- Distributions
- Learning Resources
- X Desktop Environments
- X Windows Managers
- Applications
- Useful Websites
- Related Awesome Lists
- License
Distributions are organized into three different categories: for beginners, for intermediate users and for advanced users. In those categories, the distributions are organized in the alphabetical order.
elementary OS is an Ubuntu-based desktop distribution. Some of its more interesting features include a custom desktop environment called Pantheon and many custom apps including Photos, Music, Videos, Calendar, Terminal, Files, and more. It also comes with some familiar apps like the Midori web browser and Geary mail.
Latest version: elementary OS Loki (0.4)
Default Desktop Environment: Pantheon
Fedora (formerly Fedora Core) is a Linux distribution developed by the community-supported Fedora Project and owned by Red Hat. Fedora contains software distributed under a free and open-source license and aims to be on the leading edge of such technologies. Fedora has a reputation for focusing on innovation, integrating new technologies early on and working closely with upstream Linux communities. The default desktop in Fedora is the GNOME desktop environment and the default interface is the GNOME Shell. Other desktop environments, including KDE, Xfce, LXDE, MATE and Cinnamon, are available. Fedora Project also distributes custom variations of Fedora called Fedora spins. These are built with specific sets of software packages, offering alternative desktop environments or targeting specific interests such as gaming, security, design, scientific computing and robotics.
Latest version: Fedora Twenty Five (25)
Default Desktop Environment: GNOME
Screenshot:
Linux Mint is an Ubuntu-based distribution whose goal is to provide a more complete out-of-the-box experience by including browser plugins, media codecs, support for DVD playback, Java and other components. It also adds a custom desktop and menus, several unique configuration tools, and a web-based package installation interface. Linux Mint is compatible with Ubuntu software repositories.
Latest version: Linux Mint Sarah (18)
Default Desktop Environment: Cinnamon and MATE
Screenshot:
Ubuntu is a complete desktop Linux operating system, freely available with both community and professional support. The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Manifesto: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit. "Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.
Latest version: Ubuntu 16.10 (Yakkety Yak)
Default Desktop Environment: Unity
Screenshot:
CentOS as a group is a community of open source contributors and users. Typical CentOS users are organisations and individuals that do not need strong commercial support in order to achieve successful operation. CentOS is 100% compatible rebuild of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux, in full compliance with Red Hat's redistribution requirements. CentOS is for people who need an enterprise class operating system stability without the cost of certification and support.
Latest version: CentOS 7.1602
Default Desktop Environment: GNOME
Screenshot:
The Debian Project is an association of individuals who have made common cause to create a free operating system. This operating system is called Debian GNU/Linux, or simply Debian for short. Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel. [...] Debian comes with over 50,000 packages (precompiled software that is bundled up in a nice format for easy installation on your machine) - all of it free. It's a bit like a tower. At the base is the kernel. On top of that are all the basic tools. Next is all the software that you run on the computer. At the top of the tower is Debian -- carefully organizing and fitting everything so it all works together.
Latest version: Debian Jessie (8.6)
Default Desktop Environment: GNOME
Screenshot:
Mageia is a fork of Mandriva Linux formed in September 2010 by former employees and contributors to the popular French Linux distribution. Unlike Mandriva, which is a commercial entity, the Mageia project is a community project and a non-profit organisation whose goal is to develop a free Linux-based operating system.
Latest version: Mageia 5
Default Desktop Environment: KDE
Screenshot:
Manjaro Linux is a fast, user-friendly, desktop-oriented operating system based on Arch Linux. Key features include intuitive installation process, automatic hardware detection, stable rolling-release model, ability to install multiple kernels, special Bash scripts for managing graphics drivers and extensive desktop configurability. Manjaro Linux offers Xfce as the core desktop options, as well as a minimalist Net edition for more advanced users. Community-supported GNOME 3/Cinnamon and KDE flavours are available. Users also benefit from the supportive and vibrant Manjaro community forum.
Latest version: Not applicable (Rolling Release system)
Default Desktop Environment: XFCE, KDE
Screenshot:
The openSUSE project is a community program sponsored by SUSE Linux and other companies. Promoting the use of Linux everywhere, this program provides free, easy access to openSUSE, a complete Linux distribution. The openSUSE project has three main goals: make openSUSE the easiest Linux for anyone to obtain and the most widely used Linux distribution; leverage open source collaboration to make openSUSE the world's most usable Linux distribution and desktop environment for new and experienced Linux users; dramatically simplify and open the development and packaging processes to make openSUSE the platform of choice for Linux developers and software vendors. It also offers a rolling release version called Tumbleweed for experienced users.
Latest version: openSUSE Leap 42.1 and openSUSE Tumbleweed (Rolling Release system)
Default Desktop Environment: KDE, GNOME, XFCE, LXDE (Choose on installation)
Screenshot:
Arch Linux is an independently developed, i686- and x86_64-optimised Linux distribution targeted at competent Linux users. It uses 'pacman', its home-grown package manager, to provide updates to the latest software applications with full dependency tracking. Operating on a rolling release system, Arch can be installed from a CD image or via an FTP server. The default install provides a solid base that enables users to create a custom installation. In addition, the Arch Build System (ABS) provides a way to easily build new packages, modify the configuration of stock packages, and share these packages with other users via the Arch Linux user repository.
Latest version: Not applicable (Rolling Release system)
Default Desktop Environment: Not applicable (there's no default Desktop environment)
Screenshot: Not applicable (there's no default look)
CoreOS is a Linux-based operating system for servers. Built from the ground up and designed primarily for the modern data centre, CoreOS provides specialist tools for making the system secure, reliable and up-to-date. Some of the more interesting features of the distribution include reliable updates and patches via FastPatch, a dashboard for managing rolling updates via CoreUpdate, a docker for packaging applications, as well as support for bare metal and many cloud providers.
Speciality: Clusters
Latest version: CoreOS 1221.0.0
Kali Linux (formerly known as BackTrack) is a Debian-based distribution with a collection of security and forensics tools. It features timely security updates, support for the ARM architecture, a choice of four popular desktop environments, and seamless upgrades to newer versions.
Speciality: Penetration testing
Latest version: Not applicable (Rolling Release system since 2016.1 version)
Puppy Linux is yet another Linux distribution. What's different here is that Puppy is extraordinarily small, yet quite full-featured. Puppy boots into a ramdisk and, unlike live CD distributions that have to keep pulling stuff off the CD, it loads into RAM. This means that all applications start in the blink of an eye and respond to user input instantly. Puppy Linux has the ability to boot off a flash card or any USB memory device, CDROM, Zip disk or LS/120/240 Superdisk, floppy disks, internal hard drive. It can even use a multisession formatted CD-RW/DVD-RW to save everything back to the CD/DVD with no hard drive required at all.
Speciality: Low system requirements
Latest version: Puppy Linux 6.3
Ubuntu Studio is a variant of Ubuntu aimed at the GNU/Linux audio, video and graphic enthusiast as well as professional. The distribution provides a collection of open-source applications available for multimedia creation.
Speciality: Multimedia creation
Latest version: Ubuntu Studio 16.10
The Linux Command Line [4.34] [FREE]
This is a great introduction to the Linux command line. - @4iar
You've experienced the shiny, point-and-click surface of your Linux computer—now dive below and explore its depths with the power of the command line.
Good book that teaches you the basics of Debian GNU/Linux administration. - @elninosi
It covers all the topics that a competent Linux administrator should master, from the installation, update of the system, up to the creation of packages and the compilation of the kernel, but also monitoring, backup and migration. Plus advanced topics to secure services, automated installations, or virtualization.
Organized by the Linux Foundation, it's a great free course to learn basics about Linux. - @aleksandar-todorovic
If you used Windows and decided to switch to Linux, this course should help you to find their alternatives. It's pretty short and you can finish it in a day. - @aleksandar-todorovic
You cannot talk about a unified Linux look because there is no such thing.
GNOME 3 is an easy and elegant way to use your computer. It is designed to put you in control and bring freedom to everybody. GNOME 3 is developed by the GNOME community, a diverse, international group of contributors that is supported by an independent, non-profit foundation.
The KDE® Community is an international technology team dedicated to creating a free and user-friendly computing experience, offering an advanced graphical desktop, a wide variety of applications for communication, work, education and entertainment and a platform to easily build new applications upon. We have a strong focus on finding innovative solutions to old and new problems, creating a vibrant atmosphere open for experimentation.
Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment for UNIX-like operating systems. It aims to be fast and low on system resources, while still being visually appealing and user friendly.
The "Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment" is an extremely fast-performing and energy-saving desktop environment. Maintained by an international community of developers, it comes with a beautiful interface, multi-language support, standard keyboard short cuts and additional features like tabbed file browsing. LXDE uses less CPU and less RAM than other environments. It is especially designed for cloud computers with low hardware specifications, such as netbooks, mobile devices (e.g. MIDs) or older computers. LXDE can be installed on many Linux distributions including Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE and Ubuntu. It is the standard for Knoppix and lubuntu. LXDE also runs on OpenSolaris and BSD. LXDE provides a fast desktop experience; connecting easily with applications in the cloud. LXDE supports a wealth of programs that can be installed locally with Linux systems. The source code of LXDE is licensed partly under the terms of the GNU General Public License and partly under the LGPL.
- Cinnamon - Cinnamon strives to provide a traditional user experience. Cinnamon is a fork of GNOME 3.
- EDE - EDE is a small desktop environment built to be responsive, light in resource usage and to have a familiar look and feel.
- Enlightenment - The Enlightenment desktop shell provides an efficient window manager based on the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries along with other essential desktop components like a file manager, desktop icons and widgets. It supports themes, while still being capable of performing on older hardware or embedded devices.
- LXQt - LXQt is the Qt port and the upcoming version of LXDE, the Lightweight Desktop Environment. It is the product of the merge between the LXDE-Qt and the Razor-qt projects: A lightweight, modular, blazing-fast and user-friendly desktop environment.
- MATE - Mate provides an intuitive and attractive desktop to Linux users using traditional metaphors. MATE is a fork of GNOME 2.
- Pantheon - Pantheon is the default desktop environment originally created for the elementary OS distribution. It is written from scratch using Vala and the GTK3 toolkit. With regards to usability and appearance, the desktop has some similarities with GNOME Shell and Mac OS X.
- Unity - Unity is a shell for GNOME designed by Canonical for Ubuntu.
- 9wm - 9wm is an X window manager which attempts to emulate the Plan 9 window manager 8-1/2 as far as possible within the constraints imposed by X.
- awesome - awesome is a highly configurable, next generation framework window manager for X. It is very fast, extensible and licensed under the GNU GPLv2 license.
- Blackbox - Blackbox is the fast, lightweight window manager for the X Window System you have been looking for, without all those annoying library dependencies. Blackbox is built with C++ and contains completely original code (even though the graphics implementation is similar to that of WindowMaker).
- bspwm - bspwm is a tiling window manager that represents windows as the leaves of a full binary tree.
- Compiz - OpenGL compositing window manager. It has a plug-in system to be changed at runtime.
- dwm - dwm is a dynamic window manager for X. It manages windows in tiled, monocle and floating layouts. All of the layouts can be applied dynamically, optimising the environment for the application in use and the task performed.
- Enlightenment - Enlightenment is not just a window manager for Linux/X11 and others, but also a whole suite of libraries to help you create beautiful user interfaces with much less work than doing it the old fashioned way and fighting with traditional toolkits, not to mention a traditional window manager.
- Fluxbox - Fluxbox is a windowmanager for X that was based on the Blackbox 0.61.1 code. It is very light on resources and easy to handle but yet full of features to make an easy, and extremely fast, desktop experience. It is built using C++ and licensed under the MIT-License.
- FVWM - FVWM is an extremely powerful ICCCM-compliant multiple virtual desktop window manager for the X Window system.
- i3 - i3 is a tiling window manager, completely written from scratch. The target platforms are GNU/Linux and BSD operating systems, our code is Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) under the BSD license. i3 is primarily targeted at advanced users and developers.
- IceWM - IceWM is a window manager for the X Window System (freedesktop, XFree86). The goal of IceWM is speed, simplicity, and not getting in the user's way.
- JWM - JWM is a light-weight window manager for the X11 Window System. JWM is written in C and uses only Xlib at a minimum. Because of its small footprint, JWM makes a good window manager for older computers and less powerful systems, such as the Raspberry Pi, though it is perfectly capable of running on modern systems.
- Matchbox - Matchbox is an Open Source base environment for the X Window System running on non-desktop embedded platforms such as handhelds, set-top boxes, kiosks and anything else for which screen space, input mechanisms or system resources are limited.
- Mutter - Mutter is a window manager for the X Window System, and is in the process of becoming a Wayland compositor; it became the default window manager in GNOME 3, replacing Metacity.
- Openbox - Openbox is a highly configurable, next generation window manager with extensive standards support.
- pekwm - pekwm is a window manager that once upon a time was based on the aewm++ window manager, but it has evolved enough that it no longer resembles aewm++ at all.
- ratpoison - Ratpoison is a simple Window Manager with no fat library dependencies, no fancy graphics, no window decorations, and no rodent dependence. It is largely modelled after GNU Screen which has done wonders in the virtual terminal market.
- Sawfish - Sawfish is an extensible window manager using a Lisp-based scripting language. Its policy is very minimal compared to most window managers. Its aim is simply to manage windows in the most flexible and attractive manner possible.
- wmii - A small, scriptable window manager, with a 9P filesystem interface and an acme-like layout.
- xmonad - xmonad is a dynamically tiling X11 window manager that is written and configured in Haskell. In a normal WM, you spend half your time aligning and searching for windows. xmonad makes work easier, by automating this.
The list of awesome Linux applications that you should be using.
- cmus - Small, fast and powerful console music player for Unix-like operating systems.
- fuck - A magnificent command line tool which corrects your previously mistyped command (see this
.gif). - git - Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency. Git is easy to learn and has a tiny footprint with lightning fast performance. It outclasses SCM tools like Subversion, CVS, Perforce, and ClearCase with features like cheap local branching, convenient staging areas, and multiple workflows.
- glances - A cross-platform curses-based system monitoring tool written in Python.
- htop - nice looking, customizable TUI task manager.
- nano - A text editor which aims to introduce a simple interface and intuitive command options to console based text editing. nano supports features including colorized syntax highlighting, DOS/Mac file type conversions, spellchecking and UTF-8 encoding. nano opened with an empty buffer typically occupies under 1.5 MB of resident memory.
- photorec - A useful tool for restoring deleted files.
- ranger - A VIM-inspired filemanager for the console.
- screenFetch - Fetches system/theme information in terminal for Linux desktop screenshots.
- speed-test - Test your Internet connection speed and ping using speedtest.net from the CLI.
- testdisk - A tool for disk partition recovery.
- tig - An ncurses-based text-mode interface for git. It functions mainly as a Git repository browser, but can also assist in staging changes for commit at chunk level and act as a pager for output from various Git commands.
- vim - Vim is an advanced text editor that seeks to provide the power of the de-facto Unix editor 'Vi', with a more complete feature set.
- vtop - Command-line tools like “top” make it difficult to see CPU usage across multi-process applications (like Apache and Chrome), spikes over time, and memory usage. Vtop is a free and open source activity monitor for the command line. It’s written in node.js and can be easily extended.
- wavemon - An ncurses-based monitoring application for wireless network devices.
- Geany - A really small GTK IDE and versatile text editor, extendable with plugins.
- Gedit - Gedit is the GNOME text editor. While aiming at simplicity and ease of use, gedit is a powerful general purpose text editor.
- GNOME Builder - Builder is a new IDE for GNOME that is focused on bringing the power of our platform to more developers than ever before. It is currently under heavy development and needs your help to become a success.
For general GNOME apps, visit: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps
- Dolphin File Manager - File manager for KDE focusing on usability.
To add new content to this section, please refer to the CONTRIBUTING.md file.
- GParted - The most popular disk partitioning software out there.
- Zathura - Highly customizable document viewer. It provides a minimalistic and space saving interface as well as an easy usage that mainly focuses on keyboard interaction.
To add new content to this section, please refer to the CONTRIBUTING.md file.
- Y PPA Manager (Ubuntu) - Search for packages in Launchpad PPAs.
- PacmanXG (Arch) - GUI front-end for pacman. Depends on neither GTK+ nor Qt, just X11.
- pirut (Fedora) - pirut provides a set of graphical tools for managing software.
- Synaptics (Debian and
.debusers) - A graphical package management program for apt. It provides the same features as the apt-get command line utility with a GUI front-end based on Gtk+. - YaST (openSUSE) - The main package management tool on openSUSE.
- YumEx (Fedora) - YumEx is a GUI for the dnf package manager, it is written in Python and is using the PyGTK toolkit for GUI components.
- Yaourt (Arch) - Yaourt (Yet AnOther User Repository Tool) is a wrapper for pacman which adds automated access to the AUR using the same syntax as pacman.
- Aura (Arch) - A secure, multilingual package manager for Arch Linux and the AUR.
A friendly place to start for the Free & Open Source Software and Linux curious.
Find better alternatives to the software you already use or a replacement for software you cannot or do not want to use.
The Linux Foundation is a non-profit consortium dedicated to fostering the growth of Linux. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and is supported by leading Linux and open source companies and developers from around the world.
For the community, by the community, Linux.com strives to be the central source for informed, reasonable, and intelligent Linux information, software, documentation and answers across the server, desktop/netbook, mobile, and embedded areas.
Although its design is outdated, Linux.org is (probably) the most popular forum and it's full of awesome Linux tutorials categorized by their difficulty. - @aleksandar-todorovic
The Linux Kernel Organization is a California Public Benefit Corporation established in 2002 to distribute the Linux kernel and other Open Source software to the public without charge.
Opensource.com is an online publication focused on how open source is applied to different areas including business, education, government, health, law and other disciplines of life.
Our goal is to further the open source way by sharing the open source movement. Our community of readers is made up of those who believe that open participation and sharing can tackle the business, social, environmental, and technological challenges facing us today.
This repository is licensed under the Do What the Fuck You Want to Public License. Its full content is located in the LICENSE file.