Mainstream Distributions

• Caldera OpenLinux

  Ports: Intel
  Languages: English, German

  A popular commercially-distributed Linux distribution - featuring LISA (Linux Installation System Administration), COAS (Caldera Open Administration System) + several proprietary value-added programs (such as StarOffice and BRU).

  Caldera is based in Orem, Utah - and is funded by Ray Noorda (the founder of Novell). LST (a German Linux distribution) merged with them in 1997. Caldera folks have contributed several things to the kernel (IPX, PPP modularization, network drivers, etc.).

• Debian

  Ports: Intel, m68k (Alpha, PowerPC, Sparc, UltraSparc, ARM and GNU Hurd under development)
  Languages: English, with some support for French, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Swedish, Chinese

  Debian GNU/Linux is the largest Linux distribution - developed entirely by unpaid volunteers on the Internet - over 300 at last count. (Bias alert: I am one of the Debian developers!)

  Unlike most other distributions, there is no single company funding development and marketing. As a result, the only marketing it gets is "word-of-mouth". Even so, it is very popular, especially with professional Unix sysadmins.

  It is based on the "dpkg" package manager - which has evolved to be the most sophisticated packaging system. It is the easiest distribution to upgrade and keep up-to-date. A rigorous set of policies and a well-used bug system means that it is remarkably well integrated, given the size.

  Debian is very sophisticated - as it has been developed to meet the needs of it's developers, who are very experienced. Unfortunately, it can be quite intimidating to new users. Fortunately, there is plenty of documentation and support (online and commercial) available.

  There is also a separate Debian JP project which produces a Japanese version of the distribution.

• Linux Antarctica

  Ports: Intel
  Languages: English

  A Linux distribution that includes its own configuration tool as well as the mainstream applications found in the other major distributions. Includes KDE and Netscape as well as the Apache web server.

• Linux by LibraNet

  Ports: Intel, m68k (Alpha, PowerPC, Sparc, UltraSparc, ARM and GNU Hurd under development)
  Languages: English, with some support for French, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Swedish, Chinese

  Built from Debian GNU/Linux this distribution provides all of the benefits of a Debian system. By packaging the best and most commonly used applications into a simple to install CD, you can have a complete desktop up and running in a short time. All the power of Debian is now available to users with little or no Linux experience. The Libranet distribution is backed by solid support and online documentation. Software upgrades are available free to download, or on a CD. Debian's unique package manager takes care of software updates automatically.

• Mandrake

  Ports: Intel, Sparc, Alpha (and soon PPC)
  Languages: 50 different languages including English, French and Spanish

  Linux-Mandrake is a friendly Linux Operating System which comes with KDE, Gnome and 7 other graphical interfaces. It provides ease of use for both home/office and servers. It is freely available in many languages, all over the world.

• PHT TurboLinux (see also: www.turbolinux.com)

  Ports: Intel, PowerPC
  Languages: English, Japanese, Chinese

  TurboLinux is an RPM-based Linux distribution. There is also a Japanese variant, which is reported to be the most popular variant of Linux in Japan.

• Project Independence

  Ports: Intel
  Languages: English

  A volunteer built distribution based on Red Hat.

• Red Hat

  Ports: Intel, Alpha, Sparc (many other platforms are supported by other distributions based on Red Hat, see below)
  Languages: English, Czech, French, German, Norwegian, Romanian, Turkish (there are many localized international distributions based on Red Hat, see below)

  Red Hat is currently the most popular Linux distribution. It is very popular among Linux developers.

  It is maintained by Red Hat Software, which is the most successful Linux company (privately owned). It counts a large number of high profile free software authors and veteran kernel hackers (ie. Alan Cox, Michael Johnson, Stephen Tweedie) among their 40+ staff members. Their Red Hat Advanced Development Labs division consists of several talented programmers who work exclusively writing free software for projects such as Gnome.

  It is based around the RPM packaging system, which makes installing and upgrading easy. The core distribution is supplemented by hundreds of "contrib" packages, which are contributed by volunteers.

• Redmond Linux

  Ports: Intel
  Languages: English

  Description: Redmond Linux (yes, as in Redmond, Washington) is a Linux distribution that, at the time of this writing, is still in the Beta stage. It is based on Caldera and is designed to be attractive to people migrating from non-unix platforms. Mr. Cheek, the developer, states: ".. this product will be something so easy to use that even my mother would use (and want to use) it." Redmond Linux is in the beta phase at this time. The final version is due on November 11, 2000.

• Slackware

  Ports: Intel
  Languages: English

  Patrick Volkerding's famous Slackware distribution. It was once the most popular Linux distribution (now Red Hat is). It is sold commercially through Walnut Creek CDROM.

• Stampede

  Ports: Intel
  Languages: English

  A new volunteer-run distribution. They are developing a new packaging format (similar in nature to the Slackware format) and the whole distribution is compiled with Pentium optimizations.

• S.u.S.E.

  Ports: Intel
  Languages: German, English

  SuSE is quite possibly the most popular distribution in Germany and Europe, and is now being marketed in the U.S. and Internationally. It is based on a variant of RPM and their own setup tool (YaST). SuSE also writes X Servers (video drivers) for the XFree86 project.