Choosing Linux

In practical terms, to run Linux® you will need to choose a Linux distribution. Your choice of a distribution may be influenced by your desktop environment preference.

Linux distributions

There are a few hundred Linux distributions now, from desktop distros such as Ubuntu® to special purpose and mini-distros.

A Linux distribution or distro is an installable operating system package, which includes the free Linux kernel, usually the X Window System, and other free system software, applications, and libraries, and is designed for a specific purpose or user base.

Other Wikipedia articles:
• Linux
• Linux distribution
• List of Linux distributions
• Comparison of Linux distributions
• Comparison of Linux LiveDistros
• Comparison of Windows and Linux

My picks so far:

The Ubuntu family, for recently purchased computers.
Damn Small Linux for older desktops and notebooks.

Some mainstream Linux distros are available in a $40-$60 shrinkwrap retail version, with multiple CDs, a book, and maybe some phone support; or as a free version you can download and burn to a CD, if you have broadband. Or you can buy a book about a particular distribution that comes with a CD copy of the distro in the back (a book that comes with install media, vs. media that come with a book).

For $1.95 plus shipping OSDisc.com will mail you a professionally produced and labeled CD copy of the free Linux distribution of your choice, including LiveDistros and many distros not found in retail outlets. (If you have a DVD drive, order their $5.95 DVD version, if available for your distro, and get six times as much stuff you won't have to download later.) Orders generally go out the next business day. Not only is this much less painful than trying to download a 700MB ISO file, it should also tend to take the stress out of choosing a free distro; just pick one and go for it. If you decide later you'd like to try something else, it's only going to cost you another $1.95, or $4.90 including shipping, when I tried it. There are other vendors that do this, but I like the quality and testimonials for this one.

I think the best references I've seen, for someone new to Linux and trying to choose a first distribution, are the DistroWatch top ten distros page and the Wikipedia articles linked in this section, including the general ones linked here and the ones below about individual distros. (The DistroWatch pages about individual distros, also linked below, have a wealth of information mostly useful to people who already know lots about Linux.)

Handing somebody an installable LiveCD and saying "here, try this" can also be a subversive way to spread Linux.

LiveCD distributions or LiveDistros, which can boot Linux from the CD, can be a good way to experiment with Linux without taking the big step of actually installing it to your hard disk. Generally they can save document files and a file with system configuration changes to some writeable location on your system, such as the hard disk, diskette, or a USB thumb drive. LiveDistros can also allow someone with a particular Linux distro installed to try out other distros, perhaps based on other desktop environments. An installable LiveDistro is a single CD which can be used either to boot the distro from the CD, or to install it onto the hard disk.

Most Linux distributions are designed for a particular usage. Probably the most interesting for individuals are:
• Desktop distros, meant to fulfill the general-purpose role of Microsoft Windows on a user workstation.
• Mini-distros, which can fit on small media and run on computers that are a few years old.
There are also distros designed to run servers, including enterprise servers, distros for security and crash recovery, distros optimized for games or working with movies and other media, and for digital video recording.

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Ubuntu family

Ubuntu® is a free desktop distribution, based on Debian; they even have a program called ShipIt that will mail a CD copy to you free of charge, if you can wait a couple months. Very popular, especially considering it's only existed since 2004, and considered newbie-friendly. Maybe not that great on older hardware. Available as an installable LiveCD, which I think is very cool.

Date of first release of
distro in parentheses

Ubuntu (2004) http://www.ubuntulinux.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: Based on the GNOME desktop environment; available free by mail.
Kubuntu (2005) http://www.kubuntu.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: KDE-based version; also available free by mail.
Edubuntu (2005) http://edubuntu.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: Designed for use in school computer labs, also appropriate for kids to use at home. Available free by mail.
Xubuntu (2006) http://www.xubuntu.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: Xfce-based version, for somewhat older hardware. You'll need 128MB of RAM however, with the Alternate Install CD, or 192MB to install the standard installable LiveCD.

Ubuntu major releases appear about six months apart, and about every two years one of them is identified as a Long Term Support (LTS) release. LTS versions are supported for three years, or about a year beyond the next LTS release. Non-LTS versions are supported for eighteen months. See the Wikipedia Ubuntu articles for current release status.

There are lots of Ubuntu books.

Check out the large Related Websites section on the DistroWatch Ubuntu page, some of which are also linked here.

Ubuntu project home page http://www.ubuntu.com/
Ubuntu Fridge https://fridge.ubuntu.com/
Planet Ubuntu http://planet.ubuntu.com/
Ubuntu Forums http://ubuntuforums.org/
Ubuntu Wiki https://wiki.ubuntu.com/
Ubuntu current version documentation https://help.ubuntu.com/
Community Ubuntu documentation https://help.ubuntu.com/community/
Ubuntu Geek http://www.ubuntugeek.com/
Ubuntu Tips http://www.ubuntutips.net/

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Damn Small Linux

DSL is an interesting mini-distro, designed to fit on and boot from a 50MB business-card format installable LiveCD, on almost any hardware. 50MB is a relatively quick download. Because of the focus on things being small and efficient, it's also good installed on older hardware, down to Pentium I with 32MB RAM. The logo seen here is just a picture of the bizcard CD and sleeve you can buy from the developers.

For information on using DSL on the road, see my mobile computing page.

If the name bothers you, just call it DSL, which is probably what everybody mostly calls it anyway.

DSL includes a word processor, spreadsheet, Web browsers, a POP-mail client, code editors, file managers, a paint program, even games; and comes with the Fluxbox and JWM desktop environments. DSL is based on Knoppix, which in turn is based on Debian. New releases of DSL come several times a year.

DSL (2005) http://damnsmalllinux.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch
DSL Wiki http://damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/
DSL FAQ http://damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/Frequently_Asked_Questions
DSL Forums http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.cgi
MyDSL Repository http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/damnsmall/mydsl/: Extensions for the LiveCD and "frugal install" modes of DSL (download while running DSL).
DSL Compared to Windows http://damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/DSL_Compared_to_Microsoft_Windows: This page is for the Microsoft Windows user who just booted DSL from a LiveCD for the first time, is looking at a completely unfamiliar desktop, and thinking "what goes on here?"
The Official Damn Small Linux Book http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0132338696/: Subtitle: "The Tiny Adaptable Linux That Runs on Anything." The book's authors include the creators of DSL. It comes with a LiveCD containing several versions of an older release of DSL, to which the book refers. I first got interested in DSL as a result of my eye being caught by this title in a bookstore, while I was there after something else.

Like other LiveCD distros, DSL wants to save configuration settings to a backup file in a writeable location, named backup.tar.gz for DSL. Windows will ignore this backup file.

When you boot DSL from the CD, to exit Linux you will need to do one of two things:

Uncheck the backup option in the exit dialog, every time you exit. This tells DSL not to save settings.
Better: in DSL, go to System, Control Panel, Backup/Restore, and set a location for the backup file. The simplest thing is to type in hda1 for the hard disk, meaning the root of the first partition (1) of the first IDE drive (hda). If you prefer, you can also specify a diskette or USB thumb drive.

If you set a backup file location, this setting will be saved in the backup file, along with any other changes you make later, and DSL will exit politely after that without bugging you. So this is the preferred choice.

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Some other distributions

DistroWatch.com is a great reference to CD and DVD Linux distros. Linux Online's Distributions and FTP Sites is another good reference for books with CDs and download sites.

There are several versions of a Linux Distribution Chooser, which recommends one based on a questionnaire:
• zegeniestudios.net
• tuxs.org
• desktoplinuxathome.com

The Linux distribution article on Wikipedia links to a large SVG graphics file showing a family tree and timeline of Linux distros.

Debian and derivatives

Debian (Aug 1993) http://www.debian.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: Early and very flexible distro with thousands of software packages for different computer architectures. Strict quality standards and a lot of structure in how releases are developed. Slow release cycle.
Ubuntu - see previous sections
Damn Small Linux - see previous sections
MEPIS (2003) http://www.mepis.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: Emphasizes ease of use; available as an installable LiveCD. Based on Debian and Ubuntu (which is also based on Debian).
Freespire (2006) http://www.freespire.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch Linspire (2001) http://www.linspire.com/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: Freespire is the free version of Ubuntu-based Linspire; available in LiveCD form. Linspire was called Lindows prior to a 2004 settlement of a 2002 Microsoft lawsuit.
Knoppix (2003?) http://www.knoppix.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch Gnoppix http://www.gnoppix.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: Knoppix is the premier example of a LiveDistro; based on Debian and KDE. Gnoppix is GNOME-based.
Morphix (2004?) http://morphix.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: A modular Knoppix-based Linux distribution, that lets you mix and match modules to produce a custom installable LiveCD. Among other things, you can make it small enough to fit on small media.
Feather Linux (2004) http://featherlinux.berlios.de/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: Another mini-Linux installable LiveCD, Knoppix-based like DSL.
Elive (2005) http://www.elivecd.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: A Debian-based installable LiveCD designed to showcase the eye-candy Enlightenment window manager (see next section) which is sometimes known simply as E. Elive and E will run on some fairly old hardware.

Slackware and derivatives

Slackware (July 1993) http://www.slackware.com/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: Another early Linux distribution. Not the most user-friendly distro. Linux people used to say "if you learn Red Hat, you'll know Red Hat; if you learn Slackware, you'll know Linux."
SLAX (2003?) http://www.slax.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: LiveCD but not installable version of Slackware.
VectorLinux (1999) http://www.vectorlinux.com/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: Meant to be user friendly.
openSUSE (2005?) http://www.opensuse.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: Novell-sponsored program that promotes the use of Linux everywhere; apparently a good choice for older hardware. Can also be run as a LiveCD. The original SUSE Linux (1994) was acquired by Novell in 2004. Novell made a patent deal with Microsoft in late 2006, viewed as tending to legitimize Microsoft's intellectual property claims against Linux, which alienated many users.

Red Hat/Fedora and derivatives

Fedora (2003) http://fedoraproject.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: Free individual-user version of the current Red Hat enterprise distros; meant to be cutting-edge. Available as a LiveCD. The original Red Hat Linux was first released in 1994.
PCLinuxOS (2003?) http://www.pclinuxos.com/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: Considered newbie-friendly; installable LiveCD. KDE-oriented. Fast boot times. Originally based on Mandrake Linux, now known as Mandriva.
Mandriva (1998) http://www.mandrivalinux.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: Primarily a user-friendly desktop distro, with cutting-edge software. Installable LiveCD versions and Mandriva Flash for USB thumb drives. Originally based on Red Hat and KDE. Has had problems with complicated Web presence and customer service, and with financial and organizational stability of the sponsoring company. Formerly Mandrake Linux, prior to a 2004 lawsuit over a cartoon character.

Other

Gentoo penguins are the fastest swimming species.

Gentoo Linux (2002) http://www.gentoo.org/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: Aimed at power users; available in LiveCD form.
Puppy Linux (2003) http://www.puppylinux.com/ Wikipedia DistroWatch: An interesting mini-Linux installable LiveCD. Puppy Linux isn't related to DSL or derived from any other distro, but has now been made compatible with Slackware installation packages.

Many of the more popular or interesting Linux distros are five years old or less. I'm not sure if it means Linux has always had lots of innovation in new distros, or there's just been lots of new distros lately, or there's just been more successful new distros lately. Distro proliferation probably makes things a little confusing for Linux newbies at first, but I'm not sure that can be helped.

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Desktop environments

One big difference relative to Windows: in the Linux world you can choose from a large and diverse variety of desktop environments, more than are listed here, with different design philosophies and levels of complexity. Your environment preference can be a factor in your choice of a Linux distribution.

Sometimes a Linux desktop environment includes a window manager, a file manager, and other tools. Sometimes a leaner package, which is essentially just a window manager, comes with some other tools which enable it to function in the role of a desktop environment.

GNOME was endorsed by Sun and HP in August 2000, which some thought at the time might set off the Linux Desktop Wars.

Wikipedia articles:
• Desktop environment
• Comparison of environments
• X window manager

GNOME, KDE

GNOME and KDE are the most widely used desktop environments; most desktop distros come with one or the other or both.

GNOME http://www.gnome.org/ Wikipedia
KDE http://www.kde.org/ Wikipedia
KDE vs. GNOME http://www.psychocats.net/essays/kdevsgnome
Comparison of desktops http://linuxreviews.org/software/desktops/
KDE vs. GNOME: Is One Better? http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/article.php/3671906

Reduced footprint environments

Xfce http://www.xfce.org/ Wikipedia
ROX http://rox.sourceforge.net/desktop/static.html Wikipedia: Two user-friendly but lighter environments; Xfce is used in the Xubuntu distro, and is probably third in popularity after GNOME and KDE.
Enlightenment http://www.enlightenment.org/ Wikipedia: An innovative and highly configurable eye-candy desktop environment, sometimes known simply as E. Also considered reduced-footprint; not as newbie-friendly as GNOME/KDE/Xfce. Screen shots of E in action are quite striking and worth a look; or you can get the Elive installable LiveCD distribution, and play with E in functional form without committing to installing anything.

Minimalist window managers

Blackbox http://blackboxwm.sourceforge.net/ Wikipedia
Fluxbox http://fluxbox.sourceforge.net/ Wikipedia
Openbox http://www.icculus.org/openbox/ Wikipedia
Joe's Window Manager (JWM) http://joewing.net/programs/jwm/ Wikipedia: The 50MB Damn Small Linux distro comes with JWM and Fluxbox. JWM looks a bit like Windows 9x.
IceWM http://www.icewm.org/ Wikipedia: IceWM isn't derived from any other window manager, as with Fluxbox and Openbox, and has themes available which look very much like Windows 9x or XP.
ratpoison http://www.nongnu.org/ratpoison/ Wikipedia
wmii http://www.suckless.org/wiki/wmii Wikipedia: Really minimalist; ratpoison is called that because it is totally keyboard-based, i.e. it killed the mouse.

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