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The LWN.net Linux Distribution List

  • Wifislax
    http://www.wifislax.com/
    Wifislax is a Slackware-based live CD with a collection of utilities designed to perform various security and forensics tasks. Wifislax joined the list with the release of version 4.7 (based on Slackware 14.1 - released November 10, 2013). Wifislax 4.11.1 was released July 29, 2015. Wifislax 4.12 was released August 6, 2016. WifiSlax64 2.0 was the current version in May 2020.

    Special Purpose/Mini

    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.

  • 4MLinux
    http://4mlinux.com/
    http://sourceforge.net/projects/linux4m/
    4MLinux is a miniature Linux distribution focusing on four capabilities: Maintenance (system rescue live CD), Multimedia (supports most image, audio and video formats), Miniserver (DNS, FTP, HTTP, MySQL, NFS, Proxy, SMTP, SSH, and Telnet), and Mystery (includes a collection of classic Linux games). 4M joined the list with the release of 4MLinux-3.0-rescue-edition, dated September 16, 2011. 4MLinux 12.0 Allinone Edition was released May 9, 2015. 4MLinux 33.0 was released June 14, 2020. 4MLinux 35.0 was released December 24, 2020. 4MLinux 36.0 was released March 27, 2021. 4MLinux 37.0 was released July 31, 2021.

  • ABC GNU/Linux
    http://www.ehu.es/AC/ABC.htm
    ABC GNU/Linux is an Ubuntu based distribution for building Beowulf clusters. It can be initated from a live DVD or from a disk installation and can be used to automatically configure other machines in the cluster.

  • Android-x86
    http://www.android-x86.org/
    Android-x86 is a project to port Android to x86 platforms. Android-x86 4.4-RC2 (KitKat-x86) was released May 20, 2014. Android-x86 4.4-r5 (KitKat-x86) was released February 6, 2016. Android-x86 6.0-r3 (Marshmallow-x86) was released April 24, 2017. Android-x86 7.1-r4 (Nougat-x86) was released May 16, 2020. Android-x86 8.1-r6 (Oreo-x86) was released June 23, 2021. Android-x86 9.0-r2 (pie-x86) was released March 25, 2020.

  • Apertis
    https://wiki.apertis.org/Main_Page
    Apertis is an open source GNU/Linux-based platform for infotainment in automotive vehicles. It uses GNOME libraries and components. It was in active development, with a 3-month release cycle and daily builds, when this entry was added, September 8, 2016. Apertis 2020.0, based on Debian 10 "buster", was released in Q1 of 2020.

  • APODIO
    http://apodio.org/
    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. APODIO 10.3 was released May 6, 2015. APODIO 12 was released December 2019.

  • AsteroidOS
    http://asteroidos.org/
    AsteroidOS is an open-source operating system for smartwatches. A developer preview was available when this entry was added, June 28, 2016. Alpha 1.0 was available in January 2017 and supported four types of smartwatches. AsteroidOS 1.0 was released May 15, 2018.

  • Audiophile Linux
    https://www.ap-linux.com/
    Audiophile (AP) Linux aims to be the best digital music player. Based on Arch Linux, Audiophile uses a custom real time kernel for improved audio processing. AP-Linux V4 was released April 16, 2017. Audiophile Linux V5.0 was released December 20, 2019.

  • AV Linux
    http://www.bandshed.net/avlinux/
    AV Linux is an Audio/Graphics/Video workstation based on Debian Testing and Xfce. AV Linux 3.0 was a full-featured LiveDVD. It was created using the Debian GNU/Linux Testing branch and Remastersys. Once installed AV Linux transforms the users computer into a full-blown Audio/Video Workstation. Its program selection covers most common everyday computer tasks, including a full complement of the best F/OSS Multimedia Applications available allowing users to enjoy Multitrack Audio Recording and Mixing, Video Capturing, Editing and Converting, DVD Authoring and Creation, iPod Tools and much more. AV Linux also contains Hard Drive utilities making it an excellent troubleshooting and rescue solution. AV Linux joined the list with the release of 3.0R1 (revision 1) dated January 15, 2010. AV Linux 6.0 'The Now' was released August 16, 2012, with an announcement that no further releases were planned. As it happens, AV Linux 6.0.1 was released June 4, 2013. AV Linux 2016 was released March 24, 2016. AVL 2020.5.10 was released May 9, 2020. AV Linux MX Edition, released November 25, 2020, was based on MX Linux 19.3. AVL-MXE 2021.05.22 is out.

  • Bedrock Linux
    http://bedrocklinux.org/
    Bedrock Linux is a Linux distribution created with the aim of making most of the (often seemingly mutually-exclusive) benefits of various other Linux distributions available simultaneously and transparently. If one would like a rock-solid stable base (for example, from Debian or a RHEL clone) yet still have easy access to cutting-edge packages (from, say, Arch Linux), automate compiling packages with Gentoo's portage, and ensure that software aimed only for the ever popular Ubuntu will run smoothly - all at the same time, in the same distribution - Bedrock Linux will provide a means to achieve this. Bedrock combines the Linux kernel with the Busybox userspace for a lightweight base system. The first alpha version was released August 3, 2012. Bedrock 0.7.3 Poki was released April 14, 2019. Bedrock 0.7.17 was released April 30, 2020.

  • BG-Rescue Linux
    http://www.giannone.ch/rescue/current/
    BG-Rescue Linux is a very small distribution mainly intended for rescue purposes. Boots from CD/DVD or USB stick and runs in ram. It joined the list at version 0.1.2, released July 12, 2003. Version 7.2.0 was released January 12, 2020. BG-Rescue 8.0 was released June 30, 2020.

  • BitKey
    https://bitkey.io/
    BitKey is a Debian stable based distribution aimed at Bitcoin users. It is meant to be run from USB drive or CD/DVD where it will run in RAM. It has everything you need to perform highly secure air-gapped Bitcoin transactions. Under the hood it contains a swiss army knife of handy Bitcoin tools that support a wide range of usage models, including a few very secure ones which would otherwise be difficult to perform. BitKey is a side project by the core developers of TurnKey GNU/Linux. The initial release, version 14.1.0, was dated January 20, 2017. BitKey 14.2.0 was released May 22, 2017.

  • CAELinux
    https://www.caelinux.com/CMS3/index.phpCAElinux
    https://sourceforge.net/projects/caelinux/
    CAELinux aims to create a complete platform for open source engineering development: Computer Aided Design & Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) and simulation (CAE, FEA/CFD), electronics design, scientific computing, programming, and mathematical modeling. CAELinux 2020, based on Xubuntu 18.04, was released August 11, 2020.

  • Chromium OS
    http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os
    Chromium OS is an open-source project that aims to build an operating system that provides a fast, simple, and more secure computing experience for people who spend most of their time on the web. All apps are web apps. The entire experience takes place within the browser and there are no conventional desktop applications. Each app is contained within a security sandbox. The source was first released November 19, 2009.

  • Clear Linux
    https://clearlinux.org/
    Intel's Clear Linux Project is a distribution built for various Cloud use cases. It aims to be a showcase of the best of Intel Architecture technology and performance, from low-level kernel features to complex applications that span across the entire OS stack. An unversioned release of Clear Linux was dated January 20, 2017.

  • Clonezilla Live
    https://clonezilla.org/
    http://sourceforge.net/projects/clonezilla/
    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 1.2.1-53 (stable) was released April 7, 2009. Clonezilla live 2.7.3-19 (stable) was released August 24, 2021.

  • CloudLinux OS
    https://www.cloudlinux.com/
    CloudLinux OS is designed for shared hosting providers. It isolates each customer into a separate "Lightweight Virtualized Environment" (LVE), which partitions, allocates, and limits server resources, like memory, CPU, and connections, for each tenant. A commercial offering which you try free for 30 days. On December 10, 2020 CloudLinux announced plans to release a free, open-sourced, community-driven, 1:1 binary compatible fork of RHEL8 (and future releases) in the Q1 of 2021. This fork is called AlmaLinux. AlmaLinux beta was released February 10, 2021. See the entry for AlmaLinux under General Purpose.

  • Cumulus Linux
    https://cumulusnetworks.com/
    Cumulus Linux allows you to affordably build and efficiently operate your network like the world’s largest data center operators — unlocking vertical network stacks. With Cumulus Linux, customers can run their data center networks the way Google and Facebook have done for years, highly automated, without all the development time or expensive, specialized hardware. Cumulus Linux 3.3 was released May 2, 2017. Cumulus Linux 3.6 was released April 30, 2018.

  • DebianDog
    https://debiandog.github.io/doglinux/
    DebianDog is a very small Debian Live CD shaped to look and act like Puppy Linux. Debian structure and Debian behaviour are untouched and Debian documentation is 100% valid for DebianDog. You have access to all debian repositories using apt-get or synaptic. There are several Dogs such as DebianDog-Jessie and XenialDog. DebianDog was added to the list February 28, 2017. BusterDog was released November 3, 2019.

  • Debian-Med
    http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-med/
    Debian-Med is a pure-blend that aims to develop Debian into an operating system that is particularly well fit for the requirements for medical practice and biomedical research. All packages in Debian Med are available in Debian.

  • distri
    https://distr1.org/
    distri is a proof-of-concept implementation of a simple linux distribution that is still useful. It was created to research fast package management. It is not recommended for anything other than research; it is published in the hope that other, more established distributions, will find some parts of it interesting and decide to integrate those. distri supersilverhaze was released May 16, 2020.

  • DNALinux
    http://www.dnalinux.com/
    DNA Linux is Ubuntu based with bioinformatics software included. It started out as a live CD based on SLAX, but now it runs in the cloud on AWS EC2. The first public version was 0.13, released January 31, 2004. In May 2020 this is subscription service, making bioinformatics software and biological databases ready to use.

  • EasyOS
    https://easyos.org/
    EasyOS is an experimental, container friendly distribution, by Puppy Linux creator Barry Kauler. It is built from source with the Woof build system. EasyOS was created in January 2017. EasyOS 1.0.8 was released February 20, 2019. Easy Buster 2.2.16 was released April 6, 2020. EasyOS 2.5 was released November 20, 2020. EasyOS Dunfell 2.7, released April 14, 2021, is compiled from source in a port of OpenEmbedded. EasyOS 2.9 was released September 3, 2021.

  • /e/
    https://e.foundation/products/
    /e/ aims to be a complete, fully "unGoogled", mobile ecosystem. /e/ is forked from LineageOS and it's parent, the AOSP. As of February 2020 /e/ was available for about 90 phones. There are /e/ versions based on Android 7, 8, or 9 depending on the smartphone model.

  • ELKS
    http://elks.sourceforge.net/
    https://github.com/jbruchon/elks
    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. After a period of inactivity ELKS development started up again in early 2012. ELKS-0.1.4 was released February 19, 2012. ELKS 0.3.0 was released March 14, 2019.

  • Elive
    http://www.elivecd.org/
    Elive is a live CD based on Debian and 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. Elive stable "Topaz" 2.0 was released March 3, 2010. Elive stable 3.0.4 was released April 28, 2019. Elive 3.8.22 beta was released August 12, 2021.

  • Emperor-OS
    http://emperor-os.com/
    Emperor-OS aims to provide a comprehensive set of tools for programming, developing, and data science. It was established in 2020, by Hossein Seilany. Supported desktops include Xfce, KDE Plasma, MATE, LXDE, and OpenBox.

  • Exherbo
    http://www.exherbo.org/
    https://gitlab.exherbo.org/exherbo
    Exherbo aims to be a stable and flexible distribution for developers, tinkerers and people who need their distribution to help them be productive. It is inspired in many places by Gentoo -- in particular, it supports flexible source-based installation with up-front configuration. It uses the Paludis package manager with a custom built EAPI. Exherbo is a place for developers to experiment. Added to the list May 21, 2008.

  • Fatdog64
    http://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/web/
    Fatdog64 Linux is a small yet versatile 64-bit multi-user Linux distribution. Originally created as a "fatter" (=more built-in applications) derivative of Puppy Linux, Fatdog has grown to become an independent, mature 64-bit Linux distribution while still keeping true to Puppy Linux spirit: small, fast and efficient. The original release of Fatdog64 was April 12, 2008. Fatdog64-630 was released February 11, 2014. Fatdog64-710 was released December 4, 2016. Fatdog64 720 was released December 20, 2017. Fatdog64-810 was released January 17, 2020.

  • Freedombone
    https://freedombone.net/
    Freedombone is a Debian-based home server system which enables you to self-host email, chat, VoIP, web sites, file synchronisation, wikis, blogs, social networks, media hosting, backups, VPN, and more, all from your place of residence (not a data center). You can run Freedombone on an old laptop or single board computer. Freedombone got its start in 2013. Freedombone 4.0, based on Debian 10 "buster", was released August 5, 2019.

  • FreePBX
    https://www.freepbx.org/
    FreePBX is a web-based GUI that controls and manages Asterisk (PBX), a communication server. FreePBX can be installed manually or as part of the pre-configured FreePBX distribution that includes the system OS, Asterisk, FreePBX GUI and assorted dependencies. Version 13 was current when this entry was added, March 13, 2017. FreePBX 15 was released February 2020.

  • GalliumOS
    https://galliumos.org/
    GalliumOS has been carefully optimized for performance and compatibility on Chromebooks and Chromeboxes. The project aims to outperform ChromeOS on the same hardware, while delivering a full Linux environment. GalliumOS 1.0 Beta 1 was released November 11, 2015. GalliumOS 2.1 was released February 28, 2017. GalliumOS 3.1 was released December 22, 2019.

  • Gargoyle
    http://www.gargoyle-router.com/
    Gargoyle is a free firmware upgrade for many widely available routers such as the WRT54GL and the original La Fonera. Gargoyle 1.3.8 was released November 23, 2010. Gargoyle 1.3.11 was released February 28, 2011. Gargoyle 1.12.0 was released December 3, 2019.

  • gittup
    http://gittup.org/gittup/
    https://github.com/gittup/gittup
    gittup is most of a Linux distribution in git, built with tup. gittup was added to the list October 11, 2016.

  • GNU Guix
    http://www.gnu.org/software/guix/
    https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/guix/
    GNU Guix is a purely functional package manager, and associated free software distribution, for the GNU system. It's based on the Nix package manager. In addition to standard package management features, Guix supports transactional upgrades and roll-backs, unprivileged package management, per-user profiles, and garbage collection. A user-land free software distribution for GNU/Linux comes as part of GuixSD. The first alpha release was dated November 22, 2012. GNU Guix and GuixSD 0.16.0 were released December 6, 2018. Guix 1.3.0 was released May 12, 2021.

  • GoboLinux
    http://www.gobolinux.org/
    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 joined the list at version 007, released on October 25, 2003. GoboLinux 016.01 was released April 4, 2017. GoboLinux 017 was released May 24, 2020.

  • GParted LiveCD
    http://gparted.org/
    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 was originally based on Slackware Linux and Fluxbox window manager. Later versions use Debian unstable as a base. Version 0.1 was released January 12, 2006. GParted Live 0.33.0 was released December 15, 2018. GParted Live 1.3.1-1 was released July 22, 2021.

  • io GNU/Linux
    http://io.gnu.linux.free.fr/
    http://sourceforge.net/projects/io-gnu-linux/
    io GNU/Linux is a live system that turns almost any computer into a professional multimedia workstation. It includes a real-time enabled kernel and a great collection of free software for all uses (sound, video, graphics, internet and more). It's based on Debian SID (unstable) and built with the Debian Live tools. io 2014.1 was released January 11, 2014. io GNU/Linux 2019.01 was released March 1, 2019.

  • KDE Neon
    https://neon.kde.org/
    KDE Neon provides the latest KDE software on a solid Ubuntu base. Suitable for KDE developers and early adopters. The first images were released in January 2016. KDE Neon 5.8 was released (with Plasma 5.8) October 4, 2016. Ubuntu 18.04-based Neon was released September 26, 2018. KDE neon 5.18 (with Plasma 5.18 LTS) was released February 11, 2020. KDE neon was rebased to Ubuntu 20.04 August 10, 2020. KDE neon 5.22 (with Plasma 5.22) was released June 9, 2021.

  • Lakka
    http://www.lakka.tv/
    Lakka is a lightweight Linux distribution that transforms a small computer into a full blown game console. Lakka joined the list with the release of version 2.0, dated April 28, 2017. Lakka 2.3.2 was released January 22, 2020. Lakka 3.0 was released May 22, 2021. Lakka 3.4 was released September 6, 2021.

  • LibreELEC
    https://libreelec.tv/
    LibreELEC is a lightweight 'Just enough OS' Linux distribution purpose-built for Kodi on current and popular media-center hardware. It is a fork of the OpenELEC project, started in March 2016. LibreELEC is Kodi oriented but other forks provide the stable JeOS base for Plex Embedded, Lakka, and a number of single-purpose IoT and maker projects. LibreELEC (Krypton) 8.2.1 was released November 21, 2017. LibreELEC (Krypton) 8.2.4 MR was released March 14, 2018. LibreELEC (Leia) 9.0.2 was released May 11, 2019. LibreELEC 9.2.2 was released March 28, 2020. LibreELEC (Matrix) 10.0 was released August 26, 2021.

  • LinHES
    http://www.linhes.org/
    Formerly known as KnoppMyth, this distribution was a combination of Knoppix and MythTV, providing an easy-to-use TV settop box. KnoppMyth R5F27 was released September 9, 2007. KnoppMyth was renamed LinHES, Linux Home Entertainment System, in 2009. It also switched to an Arch Linux base. LinHES 8.5 was released December 9, 2017. LinHES 8.6 was released March 18, 2019.

  • LinuxConsole
    http://linuxconsole.org/
    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 joined the list at version 0.4RC2 released March 10, 2004. That version was based on Mandrakelinux 9.1, however later versions are original (not based on another distribution). Version 0.4.5.1 was released September 20, 2004. LinuxConsole 2019 was released December 23, 2019.

  • LuneOS
    http://webos-ports.org
    LuneOS is a fork of Open webOS. The main focus of LuneOS is to provide a mobile operating system which is driven by the community. The September 1, 2014 release of LuneOS "Affogato" supported the Nexus 4 and HP TouchPad. LuneOS Eggnog Latte was released October 24, 2019.

  • Mangaka
    https://animesoft.wordpress.com/linux/
    Mangaka is a GNU/Linux system based on Ubuntu and Debian. It’s especially developed for the specific needs of the anime and manga community from Japan and world wide, including by default professional free software for fansubbing, web browsing, multimedia playback and 2D graphical creations as well codecs, java and flash out-of-the-box. Mangaka joined the list with the release of Linux Mangaka Nyu (Beta), dated June 6, 2015. Linux Mangaka Nyu (Final) was released June 21, 2015. Linux Mangaka Cho was released June 23, 2016. Linux Mangaka Aio beta was released December 28, 2019.

  • Maru OS
    http://maruos.com/
    Maru works on your phone and transitions to a Debian desktop when plugged into a monitor via HDMI. A bluetooth mouse and keyboard can be used in desktop mode. The phone runs independently of the desktop so you can take a call and work on your big screen at the same time. The initial beta release of Maru was based on Android Lollipop. Maru was released open source February 11, 2016 and is still in the early stages of becoming a collaborative project. Maru OS 0.3 was released November 3, 2016. Maru OS 0.6 Okinawa, released March 6, 2019, uses Android 8.1 Oreo, LineageOS, and Debian 9 stretch under the hood. Maru 0.6.8 was released October 7, 2019.

  • NimbleX
    http://nimblex.net/
    https://github.com/NimbleX/nimblex
    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 was released July 22, 2008. NimbleX 2010 Beta was released April 29, 2010. Latest commits were made January 9, 2019.

  • NixOS

    • http://nixos.org/
    NixOS is a Linux distribution based on Nix, a purely functional package management system. NixOS is an experiment to see if an operating system can be built in which software packages, configuration files, boot scripts and the like are all managed in a purely functional way. That is, they are all built by deterministic functions and they never change after they have been built. NixOS is continuously built from source in Hydra, the Nix-based continuous build system. Entry added May 26, 2009. In January 2013 NixOS switched from Upstart to systemd. Nix 1.5.2 was released May 13, 2013. Nix 2.1 was released September 2, 2018. NixOS 18.09 "Jellyfish" was released October 5, 2018. NixOS 19.09 "Loris" was released October 9, 2019. NixOS 20.03 "Markhor" was released April 20, 2020. NixOS 20.09 "Nightingale" was released October 27, 2020. NixOS 2021.05 "Okapi" was released June 1, 2021.

  • OpenELEC
    http://www.openelec.tv/
    Open Embedded Linux Entertainment Center, or OpenELEC for short, is a small Linux distribution built from scratch as a platform to turn your computer into a complete XBMC (Kodi) media center. OpenELEC is designed to make your system boot as fast as possible and the install easily so that anyone can turn a blank PC into a media machine in less than 15 minutes. OpenELEC 1.0 was released October 20, 2011. OpenELEC 8.0 was released April 9, 2017. OpenELEC 8.0.4 was current May 2020.

  • OpenMediaVault
    http://www.openmediavault.org/
    http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/openmediavault/index.php
    OpenMediaVault is the next generation network attached storage (NAS) solution based on Debian Linux. It contains services like SSH, (S)FTP, SMB/CIFS, DAAP media server, RSync, BitTorrent client and many more. Thanks to the modular design of the framework it can be enhanced via plugins. OpenMediaVault is primarily designed to be used in home environments or small home offices, but is not limited to those scenarios. It is a simple and easy to use out-of-the-box solution that will allow everyone to install and administrate a Network Attached Storage without deeper knowledge. The initial release was v0.2, dated October 17, 2011. OMV 5.3.9, based on Debian 10 (buster), was released March 25, 2020.

  • OpenWrt
    http://openwrt.org/
    OpenWrt started out in 2003 as 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. OpenWrt Backfire 10.03.1 was released December 21, 2011. OpenWrt Attitude Adjustment 12.09 was released April 25, 2013. OpenWrt "Barrier Breaker" 14.07 was released October 2, 2014. OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05.1 was released March 16, 2016. OpenWrt merged with LEDE in January 2018. OpenWrt 15.05 received limited support, while the LEDE 17.01 series was the most up-to-date. OpenWrt/LEDE 17.01.5 "Reboot" was released July 17, 2018. OpenWrt 18.06.9 was released December 10, 2020. This is the last release in the 18.06 series. OpenWrt 19.07.5 was released December 10, 2020. OpenWrt 21.02.0 was released September 5, 2021.

  • Oryx Linux
    http://oryx-linux.org/
    Oryx Linux is an embedded Linux distribution built on top of OpenEmbedded and the Yocto Project. It incorporates a lightweight container runtime engine to bring the benefits of containerisation to the embedded sector without disrupting existing developer workflows. Togán Labs provides commercial support for Oryx. Oryx Linux 0.2.0 was released July 5, 2017. Oryx Linux 0.4.0 was current as of April 2020.

  • OSGeoLive
    http://live.osgeo.org
    OSGeoLive is a self-contained bootable [DVD, USB, VM] based on Lubuntu, that allows you to try a wide variety of open source geospatial software. OSGeo-Live 11.0 was released August 9, 2017. OSGeoLive 12.0 was released September 11, 2018. OSGeoLive 13.0 was released September 5, 2019. OSGeoLive 14.0 was released May 25, 2021.

  • OSMC
    https://osmc.tv/
    OSMC (Open Source Media Center) is a free and open source media player based on Debian and Kodi. Founded in 2014, OSMC lets you play back media from your local network, attached storage and the Internet. OSMC releases regular updates, based on Debian stable, with newer versions of Kodi.

  • OviOS
    https://sourceforge.net/projects/ovios/
    OviOS is an open source storage OS based on the Linux kernel and includes opensource software needed to create a fully functional, highly performant storage server. OviOS joined the list with the release of version 3.0, dated December 30, 2018. OviOS 3.11 was released June 1, 2021.

  • 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. Parted Magic 6.7 was released September 2, 2011. Parted Magic 2021_05_12 is out.

  • 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. Mini-Pentoo 2006.1 was released July 5, 2006. Pentoo 2020.0 was the current version in May 2020.

  • Plop Linux
    http://www.plop.at/
    Plop Linux is a small distribution that can boot from CD, DVD, USB flash drive (UFD), USB harddisk or from network with PXE. It's designed to rescue data from a damaged system, backup and restore operating systems, automate tasks and more. Plop 4.1.2 was released August 9, 2011. PlopKexec 1.4.1 was released August 13, 2016. Plop 4.3.4 was released February 17, 2018. Plop 19.4 was released October 1, 2019.

  • postmarketOS
    https://postmarketos.org/
    https://github.com/postmarketOS/
    postmarketOS is based on Alpine Linux and aimed at creating a sustainable, privacy and security focused free software mobile OS. postmarketOS was very much a work in progress when this entry was added May 30, 2017. As of February 2020, postmarketOS boots on over 150 devices; a few are completely usable, but calls don't work on most phones. The PinePhone postmarketOS community edition was released June 15, 2020. PostmarketOS 21.03 (beta) was released March 31, 2021.

  • Proxmox
    http://www.proxmox.com/en/
    Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH provides Proxmox Virtual Environment and Proxmox Mail Gateway, as well as support services and training. Proxmox Mail Gateway 4.0 was released January 20, 2015. Proxmox VE 4.0 was released October 6, 2015. Proxmox VE 6.3 was released November 26, 2020. Proxmox Mail Gateway 6.4 was released March 29, 2020. Proxmox Backup Server 1.1 was released April 15, 2021. Proxmox VE 7.0 was released July 6, 2021.

  • Puppy Linux
    http://www.puppylinux.org/
    Puppy Linux Family Tree
    Puppy Linux is a very small, yet quite fully featured distribution that uses the Woof build system. There are many puplets created by members of the Puppy community; some use Slackware or Ubuntu as a base. Puppy 0.7.6 was released May 11, 2003. BionicPup64 was released March 14, 2019. BionicPup32 was released May 8, 2020. Puppy Eoan Ermine was released January 10, 2020. FossaPup64 9.5 was released September 21, 2020. Slacko64 Puppy 7.0 was released January 4, 2021.

  • RancherOS
    http://rancher.com/rancher-os/
    RancherOS is a minimalist Linux distribution for running Docker containers. It was added to the list June 27, 2016. RancherOS 0.5.0 was released August 12, 2016. RancherOS 1.0.0 was released April 12, 2017. RancherOS 1.5.5 was released December 30, 2019.

  • Raspberry Slideshow
    http://www.binaryemotions.com/digital-signage/raspberry-slideshow
    Raspberry Slideshow is an operating system for the Raspberry Pi focused on image and video slideshows. It plays all media contained in a USB key, fetched from a Windows (Samba) share, from a Webserver or FTP server. The operating system can refresh the media list at given intervals as well, in order to slide images and videos according to remote changements. Raspberry Slideshow joined the list with the release of Raspbian Stretch-based 10.0, November 20, 2017. Raspberry Slideshow 13.0 was released January 12, 2020.

  • Raspbian
    http://www.raspbian.org/
    Raspbian is a Debian-based distribution optimized for the Raspberry Pi hardware. Raspbian provides more than a pure OS: it comes with over 35,000 packages, pre-compiled software bundled in a nice format for easy installation on your Raspberry Pi. Raspbian joined the list July 23, 2012. Debian "Jessie" based Raspbian 2017-06-21 is out. Raspbian "Stretch" was released August 17, 2017. Raspbian 2018-11-13 is out. Raspbian for the Raspberry Pi 4, released June 24, 2019, is based on Debian "Buster". Raspbian 2020-02-05 is out. Rebranded Raspberry Pi OS with the 2020-05-29 (beta) release. Raspberry Pi OS 2020-12-02 is out.

  • RebeccaBlackOS
    http://sourceforge.net/projects/rebeccablackos/
    RebeccaBlackOS showcases Wayland and Weston. This entry was added to the list May 24, 2013. RebeccaBlackLinux_i386.iso and RebeccaBlackLinux_Reduced_i386.iso were released September 1, 2013. ISOs (based on Ubuntu 14.10 and Wayland/Weston 1.6+) were released October 27, 2014. ISO images based on Debian-testing using SVN Revision 4086 were released February 8, 2016. ISOs with Wayland desktops; KDE, Gnome, Enlightenment, Orbital, Hawaii, Orbment, and Sway were released October 10, 2016. RebeccaBlackOS 2019-05-06 was released May 6, 2019. RebeccaBlackOS 2020-05-20 is out.

  • Redo Rescue
    http://redorescue.com/
    https://github.com/redorescue/redorescue
    Redo Rescue (also known as Redo Backup) is a live CD/USB system that creates and restores snapshots of your system. Restore the image, even to a new blank drive, and recover in minutes from ransomware and viruses, deletions, hardware damage, and hackers. Redo Rescue 3.0, based on Debian 10 buster, was released October 15, 2020. Redo Rescue 4.0, based on Debian 11 bullseye, beta was released October 9, 2021.

  • Rescatux
    http://www.supergrubdisk.org/
    Rescatux is a GNU/Linux rescue cd that comes with Rescapp. Rescapp is a nice wizard that will guide you through your rescue tasks. Super Grub2 Disk is included. Rescatux joined the list with the release of v0.30.2, dated November 20, 2012. Super Grub2 Disk 2.00s2 was released May 18, 2014. Rescatux 0.73 was released April 2, 2020. Super Grub2 Disk 2.04s1 was released August 26, 2019. Super Grub2 Disk 2.04s2-beta2 was released September 8, 2019.

  • Rescuezilla
    https://rescuezilla.com/
    https://github.com/rescuezilla/rescuezilla
    Rescuezilla is designed for easy backup, recovery, and bare metal restore. It runs as a live USB and can be used on any system. Rescuezilla 1.0.6 was released June 17, 2020. Rescuezilla 2.0 was released October 14, 2020. Rescuezilla 2.1 was released December 14, 2020. Rescuezilla 2.2 was released June 4, 2021.

  • 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 6.2 (Sidewinder) was based on CentOS 6.6 and released May 11, 2015 for 64-bit only. Rocks 7 was released December 1, 2017.

  • Rockstor
    http://rockstor.com/
    Rockstor is a Linux and btrfs powered NAS and Cloud storage server system. Rockstor offers Personal Cloud Server, SMB Cloud Server, and Traditional NAS server. Rockstor joined the list with the release of Rockstor 3.8-10, dated December 11, 2015. Rockstor 3.9.2-57 was released April 19, 2020.

  • Sailfish OS
    https://sailfishos.org/
    Sailfish OS is a descendant of Maemo/MeeGo/Mer. It's made by the Finnish company, Jolla for use in smart phones and other mobile devices. This entry was added November 22, 2012 with the initial announcement of Sailfish. Sailfish 1.0 was released February 21, 2014. Sailfish OS 2.0 was released March 2, 2015. Sailfish OS 2.1.4 was released February 20, 2018. Sailfish OS 2.2.1 was released September 11, 2018. Sailfish OS 3 was introduced in February 2018. Sailfish OS 3.0.3 "Hossa" was released May 7, 2019. Sailfish OS 3.1 "Seitseminen" was released July 25, 2019. Sailfish OS 3.2.1 "Nuuksio" was released December 20, 2019. Sailfish OS 3.4 Pallas-Yllästunturi was released October 13, 2020. Sailfish OS 4.1.0 Kvarken was released May 12, 2021. Sailfish OS 4.2.0 Verla was released September 16, 2021.

  • Scyld Beowulf
    https://www.penguincomputing.com/
    Penguin Computing developed Scyld Beowulf, the original cluster virtualization platform, created by Donald Becker, for Linux 2.4.X-based HPC clusters. Penguin Computing continues to provide Scyld products, such as Scyld ClusterWare and Scyld Insight for infrastructure monitoring.

  • SELKS
    https://www.stamus-networks.com/open-source/#selks
    https://github.com/StamusNetworks/SELKS
    SELKS is both Live and installable ISO based on Debian implementing a ready to use Suricata IDS/IPS. The name comes from its major components: Suricata Elasticsearch Logstash Kibana Scirius. After starting or installing SELKS, you get a running Suricata with IDPS and NSM capabilities, Kibana to analyse alert and events and Scirius to configure the Suricata ruleset. The first public release, SELKS 1.0 beta1, was announced May 27, 2014. SELKS 1.0 was released October 16, 2014. SELKS 3.0 was released August 12, 2016. SELKS 5 was current and SELKS 6 RC1 were available in May 2020.

  • SliTaz GNULinux
    http://www.slitaz.org/
    SliTaz is a very small desktop system that runs from live CD or live USB. SliTaz v1.0 was the first stable version to be released, after two years of development. This version, released March 22, 2008, weighed in at under 25Mb using light-weight packages like the JWM window manager and the lighttpd web server. Cooking is the SliTaz development branch and new Cooking betas are usually available monthly. SliTaz 3.0 was released March 28, 2010. SliTaz 4.0 was released April 10, 2012. SliTaz Raspberry Pi was released March 29, 2014. SliTaz 5.0 Rolling has weekly releases (updated May 23, 2020).

  • snakeware
    https://github.com/joshiemoore/snakeware
    snakeware is a distribution with a Python userspace inspired by the Commodore 64. You are booted directly into a Python interpreter, which you can use to do whatever you want with your computer. The idea is that a Python OS would be fun to use and very easy to contribute to. Even relative beginners might be able to find ways to meaningfully contribute apps and other code to this distribution. The project was launched in late May 2020.


  • https://sourceforge.net/projects/snallinux/Snal Linux
    Snal Linux is Simple, Networked, and Live Linux. It is based on Arch Linux, features the i3 window manager. Firefox and many network and filesystem utilities are included in a small package. It is intended to be used as a live image to troubleshoot hard disk, system, and network problems. Snal Linux 1.0 was released October 26, 2020.

  • SuperGamer
    https://www.supergamer.x10host.com/
    SuperGamer is a live DVD with lots of games. While older versions included games that were open source and demos, the newest release does not. You can easily install Steam, GOG Games, and The Humble Bundle to customize your gaming computer. It was originally based on PCLinuxOS, later moved to a VectorLinux base. Newer releases are based on Ubuntu. A test release of SuperGamer-VL was announced June 29, 2007. SuperGamer 5, released January 11, 2020, was based on Xfce, Ubuntu 19.10, and Linux Lite. SuperGamer 6, released June 2, 2020, was based on Ubuntu 20.04.

  • SystemRescue
    https://www.system-rescue.org/
    SystemRescue (formerly SystemRescueCd) is a rescue toolkit available as a bootable medium for administrating or repairing your system and 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 and other tasks. It supports several file systems and can be used to rescue Windows systems as well as Linux. SystemRescueCd was based on the Gentoo LiveCd when it joined the list with the release of version 0.3.3 on March 1, 2007. SystemRescueCD switched to an Arch Linux base (and dropped 32bit support) with the release of version 6.0 on February 2, 2019. SystemRescueCd 6.1.4 was released May 22, 2020. Renamed SystemRescue with the 7.0 release, dated October 17, 2020. SystemRescue 8.0 was released March 6, 2021.

  • T2
    https://t2sde.org/
    T2 is a System Development Environment or Distribution Build Kit for the creation of custom distributions. T2 20.10 was released December 3, 2020. T2 21.5 was released May 16, 2021, with 18 architectures pre- and cross-compiled. T2 21.7 was released July 8, 2021.

  • ThinStation
    http://thinstation.sourceforge.net/
    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 simpliy terminal management. The initial Freshmeat release was on May 15, 2003, version 0.91. Version 2.2 was released October 17, 2006. Thinstation 5.0, the sucessor to v2.2.2, is based on Crux 2.7 but the user front end is much like it was before. Version 5.0 was released February 10, 2012. ThinStation 6.2.4 was released February 21, 2020.

  • Tiny Core Linux
    http://tinycorelinux.net/
    Tiny Core Linux started out as a very small (10 MB) minimal Linux Desktop. Version 1.2 was based on Linux 2.6 kernel, Busybox, Tiny X, Fltk, and Jwm. That was when Tiny Core joined the list on March 16, 2009. Tiny Core 4.2, released December 26, 2011, refactored Tiny Core to be highly modular to provide a foundation for user created extensions, and introduced CorePlus. The Core Project has evolved into a highly modular based system with community built extensions. Core (11MB) is the foundation for user created desktops, servers, or appliances. Tiny Core adds additional packages to become a 16MB FLTK/FLWM desktop. CorePlus ofers a simple way to get started using the Core philosophy with its included community packaged extensions enabling easy embedded, frugal, or pendrive installation. Tiny Core 12.0 was released February 17, 2021.

  • Tizen
    https://www.tizen.org/
    Tizen has its roots in MeeGo and LiMo. The project was announced on September 27, 2011, to be directed by Samsung and Intel. Tizen runs under the hood of many Samsung products. Tizen 1.0 Larkspur was released April 30, 2012. Tizen 2.0 Magnolia was released February 19, 2013. Tizen 2.2.1 was released November 8, 2013. Tizen Common Milestone 3.0.2014.Q3 was released November 4, 2014. Tizen-Common Q1 2015 was released June 30, 2015. Tizen 3.0 started shipping on some Samsung phones in May 2017. Tizen 6.0 Milestone 2 was released October 27, 2020.

  • TurnKey Linux
    http://www.turnkeylinux.org/
    TurnKey Linux provides a set of software appliances. Appliances are currently available as a single bootable ISO image that can run on real hardware in addition to most types of virtual machines. Each TurnKey appliance is different, but they are all carefully built from the ground up with the minimum components needed to serve a specific role. Available appliances include LAMP, LAPP, Joomla, Drupal, MediaWiki, and more. TurnKey was added to the list December 15, 2008. Debian Squeeze based TurnKey Core 12.0 was released August 30, 2012. TurnKey 12.1 was released June 6, 2013. TurnKey 13.0 was released November 20, 2013. TurnKey 14.1 was released April 15, 2016. TurnKey 15.0 was released July 27, 2018. TurnKey 16.0 was released May 4, 2020.

  • UBOS
    http://ubos.net/
    UBOS aims to make it 10x easier to run server-side apps for yourself, or for your family, on hardware you own. It is available for Raspberry Pi, x86_64 PCs, and as a VirtualBox image. The first beta was released November 24, 2014. UBOS beta 13 was released March 3, 2018. UBOS beta 14 was released April 28, 2018. This is now based on Arch, rolling with regular updates. UBOS 2020-02-17 was current in May 2020.

  • VyOS
    https://vyos.io/
    VyOS is a community fork of Vyatta, a Linux-based network operating system that provides software-based network routing, firewall, and VPN functionality. VyOS joined the list with the 1.1.0 release, dated October 9, 2014. VyOS 1.2.2 LTS was released July 15, 2019. VyOS 1.2.3-epa1 ("early production access") was released September 5, 2019. VyOS 1.2.3 became generally available September 23, 2019. VyOS will offer rolling release builds based on Debian 10 Buster as development on the 1.3.x LTS release progresses. VyOS 1.2.5 was released April 14, 2020. VyOS 1.2.8 LTS was released July 6, 2021. VyOS 1.3.0~epa1 (early production access) was released September 30, 2021.

  • Webconverger
    http://webconverger.com/
    https://github.com/Webconverger/webc
    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. Webconverger 35.1 was released May 19, 2016. As of June 2020 this appears to be based on Debian 9.2. There was a dist-upgrade June 1, 2019.

  • webOS
    http://webosose.org/
    webOS is a web-centric and usability-focused software platform for smart devices. The operating system has evolved, passing through its journey from Palm to HP, and most recently to LG Electronics. webOS became an open-source project, named webOS Open Source Edition (OSE), in March 2018. webOS OSE 2.5.0 was released May 12, 2020. webOS OSE 2.10.0 was released April 2, 2021.

  • 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 7.4 was released February 13, 2014. Zenwalk Live 7.4 was released April 28, 2014. Zenwalk 8.0 was released July 2, 2016. Zenwalk 220217 was released February 22, 2017. Zenwalk 2019-06-02 is out. Zenwalk 15.0-20200701 was released July 2, 2020.

  • Zeroshell
    http://www.zeroshell.org
    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. Zeroshell 1.0.beta16 was released September 10, 2011. Zeroshell 3.9.5 was released January 16, 2021. On April 18, 2021 the project announced an end of life. Security updates will be released until September 30, 2021. The zeroshell.org domain will be decommissioned or sold on September 30, 2021.

  • Zevenet
    https://www.zevenet.com/products/community/
    Zevenet is a load balancer and application delivery system based on Debian. The Zevenet platform provides HTTP and HTTPS connections for web applications as well as load balancing services for TCP and UDP traffic. Zevenet CE 5.10 was released October 9, 2019. Zevenet CE 5.11 was released May 13, 2020.

    Floppy-based

  • Fli4l (Floppy ISDN/DSL)
    http://www.fli4l.de/
    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. fli4l 3.10.19 was released February 2, 2020.

    CD-based

    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. Note that this category is somewhat outdated. Many of these distributions are available as DVD and USB images and some support a hard disk install.

  • 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. The project started in 1999. Finnix 86.0 was released October 24, 2005. Finnix 111 was released June 4, 2015. After a 5 year hiatus Finnix 120 was released May 14, 2020, updating the base to Debian 10.4 Buster. Finnix 121, based on Debian testing "bullseye", was released August 10, 2020. Finnix 122 was released February 9, 2021. Finnix 123 was released September 6, 2021.

  • 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 2008.11 (all flavors) was released December 1, 2008. grml-live v0.15.0 was released July 8, 2011. Grml 2014.11 "Gschistigschasti" was released November 17, 2014. Grml 2017.05 "Freedatensuppe" was released June 14, 2017. Grml 2018.12 "Gnackwatschn" was released December 31, 2018. Grml 2020.06 "Ausgehfuahangl" was released June 24, 2020. Grml 2021.07 "JauKerl" was released July 26, 2021.

  • 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 has shifted to a more stable base. Debian Etch based Kanotix 2007 (Thorhammer) RC7 was released January 1, 2008. Debian Lenny based Kanotix 2010 Excalibur was relased June 9, 2010. Kanotix 2011-05 Hellfire (based on Debian Squeeze) was released May 11, 2011. Kanotix Dragonfire (Wheezy-based) was released May 23, 2013 at LinuxTag 2013 in Berlin. KANOTIX Sliverfire Extra 2020, based on Debian 10 "buster", was released April 12, 2020.

  • Linux Live
    http://www.linux-live.org/
    https://github.com/Tomas-M/linux-live
    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 6.2.9 was released November 26, 2008. As of August 2013 the project remains active, with no formal releases. As of May 2020 the project remains active, with no formal releases.

  • Porteus
    http://porteus.org/
    Porteus is a portable/live media Linux OS, based on Slackware and Linux Live Scripts which have been heavily modified by chief maintainer Fanthom. In essence, Porteus is a portable Slackware which started out as Fanthom keeping the Slax OS up to date as a community remix project. Unlike a standard linux install, Porteus exists in a compressed state on the portable drive. It has no /root /bin /etc file structure on the portable device itself, rather this is created on the fly during the boot process, which only takes around 20-30 seconds on a relatively new computer. It is modular in design which means extra software comes in the form of 'modules' which can be activated and injected into the live file system. It does not need to be installed and uninstalled as you may expect with other operating systems which takes numerous amounts of clicks and agreements. Porteus joined the list with the release of version 1.0 rc2 x86_64, dated May 7, 2011. Porteus 1.0 was released June 20, 2011. Porteus 3.2.2 was released December 29, 2016. Porteus Kiosk 4.9.0 was released September 16, 2019. Porteus Kiosk 5.1.0 was released October 12, 2020. Porteus Kiosk 5.2.0 was released March 22, 2021. Porteus 5.0rc3 was released July 8, 2021.

  • SLAX-Live CD
    http://slax.org/
    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 6.1.2 was released August 4, 2009. After a period of dormancy Slax development was restarted August 2012. Slax 7.0 KDE preview was released October 21, 2012. Slax 7.0.6 was released March 14, 2013. After a long hiatus, a new Debian-based Slax 9.2.1 was released November 16, 2017. Slax 9.11.0, based on Debian 9 Jessie, was released September 14, 2019.

    Hardware-specific

    Apple Silicon

  • Asahi Linux
    https://asahilinux.org/
    Asahi Linux is a project and community with the goal of porting Linux to Apple Silicon Macs, starting with the 2020 M1 Mac Mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro. The first Progress Report was released March 11, 2021. Progress report: August 2021.

    ARM

  • Arch Linux ARM
    http://archlinuxarm.org/
    Arch Linux ARM provides targeted kernel and software support for soft-float ARMv5te, hard-float ARMv6 and ARMv7, and ARMv8 (AArch64) instruction sets on a variety of consumer devices and development platforms. Our collaboration with Arch Linux brings users the best platform, newest packages, and installation support. It follows the rolling release model. Arch Linux ARM joined the list December 22, 2015. Still rolling along in May 2020.

    XO

  • XO Software
    http://wiki.laptop.org/go/The_OLPC_Wiki
    XO Software is a Fedora-based system developed for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project. The XO and its software is designed specifically for the educational benefit of children in the developing world. XO Software Release 8.2.0 became available October 15, 2008. Stable 10.1.3 was release January 16, 2011. OLPC OS 11.2.0 (based on Fedora 14) and XO-1.75 were released July 26, 2011. OLPC OS 11.3.0 was released November 1, 2011. OLPC OS 12.1.0 was released August 31, 2012. OLPC OS 13.2.8 was released December 12, 2016. OLPC OS 13.2.10 (for XO-1, XO-1.5, XO-1.75, and XO-4) was released December 29, 2018. OLPC OS 13.2.11 was released January 29, 2020.

    Diskless Terminal

  • LTSP
    http://www.ltsp.org/
    https://github.com/ltsp/ltsp
    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. LTSP was redesigned and rewritten as part of a GSoC in 2019. LTSP 19.08 was released August 18, 2019.