. It contains only programs written in assembly
language. It is extemely small, yet functional, and provides HTTP and FTP
services out-of-the-box. Initial version 0.17 was released August 17,
2002.
BBIagent
http://www.bbiagent.net/en/index.html
BBIagent provides a suite of applications to create the software for
booting a computer as a broadband router and firewall. Based on the
hardware configurations and connection type, you are able to download
your own boot file which is written into a single 1.44MB diskette to be a
boot diskette for the router. This is a Linux based system which uses
Java tools to create a bootable floppy with router software. The
software utilites provided by BBIagent.Net are free to use. Version
1.5.0 was released July 11, 2002. Version 2.0.0 was the current version
in April 2007.
blueflops
http://blueflops.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/blueflops/
blueflops is a Linux distribution that fits on two floppy disks, and
includes a graphical Web browser (links 2.1pre9 using svgalib 1.4.3) and
a popular IRC client (BitchX 1.0c19). The kernel is 2.4.20 with most of
the Ethernet drivers compiled as modules. The C library is uClibc 0.9.16,
busybox is a slightly modified version of 0.61.pre. The 'links' and
'BitchX' binaries are statically linked and compressed with UPX 1.90. The
distinguishing feature of blueflops is its configuration procedure. The
scripts are all accessible through a 'setup' script, and they all have a
nice 'dialog' front-end. Version 1.0.0 was released April 15, 2003.
Version 2.0.13 was released November 19, 2005.
bootE Linux
http://boot.everywhere.dk/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/boote/
bootE Linux is yet another minimalist (i386) Linux distribution and is
contained entirely on a single floppy disk. It supports only single user
mode, and is intended as a repair/rescue/emergency distribution. Initial
version 0.10 was released April 18, 2002. Version 0.20-r2 was released
August 30, 2003.
BYLD
http://byld.sourceforge.net/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/byld
Build Your Linux Disk (BYLD) is a little package that helps you to
build a Linux distribution on a single floppy disk to use as you
want. Build a net client, rescue disk or other small application.
Version 1.0.3 was released November 25, 2000.
Coyote Linux
http://www.coyotelinux.com/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/coyotelinux/
Coyote Linux v1.x (Floppy Release) is designed to run entirely from
a floppy and does not require a hard drive or CDROM to be present in
the system that it runs on. Creation of a Coyote Linux floppy can
be done with either a Linux shell script or a Windows Wizard, both
of which are available from the Coyote Linux download sites. Coyote
Linux is used as the base OS in products such as the Wolverine Alpha 1
Firewall and VPN and the Fury IP Load Balancer. Coyote Linux 1.32 was
released January 6, 2003. Coyote Linux 3.00.31 was released December 9,
2005. Coyote Linux v3.00.46 was released April 12, 2006.
Fd Linux
http://www.fdlinux.com/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/fdlinux/
Fd Linux is a very tiny floppy distribution of Linux, set to fit on
one floppy disk (kernel and root fs are combined!). All binaries
are based on Red Hat. Version 2.1-0 was released March 12, 2002.
Version 3.0-0 was released March 10, 2003.
Fli4l (Floppy ISDN/DSL)
http://www.fli4l.de/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/fli4l/
Fli4l "the on(e)-disk-router", is a single floppy Linux-based ISDN, DSL
and Ethernet-Router. You can build it from an old 486 based pc with 16
megabyte memory, which is more than adequate for this purpose. Stable
version 2.0.8 was released April 27, 2003, adding the ability to install
and boot from a USB memory stick or DiscOnChip. Development version
3.1.1 was released September 9, 2006. Stable version 3.0.2 was released
December 25, 2006.
floppyfw
http://www.zelow.no/floppyfw/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/floppyfw/
floppyfw is a router with firewall capabilities. Suitable for use as a
screening router or as a packet filtering firewall. Version 2.0.3 was
released October 3, 2002. floppyfw 3.0.2 was released May 27, 2007.
FREESCO
http://www.freesco.org/
http://www.freesco.info/
FREESCO (stands for FREE ciSCO) is a free replacement for commercial
routers supporting up to 3 ethernet/arcnet/token_ring/arlan network
cards and up to 2 modems. Mirror sites are available in Canada,
Europe, Russia, and South Africa. Version 0.3.7 was released March 11,
2007.
Orange Linux
http://orangelin.sourceforge.net/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/orangelin/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/orangelin/
Orange Linux is a lightweight distribution that fits on a floppy. The
host development environment is designed to work around the Bochs x86
emulator, so that you can easily test changes to the kernel. The initial
release v1.0 was released March 11, 2003 and included a set of tools for
making your own distribution, a VGA graphics library, and a small Pong
game. By May 30, 2005 the project goals were updated; the aim is to
create a fully operational operating system that is built around a
lightweight, fast Java virtual machine mechanism (JamVM, JikesRVM), with
applications built around Java and the scripting environment Jython
(Python on Java). Version 0.1.17 was released May 21, 2005.
PAUD
http://paud.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/paud
PAUD (Parted And Utilities Disk) is a Linux utility bootdisk. It fits on
a single 1.44 floppy disk. It contains mc, parted, and other utilities
such as filesystem utilities for ext2, ext3, and Reiserfs. It is great
for partition maintenance and for rescue purposes. Version 1.0.3 was
released July 8, 2002. Version 1.0.4 was released May 3, 2004. Version
2.0.3 was released December 25, 2005.
RIMiGate
http://www.rimboy.com/rimdistro/rimigate/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/rimigate/
RIMiGate is a floppy-based Linux distribution for running WA4DSY's
aprsd. Its goal is to make it easy to deploy igates for the APRS
project. Version 0.2 was released April 4, 2003.
Serverdisk diskette distro
http://serverdisk.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/serverdisk/
Serverdisk diskette distro is a Linux floppy disk distribution which
includes FTP and HTTP servers. Just a small server, not intended to be a
rescue disk or standalone firewall. The initial version, 0.1, was
released September 19, 2002. Version 0.2 was released September 26,
2002.
Small Linux
http://www.superant.com/smalllinux/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/smalllinux/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/smalllinux/
A Small Kernel Project; Small Linux has been used (console based) on
a 386 laptop with 2 meg of ram and a 40 meg hard drive. Small Linux
0.8.1 was released December 6, 2001. Small Linux 0.9.0.1 was released
August 6, 2004.
Tinfoil Hat Linux
http://tinfoilhat.shmoo.com/
Tinfoil Hat Linux started as a secure, single floppy, bootable Linux
distribution for storing PGP keys and then encrypting, signing and wiping
files. At some point it became an exercise in over-engineering. Now at
version 1.0, THL is released under a BSD style license. A pre-release of
v2.0 is available for testing.
Tomsrtbt
http://www.toms.net/rb/
"The most GNU/Linux on 1 floppy disk." Tom's Root Boot (tomsrtbt)
is possibly the best known and widely used recovery disk version of
Linux. Version 2.0.103 was released May 4, 2002.
X Windows On A Floppy (Xwoaf)
http://www.modest-proposals.com/Hacklin.htm
http://freshmeat.net/projects/xwoaf/
Xwoaf is a complete standalone bootable Linux floppy that runs from a RAM
disk. It provides the basic functionality required to turn any computer
into a modern communication node. The initial public version, 0.1.0, was
released March 18, 2004. Version 0.2.0g was released November 2, 2005.
Zool Linux
http://zoollinux.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/zoollinux/
Zool Linux is a project whose goal is to assist in making Linux
mini-distributions, useful for floppy-based rescue systems, or to check
hardware and network connections. It supports many different filesystems
and utilities. Zool 1 is a Linux rescue disk based on the 2.2.23
kernel. Zool 2, released January 9, 2003, is based on the 2.4.18
kernel. Zool 5 was released May 18, 2004.
Some of these are for system rescue tasks. Some are full featured
distributions (on a single CD) that can run anywhere, school labs,
Internet cafes, on a Windows system where ever you are.
ADIOS
http://os.cqu.edu.au/adios/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/adios/
The ADIOS Project (Automated Download and Installation of Operating
Systems), by the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane,
Australia, is a live Linux CD based on Red Hat Linux/Fedora Core and a
2.4 series kernel. Version 1.01 was released February 26, 2003. ADIOS
7.4, released May 22, 2007, was released with a 2.6.20 kernel. ADIOSWEBS
7.4 is the Security Enhanced Linux version of ADIOSWEB, released May 24,
2007.
AliXe
http://pages.ccapcable.com/alisou/cms/?AliXe
AliXe is a SLAX-based Live CD from Canada. AliXe v0.09 ICE edition,
released November 20, 2006, is a bilingual live CD (English &
French). It's based on SLAX and features IceWM with lots of GTK2
applications. AliXe 0.10 ICE rc1 was released January 11, 2007. AliXe
0.11 Xfce was released September 22, 2007.
Archie
http://user-contributions.org/archie.html
Archie is a complete live Arch linux system (originally based on v0.7) to
be run from a CD/USB, built with the KISS philosophy in mind. This is a
full Arch Linux system, while striving for the fastest performance with
no extensive bloating. Archie uses its own hardware detection tool
(lshwd) and supports a wide range of hardware with low detection
time. Archie also provides extended features like multi-lingual, nesting
capabilities and hd-install. Archie v0.4.1 was released April 15, 2005.
ATmission
http://www.atconsultancy.nl/atmission/
ATmission is a Live Linux CD based on Fedora Core 4. You can boot from
this CD-ROM and experiment with Linux in all its aspects. The main
advantage of ATmission compared to other Live Linux CD's is its
flexibility. Any file on the ATmission Live CD can be modified and your
changes can be preserved in a file located on hard disk or on a USB
memory stick. Version 2.0-01 was released September 26, 2005.
AUSTRUMI
http://cyti.latgola.lv/ruuni/index_en.html
AUSTRUMI is a business card size (50MB) bootable Live CD Linux
distribution based on Slackware. The current version was 0.9.7 when the
entry was added on August 13, 2005. Version 1.2.0 was released May 9,
2006. Version 1.5.0 was released June 1, 2007.
BeaFanatIX
http://bea.cabarel.com/index.php?page=BeaFanatIX
BeaFanatIX is a mini Live CD. It's also a compact Linux distribution. It
was originally a remaster of BeatrIX but now uses a more recent Ubuntu
core. BeatrIX itself is partly based on an old version of Ubuntu, but
makes heavy use of Knoppix technologies. The common ancestor of all
these distributions is Debian. BeaFanatIX joins the list at v2006.2
beta6, released October 23, 2006. BeaFanatIX 2006.2 revision 3 was
released June 3, 2007.
CDLinux
http://developer.berlios.de/projects/cdlinux/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/cdlinux/
CDlinux is a CD based mini Linux distribution, which runs from a
CDROM. It aims to be an administration/rescue tool for Eastern Asian
(CJK) users. CDlinux is also highly user configureable, and supports a
wide range of hardware (PCMCIA/SCSI/USB). Version 0.4.3 was released
June 10, 2003. Version 0.4.9 (stable) was released February 21, 2005.
Version 0.6.1 (stable) was released April 28, 2008.
Crash Recovery Kit
http://crashrecovery.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/crk/
The Crash Recovery Kit for Linux was originally based on Red Hat Linux
Newer version are based on Mandrake Linux. It can be used as a recovery
disc for lots of systems, not just Linux. All Linux filesystems as well
as FAT16 and FAT32 are supported. Version 2.4.18 was released March 31,
2002. Version 2.6.7-mdk100 and crash247-mdk100.iso, based on Mandrake
10.0 (i586), was released July 7, 2004. CRK 2.6.11.10 was released May
18, 2005.
Damn Small Linux
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
Damn Small Linux - Not
http://freshmeat.net/projects/damnsmalllinux/
Damn Small Linux is a business card size (50MB) Linux
distribution. Despite it's miniscule size it strives to have a functional
and easy to use desktop. The initial freshmeat announcement for version
0.1 was released March 19, 2003. DSL now boots from a USB pen drive, or
from within a host OS. With a "frugal install" DSL will run from an IDE
Compact Flash drive. DSL transforms into a Debian system when installed
to a hard drive. Damn Small Linux- Not is a larger, more fully featured
version. DSL-N 0.1RC3 was released July 24, 2006. DSL 4.3 was released
April 22, 2008. DSL 4.4 RC1 was released May 19, 2008.
Debian From Scratch
http://people.debian.org/~jgoerzen/dfs/html/
DFS is a bootable CD that can be used for system repair/rescue. DFS is a
way to create custom builds of Debian using the DFSbuild utility. DFS
begain as the first installer for the amd64 port of Debian. The initial
version was released May 21, 2004. Version 0.99.0 was released April 20,
2006.
Devil-Linux
http://www.devil-linux.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/devillinux/
Devil-Linux is a distribution which boots and runs from CDROM. The
configuration can be saved to a floppy diskette or a USB pen drive (new
in 1.0). Devil Linux was originally intended to be a dedicated
firewall/router but now Devil-Linux can also be used as a server for many
applications. Attaching an optional hard drive is easy, and many network
services are included. Devil-Linux 0.5RC1 (Beta) was released May 30,
2002. Stable Devil-Linux v1.2.14 was released November 21, 2007.
dyne:bolic GNU/Linux
http://www.dynebolic.org/
Pure:dyne
http://freshmeat.net/projects/dynebolic/
dyne:bolic GNU/Linux is a live bootable CDROM that will give you a Linux
desktop on any machine with a CD drive. Comes with audio streaming,
realtime video effects, and Mozilla web browser. Pure:dyne is a
community effort maintained by media artists for media artists.
Pure:dyne is a customization of the dyne:II core for realtime audio and
video processing. Comes optimized for software such as Jack,
SuperCollider, Csound, Fluxus and of course Pure Data with a great
collection of externals (PDP, PiDiP, Gem, GridFlow, RRadical,
PixelTango...). The initial version of Dyne:bolic 0.3.1 was released
February 17, 2002. dyne:bolic 2.3 DHORUBA Solid State (for solid state
devices) was released November 21, 2006. pure:dyne 2.3.52 was released
March 22, 2007. Version 2.5.2, codename DHORUBA, was released December
3, 2007.
ELE
http://www.northernsecurity.net/download/ele/
ELE is a bootable Live CD Linux distribution with focus on privacy
related software. It is based on Damn Small Linux and aims to be
(obviously) as small as possible. The initial version of ELE, v0.0.1,
was released March 9, 2005. Version 0.0.2 was released March 23, 2005.
Feather Linux
http://featherlinux.berlios.de/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/featherlinux/
Feather Linux is a Linux distribution which runs completely off a CD and
takes up under 50Mb of space. It is suitable especially for business-card
sized CDs. It is a Knoppix remaster (based on Debian), and tries to
include software which most people would use every day on their desktop.
Feather joins the list at version 0.2, released November 30, 2003.
Version 0.7.5 was released July 1, 2005.
Finnix
http://www.finnix.org/
Finnix is a self-contained, bootable Linux CD distribution for system
administrators. You can mount hard drives, set up network devices,
repair filesystems, and pretty much do anything you can do with a regular
server distribution. Finnix is not intended for the average desktop
user, and does not include any desktops, productivity tools, or sound
support, in order to keep distribution size low. Finnix 86.0 was
released October 24, 2005. Version 91.0 was released January 28, 2008.
Games Knoppix
http://games-knoppix.org/
Games Knoppix is live CD/DVD with lots of games. This entry was added
March 31, 2006 at version 4.0.2-0.3 DVD. A bugfix release of Games
Knoppix 5.1-0.5 was underway in January 2007.
Gibraltar
http://www.gibraltar.at/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/gibraltar/
Gibraltar is a project that aims to produce a Debian GNU/Linux-based
router and firewall package. This package boots and runs from
CD-ROM, so a hard disk installation is not necessary. Version 0.99.6
was released January 13, 2003. Version 2.5 was released September 10,
2007.
GNOPPIX
http://www.gnoppix.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/gnoppix/
GNOPPIX is a live Linux CD based upon Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (woody). It
can be compared to Knoppix but GNOPPIX uses GNOME as desktop
environment. The aim is to create a GUI installation tool to make
installing GNU/Linux with a GNOME desktop as easy as possible. GNOPPIX
joins the list at version 0.5, released September 8, 2003. Gnoppix 2.12
beta1 was released September 7, 2005.
Gnu-HALO
http://halo.willisburg.org/
The Gnu-HALO project started out as BSD-HALO before switching to the L4Linux 2.6 kernel. The initial build was
based on SLAX Standard Edition v 5.1.6. The Gnu-HALO alpha 0.1 Linux
Live CD was released June 19, 2006.
GNUstep Live CD
http://io.debian.net/~tar/gnustep/
The GNUstep Live CD contains a lot of software for GNUstep, a free
implementation of the OPENSTEP framework (which was also used as the base
for Cocoa in Mac OS X). The initial version, 0.2, was released February
2004. Version 1.0 was released November 6, 2006. GNUstep CD v1.6 was
released April 4, 2008.
GoblinX
http://www.goblinx.com.br/en/
GoblinX is Slackware-based Live CD, directed towards those users who
appreciate quality applications and a workspace that is both practical
and beautiful. GoblinX contains some of the most often used and praised
applications for Linux. Version 1.2.1 was released in early November
2005. GoblinX Premium 2006.1 was released February 5, 2006. GoblinX
Mini 1.2.2 was released February 22, 2006. GoblinX Mini 2.0.0 was
released April 9, 2007. GoblinX Standard 2.0 (2007.1) was released April
30, 2007. GoblinX Mini 2.5.was released October 31, 2007. GoblinX Micro
2.6 was released January 23, 2008. GoblinX Mini 2.6 was released
February 2, 2008. GoblinX Standard 2.6 was released February 18,
2008. GoblinX Mini 2.7 Beta01 was released April 2, 2008. GoblinX
Standard 2.7 Beta 01 was released May 4, 2008.
GRML
http://grml.org/
grml is a live CD based on Knoppix and Debian with a collection of
GNU/Linux software for system administrators. It provides automatic
hardware detection and can be used for system rescue, for analyzing
systems/networks or as a working environment. GRML version 0.4
(Eierspass) was released May 15, 2005. A smaller version grml-small fits
on a business card CD-ROM or USB device. The initial version of
grml-small, 0.1, was released July 5, 2005. grml 0.9 and grml-small 0.3
were released December 7, 2006. grml 1.0 - codename Meilenschwein - was
released May 18, 2007. grml 1.1 (Skunk), grml64 0.2 and grml-medium 0.1
were released February 26, 2008.
Groovix
http://groovix.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1
&products_id=1
Download
a demo disc
Open Sense Solutions offers the Groovix Kiosk Disk, a live Linux CD based
on Debian, that can turn any computer into a public access computer. It
is set up to run in single-user mode, presenting a Firefix web browser on
boot-up. Open Sense Solutions will customize a CD/DVD to your business
needs.
Hakin9 Live
http://www.hakin9.org/en/index.php?page=hakin9_live
http://freshmeat.net/projects/hakin9live/
Hakin9 Live is a bootable distribution (based on Aurox Live) which
contains hacking, security, and network diagnostic tools. Hakin9 joins
the list at version 0.9, released October 28, 2003. Version 2.4 was
released January 18, 2005. Hakin9 3.1.2-aur, based on Aurox 12.0, was
the current version on August 9, 2007.
Hikarunix
http://www.hikarunix.org/
Hikarunix ["hee-kah-roo-nix"] is a Live Linux CD dedicated to Go. It's
designed for Go players of all levels. It will fit on a pocket-sized
miniCD and can boot on just about any machine, so you can take your Go
workstation with you almost anywhere. Installation to a harddrive is
also supported. Version 0.2 was released November 2004. Version 0.3 was
released January 16, 2005. The current version was 0.4 as of July 9,
2007.
INSERT
http://www.inside-security.de/insert_en.html
German:
http://www.inside-security.de/INSERT.html
http://freshmeat.net/projects/insert/
INSERT (INside SEcurity Rescue Toolkit) is a complete, bootable Linux
system. It comes with a graphical user interface running the fluxbox
window manager while still being sufficiently small to fit on a credit
card-sized CD-ROM. The first release we know of is v1.0, announced
August 4, 2003. Version 1.3.9b was released February 27, 2007.
IsaMorph
http://www.brucker.ch/projects/isamorph/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/isamorph/
IsaMorph is a highly specialized GNU/Linux Live CD. It's based on
Morphix and features the interactive theorem prover Isabelle,
for a complete theorem proving environment. IsaMorph joins the list at
version 0.2.1, released July 29, 2004. Version 0.9 was released December
22, 2005.
KANOTIX
http://kanotix.com/
KANOTIX is a KNOPPIX based live CD using mostly Debian sid packages
optimized for i586. Also available for x86-64. KANOTIX "BUG HUNTER"
08-2004 was announced September 20, 2004. KANOTIX 2006 Preview,
CeBIT-Version, was released March 10, 2006. KANOTX 2006-01-RC4 is
available for testing. After years of chasing Debian unstable (sid),
KANOTIX will be shifting to a more stable base. Debian Etch based
Kanotix 2007 (Thorhammer) RC7 was released January 1, 2008.
KAZIT
http://kazit.berlios.de/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/kazit/
KAZIT is a KNOPPIX-based bootable CD translated into Hebrew. It features
a collection of GNU/Linux software, automatic hardware detection, and
support for many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI devices, and other
peripherals. It can be used as a Linux demo, educational CD, rescue
system, etc. It is not necessary to install anything on a hard disk due
to on-the-fly decompression. KAZIT Beta 2 was released September 20,
2004.
Klax
http://ktown.kde.org/~binner/klax/
Klax is an i486 GNU/Linux Live-CD, very similar to Slax because it's
created with the same Linux Live scripts, but based on Slackware Linux
10.1 and it contains KDE 3.4 Beta 2 code-named "Keinstein". Klax Live-CD
3.4.2 includes KDE 3.4.2. Klax with KDE 3.5 RC 1 was released November
13, 2005.
knopILS
http://knopils.linux.it/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/knopils/
knopILS is a customized version of Knoppix that has an Italian boot
prompt, default keyboard, and default language. Each .deb package
installed belongs to the free tree of Debian GNU/Linux, or could be
classified as such if it is not an official one. Localized .deb files are
present when available, and minor changes were made to graphics. The
initial version was 0.1, released June 12, 2003. Version 0.8 was
released May 17, 2005.
KNOPPIX
http://www.knoppix.com/
http://www.knoppix.net/
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html
German:
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/
This German distribution is the original, Debian-based live CD, spawning
dozens (hundreds?) of remasters and customized live CD distributions.
Take your KNOPPIX CD with you when you're on the road and run Linux
anywhere. KNOPPIX is a complete GNU/Linux installation which runs from
CD, with automatic hardware detection and configuration for many graphics
and sound cards, SCSI devices, and peripherals. Knoppix first showed up
on May 29, 2002. KNOPPIX 5.0 Live DVD was released for CeBIT 2006.
Knoppix 5.3.0 was released during CeBIT 2008. Knoppix 5.3.1, based on
Debian Lenny+unstable, was released released March 26, 2008.
Knoppix 64
http://www.applia.fr/contents/knoppix64.html
http://freshmeat.net/projects/knoppix64/
This version of Linux is a 64 bit Debian based release for 64 bit AMD
machines. The initial release, v3.4-EN-2004-05-31, is remastered from
KNOPPIX 3.4. The goal of this work is to provide a 64 bit development
environment along with the usual desktop tools. Language support includes
English, French and German.
KnoppiXMAME
http://sourceforge.net/projects/knoppixmame
http://public.planetmirror.com/pub/knoppixmame/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/knoppixmame/
KnoppiXMAME is a bootable arcade machine emulator with hardware detection
and autoconfiguration. It works automatically on all modern and
not-so-modern hardware, including gameports and joysticks. It is powered
by Knoppix Debian GNU/Linux, X-MAME, and gxmame. Stable version 1.0 was
released June 18, 2003. Version 1.3 beta 19 was released May 11, 2004.
Linux4all.de
http://www.linux4all.de/livecd/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/rpm-livelinuxcd/
rpm-livelinuxcd started out as a 120MB RedHat-based Live CD. Initial
version 0.9 was released March 5, 2003. Workstation version 1.3 was
released June 12, 2004. Basilisk Workstation v1.40 was released November
29, 2004.
Linux Live
http://www.linux-live.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/linuxlivescripts/
Linux Live is a set of bash scripts which allows users to create their
own live CD from any Linux distribution. It joins the list at version
3.0.27, released January 21, 2004. Version 5.1.8 was released September
26, 2005. Linux Live 6.1.4 was released May 26, 2007.
Linux LiveCD
http://www.wifi.com.ar/english/
Spanish:
http://www.wifi.com.ar/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/cdrouter/
Linux LiveCD is a small and simple LiveCD distribution aimed at broadband
and wifi users. Does not require installation, does not require a hard
disk. There are commerical version of Linux LiveCD Firewall and Linux
LiveCD HotSpot, with features like easy web configuration and management,
vpn, traffic control and QoS, virus, spam and web content filtering.
Linux LiveCD Router version 1.5 was released under the GNU GPL on
November 10, 2003. Linux LiveCD Router 2.0.24 was released June 20,
2007.
Lisp Resource Kit
http://www.common-lisp.net/project/lisp-res-kit/
The Lisp Resource Kit is a dedicated development/learning environment on
a self-booting CD. It is designed to be an easy to use single resource
for those who are interested in exploring Common Lisp, regardless of
their experience or domain of expertise. The initial public release was
on January 20, 2004 at Linux World Expo in New York City. A version
remastered from Knoppix 3.7 was released December 23, 2004.
Local Area Security Linux
http://www.localareasecurity.com/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/las/
L.A.S. Linux is a 'Live CD' distribution based on Knoppix but with a
strong emphasis on security tools and small footprint. There is a 185 MB
version and a 210 MB version. The initial announcement was for version
0.3b on August 8, 2003. Version 0.5 MAIN was released April 7, 2004.
The 210 MB version is at 0.5, released March 5, 2004.
Lonix
http://lonix.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/lonix/
Lonix is a console-based full Linux system which runs from a live CD.
Based on Linux From Scratch, this distribution includes useful utilities
for students and developers. Some servers, such as Apache, Proftpd, and
sshd are pre-configured and included. It can also be used as a partition
tool (featuring fdisk and parted) or as a rescue CD. Currently, the
homepage and some scripts in the CD are just in Spanish. There may be a
future release that is also in English. The initial Freshmeat
announcement for version 1.0rc3, was made on October 13, 2002. Version
1.0rc5 was released October 27, 2002.
MkCDrec
http://mkcdrec.ota.be/
mkCDrec makes a bootable disaster recovery image (CDrec.iso),
including backups of the Linux system to the same CD-ROM (or CD-RW)
if space permits, or to a multi-volume CD-ROM set. Otherwise, the
backups can be stored on another local disk, NFS disk or (remote)
tape. After a disaster (disk crash or system intrusion) the system
can be booted from the CD-ROM and one can restore the complete
system as it was (at the time mkCDrec was run). The current version was
0.9.7 as of June 10, 2007.
Morphix
http://www.morphix.org/
Morphix is a modular distribution, with live-CD support. No
configuration is necessary, just burn the CD and boot it. Morphix is
partly based on KNOPPIX, the rest comes directly from Debian. The
initial version, 0.3-2, was released February 27, 2003. Morphix Base
0.5-pre6 'Amalthea', MorphixLiveKiosk 0.01 and MorphingMorphix v 0.3 were
all released as part of Morphix SVN Commit Day, September 5, 2006.
Medianix, a Morphix-based Asterisk PBX, released version 0.7, May 21,
2007.
Olive
http://web.isteve.bofh.cz/olive/
Olive is a GNU/Linux Live CD distribution that offers both new
technologies and some of the more common pieces of software. It is
small, but useful. The current version was 0.2 when this entry was
added, June 20, 2006.
Phrealon Linux
http://www.halfling.org/phrealon/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/phrealon/
Phrealon is a bootable Linux CD based on Slackware Linux 8.0 designed to
allow the easy imaging of multiple workstations. It utilizes the updcast
set of Linux tools to accomplish this. The initial release, version
0.80, was released November 7, 2002. Version 0.96 was released January
30, 2004.
Plan-B Linux
http://www.projectplanb.org/
Plan-B is a bootable Linux environment without the need for a hard drive,
it runs entirely in RAM or from the CD, based on a basic, stripped
installation of Red Hat Linux and the fundamental workings of the
SuperRescue CD. Contains many tools for emergency system rescue work.
Plan-B version 1.0 was released July 5, 2003.
PlumpOS
http://plumpos.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/plumpos/
PlumpOS is a CD-based mini-openMosix/Linux distribution. Pop the CD into
a 586+ computer and you have an instant openMosix node. It supports
loading 3rd-party packages and adding custom kernels. It was originally a
clone of Clump/os, but it turned into a complete rewrite. Version 6.9
RC1 was released March 27, 2003. Version 7.0-pre3 was still in progress
as of February 1, 2005.
PUD GNU/Linux
http://pud-linux.sourceforge.net/en/
PUD is a mini (less than 200MB) Linux live CD with a complete desktop and
support for Traditional Chinese (zh_TW). The current stable branch is
based on Knoppix and the 0.5 development branch is Ubuntu based. PUD
v0.4.6.6 was released September 29, 2006. PUD LXDE (Lightweight X11
Desktop Environment) Edition was released December 8, 2006. Development
version 0.4.8, based on Ubuntu 7.10, was released October 28, 2007. PUD
GNU/Linux v0.4.8.5, a beta release based on Ubuntu 8.04, was released
March 21, 2008. PUD GNU/Linux 0.4.8.6 LXDE Edition was released April 4,
2008.
Quantian
http://dirk.eddelbuettel.com/quantian.html
The Quantian Scientific Computing Environment is a Knoppix / Debian
variant tailored to numerical and quantitative analysis. Quantian is an
extension of Knoppix from which it takes its base system of about 2.0
gigabytes of software, along with fully automatic hardware detection and
configuration, then Quantian adds a set of programs of interest to
applied or theoretical workers in quantitative or data-driven fields.
Version 0.3 (based on ClusterKnoppix) was released June 10, 2003.
Version 0.7.9.2 was released March 1, 2006.
Salvare
http://salvare.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/salvare/
Salvare (from the Latin "to rescue") is a small Linux distribution
designed for small, credit-card sized CDs which typically hold around
34MB. More Linux than tomsrtbt but less than Knoppix, it aims to provide
a useful workstation as well as a rescue disk. Initial version 0.1.0 was
released July 2, 2003. Version 0.1.5 was released November 1, 2004.
SAM
http://sam.hipsurfer.com/
SAM is a desktop distribution based on Mandriva Linux and PCLinuxOS. SAM
aims to be easy to configure, to update or to enhance through the
Mandriva Control Center and comes with some 3rd party applications like
Macromedia Flash, Java and RealPlayer. You can work right from the live
CD or install SAM permanently to the hard disk. SAM joined the list at
TestRelease 1.0, released September 28, 2004. SAM 2008 "claw" release
candiate 1 was releaesd December 25, 2007.
sidux
http://sidux.com/
sidux was formed by a group of people who strive to do the impossible:
making Debian Sid (aka "Unstable") stable. The goal is becoming the best
Debian Sid based live distro with special focus on clean and easy hard
disk install. Strategic milestones and 3-4 planned releases timetabled
will give stability and accountability to corporate and home users with a
demand for bleeding edge software running on modern hardware, and a
definable path over time. sidux joined the list December 6, 2006,
shortly after its inception. sidux 2007-04.5 "christmas special" was
released December 26, 2007. sidux 2008-01 was released April 12, 2008.
sidux-seminarix, an educational project that merges Seminarix with the
base of sidux, released v2008-01 April 15, 2008.
SLAX-Live CD
http://slax.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/slax/
SLAX-Live CD is a bootable live CD based on Slackware Linux
distribution. All the scripts and source code are included to build your
own live CD, or just download the ISO image. Version 2.9.0.22 was
released September 22, 2003. Version 5.1.6 was released May 23, 2006.
Version 5.1.7 Standard edition was released July 22, 2006. SLAX 5.1.8
was released October 9, 2006. Slax 6.x has a Slackware 12.0 base. Slax
6.0.3 was released March 18, 2008.
Studio to Go!
http://www.ferventsoftware.com/
Studio to Go! is a live CD from Fervent Software with integrated music
software such as Rosegarden, Ardour, LilyPond and so much more. While
not 100% free software (speech or beer), Studio to Go! will be a good
addition to any musician's repertoire. Studio to Go! v1.50 Download
Edition was released November 28, 2005. Studio to Go! v2.0 was released
April 17, 2007.
STUX
http://www.gpstudio.com/stux/
STUX comes in two live CD versions. The first one (called "STUX") is a
full-featured 650MB CD with a complete KDE, GNOME, WindowMaker,
OpenOffice and other major applications. The second product (called
"DINO-STUX") is a small CD reduced to 255MB of data with KDE, KOffice,
Mozilla, Samba and Xine, but not much else beyond the base system. The
STUX project also provides tools for building a custom bootable CD image
from an existing Linux installation. Version 0.9.2 was released November
10, 2006. STUX GNU/Linux 2007 (version 1.0) was released June 5, 2007.
Timo's Rescue CD
http://rescuecd.sourceforge.net/
Timo provides an easy way to generate a rescue system on a bootable
CD, which can be easily adapted to your own needs. The project has
evolved into a "Debian on CD" project, so it's not only possible to
use the system as a rescue CD, it is also possible to install a
whole Debian system on CD. Works with other distributions as well.
Version 0.9.12r2 was released January 1, 2005.
Trinity Rescue Kit
http://trinityhome.org/trk/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/trk/
The Trinity Rescue Kit is based on Mandrake/Mandriva. It is designed to
rescue/repair/prepare dead or damaged systems, be it Linux or Windows. It
now has networking capabilities like ssh and samba and supports about
every network card, disk controller and USB controller. Version 1.1 was
released July 7, 2003. TRK 3.2 was released January 19, 2007. TRK 3.3
build 310 (beta) was released January 17, 2008.
Wolvix
http://wolvix.org/
The Wolvix GNU/Linux LiveCD is a desktop oriented system based on SLAX.
Wolvix allows you to surf the Internet, read email, chat with friends,
watch movies in various file formats including DVD, listen to your
favorite music, create graphics and webpages, and more, including plenty
of games. Wolvix 1.0.4 was released December 1, 2005. A Games Edition
was released December 11, 2005. Wolvix Media Edition 1.0.4 was released
April 24, 2006. Wolvix 1.1.0 (Cub & Hunter) was released August 3,
2007.
X-Evian
http://www.x-evian.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/x-evian/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/x-evian/
X-Evian is a complete Debian GNU/Linux operating system compilation that
comes with 300Mb of copyleft material for the socialization of knowledge
and technologies. X-Evian joins the list at version 0.4.1-beta, released
June 1, 2004. X-Evian 0.7 was released September 16, 2006.
Xfld
http://www.xfld.org/
Xfld is 'Xfce live demo', a GNU/Linux operating system (derived from
Knoppix) that can be run completely from CD. It features an up-to-date
Xfce as desktop environment. The initial version of Xfld uses Xfce 4.1
and is derived from Knoppix 3.4. Xfld 0.2 was released January 16,
2005. Version 0.3, released October 29, 2006, is based on Xubuntu and
features Xfce 4.4.
Zeroshell
http://www.zeroshell.net/eng/
Zeroshell is a Live CD distribution aimed at providing the main network
services a LAN requires. It is also available as a 128MB Compact Flash
image useful if you have to boot your box from this device instead from
CDROM. Zeroshell 1.0.0 is in progress. ZeroShell 1.0.beta7 was released
September 16, 2007.
NBROK
http://www.stack.nl/~nick/nbroklinux.html
If you have an unused 100 or 250 MB ZIP-drive around, give it a new
goal. Use it to run Linux. No hard disk or ramdisk required.
ZipSlack
http://www.slackware.com/zipslack/
ZipSlack is a special edition of Slackware Linux that can be
installed onto any FAT (or FAT32) filesystem with about 100 MB of
free space. It uses the UMSDOS filesystem and contains most of the
programs you will need. This means that you do not need to
repartition your hard disk if you already have DOS or Windows
installed. ZipSlack installs into a directory on your DOS
filesystem. It can also be installed to and booted from a Zip disk.
BasicLinux
http://basiclinux.com.ru/
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/baslinux/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/baslinux/
BasicLinux is a mini-Linux designed specifically for old PCs. It
provides a slim 2.2.16 kernel, a user-friendly shell and a good
assortment of utilities. BasicLinux includes a web browser, comm
program, mail client, telnet client, wget, dhcp and dial-up ppp. It also
includes a small-footprint GUI and is able to run remote X (via network)
with as little as 4mb RAM. Version 1 was based on Slackware 3.5 with
later version based on Slackware 7.1. Version 1.7 was released May 12,
2002. Version 3.50 was released May 31, 2007.
TA-Linux
http://talinux.tal.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/talinux/
TA-Linux is a small, multiplatform Linux distribution. It comes
with just enough to be usable and it's easy to customize to some
particular use. TA-Linux sparc pre-0.2.0-test was released June 6,
2002. A major rewrite of TA-Linux, version 0.2.0-Preview1, was released
July 6, 2002. TA-Linux 0.2.0-Beta1 (Alpha) was released August 15,
2002. Version 0.2.0 RC1 (i386) was released December 7, 2004. An
unstable branch was actively developed. The changelog
for details.
ttylinux
http://www.minimalinux.org/ttylinux/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/ttylinux/
ttylinux is a minimalistic Linux distribution that can run
in as little as 2.88 megabytes of space. It will provide only a
text-based interface, but it enables you to dial into the Internet
and surf web pages even on a low-end machine. Version 3.2 was released
July 7, 2003. Version 6.2 was released October 30, 2007.
VectorLinux
http://www.vectorlinux.com/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/vectorlinux/
VECTORLINUX is a small, fast, Intel Linux operating system based on one
of the original Linux distributions, Slackware. VectorLinux strives to be
a bloat free, easy to install, configure and maintain Slackware based
system. The average user can have a fully functional Slackware Linux
system up in as little as 15 minutes, using VectorLinux. Version 2.5 was
released April 2, 2002. Vector 5.0 SOHO was released February 21, 2005.
Vector Linux-5.8 SOHO was released September 12, 2007. VectorLinux 5.8
live CD GOLD final was released May 28, 2007. VectorLinux Standard 5.9
was released December 21, 2007. VectorLinux 5.9 live CD beta1 was
released December 31, 2007. VL64-5.9-beta1 (optimized for 64-bit
architectures) was released January 9, 2008. VL5.9 Beta1 Light was
released February 11, 2008. VectorLinux-SOHO-5.9-preview liveCD was
released April 8, 2008.
Bambi Linux
ftp://ftp.pdc.kth.se/pub/bambi/
A Red Hat based wireless distribution. Bambi 7.0 was released April 13,
2003. Now Bambi seems to be working on wireless packages for CentOS.
CentOS 5.1 packages were released December 4, 2007.
AlphaLinux.org
http://www.alphalinux.org/
A resource for Linux on Alpha processors.
Bluewhite64 Linux
Project
http://www.bluewhite64.com/
The Bluewhite 64 Linux project is an unofficial port of Slackware Linux
to the AMD64 architecture. Bluewhite64-current v20060609 was available
when this entry was added to the list. Bluewhite64 12.0 was released
July 16, 2007. Bluewhite64 Linux 12.0 Live DVD was released August 6,
2007. Bluewhite64 miniLive was released November 20, 2007. Bluewhite64
12.0-Live-DVD-r1 was released February 4, 2008. Bluewhite64 12.1 was
released May 4, 2008.
PA-RISC Linux
http://parisc-linux.org/
On December 11, 2001 the PA-RISC Linux development community
announced version 0.9.3, the latest version of Linux for computers
using Hewlett Packard's PA-RISC processor. This site continues to track
Linux distributions that support HPPA, including Debian and Gentoo.
Mupper
http://www.mupper.org/
Mupper is a rescue-CD project for the PegasosPPC. It is based on Gentoo
Linux and contains various tools like parted, midnight-commander and
support for various filesystems including FAT, VFAT, ReiserFS, XFS and
EXT3. The live CD also includes some network tools such as snort and
tcpdump. Mupper joins the list at version 0.3 which was released August
28, 2005. Mupper v1.0 was released October 30, 2005. The first version
of mupper for the efika was released December 13, 2006.
PenguinPPC.org
http://penguinppc.org/
PenguinPPC.org does not provide a complete distribution, but it is a good
resource for information about Linux on a wide range of different
PowerPC-based machines, ranging from small embedded systems, through
desktop systems such as the Apple Power Macintoshes and clones, to
high-end servers such as IBM's eServer pSeries (RS/6000) and iSeries
(AS/400) range.
Slackintosh
http://workaround.ch/
The Slackintosh Project aims to get Slack on your Macintosh. Version
10.2 was released October 30, 2005. Slackintosh 11.0 was released
October 8, 2006. Slackintosh 12.0 was released July 15, 2007.
Yellow Dog
http://www.yellowdoglinux.com/
This Resources
Page provides an overview of the Lifecycle of Yellow Dog Linux and
includes a guide to Manual, Semi-Automated, and Fully Automated methods
of updating your local YDL system. Yellow Dog Linux is a complete, Red
Hat and RPM based operating system for PowerPC computers. YDL may
co-exist with Mac OS in a dual-boot environment or replace the Mac OS on
"New World ROM" machines. YDL offers a graphical installer, KDE &
GNOME, and loads of applications to fulfill server, code developer, and
home/office needs. YDL 3.0 was released March 19, 2003. The 64-bit YDL
v4.0.90 was released April 27, 2005. YDL v5.0.2 was released June 14,
2007. YDL 6.0 for Sony PS3, Apple G4/G5, and IBM System p was released
February 5, 2008.
Aurora Sparc Project
http://auroralinux.org/
This Sparc Linux distribution was originally based on Red Hat 7.3. Build
0.2 was announced on December 4, 2001. Build 0.4 (Titanium) was released
September 26, 2002. The first Fedora Core 2 based tree of Aurora SPARC
Linux, Build-1.91 (Code Name Wombat), was released May 29, 2004. Aurora
Build-2.0 (FC3-based) was released April 14, 2006. Aurora 3.0 is FC6
based. Build 2.99 (3.0 beta 2) was released November 30, 2007.
ClarkConnect
http://www.clarkconnect.org/
ClarkConnect is a Red Hat based distribution which can can transform
standard PC hardware into a dedicated broadband gateway and
easy-to-use server. The software is a great solution for small
businesses, home offices, and networked homes. ClarkConnect version 1.1
was released July 31, 2002. ClarkConnect Firewall/VPN Edition 2.2 was
released May 11, 2004. ClarkConnect Office Edition 3.1 was released July
13, 2005. ClarkConnect Professional Edition 3.1 was released July 19,
2005. ClarkConnect 4.0 was released September 18, 2006 with an
Enterprise Edition and a Community Edition. ClarkConnect 4.1 was
released April 19, 2007. ClarkConnect 4.2 was released October 25,
2007. Enterprise and Office Editions of v4.2 were released November 21,
2007.
RULE
http://rule-project.org/
The RULE (Run Up2date Linux Everywhere) project makes an existing
distribution install and run on older hardware. Specifically, it takes
standard Red Hat Linux (now Fedora), adds a custom installer, provides
resource-friendly RPM package lists, and packages alternative
light-weight GPL applications. The advantage of this approach is that the
original distribution provides all the patches and documentation,
reducing the maintenance load for RULE. The RULE Project was started in
February 2002. The current installer "slinky" was released August 28,
2007, for use with Fedora 7.
andLinux
http://www.andlinux.org/
http://wiki.gp2x.org/wiki/AndLinux
andLinux is a complete Linux distribution that runs seamlessly in
Windows. There is no need to partition, dual boot, configure or dedicate
a machine. Users will have a complete Linux environment running along
with Windows in a matter of minutes. The Proof Of Concept v2.1 was
released March 5, 2006. The Proof Of Concept release was based on Debian
unstable. The latest release is a PreBeta, based on Ubuntu's Edgy Eft,
dated November 7, 2006. Beta 1 is "will be out soon" as of January 3,
2008.
Cooperative Linux
http://www.colinux.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/colinux/
Cooperative Linux (or CoLinux) is a version of the Linux kernel that
provides a method for running Linux natively under Microsoft Windows
without commercial PC virtualization software. Development of CoLinux
began in late 2003, with early releases in January 2004. CoLinux
0.7.2 was released November 18, 2007.
TopologiLinux
http://www.topologilinux.com/
http://topologi-linux.sourceforge.net/
TopologiLinux is a free easy to install Linux distribution that runs on
top of a DOS/WIN harddisk without partitioning the disk. Version 1.0,
released August 25, 2002, was based on Slackware 8.1. Topologilinux
5.1.0 was released Januray 3, 2005. Topologilinux 6.1.0 was released
April 12, 2007.
ariane
http://quietsche-entchen.de/cgi-bin/wiki.cgi/ariane/00-WikiIndex
http://freshmeat.net/projects/ariane/
ariane is a console-only Linux system. It boots from CD-ROM into RAM and
does not require a hard disk. It can also be booted from PXE or USB. It
can be used for everything a minimal Linux system could be used for.
ariane joins the list at version 434/51, released May 1, 2004. ariane
version 2 is a minimal Debian system that runs in RAM. Version 2.0.4 was
released August 29, 2007.
K12LTSP
http://www.k12ltsp.org/
K12LTSP is a terminal server appliance distribution originally based on
Red Hat Linux. It's easy to install and configure. Version 4.0, based on
Fedora Core 1, was released December 17, 2003. K12LTSP (Fedora + LTSP)
6.0.0 was released December 24, 2006.
LTSP
http://www.ltsp.org/
The Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) is all about running thin
client computers in a GNU/Linux environment. Version 3.0 was
announced January 7, 2002. LTSP 4.1.1 was released April 19, 2005. Best
Of Show at the 2005 Linux World Conference and Expo in San Francisco.
LTSP-5 packages are available for Debian, Ubuntu and other distributions
since March 2007.
PXES Linux Thin Client
http://www.2x.com/pxes/
http://pxes.sourceforge.net/
PXES will convert any compliant hardware into a versatile thin client
capable of accessing any Microsoft Terminal Server through RDP
protocol. (Future versions will include XDM, VNC and other
protocols). This thin client boots from the network. Version 0.4 was
released March 27, 2002. PXES Universal Linux Thin Client v1.0 was
released November 28, 2005. PXES is now supported by 2X, which offers
the commercially available and supported 2X ThinClientServer. 2X
ThinClientServer PXES edition 3.0 was released July 6, 2006. The free
download requires registration.
Safedesk Terminal Server Project
http://www.safedesk.com/
The Safedesk Terminal Server Project is an open source project based on
Debian Live Net. This Linux terminal server project offers local USB
storage, sound and streaming video support and the design allows one
server with a gigabit port to serve as many as 100+ clients at a time.
The Safedesk 3.1.1 open source edition was released May 16, 2006.
We only list distributions which have a valid website. It may still be
possible to download the source code for these inactive distributions, but
we make no guarantees. Some of these projects might not have ever gotten
that far. There may be other historical distributions listed above.
Alcolix
http://alcolix.sourceforge.net/
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=67784
http://freshmeat.net/projects/alcolix/
alcolix is a minimal Linux rescue distribution with the goals of being
small, compatible, and very usable. It has a cozy shell and a multitude
of partition rescue/editing tools, all based on up-to-date releases
(e.g., 2.4.x kernel with USB support). It uses cpio.bz2 data disks and
has a full GRUB bootloader, memtest86, and more. Version 2.4.20 BETA3
was released June 16, 2003. That was still the latest release as of
January 2006, when this entry was moved to the historical section.
Alindis
http://alindis.sunsite.dk/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/alindis/
http://alindis.sourceforge.net/
A comprehensive guide to building a GNU/Linux distribution. Initial
version 0.0.1 was released January 2, 2002. Version 0.1.0 was released
July 18, 2002. Moved to historical section on October 21, 2004.
aLinux
http://alinux.tv/
aLinux Support Forum
aLinux is a Professional Linux Operating System (700MB) designed for ease
of use and sports a visually stunning Graphical User Interface, while
maintaining a level of sophistication that experienced linux users can
appreciate. Formerly known as Peanut Linux when v12.1 was released
February 23, 2005. The name was changed to aLinux and version 12.2 was
released March 24, 2005. Version 12.8 was released July 31, 2006. No
new releases have been forthcoming, so this entry was moved to historical
April 24, 2008.
ARM Linux
http://www.arm.linux.org.uk/
ARM Linux is a port of the Linux Operating System to ARM processor
based machines mainly by Russell King with contributions from
others. Last update was March 2005.
BBLCD Toolkit
http://freshmeat.net/projects/bblcd/
BBLCD is the acronym for Bernhard's Bootable Linux CD or Build your
own Bootable Linux CD. BBLCD is a toolkit for building your own
bootable Linux CD from your favorite (and possibly customized)
distribution. It uses, more or less, an intelligent
cp -a / /dev/cdrom to create a CDROM from an existing
system. Version 0.7.7 was released April 9, 2003. Version 0.7.10,
released October 1, 2003, seems to be the last release.
Black Cat Linux
http://www.asplinux.ru/ru/blackcat/
Black Cat was a Ukrainian distribution, based on Red Hat Linux and
localized in Ukrainian and Russian. On March 19, 2001 the ASP Linux
company, the developer of a Russian GNU/Linux distribution, and the Black
Cat Linux development team announced a merger. Leonid Kanter the former
leader of Black Cat Linux, heads the development team of this
distribution and the ASP Linux company continues to support numerous
Black Cat Linux users. ASPLinux 12 was released November 30, 2007.
Bonzai Linux
http://developer.berlios.de/projects/bonzai/
Bonzai Linux has been built to offer a Debian based Desktop-OS that fits
on a 180MB CD-R(W). The Distribution includes the current stable version
of KDE and has been modified for easier installation. Version 1.5 was
released May 20, 2003. Version 3.2 was released January 14, 2004.
CDLinux
http://cdlinux.sourceforge.net/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/cdlinux/
This CDLinux was a Chinese Debian GNU/Linux running on a CD. Last
update, March 30, 2001.
Cool Linux CD and Emergency Linux CD
http://emergencycd2.sourceforge.net/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/emergencycd2/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/coollinuxcd/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/emergencycd2/
Emergency CD is a console version liveCD for maintenance operations and
rescuing your system after a crash. Cool Linux CD is a fully functional
Linux desktop system with X graphical interface and many additional
software packages. Cool Linux 2.3 was released September 17, 2003.
Emergency CD 3.0 GE was released October 28, 2003.
Debian-Ham
http://debianham.sunsite.dk/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/debian-ham/
Debian-Ham is a floppy distribution specifically for contesting and
logging. It is based on uClibc, busybox, and tlf. The current scheme uses
a LILO boot floppy with a minix root floppy. Network support is included
to connect to a DX cluster. The initial Freshmeat announcment was for
version 0.3, released July 21, 2002. Version 0.5 was released April 24,
2003. This project is closed but old versions are still available.
DemoLinux
http://www.demolinux.org/
DemoLinux is a complete distribution on a bootable CDROM. Take
Linux with you and run Linux anywhere. The website shows
multi-lingual support for English, French, Italian, Dutch, Spanish,
Portuguese and Japanese. DemoLinux 3.01p15 was released July 27, 2002.
DragonLinux
http://dragonlinux.sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/dragonlinux/
DragonLinux is a complete Linux operating system distribution that has
been customized to install on top of versions of Microsoft Windows or any
version of DOS. DragonLinux v2r2pre was released November 26, 2001.
After a long time in the Historical section, DragonLinux v3r1pre was
released January 10, 2005. This release uses Slackware 10.0 packages.
The source code for this project is available, but it is no longer
developed. Moved back to the historical section January 31, 2008.
Dualix
ftp://ftp.au.xemacs.org/pub/dualix/
Dualix is a mini-distribution of Linux based on libc5, kernel
2.2.10. It is intended for use as a quick, portable, and
configurable network client, not a rescue system. dualix-0.3pre2.tar.gz
is still available for download.
ELKS
http://elks.sourceforge.net/
ELKS: The Embeddable Linux Kernel Subsystem. ELKS 0.1.0-pre4 was
released March 4, 2002. ELKS-0.1.3-pre1 was released July 13, 2003.
Eurielec Linux
http://www.eurielec.etsit.upm.es/linux/
This was a project started by a a club of students at ETSIT (UPM),
according to the Spanish web site.
EvilEntity Linux
http://sourceforge.net/projects/undead
Some say the Linux desktop is dead. Undead Linux seeks to counter that
opinion by offering EvilEntity Linux, an easy to install, easy to use,
i686 "Windows replacement" Linux desktop for the home computer. The
initial release, EvilE DR-0.2.4d, was released April 26, 2002. EvilE
DR-0.2.5 was released January 27, 2003. This project seems to be dead,
but some code is available at SourceForge. Moved to historical April 24,
2008.
Fedora Legacy
http://www.fedoralegacy.org/
The Fedora Legacy Project is a community-supported open source
project. It is not a supported project of Red Hat, Inc. although Red Hat,
Inc. does provide some support services for it. The goal of Fedora
Legacy is to work with the Linux community to provide security and
critical bug fix errata packages for select End of Life Red Hat Linux and
Fedora Core distributions. Support for Red Hat Linux 7.3 and 9 will be
phased out by the end of 2006. Support for Fedora Core 1 and 2 ended
with the release of Fedora Core 6 Test 2 - just as Fedora Legacy began
supporting Fedora Core 4. Fedora Legacy shut down at the end of 2006.
Fried Chicken
http://linuxlab.dk/fcl/
Fried Chicken Linux (FCL) was a Linux software repository designed
for use by students and staff at the IT University of Copenhagen.
FCL contains Fried Chicken Linux packages, integrated with Red Hat
Linux. The Repository furthermore had mirrors of the Red Hat
distributions and updates to these. Automatically updated Red Hat Linux
distributions were provided. The last FCL version mirrored Red Hat 7.1
and the distribution is no longer available.
The LinuxLab at the IT University of
Copenhagen was a project initiated by a donation in 2000 by IBM.
FTOSX
http://www.futuretg.com/FTOSX/
A product of Future Technologies, the FTOSX Desktop is a RPM-based OS for
IA-32 platforms. FTOSX offers more than 1,000 software packages
including its own KDE-base desktop. FTOSX Desktop 2005 seems to be the
last release. Moved to historical April 24, 2008.
Giotto
http://www.quietsche-entchen.de/
giotto is a floppy Linux, a bootable floppy disk that comes
with the necessary parts of the Linux operation system.
giotto boots from a floppy (it can be installed also on a
hard disk) and runs completly out of the system's RAM. Generally no
hard disks are required. Suceeded by ariane. giotto software is
unmaintained but still
available here.
GoodGoat Linux
http://www.goodgoat.com/distro/
GoodGoat Linux is based on Gentoo. It's a simple desktop that can run
from a usb key, hard drive or cdrom disk. Version 1.1 of GoodGoat Linux
was released January 17, 2005. Version 1.2 was released March 26, 2005.
Version 1.4 was released January 14, 2006. This seems to be the final
version as of April 24, 2008, when the entry was moved to historical.
GParted LiveCD
http://gparted-livecd.tuxfamily.org/
GParted-Clonezilla LiveCD
The GParted Live CD puts the power and simplicity of GParted on a
business card sized Live CD. The CD aims to be fast, small in size, and
use minimal resources to get that disk partitioned the way you want
it. GParted LiveCD is based on Slackware Linux and uses Xfree86's Xvesa,
the lightweight Fluxbox window manager, and the lastest 2.6 Linux
Kernel. Version 0.1 was released January 12, 2006. GParted-Clonezilla
LiveCD is a multi-boot live CD, made available in March 2007. GParted
LiveCD-0.3.4-9 was released October 18, 2007. GParted livecd 0.3.4-11
was released December 17, 2007. GPARTED-CLONEZILLA LiveCD 2.3 was
released December 17, 2007. This project announced an end of development
January 21, 2008.
Halloween Linux
http://www.lob.de/cgi-bin/work/outputexpert?id=3c63b810a711f&frame=no
&flag=jfl&menupic=yes&mode=viewone&titnr=210015369&linkcol=005c21
&stich=halloween+&katalog=255
Halloween Linux is a German localized version of Red Hat 5 dating back to
2001.
Independence
http://independence.seul.org/
Independence is a free distribution designed by users for the users
and particularly those who are left out by present distributions. Seems
to died out around the end of 2001.
Jailbait
http://jailbait.sourceforge.net/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/jailbait/
JAILBAIT's Another Interesting Linux But Also Intimidating Too:
A fully-functional Linux distribution that fits into 16 MB. Many
modern net-appliance-type products such as the Netpliance iOpener
have an internal SanDisk device that is 16 MB in size. Version 6,
released June 24, 2000, remains the most current release.
K Linux
http://www.daif.net/klinux/english.html
K Linux was a modified version of Slackware Linux 9.1 with the Zipslack
kernel. It can be installed on a FAT 32 file system with any version of
Windows (9x, NT, 2000, XP). It comes on one CD-ROM and requires at least
2.5 GB of free space on the hard drive. The drive does not need to be
partitioned. The system will be accessible from Windows, appearing to be
another folder, or you can run Linux by booting from a floppy. Localized
in Arabic. Version 2.0 has been the current version since 2004. Moved
to the historical section January 31, 2008.
KRUD
http://www.tummy.com/krud/
tummy.com provides KRUD (Kevin's Red Hat Uber Distribution), based on a
complete Red Hat or Fedora Linux install with all of the errata and
updates included, plus extra packages added in by Kevin of tummy.com.
Monthly updates were available by subscription. The Fedora Core 1 version
became available in February 2004. Fedora Core 3 was the last supported
version. There was also a server-tuned release of KRUD called KRUD
Server. KRUD was discontinued at the beginning of 2006.
Leetnux
http://leetnux.sourceforge.net/index_old.html
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=9567&release_id=9864
Leetnux is a Linux distribution specifically designed for Linux
users who want maximum configuratibility. Therefore, the
installation is quite hard, absolutely nothing is done
"automagically" as in modern Linux distributions, but the user has
total control over the installation. The idea behind Leetnux comes
from Linux From Scratch, but a Leetnux system is not as "pure" as an
LFS system, because a minimal pre-compiled system must be
installed. Version 0.1, released August 15, 2000, is still available
from SourceForge.
Linuxin GNU/Linux
http://linuxin.paislinux.net/
Spanish Linuxin GNU/Linux was based on Debian Woody, with many
ease-of-use type of enhancements, such as automated graphical
installation, hardware autodetection and configuration -- all geared
towards users with little Linux experience. Version 1.0 was released
August 6, 2002.
LoopLinux
http://www.tux.org/pub/people/kent-robotti/looplinux/
This is a Slackware based distribution of the Linux operating system
that can be installed and run from a DOS system, i.e. MSDOS, PCDOS,
DRDOS, and Win9X in DOS mode. With the loop or UMSDOS version of
the Linux system there's no need to repartition. The Linux system
will just be a file or directory on your current DOS/Win9X system,
and act like it was on it's own partition. LoopLinux 3.0 was released
June 4, 2003. Some individual packages were released as recently as
March 2006, but overall development seems to have ceased. Moved to
historical section January 31, 2008.
MCC Interim Linux
ftp://ftp.mcc.ac.uk/pub/linux/distributions/MCC/
MCC Interim Linux was started by the Manchester Computing Centre in
February of 1992, after they made Linux availible on their FTP site
in November of 1991. The distribution was one of the first to use a
combined boot/root disk. Several distributions were based off of MCC
Interim Linux, including TAMU, MJ, and SLS (which later morphed into
Slackware Linux, a distribution that's still alive today).
MkLinux
http://www.mklinux.org/
MkLinux is an open source operating system which consists of an
implementation of the Linux operating system hosted on the Mach
microkernel. It is estimated that there are somewhere between
50,000 and 100,000 MkLinux users. A significant number of the
installed MkLinux systems are being used in mission-critical
applications. Pre-R2 was released August 5, 2002.
Mulimidix
http://freshmeat.net/projects/mulimidix/
Mulimidix is a mini Linux distribution for building a PC-based set-top
box and multimedia player system with digital TV, MP3, DivX,
etc. support, using VDR, Freevo and other tools. It is currently
optimized for i686. Initial version 0.1 was released April 4, 2003.
Version 0.7 was released June 29, 2004. Entry moved to historical March
28, 2007.
muLinux
http://sunsite.dk/mulinux/
muLinux is a minimalistic Linux distribution, suitable for old
computers. X11, GCC, VNC, SSH, Samba, Netscape etc. are supported on
additional addon floppies. It can be installed from DOS/Win9x or Linux,
without repartitioning. Release 14r0 is a very stable, final release and
muLinux itself is not currently under active development.
Netstation Linux
http://sourceforge.net/projects/netstation/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/netstation/
NetStation is a Linux distribution for diskless thin client terminals
using standard x86 hardware. It can boot from network using Etherboot and
connect to an application server using VNC, RDP, X11 or SSH. The initial
release, NetStation 0.1 (alpha), is dated August 28, 2001. Development
version 0.8.2 was released June 6, 2002.
NoMad Linux
http://www.nomadlinux.com/
The web site says NoMad Linux 2.0 is on the way. It has said that for a
long time, though. NoMad first came about in spring of 1997. It is
based on the encap package managing system. NoMad's main purpose was to
keep it's creators happy and give them something to do in their free
time. No doubt it suceeded at that, at least for a while. Nomad was
moved to the historical section March 2006.
Nuclinux
http://tuma.stc.cx/nuclinux.php?lang=en
Nuclinux is a single floppy Linux distribution. One 3.5 in. floppy
contains enough of a system to connect to the Internet from a
networked machine (e.g. school lab, Internet cafe, etc.) It's also
available as a DOS/Windows install. Version 0.9.4 was released December
16, 2000. Nuclinux is no longer actively developed.
Oralux
http://oralux.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/oralux/
Oralux is a GNU/Linux distribution for blind or visually impaired
people. It is based on Knoppix, and runs from the CD-ROM. An audio
desktop replaces the graphical user interface. Initial version 0.03 was
released July 3, 2003. Version 0.7-alpha was released May 8, 2006.
Development has stopped, but the website, its documents and downloads are
still available as of August 16, 2007.
ParallelKnoppix
http://pareto.uab.es/mcreel/ParallelKnoppix/
ParallelKnoppix is a remaster of Knoppix that allows a cluster of
machines for parallel processing using the LAM-MPI and/or MPICH
implementations of MPI, as well as PVM. You can convert a room full of
machines running Windows into a Linux cluster, and when you shut down,
your Windows machines are in their original state. The computers in the
cluster can be homogeneous or heterogeneous. Getting the cluster up and
running takes about 5 minutes, if the machines have PXE network
cards. Clusters from 2 to 200 machines are supported. The tutorial
explains in detail how to set it up. A security enhanced version was
released December 2, 2005. ParallelKnoppix 2.6 was released May 4,
2007. PK 2.8 for 64 bit systems was released November 21, 2007. This was
the final release for ParallelKnoppix. See PelicanHPC for the
continuation of this work.
PeeWeeLinux
http://peeweelinux.com/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/peeweelinux/
PeeWeeLinux is a development effort to provide an environment that makes
the configuration and installation of a Linux operating system on an
embedded platform as easy and painless as possible. PeeWeeLinux v0.61.1
was released February 27, 2002. Moved to historical section March 12,
2004.
Perl/Linux
http://perllinux.sourceforge.net/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/perllinux
Just for fun check out Perl/Linux, a Linux distribution where all
programs are written in perl. The current (only) version is 0.9.5,
released under Artistic License.
Qplus
http://sourceforge.net/projects/qplus/
Qplus is highly configurable embedded Linux system. Based on CML2, you
can configure kernel, applications, libraries, and target specific
information at once through GUI interface. it can be used any embedded
systems such as router, settop box and PDA. Version 1.0 was released
December 16, 2002. Moved to historical section February 1, 2006.
Repairlix
http://repairlix.sourceforge.net/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/repairlix/
Repairlix is a networked Linux distribution/bootable system intended
to fit in 12MB of media - so small that an image can be burned onto
a business-card-sized shaped CDROM, suitable for your wallet. It has
a suite of utilities for doing system recovery. The latest version of
Repairlix is called Nail, dated September 24, 2000 (as of September
2007).
Scrudgeware
http://scrudgeware.org/
Scrudgeware is no longer under development. As a GNU/Linux
distribution, ScrudgeWare was designed with several goals in mind. First
and foremost it was built with 100% Free Software, and without bloat.
ScummLinux
https://sourceforge.net/projects/scummlinux/
ScummLinux creates a bootable Linux CD which includes ScummVM and your
favorites Scumm games, so you can play them anywhere. The initial
version of ScummLinux is 0.1, released July 27, 2003. Version 0.3.1 was
released August 13, 2003.
Sentry Firewall
http://www.sentryfirewall.com/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/sentry_firewall_cd/
Sentry Firewall CD-ROM is a Linux based bootable CD-ROM suitable for
use as an inexpensive and easy to maintain Firewall or IDS
(Intrusion Detection System) Node. The system is designed to be
immediately configurable for a variety of different operating
environments via a configuration file located on a floppy disk or a
local hard drive. Version 1.2.0 was released March 27, 2002. Version
1.5.0-rc16 was released January 13, 2005. According to the website the
project is stalled, posted March 18, 2006.
SnapGear Embedded Linux
http://www.snapgear.org/
SnapGear Embedded Linux is a 100% free distribution supporting several
processors (with an emphasis, perhaps, on MMU-less processors - the
principal developers of uClinux were among the original developers of
SnapGear). SnapGear was acquired by CyberGuard in 2004. SnapGear
appliances
are available
worldwide.
SNAPPIX
http://sourceforge.net/projects/snap/
SNAPPIX is a KNOPPIX-based live CD with many open source Java components
integrated into one compact package. The initial release of SNAPPIX was
v0.7 "FISL-Brazilzle" dated June 1, 2005. SNAPPIX 0.9.1 "OSCON" was
released July 29, 2005. Problems were found and active development
ceased shortly after the last release.
Sorcerer
http://sorcerer.berlios.de/
This distribution was created by the original Sorcerer GNU/Linux author,
Kyle Sallee. Sources are downloaded directly from software authors'
homepages and mirrors. Then, they are compiled with the architecture and
optimizations that the system administrator specifies. Finally, it is
installed, tracked, and archived for easy removal and upgrades. Sorcerer
has both both command line and menu driven package mangement programs. A
public beta, not backward compatible with previous releases of SGL, was
made available April 14, 2002. This project is fairly private, with no
mailing list. Parts of the website haven't been updated recently, but
current packages are available for download as of February 2008.
Splack
http://sourceforge.net/projects/splack
Splack was a volunteer effort to maintain Slackware on Sparc.
Splack v-y1test was released September 30, 2001. Moved to historical
section October 13, 2003.
Sun Java Desktop System
http://wwws.sun.com/software/javadesktopsystem/
Sun Microsystems has a version of Linux targeted toward the enterprise
desktop. The base is SuSE Linux, with Sun's version of the GNOME
desktop, and some of Sun's proprietary software such as StarOffice and
Java development tools. Once codenamed Project MadHatter (August 2003),
the first JDS was released September 30, 2003. The Sun Java Desktop
System, Release 2 became available May 4, 2004. No new versions
expected, although release 3 of Sun Java Desktop System is shipping now
as part of the Solaris 10 Operating System.
SuperRescue
http://www.kernel.org/pub/dist/superrescue/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/superrescue/
SuperRescue is a single very large bootable system-on-a-disk. It's
based on the observation that the vast majority of systems allow you
to do so much more than the minimal system. Therefore, it isn't for
everything, but for most desktop systems, it provides a much nicer
rescue environment than your average rescue floppy. This version
uses transparent compression to fit about 1.4 GB of software onto a
single CD in usable form. Version 2.1.2 was released November 9, 2002.
TimeSys Linux/RT
http://www.timesys.com/products/
TimeSys Linux provides a foundation for embedded systems with any
kind of performance requirements. From non-real-time, to soft
real-time, all the way to hard real-time, TimeSys Linux offers
unsurpassed predictability, robustness, scalability, and is
available on a variety of board/microprocessor configurations. TimeSys
Linux 4.0 was released February 13, 2003. TimeSys released a 2.6
kernel-based embedded Linux distribution and development tools for
PowerPC, March 11, 2004. In August of 2005 TimeSys announced LinuxLink,
a subscription service designed to help people build and maintain their
own distribution. The original TimeSys Linux has been discontinued.
TINY
http://tiny.seul.org/
The website is available in English, French, Spanish, German,
Portuguese and Italian. Tiny Linux is a small Linux distribution
designed especially for old recycled computers.
Tomukas
http://melkor.dnp.fmph.uniba.sk/~garabik/tomukas/
Tomukas was a small Linux mini-distribution, featuring busybox,
tinylogin, mc, joe, ssh, X-window with fvwm1 and not much else. Not
for beginners.
uClibcLinux
http://sourceforge.net/projects/uclibclinux/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/uclibclinux/
uClibcLinux is a Linux distribution based on uClibc. This source-based
distribution has two main goals: - provide an easily extensible
build-system - provide a repository of software compiling and running
with uClibc. Initial version 0.4.5 was released June, 25, 2002. Moved
to historical February 1, 2006.
Unifix
http://www.unifix.de/
Unifix is the original POSIX certified Linux distribution. Last updated
December 25, 2001.
UnitedLinux
http://www.unitedlinux.com/
UnitedLinux was based largely on the SuSE Linux distribution and was the
base system for distributions from UnitedLinux partners SuSE (Europe),
Conectiva (South America), Turbolinux (Asia) and SCO Linux (North
America).
Viralinux_II
ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/install/clienux/interim/
From the makers of cLIeNUX, ViraLinux_II is a LILO boot/root floppy
image that can run without a hard drive and has over 200k free space
on the floppy, ash, eforthl, H3sm and no libc.
Virtual Linux
http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtual-linux/
Virtual Linux is based on Mandrake 8.1, modified to run from CDROM.
Modifications include a new startup script, automatic search and
mount of CDROM drive, and cloop compression. The CD contains 1.7 GB
of software. Version 1.1 was released May 4, 2002.
WinSlack
http://greboguru.org/geek/winslack/
WinSlack is a basic Linux install with KDE and Star Office. It
requires no logon, and gives you a desktop environment similar to
that other leading PC GUI, it also has supermount compiled into the
kernel so that CD-ROM's and floppies are automatically mounted and
unmounted. You can also format floppies from the desktop. Upon
exiting the X session, the machine will shutdown. It is based
primarily on Slackware 7.1 with some modifications.
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when the entry was
added; January 29, 2008.
