A distro provides the user with a desktop environment, preloaded applications, and ways to update and maintain the system.
Each distro makes different choices, deciding which open source projects to install and provides custom written programs. They can have different philosophies.
Some distros are intended for desktop computers, some for servers without a graphical interface, and others for special uses. Because Linux is an open source operating system, combinations of software vary between Linux distros.
Is there an actively maintained Linux distribution missing from the list below? Complete our form.
The table below can be sorted and searched. For example, to show Arch-based distros, enter Arch in the Search box.
| Active Linux Distributions | Based on | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Accessible-Coconut | Ubuntu MATE | Accessibility |
| Adélie | Independent | General |
| AlmaLinux | Red Hat Enterprise Linux | Enterprise |
| Alpine | Independent | Small |
| ALT | RPM Package Manager | General |
| AnduinOS | Debian | General |
| antiX | Debian | Small |
| Arch | Independent | General |
| ArchBang | Arch | General |
| Archcraft | Arch | Small |
| ArchEX | Arch | General |
| Archman | Arch | General |
| Argent | Gentoo | General |
| Armbian | Debian | SBCs |
| Artix | Arch | General |
| Athena | Arch | Security |
| Aurora | Fedora | General |
| Austrumi | Slackare | Small |
| AV | Debian | Multimedia |
| AxOS | Arch | General |
| Backbox | Ubuntu | Security |
| Batocera.linux | Independent | Gaming |
| Bazzite | Fedora | Gaming |
| Bedrock | Meta | General |
| Besgnulinux | Debian | General |
| Berry | Fedora | International |
| BigLinux | Manjaro | International |
| BlackArch | Arch | Security |
| Blade | Debian | General |
| blendOS | Arch | General |
| Bluefin | Fedora | General |
| BlueOnyx | BlueQuartz | Enterprise |
| Bluestar | Arch | General |
| Bodhi | Ubuntu | General |
| Br | Kubuntu | International |
| BredOS | Arch | SBCs |
| BunsenLabs | Debian | General |
| CachyOS | Arch | General |
| CAINE | Ubuntu | Security |
| Calculate | Gentoo | General |
| Canaima | Debian | International |
| CatOS | Arch | General |
| Chimera | Independent | General |
| ChimeraOS | Arch | Gaming |
| Commodore | Debian | Gaming |
| CROWZ | Devuan | Small |
| Crunchbangplusplus | Debian | Small |
| CuerdOS | Debian | International |
| CutefishOS | Debian or Ubuntu | General |
| dahliaOS | Independent | General |
| Damn Small Linux | Independent | Tiny |
| Daphile | Independent | Multimedia |
| DAT | Ubuntu | Science |
| Debian | Independent | General |
| DebLight | Debian, Mint | General |
| deepin | Debian | General |
| DEKUVE | Debian | General |
| DeLinuxCo Workstation | Manjaro | General |
| Devuan | Debian | General |
| Diamond Linux-TT | Debian | General |
| DietPi | Debian | SBC |
| Ditana | Arch | General |
| DragonOS | Lubuntu | Multimedia |
| Dragora | Independent | General |
| Dr.Parted Live | Debian | General |
| Dynebolic | Devuan | Multimedia |
| EasyNAS | openSUSE | NAS |
| EasyOS | Independent | Small |
| Edubuntu | Ubuntu | Education |
| elementary | Ubuntu | General |
| Elive | Debian | Small |
| eLxr | Debian | General |
| ElysiaOS | Arch | General |
| Emmabuntüs | Debian | General |
| EndeavourOS | Arch | General |
| Endless | Debian | General |
| EuroLinux | Red Hat Enterprise Linux | Enterprise |
| Exe | Devuan | General |
| Exherbo | Independent | General |
| Expirion | Devuan | General |
| ExTiX | Ubuntu, deepin | General |
| Ezarcher | Arch | General |
| Fatdog64 | Puppy | Small |
| Fedora | Independent | General |
| Fedora KDE | Fedora | General |
| Feren | Ubuntu | General |
| FlickOS | Ubuntu | General |
| Finnix | Debian | Small |
| FreedomBox | Debian | General |
| Freespire | Ubuntu | General |
| FunOS | Ubuntu | General |
| FUSS | Debian | Education |
| FydeOS | ChromiumOS | General |
| F3OS | Debian | General |
| Garuda | Arch | Gaming |
| GeckoLinux | openSUSE | General |
| Gentoo | Independent | General |
| Gnoppix | Debian, Kali | Small |
| Gnuinos | Devuan, Debian | General |
| GoboLinux | Independent | General |
| Great-OS | Independent | General |
| Grml | Debian | General |
| Guix | Independent | General |
| GXDE | Debian | General |
| Halwan | Arch | General |
| HamonirKR | Mint, Ubuntu | International |
| Hos | Ubuntu | General |
| Huayra | Debian | International |
| Hyperbola | Independent | General |
| IncreaseOS | Debian | General |
| IPFire | Independent | Security |
| Kaisen | Debian | General |
| Kali | Debian | Security |
| KANOTIX | Debian | Security |
| KaOS | Independent | General |
| KDE neon | Ubuntu | General |
| KNOPPIX | Debian | General |
| Kodachi | Ubuntu | Security |
| KolibriOS | Independent | Small |
| Kubuntu | Ubuntu | General |
| Kumander | Debian | General |
| Lakka | LibreELEC | Gaming |
| LastOSLinux | Mint | General |
| Lernstick | Debian | Education |
| LibreELEC | Independent | Multimedia |
| Lilidog | Debian | General |
| Lingmo | Debian | General |
| Linux From Scratch | Independent | Education |
| Linux Schools | Ubuntu | Education |
| LinuxConsole | Independent | General |
| Linuxfx | Ubuntu | International |
| Linux Lite | Ubuntu | General |
| Live Raizo | Debian | General |
| Liya Linux | Arch | General |
| LliureX | Edubuntu | Education |
| Loc-OS | Debian | General |
| Lubuntu | Ubuntu | General |
| LXLE | Ubuntu | General |
| Mabox | Manjaro | General |
| Mageia | Independent | General |
| mAid | Manjaro | General |
| Malbian | Debian | Security |
| MakuluLinux | Ubuntu, Debian | General |
| Manjaro | Arch | General |
| Mauna | Debian | General |
| MiniOS | Debian | Small |
| Mint | Debian, Ubuntu | General |
| MIRACLE | RedHat Enterprise Linux | International |
| Mobian | Debian | Smartphone |
| MODICIA | Debian | Multimedia |
| MX | Debian | General |
| Neptune | Debian | General |
| NethSecurity | OpenWrt | Security |
| Netrunner | Debian | General |
| Nitrux | Debian | General |
| NixOS | Independent | General |
| Nobara | Fedora | General |
| Nova | Ubuntu | International |
| NST | Fedora | Security |
| NuTyX | Linux From Scratch | General |
| Obarun | Arch | General |
| Omarchy | Arch | General |
| OmegaLinux | Ubuntu | Small |
| OnixOS | Arch | General |
| OpenELEC | Independent | Multimedia, Small |
| openEuler | RedHat Enterprise Linux | Enterprise |
| openKylin | Debian | International |
| openmamba | Independent | General |
| OpenMandriva Lx | Independent | Independent |
| openSUSE | Independent | Independent |
| OpenWrt | Independent | Embedded |
| Open Secure-K | Debian | Security |
| OSGeoLive | Lubuntu | Science |
| Oshin | Arch | General |
| paldo | Independent | General |
| PakOS | Debian | International |
| Parabola | Arch | General |
| Pardus | Debian | General |
| ParrotOS | Debian | Security |
| PBXware | Gentoo | Embedded |
| PCLinuxOS | Independent | General |
| Pearl | Ubuntu | General |
| PelicanHPC | Debian | General |
| Pentoo | Gentoo | Security |
| Peppermint | Debian, Devuan | General |
| Peropesis | Independent | Small |
| Peux | Arch | General |
| PikaOS | Debian | Gaming |
| Pisi | Independent | International |
| Plop | Independent | General |
| Policorp | Debian | International |
| Pop!_OS | Ubuntu | General |
| Porteus | Slackware | Small |
| PorteuX | Slackware | Small |
| PrimTux | Debian, Ubuntu | Education |
| Puppy | Independent | Small |
| PureOS | Debian | General |
| Qubes | Fedora, Debian | Security |
| Q4OS | Debian | General |
| Radxa | Debian | SBC |
| Raspberry Pi | Debian | SBC |
| RebeccaBlackOS | Debian | General |
| Recalbox | Independent | Gaming |
| Redcore | Gentoo | General |
| Refracta | Devuan | General |
| RefreshOS | Debian | General |
| Regata | openSUSE | International |
| RebornOS | Arch | General |
| Redcore | Gentoo | General |
| Rhino | Ubuntu | General |
| risiOS | Fedora | General |
| rlxOS | Independent | General |
| ROCKNIX | JELOS | Gaming |
| Rocky | Red Hat Enterprise Linux | Enterprise |
| RSOS | Debian | General |
| Salix | Slackware | General |
| SDesk | Arch | General |
| Securonis | Debian | Security |
| SELKS | Debian | Security |
| siduction | Debian | General |
| Slackel | Slackware | General |
| Slackware | Independent | General |
| Slax | Slackware, Debian | Small |
| Sleeper | Debian | General |
| Slimbook | Ubuntu | General |
| Slint | Slackware | Accessible |
| SliTaz | Independent | Small |
| SME Server | RedHat Enterprise Linux | Enterprise |
| Smoothwall Express | Independent | Security |
| Snal | Arch | General |
| SnoopGod | Ubuntu | Security |
| Solus | Independent | General |
| SolydXK | Debian | General |
| Soplos | Debian | General |
| SparkyLinux | Debian | General |
| SpiralLinux | Debian | General |
| SteamFork | SteamOS | Gaming |
| SysLinuxOS | Debian | General |
| Tails | Debian | Security |
| TigerOS | Fedora | International |
| TileOS | Debian | General |
| Tiny Core | Independent | Small |
| Tiny Desktop | Tiny Core | Small |
| TravelerOS | Q4OS, Debian | General |
| Tribblix | illumos | General |
| Trisquel | Ubuntu | General |
| Tucana | Linux From Scratch | General |
| TUXEDO | Ubuntu, Kubuntu | General |
| T2 | ROCK | General |
| Ubuntu | Independent | General |
| Ubuntu Budgie | Ubuntu | General |
| Ubuntu Cinnamon | Ubuntu | General |
| Ubuntu Kylin | Ubuntu | International |
| Ubuntu Lomiri | Ubuntu | Smartphone |
| Ubuntu MATE | Ubuntu | General |
| Ubuntu Pack | Ubuntu | General |
| Ubuntu Studio | Ubuntu | General |
| Ubuntu Unity | Ubuntu | General |
| UbuntuDDE | Ubuntu | General |
| Ufficio Zero | PCLinuxOS, Mint | General |
| Ultimate Edition Arch | Arch | General |
| Ultramarine | Fedora | General |
| Uruk | PureOS | General |
| Vanilla | Ubuntu | General |
| Vendefoul Wolf | Devuan | General |
| Venom | Independent | General |
| Vinari | Debian | General |
| Vine | Independent | International |
| Void | Independent | General |
| Volumio | Debian, Raspberry Pi OS | Multimedia |
| Voyager | Ubuntu, Debian | General |
| VyOS | Debian | Embedded |
| wattOS | Debian | Small |
| Whonix | Debian | Security |
| Wifislax | Slackware | Security |
| Window Maker Live | Debian | General |
| Xubuntu | Ubuntu | General |
| YunoHost | Debian | General |
| Zenned | Arch | General |
| ZenLake | Debian, Ubuntu | General |
| Zentyal Server | Ubuntu | Server |
| Zenwalk | Slackware | General |
| Zephix | Debian | Small |
| Zorin | Ubuntu | General |
| 4MLinux | Independent | Small |
For a horizontal list, visit this page which also includes Non-Linux, Open Source or Unix-Like Operating Systems, and Discontinued distros.