Introduction

This is one of the most confusing aspects of Linux, both to novices and experienced Linux users. Linux is free to be edited by anyone, and redistributed, and this has resulted in a very large choice of 'versions' of Linux, called distributions. They all have the same basis but differ in their looks, the way they work, how you install new software, what software is installed by default, pretty much every way. This page is an attempt to list a large number of Linux distributions, along with links to reviews, user experiences and news about the distributions. Hopefully you can then make an informed choice, even as a user new to the world of Linux, and pick a distribution that is right for you.

How to Choose?

There are plenty of factors to consider, depending on how confident you feel and exactly what you want from your distribution. Some of the major factors to consider are:

• Cost (While the vast majority of distributions are free, a few Linux distributions charge you to use them)
• Ease of installation
• Look and feel
• What preinstalled software is included
• Ease of installing more software
• How up-to-date the available software is
• Release cycle (how often new versions of the distribution are released)

Below, we have sorted a large number of distributions into one of four 'standards' representing generally how confident we are recommending each distribution to you. Obviously, Platinum is the highest recommendation and Bronze is the lowest. There are also some that have not been put in their place yet, due to a lack of user experiences and reviews. Please feel free to provide these where necessary.

Platinum Standard

Gold Standard

Silver Standard

Bronze Standard

Unrated

• Ubuntu (Reviews, User Experiences, News)
• Kubuntu (Reviews, User Experiences, News)
• Edubuntu (Reviews, User Experiences, News)
• Xubuntu (Reviews, User Experiences, News)
• OpenSUSE (Reviews, User Experiences, News)
• Fedora (Reviews, User Experiences, News)
• Debian (Reviews, User Experiences, News)
• Mandriva (Reviews, User Experiences, News)
• PCLinuxOS (Reviews, User Experiences, News)
• Mepis (Reviews, User Experiences, News)
• Knoppix (Reviews, User Experiences, News)
• Slackware (Reviews, User Experiences, News)
• Gentoo (Reviews, User Experiences, News)
• FreeBSD (Reviews, User Experiences, News)