Comparison of Linux Distributions

It's a well known fact that there's hundreds of different Linux distributions, with many of them gaining sudden popularity or falling back into relative obscurity. As of 2023, I'd say the most important distributions - those that are here to stay for another decade at least and those that have a significant mindshare on the desktop - are just five: Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, and Arch. Everything else is more of a niche distribution, be it for servers (RHEL, SLE), nerds and greybeards (Gentoo, Slackware), or to make an existing general-purpose distro slightly more user-friendly for novice users (Zorin, pop_OS).

Distributions mostly differ in their package manager and their default choices (desktop environment and so on). Furthermore, there are clearly different tiers of difficulty from beginner-level to expert, for example like this:

Beginners. Easy to use and work out of the box.

• Ubuntu / Kubuntu
• Ubuntu-based distros like Mint, Pop_OS, or Zorin
• Solus

• Fedora
• openSUSE
• Mageia

• Debian
• RHEL
• Arch

• Slackware
• NixOS
• Gentoo

For this comparison I have focused mostly on "original" distributions rather than forks as there's often only superficial differences between closely related distros. For example, the only differences between Ubuntu and Mint would be that Mint is only available for x86_64, that fewer desktop environments are available "preinstalled" for Mint, that Mint doesn't have the longer update support that Ubuntu Pro offers, and that Mint preinstalls Flatpak instead of Snap.

Comparison of Linux Distributions

Source: eylenburg.github.io

Last updated: 9 April 2024

	Debian	Ubuntu	openSUSE	SUSE Linux Enterprise	Fedora	Red Hat Enterprise Linux	OpenMandriva ROME	Mageia	PCLinuxOS	Arch	Slackware	Gentoo	Alpine	Void	NixOS	Guix System	Solus
			Tumble­weed MicroOS		Work­station Ato­mic Desk­top
Development & Background
Based on...	Independent	Debian	Independent	openSUSE	Independent	Fedora	Independent	Independent (forked from Mandriva)	Independent (forked from Mandriva)	Independent	Independent	Independent	Independent	Independent	Independent	Independent	Independent
Initial release	1993	2004	1994 (Suse)		1995 (Red Hat)		1998 (Mandrake)	2010	2003	2002	1993	2002	2005	2008	2003	2013	2015
Community-driven or Corporate	Community	Corporate (Canonical)	Community, with corporate backing (SUSE)	Corporate (SUSE)	Community, with corporate backing (IBM)	Corporate (IBM)	Community	Community	Community	Community	Community	Community	Community	Community	Community	Community	Community
Price	Free	Free	Free	Paid	Free	Paid, free subscription for developers	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free
Freedom & adherence to GNU GPL	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free	IBM does not allow sharing of source codeWhile IBM makes the source code Availa­ble to subscribers as required by the GNU GPL, they reserve the right to cancel the subscriptions and therefore also further software updates from clients who share the source code with third parties. This clearly is a violation of the spirit and possibly even wording of the GNU GPL, as it essentially means you can only share the source code once before IBM cancels your subscription.	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free
Philosophy
Primarily source-based vs binary packages	Binary	Binary	Binary	Binary	Binary	Binary	Binary	Binary	Binary	Binary	Binary	Hybrid	Binary	Hybrid	Hybrid	Source-based	Binary
Immutable or traditional?	Traditional	Traditional	Tradi­tional Immu­table snap­shot-based	Traditional	Tradi­tional Immu­table image-based	Traditional	Traditional	Traditional	Traditional	Traditional	Traditional	Traditional	Traditional	Traditional	Immutable declarative	Immutable declarative	Traditional
Fully reproducible system?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Only allows free software in repos?	No (despite such policy there is a non-free repo)	No	No	No	Yes, except non-free firmware	Yes, except non-free firmware	No (despite such policy there is a non-free repo)	No	No, installation even includes non-free apps	No	No	No	Yes, except non-free firmware	No	No	Yes, and even uses the linux-libre kernel	No
Release schedule & Reliability
Release model	Fixed	Fixed	Rolling (...)There is also a fixed release version called Leap, but this comparison focuses on the rolling version called Tumbleweed.	Fixed	Fixed	Fixed	Rolling (...)There is also a fixed release version called Rock, but this comparison focuses on the rolling version called Rome.	Fixed	Rolling	Rolling	Fixed	Rolling	Fixed	Rolling	Hybrid	Rolling	Rolling
LTS option (>5 yrs)	Yes (5 years)	Yes (12 years)	No	Yes (13 years)	No	Yes (13-15 years)	No	No	No	No	Yes (no fixed EOL date)	No	No	No	No	No	No
Ability to roll back updates?	No	No	snapper rollback	snapper rollback	No rpm-ostree rollback	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	nixos-rebuild switch	guix system roll-back	eopkg history
CPU compatibility
amd64 (64-bit AMD/Intel)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
aarch64 (64-bit ARM)	Yes	Server image	Yes	Server image	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
ppc64le (IBM POWER9/10)	Yes	Server image	Server image	Server image	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
s390x (IBM Z)	Yes	Server image	Server image	Server image	Server image	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
riscv64 (RISC-V)	Experimental	Server image	Experimental	No	Experimental	No	Experimental	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
i686 (legacy 32-bit Intel/AMD)	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Minimal image	Yes	No
Ease of use (default setup)
Graphical installer?	Yes (Debian-Install)	Yes (Subiquity)	Yes (Yast)	Yes (Yast)	Yes (Anaconda)	Yes (Anaconda)	Yes (Calamares)	Yes (DrakX)	Yes (DrakX)	Text-based (archinstall)	Test-based (Slackware Setup)	No, manual install	Text-based (setup-alpine)	Text-based (void-installer)	Yes (Calamares)	Text-based (Guix installer)	Yes (Calamares)
Desktop environment by default (or offered during installation)?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (archinstall)	Yes	No, needs to be done post-install	No, needs to be done post-install	Only if installing from Xfce live image	Yes	Yes	Yes
GUI for advanced system administration?	No	Limited (e.g. driver manager)	Yes (Yast) No	Yes (Yast)	No	No	Yes (Control Center)	Yes (Control Center)	Yes (Control Center)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Limited (e.g. driver manager)
Graphical updating of packages and system upgrades?	Updates only, not upgrades to next release	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Updates only, not upgrades to next release	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Offers to install proprietary codecs?	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Installed by default	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Installed by default
Defaults
Default browser	Firefox	Firefox	Firefox	Firefox	Firefox	Firefox	Chromium	Firefox	Firefox	-	Firefox	-	-	-	Firefox	-	Firefox
Default file system	ext4	ext4	btrfs	btrfs	btrfs	xfs	ext4	ext4	ext4	no default	no default	no default	ext4	no default	ext4	ext4	ext4
Default swap approach	Swap partition	Swap file	Swap parti­tion No swap	Swap partition	Swap on ZRAM	Swap partition	Swap on ZRAM	Swap partition	Swap partition	Swap on ZRAM (archinstall)	no default	no default	Swap partition	no default	No swap	No swap	Swap on ZRAM
init system	systemd	systemd	systemd	systemd	systemd	systemd	systemd	systemd	SysV init	systemd	SysV init	OpenRC	OpenRC	runit	systemd	Shepherd	systemd
Default C library	glibc	glibc	glibc	glibc	glibc	glibc	glibc	glibc	glibc	glibc	glibc	glibc	musl	Choice of glibc or musl	glibc	glibc	glibc
Compiler used	gcc	gcc	gcc	gcc	gcc	gcc	clang	gcc	gcc	gcc	gcc	gcc	gcc	gcc	gcc	gcc	gcc
Suppor­ted desktops:
KDE Plasma	Option during instal­lation	Kubuntu	Option during instal­lation Kalpa Aeon No In repo	In Package Hub	KDE Spin Kinoite	In EPEL	Default	Pre-selected choiceAlso available as Live Image	Plasma Edition	Option during instal­lation (archinstall)	Default	In repo	Availa­ble via setup-desktop	In repo	Option during instal­lation	In repo	Plasma Edition
GNOME	Pre-selected choice	Default		Default	Default Silver­blue	Default	GNOME Spin	Option during instal­lationAlso available as Live Image	No		In Slackbuilds				Pre-selected choice	Option during instal­lation	GNOME Edition
Xfce	Option during instal­lation	Xubuntu		In Package Hub	Xfce Spin No MATE Spin Cinnamon Spin LXQt Spin	In EPEL	In repo	Availa­ble as Live Image	Xfce Edition		Option during instal­lation			Installable Live Image	Option during instal­lation		Xfce Edition
MATE		Ubuntu MATE						In repo	MATE Edition		In Slackbuilds		In repo	In repo			In repo
Cinnamon		Ubuntu Cinnamon							In repo		No		No			No	No
LXQt		Lubuntu				No	LXQt Spin				In Slackbuilds		In repo			In repo
Budgie	In repo	Ubuntu Budgie			Budgie Spin Budgie Atomic		In repo	No	No			No	No		In repo	No	Budgie Edition
Package management
Main package manager	apt	apt	zypper transactional-update	zypper	dnf rpm-ostree	dnf	dnf	urpmi	apt-rpm	pacman	slackpkg	portage	apk	xbps	Nix	Guix	eopkg
Native binary package format	DEB	DEB	RPM	RPM	RPM	RPM	RPM	RPM	RPM	PKG.TAR.ZST	TXZ	GPKG.TAR	APK	XBPS	NAR.XZ	"substitutes"	EOPKG
Suppor­ted "universal" package formats:
Flatpak	Sup­por­ted	Sup­por­ted	Preinstalled In OBS No Install scriptvia generic installer script for Nix Sup­por­ted Should work	In Package Hub	Preinstalled	Sup­por­ted	Preinstalled	Preinstalled	Sup­por­ted	Sup­por­ted	In Slackbuilds	Sup­por­ted	Sup­por­ted	Sup­por­ted	Sup­por­ted	Sup­por­ted	Sup­por­ted
Snap		Preinstalled		No	Sup­por­ted No Install scriptvia generic installer script for Nix and Guix	In EPEL	No	No	No	In AUR	No		No	No	No	No	Preinstalled
Nix		Sup­por­ted		Install scriptvia generic installer script for Nix and Guix		Install scriptvia generic installer script for Nix and Guix	Install scriptvia generic installer script for Nix and Guix	Install scriptvia generic installer script for Nix and Guix	Install scriptvia generic installer script for Nix and Guix	Sup­por­ted	In Slackbuilds	Install scriptvia generic installer script for Nix and Guix	Sup­por­ted	Sup­por­ted	Preinstalled	Sup­por­ted	Install scriptvia generic installer script for Nix and Guix
Guix										In AUR	Install scriptvia generic installer script for Guix		Install scriptvia generic installer script for Guix	Install scriptvia generic installer script for Guix	Install scriptvia generic installer script for Guix	Preinstalled
AppImage	Should work	Should work		Should work	Should work	Should work	Should work	Should work	Should work	Should work	Should work	Should work	Most likely not working	Should work with glibcbut not musl	Should work (appimage-run)	Should work (--emulate-fhsguix shell --container --emulate-fhs)	Should work
Security
Full-disk encryption option in installer	Yes	Yes	Yes /home onlyReplaced with systemd-homed encryption	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Can encrypt individual partitions when selecting "custom partitioning"	Can encrypt individual partitions when selecting "custom partitioning"	Yes (archinstall)	No, manual setup using cryptsetup	No, manual setup using cryptsetup	Yes	No, manual setup using cryptsetup	Yes	Yes	Yes
Out-of-the-box support for Secure Boot	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Kernel security module set up by default?	AppArmor	AppArmor	App­Armor SE­Linux	AppArmor	SELinux	SELinux	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	AppArmor

Appendix I: How different are they and how different have they been?

Since the beginning of Linux, different distributions come with different tools and packages, making it hard for developers to make sure that their applications work on all distributions. The most obvious user-facing differences are the choice in desktop environment (also see here for a timeline of default desktops) and the package formats used. I have looked at the most important Linux distributions for each year. Click on the years below to see what has changed over time. Overall, when looking at the seven categories below (desktop environment, toolkit, display server, init software, package formats, file systems, security modules) there has always been around 70-80% homogeneity across the four big distributions.

Select a year:

2000

Year 2000 - 79% homogeneity

Major Linux Distributions	Default Desktop Environment1	Preferred Toolkit for Applications2	Default Display Server2	Default Init Software	Default Package Formats	Default File System	Default Security Module
Debian GNU/Linux				SysVinit
	GNOME	GTK	X11	SysVinit	DEB packages	ext	None
Linux-Mandrake				SysVinit
	KDE	Qt	X11	SysVinit	RPM packages	ext	None
Red Hat Linux				SysVinit
	GNOME	GTK	X11	SysVinit	RPM packages	ext	None
SuSE Linux				SysVinit
	KDE	Qt	X11	SysVinit	RPM packages	ReiserFS	None

2005

Year 2005 - 79% homogeneity

Major Linux Distributions	Default Desktop Environment1	Preferred Toolkit for Applications2	Default Display Server2	Default Init Software	Default Package Formats	Default File System	Default Security Module
Debian GNU/Linux				SysVinit
	GNOME	GTK	X11	SysVinit	DEB packages	ext	None
Mandrake Linux				SysVinit
	KDE	Qt	X11	SysVinit	RPM packages	ext	None
Fedora Core				SysVinit
	GNOME	GTK	X11	SysVinit	RPM packages	ext	SELinux
SuSE Linux				SysVinit
	KDE	Qt	X11	SysVinit	RPM packages	ext	None

2010

Year 2010 - 71% homogeneity

Major Linux Distributions	Default Desktop Environment1	Preferred Toolkit for Applications2	Default Display Server2	Default Init Software	Default Package Formats	Default File System	Default Security Module
Debian GNU/Linux				SysVinit
	GNOME	GTK	X11	SysVinit	DEB packages	ext	None
Ubuntu Desktop
	GNOME	GTK	X11	Upstart	DEB packages	ext	AppArmor
Fedora
	GNOME	GTK	X11	Upstart	RPM packages	ext	SELinux
OpenSUSE				SysVinit
	KDE	Qt	X11	SysVinit	RPM packages	ext	AppArmor

2015

Year 2015 - 68% homogeneity

Major Linux Distributions	Default Desktop Environment1	Preferred Toolkit for Applications2	Default Display Server2	Default Init Software	Default Package Formats	Default File System	Default Security Module
Debian GNU/Linux
	GNOME	GTK	X11	systemd	DEB packages	ext	None
Ubuntu Desktop
	Unity	GTK	X11	Upstart	DEB packages	ext	AppArmor
Fedora Workstation
	GNOME	GTK	X11	systemd	RPM packages	ext	SELinux
OpenSUSE Leap
	KDE	Qt	X11	systemd	RPM packages	btrfs	AppArmor

2020

Year 2020 - 79% homogeneity

Major Linux Distributions	Default Desktop Environment1	Preferred Toolkit for Applications2	Default Display Server2	Default Init Software	Default Package Formats	Default File System	Default Security Module
Debian GNU/Linux
	GNOME	GTK	Wayland	systemd	DEB packages	ext	AppArmor
Ubuntu Desktop
	GNOME	GTK	X11	systemd	DEB & Snap	ext	AppArmor
Fedora Workstation
	GNOME	GTK	Wayland	systemd	RPM & Flatpak	ext	SELinux
OpenSUSE Leap
	KDE or GNOME	depends on selected desktop		systemd	RPM packages	btrfs	AppArmor

Today (2024)

As of today (2024) - 78% homogeneity

Major Linux Distributions	Default Desktop Environment1	Preferred Toolkit for Applications2	Default Display Server2	Default Init Software	Default Package Formats	Default File System	Default Security Module
Debian GNU/Linux
	GNOME	GTK	Wayland	systemd	DEB packages	ext	AppArmor
Ubuntu Desktop
	GNOME	GTK	Wayland	systemd	DEB & Snap	ext	AppArmor
Fedora Workstation
	GNOME	GTK	Wayland	systemd	RPM & Flatpak	btrfs	SELinux
OpenSUSE Leap
	KDE/GNOME/Xfce	depends on selected desktop		systemd	RPM packages	btrfs	AppArmor

Source: eylenburg.github.io

Footnotes:
1: default or pre-selected desktop, same methodology as here
2: for default/pre-selected desktop

Appendix II: Linux distributions' relative popularity (on Distrowatch) over time

The graph below shows the relative amount of hits on Distrowatch for the different Linux distributions, grouped by larger distro families and ancestries. The data is available for 2002-2023Q1. As well all know, Distrowatch hits are NOT a reliable indicator for the market share - just think of the mysterious #1 position of MX Linux - but nevertheless it's quite interesting to see how things have changed over time. The greater Debian family now dominates, although Arch-based distros have also recently gained a lot of popularity. At the same time, Gentoo, Slackware, (open)SUSE, Red Hat/Fedora and Mandriva have lost in the Distrowatch rankings compared to the early 2000s.

How to read it? Like any other diagram showing market share over time. The x-axis moves along the years starting in 2002, and the thickness of the coloured slices along the y-axis indicates the relative amount of Distrowatch hits compared to other Linux distributions. In the large chart at the top, all Linux distributions add up to 100%. In the smaller chart at the bottom it works similarly, with Linux, *BSD, and Solaris/Illumos adding up to 100% and the relative thickness showing the relative amount of clicks of these three OS families. (Note that the two charts are not using the same scale on the y-axis.)