Picking a distro_1_

Linux/GNU, commonly referred to as Linux, is a free, open-source OS that was created by Linus Torvalds. Because its
source code is free and open, people all over the world help maintain, update and create more features for the OS. (New
operating systems, like Google’s Android, have even been built using the Linux kernel.) As a result, Linux is extremely
customizable and can be tailored to all sorts of specific needs. For these reasons, a majority of servers around the world—
including Linode’s—use Linux as their OS.
Different user communities adapt Linux differently, creating their own distributions—Fedora, Debian, Gentoo—contin-
gent on specific need. Most Linux distributions, or distros, can be used universally, but some are better at specific tasks.
For example, Arch is an extremely powerful, detailed distro that grants the user customization over even the smallest
functionalities of a solution in the stack. The Ubuntu distro handles many small configuration details by default, rendering
installation and configuration easier for newer users.
Arch
A minimalist, detail-oriented, bleeding-edge distribution for power users. One of the more
complicated distros to run, Arch empowers a user to manually customize every nuance about the
server’s configuration. Rolling updates keep all Arch versions uniform and consistent.
CentOS
Essentially the Red Hat distribution without proprietary services, CentOS is usually selected for
its powerful web-hosting capabilities, as it can install and run cPanel. (Red Hat is a distribution
well known by enterprises that use Linux servers for their web solutions—it’s one of the few
distros that comes with a price tag, but also a telephone/ticket call line for customer support.)
Administrators who have experience with Red Hat but don’t want to pay for persistent licensing
can migrate to and use CentOS, instead.
Debian
One of the earliest distributions, Debian has become one of the most popular and frequently
maintained distros among Linux users. It leverages stable, steady and reliable services with
greater deliberation about adopting recently released features available in other distros.
Fedora
Accommodates the latest, bleeding-edge software. It supports and runs services prototypes that
can be considered unstable.
Gentoo
This is a detail-oriented, challenging distro. Its source code is compiled by the user to fit exact
needs with installed hardware. By proxy, this would mean users are intimately knowledgeable
about their now optimized server. Like Arch Linux, Gentoo follows rolling updates.
OpenSUSE
OpenSUSE sports two emerging, distinct branches, Tumbleweed and Leap, for its version 14 and
beyond. Focused on the KDE desktop, OpenSUSE remains the preferred distro for KDE Plasma
experiences. The veteran sysadmin as well as the Linux newbie can easily adopt it.
Slackware
Slackware delivers a complete system by including dev environments, mail, web, and FTP servers,
diagnostics tools and kernel source code. Renowned for its long life spans, dual branches, and
code purity, Slackware elicits raves from experienced Linux users and those looking for a slim
server/desktop distro.
Ubuntu
One of the easiest distros to learn and operate, Ubuntu is arguably the most popular. Derived
from Debian, Ubuntu uses the same package management, but its own repositories. Ubuntu gets
updates throughout each year, with longer-lasting LTS versions released every two years.
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In 2001, Judd Vinet began work on what would become
Arch in 2001 and released its incipient version a year later.
Since then, Arch’s user base and community have grown
steadily.
In 2007, Vinet retired from his role as lead Arch developer
and passed the responsibility to Aaron Griffin, who still
heads the Arch Linux project today.
What Makes Arch Stand Out?
Arch Linux has earned a reputation for speed, customiza-
tion and simplicity because installation starts at the
command line and finishes at a shell prompt, where a user
must load preferred software to attain a practical - and
exclusive - working environment.
This minimal, tailored foundation supersedes the vanilla
installations of other distros that are cluttered with
unnecessary software, services and resource consump-
tion. Arch supplies all the tools and instructions necessary
to build an installation to exact specifications.
This do-it-yourself philosophy of user centrality is a
touchstone along “The Arch Way.”
Still, Arch’s keystone remains simplicity. Because it is a
rolling release (with a monthly base installer update),
Arch never needs to be reinstalled, only updated with its
package manager, Pacman.
Pacman works entirely with .xz files as opposed to using
RPM, DEB or Snap packages. XZ file compression uses the
LZMA2 algorithm which results in smaller downloads and
faster decompression than other packaging container
formats.
And because it’s comprised of the latest, stable, upstream
“bleeding-edge” packages, Arch makes available all that
upstream resources provide.
The core repositories maintained by the Arch developers
serve as Arch’s primary software sources. Also, the
popular, community-driven Arch User Repository (AUR)
contains tens of thousands of PKGBUILDs, shell scripts
which contain information for building packages with the
makepkg tool and installing them with Pacman. Using
PKGBUILDs, the AUR can install a wealth of apps which
can’t be found in other distros’ repositories.
For guidance, Arch offers its ArchWiki, a documentation
library that gives new Arch users all instructions and tips
necessary to install, configure and maintain the distro.
Who Would Benefit Most using Arch?
Arch’s beauty is that it can function equally as a server, a
primary workstation or anything in-between. Arch’s
online forums recount the distribution being used exclu-
sively on desktops, laptops, virtual servers and embedded
hardware.
Consider, however, that an incipient Arch user must be
willing to read and learn. Installation and major upstream
changes can frustrate prospective users who encounter a
steep learning curve. Fair or not, Arch has a reputation for
being newbie-unfriendly, and better targeted at veteran
Linux users.
Regardless of a user’s experience, installing, configuring
and using Arch will teach a tremendous amount about
Linux. If that is a also a goal, you could be very satisfied
with Arch Linux.
3

CentOS is a younger distro in the Linode lineup. Created as
the development platform for CAOS Linux, CentOS eventu-
ally shunted to its own project path with its first release,
version 2, in 2004.
The name CentOS is an acronym for Community Enterprise
Operating System. The project is overseen by the CentOS
Governing Board, which integrates with Special Interest
Groups, or SIGs. SIGs are teams within the community that
focus on specific areas in the project, such as documenta-
tion or alternate architectures.
As of 2014, the CentOS Project is under the wing of Red Hat
as part of its Open Source and Standards Team. Some
CentOS members work for Red Hat, which sponsors some of
the Project’s resources.
What Makes CentOS Stand Out?
One of CentOS’ biggest attractions is its ten-year support
lifespan, and what happens within those ten years (or
rather, what doesn’t). Major features and package
versions are only introduced with new milestone releases
(CentOS 6, 7, etc.). Unless a significant issue arises, this is
a distro maintained primarily for stability and security;
you won’t find the the newest Linux components in
CentOS.
Yet, that the intended advantage. A conservative
approach to new software adoption is a major factor in
enterprise environments where reliability and compatibil-
ity with custom tools are essential.
A CentOS milestone release will receive general support
for seven years, after which it will receive only critical
security fixes for an additional three years. This is known
as the Production 3 Phase of the RHEL life cycle, which
CentOS follows, although it’s recommended to upgrade
before this phase.
RHEL undergoes hardware validation by manufacturers
to ensure the operating system runs optimally on the
respective equipment of each. Because CentOS is pack-
aged from RHEL’s publicly available source code, hard-
ware validation is indirectly a feature of CentOS as well,
although some Red Hat binaries, such as drivers and
utilities, aren’t available in CentOS.
CentOS is an RPM-based distribution which uses yum as
its package manager, systemd as its init system, and
implements SELinux enforcement by default. The distri-
bution is available in a variety of options and configura-
tions, from a minimal .iso to the Everything image, includ-
ing purpose-built Gnome and KDE live images.
The primary CentOS architecture is x86–64, but ARM is
one of several alternates available. CentOS accommo-
dates container images for Docker, Vagrant and the like.
CentOS Atomic has been designed specifically as a host
system for Docker containers.
The CentOS Project also provides a GPG signed check-
sum list for its CentOS 7 images, and online key finger-
prints.
Who Would Benefit Most using CentOS?
CentOS tracks the public source of Red Hat Enterprise
Linux, so the end result is an operating system very close
to RHEL. If that’s an environment you’re looking for, or if
you need strong compatibility with RHEL, CentOS could
be a great fit for you.
However, CentOS is not only for those with Red Hat
experience. Its controlled, paced version upgrades make
it well suited for any software stack where reliability is
priority.
Moreover, packages which aren’t publicly available
upstream in RHEL won’t be installed in CentOS; the
distribution is fully free and open source by default, but
there are third-party repositories for additional software,
such as media codecs.
Both RHEL and CentOS are used for large-scale, enter-
prise-level servers and workstations. Once a milestone is
released, new features are rarely added; excepting
updates for security issues and bug fixes.
You will not find bleeding-edge software on CentOS.
What you will find is your software stack operating for up
to a decade on a stable, reliable and robust operating
system.
4

Debian is one of the oldest Linux distributions available and
is the foundation for many other distros from Finnix to
Ubuntu. The Debian Project was founded in 1993 by Ian
Murdock with the vision of creating a non-commercial
operating system which values open development, Linux
and GNU, yet is competitive with commercial systems.
What Makes Debian Stand Out?
There are three different branches of Debian: Stable,
Testing and Unstable. The Debian Project supplies about
three years of security support and important fixes to
Stable, at which point the Debian LTS team furnishes
support for about another two years.
Stable has earned a reputation for being a solid, reliable
operating system, so it’s no surprise to find it often used in
production environments. Debian and CentOS have
traded places as the most widely used Linux distribution
running the world’s web servers. This stability does come
at the cost of packaging newer software because it’s a
difficult feat to combine extreme stability with bleed-
ing-edge packages.
Depending on how you use Debian, it can be considered
both a rolling and standard release. To upgrade Debian
versions without a reinstallation - say, from Debian 8 to a
Stable 9, just change the source repositories to the next
codename and run a dist-upgrade.
However, if you edit your sources.list file to “track” the
Testing or Unstable branches, then a dist-upgrade would
jump your installation to Debian Testing or Unstable.
From there, you will perpetually pull from the whichever
of those repository branches you chose, regardless of
which codename is currently in them.
Another advantage of Debian is the presence of abundant
architecture ports. Probably the most well known
non-x86 implementation is Raspbian, the Debian-pow-
ered operating system for ARM-based Raspberry Pi
computers. Debian packages use the deb format, while
Apt and aptitude are the primary package management
options with various frontend controllers available.
The Main repository contains about 99% of the software
available to Debian. Contrib is an additional repository of
software that also complies with the Debian Free
Software Guidelines and is intended to work with the
Debian distribution. However, Contrib requires software
outside of the distribution to either build or function, such
as needing packages from the non-free repository.
Non-free is where you’ll find software which doesn’t meet
the DFSG, apps like Adobe Flash and proprietary media
codecs.
Packages from Main are officially part of and maintained
by the Debian Project, whereas the contrib and non-free
repositories are not. It’s also the Main repo which is
curated by the Debian LTS team after official support has
ended for a Debian version.
Who Would Benefit Most using Debian?
If you’re looking to run a server for a web application,
database or networked storage, Debian Stable is a natural
choice. It is equally comfortable powering your VPN as it
is your laptop. With server, desktop and minimal installers
available, you have the choice of starting small and
building your own system, or beginning with everything
and removing unnecessary components as you go.
Debian’s easy upgrade procedure lends itself to those
who don’t want to reinstall after each new milestone
release. Debian also provides GPG-signed checksum files
for verifying your image’s integrity before committing it
to media.
Debian Testing and Unstable versions are best for those
users comfortable with either sacrificing some system
stability for newer software adoption, or adventuring
with development branches. Please note: security
updates for Stable are priority while those for the Testing
branch are not. Another consideration: Unstable has no
security team support.
Debian stands as a free and open-source stable operating
system for multiple architectures. With about five years
of support (three years of security support and important
fixes plus two additional years of security support for
certain architectures), easy upgrades, and various
compile-time security features, Debian advances towards
fully reproducible package builds.
5

Fedora began as a grassroots, university computer-science
project. The Fedora Project, started by Warren Togami in
2002 as a community-maintained package repository for
Red Hat Linux, predated the distributed operating system.
The Project’s purpose was to provide tried-and-tested
software which wasn’t available in RHL.
When Red Hat decided to focus on enterprise customers
with its Enterprise Linux, the Fedora Project merged with
the former RHL and became the community upstream. In
early 2004, the first Fedora Core release went public.
What Makes Fedora Stand Out?
Fedora is available in three branches: Workstation, Server
and Cloud. The default desktop environment is Gnome
Shell, but Fedora Spins can serve alternative desktops.
Fedora Labs are supplemental spins for preconfigured
software collections, such as gaming, forensics and
astronomy. Fedora has ARM ports as well.
The lifespan of a Fedora release is about 13 months and,
similar to Debian, upgrading Fedora versions is a matter
of changing the repository source and using the package
manager; no need to reinstall.
Fedora is an RPM-based distribution which aims to offer
the newest stable packages while working closely with
upstream package maintainers to commit bug fixes and
patches. Fedora is another distribution with extensive
wiki documentation, which applies to more than Fedora.
Ask Fedora, the project’s official forum, offers ready and
ample community support for the distro and its spins.
Current apps unique to Fedora are DNF and firewalld.
DNF is the evolution of the Yum package manager,
created originally as a fork to correct various issues with
Yum, ranging from a more comprehensive and usable API,
to extensibility, to dependency resolution. Firewalld is a
new dynamic firewall daemon which emphasizes different
zones based on levels of trust.
Fedora Server also includes Cockpit by default, which
provides a graphical management console via web
browser login.
The Fedora Project is heavily security-focused, to the
extent that the entire getfedora.com domain uses TLS 1.2
with DNSSEC and DANE. Memory and execution protec-
tions are implemented. PGP keys with online fingerprints
are available for verifying installer checksum files; while
by default, SELinux is set to enforce mode and firewalld is
enabled. Red Hat has set the longterm goal of reproduc-
ible builds for Fedora’s RPM binaries, and Fedora also
supports Secure Boot.
Who Would Benefit Most Using Fedora?
If you’re already comfortable with Red Hat, then of
course you’ll likely feel right at home with Fedora. But this
distro isn’t limited to a RHEL partiality. Whether the
default offering or a spin, Fedora gives you a powerful
workstation or server operating system, or lets you install
a minimal base from which you can build.
Moreover, third-party software sources, which Fedora
must exclude for licensing reasons, and Fedora’s
rolling-releases make the distro a viable option for those
who don’t want to reinstall a system with each new
release.
The Fedora Project’s efforts are highlighted by their
values of free-and-open-source software, mindfulness of
security, and ease of use. The result is a distribution that
has become very popular on the desktop and is also used
on the servers of some powerhouse companies, small and
large.
Whether in the form of sponsorship or community
support, Fedora receives accolades from big names in the
Linux world and will happily adapt to whichever use case
you throw at it.
6

Gentoo is yet another Linux success story. In 1999, Daniel
Robbins released Enoch Linux, the precedent to today’s
Gentoo. Shortly thereafter, Enoch was renamed in honor
of the Gentoo penguin, the fastest underwater penguin.
Next, Robbins released version 1.0 on October 4, 1999,
the date he registered the domain gentoo.org.
What Makes Gentoo Stand Out?
Gentoo is a rolling-release distro and self-described
meta-distribution, lacking a default or standardized
installation. One of the Gentoo Project’s highest values is
to provide the framework for creating an operating
system tailored specifically to a user’s preferences. With a
base system large enough to run the kernel and vital
drivers, everything else—from desktop environment, to
init system, to specific compiler flags—is open to user
choice.
You can build the distro entirely from source code on a
local machine. Gentoo uses Portage (with its
command-line tool emerge) for package management and
bucks Linode distro tradition by not relying on binary
software repositories.
Fear not, however. A repository exists of ebuilds which
contain metadata, dependencies and scripting, necessary
tools to build a tailored package. Portage resolves these
dependencies, downloads source code, compiles and
merges a package into the operating system. In addition,
package sources are mirrored.
Gentoo sports differing terminology. You merge or
unmerge software using ebuilds instead of installing or
uninstalling a binary as you would with a .deb or .rpm
distro. Besides merging from an ebuild, Portage ican build
and install local binaries.
If choosing your own USE flags sours you on Gentoo,
know that its profiles are Portage blueprints for software
sets and make configurations. You’ll also find profiles for
Gnome and KDE desktops, developer tools, and inclusion
of SELinux or systemd.
If you want extraordinary security, hardened Gentoo is a
base profile to compile packages using more secure GCC
flags than a normal installation, and adds features like
PaX, SELinux, and a Grsecurity-compiled kernel. Also
available to all images and tarballs are OpenPGP-signed
digest files containing each SHA checksums, with finger-
prints verifiable online.
Who Would Benefit Most Using Gentoo?
While Gentoo can challenge Linux newbies, it is well
documented in its wiki. The Gentoo Handbook contains
necessary info to load and run the distro. Discussion
forums and mailing lists for asking questions help get you
on track.
Gentoo has access to all the usual software you’d expect
on Linux, so it could power your VPN just as easily as your
desktop. Unless you perform major hardware changes,
the installation is a one-timer. Subsequent Gentoo
updates require the updating of its repository and
commanding Emerge to run a sync.
Gentoo generally appeals most to those who need to
accomplish a task that’s more out-of-the-box than that
typically found with a binary distro. If bleeding-edge
packages are a passion -- e.g., a non-standard libc imple-
mentation? -- Gentoo can satisfy.
The security-minded will appreciate Gentoo’s hardened
profile and base tarballs. In fact, Google’s Chromium
Project adopted Gentoo and Portage as the framework
for ChromeOS.
If you’re willing to invest the time installing Gentoo, it can
reward you with an extremely customized and stream-
lined experience. Along the way, Gentoo will also teach
you a tremendous amount about Linux and the basics of
software compilation.
7

S.u.S.E. started in 1992 not as a Linux distribution, but as a
German software development company whose name
Software und System Entwicklung evolved into the
acronym and today’s SUSE and openSUSE (pronounced
“zoo-zah”) Linux distros.
What Makes openSUSE Stand Out?
OpenSUSE is the community-maintained development
base for SUSE Linux Enterprise, the future of which was
reassessed in 2015 when it was decided impractical to
chase a single branch that tried to focus on both stability
suitable for servers and workstations, and upstream
packages suitable for bleeding edge development.
Consequently, openSUSE has diverged into two distinct
branches as the 13.x releases began phase out. The
Tumbleweed branch is a rolling release which aims to
provide the latest stable versions of its package base. Leap
branch is a free, enterprise-level version with SUSE Linux
Enterprise at its core. It focuses on stability and reliability,
combines with community packages and holds a minimum,
three-year support lifespan.
OpenSUSE has traditionally focused on the KDE desktop
environment and become the distro of choice for a
matchless KDE Plasma experience. Today, the distro’s
performance gets equal accolades for use with Gnome,
XFCE and LXDE, while alternatives like Cinnamon and
MATE are available from the repositories.
The Btrfs filesystem and Snapper have become openSUSE
staples and OpenQA is used to smooth out wrinkles in
image builds leading up to their release. OpenSUSE has
broad documentation in various formats if online HTML
pages don’t fit your needs.
AppArmor is openSUSE’s preferred, mandatory access
control and it’s enforcing the default-supplied policies out
of the box, although SELinux is available as well. SuSEfire-
wall2 is openSUSE’s iptables wrapper, enabled by default
for easy firewall management and protection. OpenSUSE
is also Secure Boot compliant.
Unique to openSUSE is the SUSE Studio, an online tool for
customizing SUSE and openSUSE Leap installation images.
You add the packages you want, configure services and
export to an image for optical or USB media, virtualization
or containerization.
SUSE Studio also contains downloadable image applianc-
es, which other users have created and maintained. The
backend to SUSE Studio is Kiwi, a CLI tool for building
SUSE and openSUSE appliances from a Linux command
line.
YaST2, openSUSE’s graphical configuration manager, is a
platform of modules that manage everything on the
system, from sudo users to peripheral devices to system
services, without touching a config file. YaST executes in
openSUSE’s installer and sets SSH access, firewall, and
kernel and bootloader parameters, etc.
In addition, AutoYaST let’s you make more granular
changes and eases multi-machine installation, akin to
Fedora’s Kickstart or the Debian family’s preseed files.
You don’t need a desktop to use YaST, either. If you’re
running openSUSE on a headless server, YaST is fully
functional as an ncurses menu system launched from the
command line.
Who Would Benefit Most Using openSUSE?
Between SUSE Studio and YaST, openSUSE could be an
administrator’s panacea, or even a win for a Linux
neophyte. One of YaST’s most valuable attributes:
simplifying system configuration beyond the desktop
environment’s standard settings panel.
Similar to the relationship between CentOS and RedHat,
openSUSE is also ideal for those interested in SUSE
Enterprise Linux or in carrying home SLE’s workflow from
the office or job site. The distro performs equally well
running a casual home computer, a powerful scientific
workstation or a populated database. Community support
remains current in the official online forums and mailing
list.
OpenPGP fingerprints and SHA256 to verify an installer,
Btrfs snapshots, support for multimedia codecs, and
Adobe Flash during installation are just a few more
reasons to try openSUSE.
With rolling releases and enterprise-stable branches to
choose from, openSUSE let’s you prioritize either system
stability or bleeding-edge package execution without ever
leaving its ecosystem.
8

Whether adding packages, changing themes or building
modules for obscure hardware, the ultimate purpose behind
modifying a distro after a fresh installation is to make the
system work better for the user. And that’s how Slackware
began: as a university student’s collection of post-install
notes and fixes for the Softlanding Linux System.
What Makes Slackware Stand Out?
Slackware’s prominence arises from its near-UNIX-like
characteristics, a pillar of the distro’s philosophy. Slack-
ware’s init system is a hybrid of System V and BSD
methods.
Slackware strives to render a complete system, including
several apps unavailable as defaults in other distros.
Development environments, mail, web and FTP servers,
diagnostics tools, even kernel source code are all included.
Slackware comes in two branches: stable and current,
both for 32-bit x86, 64-bit x86_64, and ARM. Stable is
offered as a solid, thoroughly tested release for desktops
or servers; while current is the development branch which
leverages the latest software with reduced reliability.
Slackware is also known for long lifespans. Milestone
releases dating back to mid-2009 still have no planned
end of life.
Slackware’s maintainers desist from making changes to
upstream software. Infrequent patching is done to alter
software from it’s release state. This purity is often cited
as a most desirable feature.
Pkgtool, Slackware’s package management toolkit,
packages software into XZ archives using LZMA2
compression, so downloads and extractions are as
efficient as possible.
Third-party software packages are managed through
volunteer-driven SlackBuilds.org, or SBo, which maintains
a repository of build scripts to download, compile and
install various applications into the distro, akin to Arch’s
AUR. SBo is unaffiliated with the Slackware project, but
users can find thousands of GPG-signed SlackBuild scripts
with concise HOW-TO install or write-your-own guides.
Slackware handles package dependencies uniquely. All
dependencies of the recommended full installation are
satisfied, but the responsibility falls to the end user to
ensure additional software dependencies are met. Albeit a
somewhat controversial decision, this policy stands as
another pillar of Slackware’s core principles.
Slackware follows no set release schedule; new
milestones are made available only when they’re ready.
Slackware has no official policy regarding support
lifespan, either, so long-ago milestones remain fully
supported, both in terms of new features and security
patches. Slackpgk handles Upgrading to a new release,
averting full reinstallation.
Who Would Benefit Most using Slackware?
While Slackware provides one of the larger default
software sets compared to others, it doesn’t aim to satisfy
everyone. Its team never intended to create a distro for
the masses.
Experienced Linux users will get the most from using
Slackware. Various wikis and documentation sites exist to
help. Should difficulties arise, Slackware sub-forums at
LinuxQuestions.org, a disparate IRC channel, and a
newsgroup exist online to help.
If you’re looking for a server or desktop distribution that
you can slim down to a minimal installation for as lean a
system as possible, give Slackware a try.
If you prefer configuring the system with text files, a
simple init system and deliberate lack of upstream
changes—along with the assurance that these traits will
not change—then, give Slackware a try.
Still unsure? Peruse the Slackware Way. Note the avail-
able features bulleted. If you like what you see, give
Slackware a try.
9

Ubuntu is a South African word which loosely translates
to one of two meanings: “humanity to others” and “I am
what I am because of who we all are.” As a Linux operating
system, the inaugural Ubuntu 4.10 launched in 2004.
South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth code-
named his creation Warty Warthog.
What Makes Ubuntu Stand Out?
Ubuntu ranks among the most visible and popular desk-
top Linux distributions available. Canonical has put
substantial effort into making the distribution an easy and
smooth experience to install, maintain and upgrade; so,
it’s universality is no surprise.
Ubuntu releases come in two support lifespans. Regular
releases are made every six months and receive support
for a subsequent nine months. Long-term support (LTS)
releases are made every two years and each is supported
for the following five years.
Ubuntu is one of the most often forked distributions and
is the base for distros such as Linux Mint, Zorin OS and
Google’s internal OS Goobuntu.
In addition to the standard Unity version provided by
Canonical, Ubuntu comes in many flavors. These are
pre-built images using different desktop environments
(KDE, XFCE, etc.) and while not Canonical products, many
are supported in part by Canonical and receive direct
contribution by the Ubuntu project.
A significant amount of work with Ubuntu Touch has
delivered Ubuntu to tablets and smartphones. Unity 8 will
finally bring Convergence to Ubuntu for a seamless
experience between desktop and mobile devices, and
Canonical has been expanding Ubuntu’s reach to Inter-
net-of-Things, cloud solutions, and smart televisions. Even
in-car electronics have been discussed.
Because it’s such a popular distribution, community
support is ready. Answers are abundant. Ubuntu’s Person-
al Package Archives makes it easy to install software
which isn’t available in the repositories, and to package
your own projects or builds. Canonical has also worked
with Microsoft to build an Ubuntu userspace in Windows
10, with a full Bash shell.
For security features, Ubuntu has detailed security matrix
which includes things like memory protection, kernel
hardening and no-listening network services. The FTP
archives contain OpenPGP signed checksum files for
verifying installation images.
Who Would Benefit Most using Ubuntu?
Ubuntu is a bit of an “every-man” distro. It is largely
considered very friendly to Linux newcomers.
The source for Ubuntu’s package base is Debian’s Unsta-
ble repository (Sid). Depending on where Debian and
Ubuntu are in their release cycles, an Ubuntu LTS could
suit you well if you want long term support and newer
packages than the current Debian Stable, but without
leaving the DEB ecosystem.
If you already have knowledge of Debian, Ubuntu’s
workflow is synonymous, with slight differences regard-
ing providing package versions versus native properties of
the OS.
Ubuntu’s assortment of installers caters to various needs:
from building your own operating system from a minimal
installation base with the mini.iso to server, to the general
desktop installer, which can automatically configure disk
partitioning for installs, to a dual-boot configuration with
another operating system.
Ubuntu has become the most available multi-platform
Linux distribution and is becoming more accessible as an
OEM-supplied operating system. If you’re interested in an
Ubuntu phone, tablet or other Smart device, Ubuntu on
your desktop or server could be a perfect complement.
10

Picking a distro_1_

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