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Fedora (operating system)
Encyclopedia
Fedora is a RPM
-based, general purpose collection of software, including an operating system
based on the Linux kernel
, developed by the community-supported Fedora Project
and sponsored by Red Hat
. The Fedora Project's mission is to lead the advancement of free and open source software and content as a collaborative community.
One of Fedora's main objectives is not only to contain software distributed under a free and open source
license, but also to be on the leading edge of such technologies. Fedora developers prefer to make upstream changes instead of applying fixes specifically for Fedora—this ensures that their updates are available to all Linux distribution
s.
Compared to more mainstream non-Linux operating systems, Fedora has a short life cycle. Version X is maintained until one month after version X+2 is released. With 6 months between releases, the maintenance period is a very short 13 months for each version. This can lead to trouble should one wish to use a particular version of Fedora for product development (i.e., embedded systems) where long term support is more important than maintaining leading edge revisions of software.
In 2008, Linus Torvalds
, author of the Linux kernel
, stated that he used Fedora because it had fairly good support for the PowerPC
processor architecture, which he favored at the time.
According to DistroWatch
, Fedora is the third most popular Linux-based operating system
as of November 2011, behind Mint
and Ubuntu
, and it is the most popular RPM-based Linux distribution.
was discontinued. Red Hat Enterprise Linux
was to be Red Hat's only officially supported Linux distribution, while Fedora was to be a community distribution. Red Hat Enterprise Linux branches its releases from versions of Fedora.
The name of Fedora derives from Fedora Linux, a volunteer
project that provided extra software for the Red Hat Linux distribution, and from the characteristic fedora used in Red Hat's "Shadowman
" logo. Warren Togami began Fedora Linux in 2002 as an undergraduate project, intended to provide a single repository for well-tested third-party software packages so that non-Red Hat software would be easier to find, develop, and use. The key difference between the approaches of Fedora Linux and Red Hat Linux was that Fedora's repository development would be collaborative with the global volunteer community. Fedora Linux was eventually absorbed into the Fedora Project, carrying with it this collaborative approach. Fedora is a trademark of Red Hat, and although this had previously been disputed by the creators of the unrelated Fedora repository management software
, the issue has now been resolved.
The Fedora Project is governed by a board whose majority is elected by the Fedora community.
The Fedora Project distributes Fedora in several different ways:
The Fedora Project also distributes custom variations of Fedora which are called Fedora spins. These are built from a specific set of software packages and have a combination of software to meet the requirements of a specific kind of end user. Fedora spins are developed by several Fedora special interest groups. It is also possible to create Live USB
versions of Fedora using Fedora Live USB creator
, UNetbootin
or dd
.
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) is a volunteer-based community effort from the Fedora project to create a repository of high-quality add-on packages that complement the Fedora-based Red Hat Enterprise Linux
and its compatible spinoffs such as CentOS
or Scientific Linux
.
Software package management is primarily handled by the yum
utility. Graphical interfaces, such as pirut and pup are provided, as well as puplet, which provides visual notifications in the panel when updates are available. apt-rpm
is an alternative to yum, and may be more familiar to people used to Debian
or Debian-based distributions, where Advanced Packaging Tool
is used to manage packages. Additionally, extra repositories can be added to the system, so that packages not available in Fedora can be installed.
, Firefox
, Empathy
, Evolution and GIMP
. Additional software that is not installed by default can be downloaded using the package manager.
Before Fedora 7, there were two main repositories – Core and Extras. Fedora Core contained all the base packages that were required by the operating system, as well as other packages that were distributed along with the installation CD/DVDs, and was maintained only by Red Hat developers. Fedora Extras, the secondary repository that was included from Fedora Core 3, was community-maintained and not distributed along with the installation CD/DVDs. Since Fedora 7, the Core and Extras repositories have been merged, hence the distribution dropping Core from its name. That also allowed for community submissions of packages that were formerly allowed only by Red Hat developers.
Also prior to Fedora 7 being released, there was a third repository called Fedora Legacy. This repository was community-maintained and was mainly concerned with extending the life cycle of older Fedora Core distributions and selected Red Hat Linux releases that were no longer officially maintained. Fedora Legacy was shut down in December 2006.
Third party repositories exist that distribute more packages that are not included in Fedora either because it does not meet Fedora's definition of free software or because distribution of that software may violate US law. The primary third party repositories, and the only fully compatible ones, are RPM Fusion and Livna. RPM Fusion is a joint effort by many third party repository maintainers. Livna is still maintained separately as an extension of RPM Fusion for legal reasons and only hosts the libdvdcss
package for encrypted DVD playback.
, a Linux feature that implements a variety of security policies, including mandatory access controls, through the use of Linux Security Modules
(LSM) in the Linux kernel. Fedora is one of the distributions leading the way with SELinux. SELinux was introduced in Fedora Core 2. It was disabled by default, as it radically altered how the operating system worked, but was enabled by default in Fedora Core 3 and introduced a less strict, targeted policy.
, who died about a month before the release.
Some of the features of Fedora 16 include:
RPM Package Manager
RPM Package Manager is a package management system. The name RPM variously refers to the .rpm file format, files in this format, software packaged in such files, and the package manager itself...
-based, general purpose collection of software, including an operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
based on the Linux kernel
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
, developed by the community-supported Fedora Project
Fedora Project
The Fedora Project is an endeavor sponsored by Red Hat to co-ordinate the development of the Fedora operating system. Founded on September 2003 as a result of a merger between the Red Hat Linux and old Fedora Linux projects...
and sponsored by Red Hat
Red Hat
Red Hat, Inc. is an S&P 500 company in the free and open source software sector, and a major Linux distribution vendor. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina with satellite offices worldwide....
. The Fedora Project's mission is to lead the advancement of free and open source software and content as a collaborative community.
One of Fedora's main objectives is not only to contain software distributed under a free and open source
Free and open source software
Free and open-source software or free/libre/open-source software is software that is liberally licensed to grant users the right to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code...
license, but also to be on the leading edge of such technologies. Fedora developers prefer to make upstream changes instead of applying fixes specifically for Fedora—this ensures that their updates are available to all Linux distribution
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...
s.
Compared to more mainstream non-Linux operating systems, Fedora has a short life cycle. Version X is maintained until one month after version X+2 is released. With 6 months between releases, the maintenance period is a very short 13 months for each version. This can lead to trouble should one wish to use a particular version of Fedora for product development (i.e., embedded systems) where long term support is more important than maintaining leading edge revisions of software.
In 2008, Linus Torvalds
Linus Torvalds
Linus Benedict Torvalds is a Finnish software engineer and hacker, best known for having initiated the development of the open source Linux kernel. He later became the chief architect of the Linux kernel, and now acts as the project's coordinator...
, author of the Linux kernel
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
, stated that he used Fedora because it had fairly good support for the PowerPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
processor architecture, which he favored at the time.
According to DistroWatch
DistroWatch
DistroWatch is a website which provides news, popularity rankings, and other general information about various Linux distributions as well as other free software/open source Unix-like operating systems such as OpenSolaris, MINIX and BSD. It now contains information on several hundred distributions...
, Fedora is the third most popular Linux-based operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
as of November 2011, behind Mint
Linux Mint
Linux Mint is a Linux-based computer operating system best known for its usability and ease of installation, particularly for users with no previous GNU/Linux experience...
and Ubuntu
Ubuntu (operating system)
Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu...
, and it is the most popular RPM-based Linux distribution.
History
The Fedora Project was created in late 2003, when Red Hat LinuxRed Hat Linux
Red Hat Linux, assembled by the company Red Hat, was a popular Linux based operating system until its discontinuation in 2004.Red Hat Linux 1.0 was released on November 3, 1994...
was discontinued. Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux-based operating system developed by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86, x86-64, Itanium, PowerPC and IBM System z, and desktop versions for x86 and x86-64...
was to be Red Hat's only officially supported Linux distribution, while Fedora was to be a community distribution. Red Hat Enterprise Linux branches its releases from versions of Fedora.
The name of Fedora derives from Fedora Linux, a volunteer
Volunteering
Volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity, intended to promote good or improve human quality of life, but people also volunteer for their own skill development, to meet others, to make contacts for possible employment, to have fun, and a variety of other reasons that could be...
project that provided extra software for the Red Hat Linux distribution, and from the characteristic fedora used in Red Hat's "Shadowman
Shadowman
Shadowman or Shadow Man may refer to:*Shadow people, creatures of both modern folklore and paranormal popular culture*Shadowman , a comic book series from Valiant Comics...
" logo. Warren Togami began Fedora Linux in 2002 as an undergraduate project, intended to provide a single repository for well-tested third-party software packages so that non-Red Hat software would be easier to find, develop, and use. The key difference between the approaches of Fedora Linux and Red Hat Linux was that Fedora's repository development would be collaborative with the global volunteer community. Fedora Linux was eventually absorbed into the Fedora Project, carrying with it this collaborative approach. Fedora is a trademark of Red Hat, and although this had previously been disputed by the creators of the unrelated Fedora repository management software
Fedora (software)
Fedora is a modular architecture built on the principle that interoperability and extensibility is best achieved by the integration of data, interfaces, and mechanisms as clearly defined modules...
, the issue has now been resolved.
The Fedora Project is governed by a board whose majority is elected by the Fedora community.
Distribution
- Fedora DVD/CD set – a DVD or CD set of all major Fedora packages at time of shipping;
- Live images – CD or DVD sized images that can be used to create a Live CDLive CDA live CD, live DVD, or live disc is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive...
or boot from a USB flash driveUSB flash driveA flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
and optionally install to a hard disk; - Minimal CD – used for installing over HTTPHypertext Transfer ProtocolThe Hypertext Transfer Protocol is a networking protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web....
, FTPFile Transfer ProtocolFile Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server...
or NFS.
The Fedora Project also distributes custom variations of Fedora which are called Fedora spins. These are built from a specific set of software packages and have a combination of software to meet the requirements of a specific kind of end user. Fedora spins are developed by several Fedora special interest groups. It is also possible to create Live USB
Live USB
A live USB is a USB flash drive or a USB external hard disk drive containing a full operating system that can be booted. Live USBs are closely related to live CDs, but sometimes have the ability to persistently save settings and permanently install software packages back onto the USB device...
versions of Fedora using Fedora Live USB creator
Fedora Live USB creator
The Fedora Live USB creator is an official tool designed to create Live USBs of Fedora.-Features:*Cross-platform *Non-destructive install...
, UNetbootin
UNetbootin
UNetbootin is a cross-platform utility that can create live USB systems and can load a variety of system utilities or install various Linux distributions and other operating systems without a CD.- USB Install :...
or dd
Dd (Unix)
In computing, dd is a common Unix program whose primary purpose is the low-level copying and conversion of raw data. According to the manual page for Version 7 Unix, it will "convert and copy a file". It is used to copy a specified number of bytes or blocks, performing on-the-fly byte order...
.
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) is a volunteer-based community effort from the Fedora project to create a repository of high-quality add-on packages that complement the Fedora-based Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux-based operating system developed by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86, x86-64, Itanium, PowerPC and IBM System z, and desktop versions for x86 and x86-64...
and its compatible spinoffs such as CentOS
CentOS
CentOS is a free operating system based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux . It exists to provide a free enterprise class computing platform and strives to maintain 100% binary compatibility with its upstream distribution...
or Scientific Linux
Scientific Linux
Scientific Linux is a Linux distribution produced by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the European Organization for Nuclear Research...
.
Software package management is primarily handled by the yum
Yellow dog Updater, Modified
The Yellowdog Updater, Modified is an open-source command-line package-management utility for RPM-compatible Linux operating systems and has been released under the GNU General Public License. It was developed by Seth Vidal and a group of volunteer programmers...
utility. Graphical interfaces, such as pirut and pup are provided, as well as puplet, which provides visual notifications in the panel when updates are available. apt-rpm
Apt-rpm
APT-RPM is a version of the Advanced Packaging Tool modified to work with the RPM Package Manager. It was originally ported to RPM by Alfredo Kojima and then further developed and improved by Gustavo Niemeyer, both working for the Conectiva Linux distribution at the time.In March 2005 the...
is an alternative to yum, and may be more familiar to people used to Debian
Debian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
or Debian-based distributions, where Advanced Packaging Tool
Advanced Packaging Tool
The Advanced Packaging Tool, or APT, is a free user interface that works with core libraries to handle the installation and removal of software on the Debian GNU/Linux distribution and its variants...
is used to manage packages. Additionally, extra repositories can be added to the system, so that packages not available in Fedora can be installed.
Software repositories
Fedora comes installed with a wide range of software that includes LibreOfficeLibreOffice
LibreOffice is a free and open source office suite developed by The Document Foundation as a fork of OpenOffice.org. It is largely compatible with other major office suites, including Microsoft Office, and available on a variety of platforms...
, Firefox
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
, Empathy
Empathy (software)
Empathy is an instant messaging client which supports text, voice, video, file transfers, and inter-application communication over various IM protocols....
, Evolution and GIMP
GIMP
GIMP is a free software raster graphics editor. It is primarily employed as an image retouching and editing tool and is freely available in versions tailored for most popular operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and Linux.In addition to detailed image retouching and...
. Additional software that is not installed by default can be downloaded using the package manager.
Before Fedora 7, there were two main repositories – Core and Extras. Fedora Core contained all the base packages that were required by the operating system, as well as other packages that were distributed along with the installation CD/DVDs, and was maintained only by Red Hat developers. Fedora Extras, the secondary repository that was included from Fedora Core 3, was community-maintained and not distributed along with the installation CD/DVDs. Since Fedora 7, the Core and Extras repositories have been merged, hence the distribution dropping Core from its name. That also allowed for community submissions of packages that were formerly allowed only by Red Hat developers.
Also prior to Fedora 7 being released, there was a third repository called Fedora Legacy. This repository was community-maintained and was mainly concerned with extending the life cycle of older Fedora Core distributions and selected Red Hat Linux releases that were no longer officially maintained. Fedora Legacy was shut down in December 2006.
Third party repositories exist that distribute more packages that are not included in Fedora either because it does not meet Fedora's definition of free software or because distribution of that software may violate US law. The primary third party repositories, and the only fully compatible ones, are RPM Fusion and Livna. RPM Fusion is a joint effort by many third party repository maintainers. Livna is still maintained separately as an extension of RPM Fusion for legal reasons and only hosts the libdvdcss
Libdvdcss
libdvdcss is a free software library for accessing and unscrambling DVDs encrypted with the Content Scramble System...
package for encrypted DVD playback.
Security features
Security is one of the most important features in Fedora. One of the security features in Fedora is Security-Enhanced LinuxSecurity-Enhanced Linux
Security-Enhanced Linux is a Linux feature that provides a mechanism for supporting access control security policies, including United States Department of Defense-style mandatory access controls, through the use of Linux Security Modules in the Linux kernel...
, a Linux feature that implements a variety of security policies, including mandatory access controls, through the use of Linux Security Modules
Linux Security Modules
Linux Security Modules is a framework that allows the Linux kernel to support a variety of computer security models while avoiding favoritism toward any single security implementation. The framework is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License and is standard part of the Linux...
(LSM) in the Linux kernel. Fedora is one of the distributions leading the way with SELinux. SELinux was introduced in Fedora Core 2. It was disabled by default, as it radically altered how the operating system worked, but was enabled by default in Fedora Core 3 and introduced a less strict, targeted policy.
Releases
The current release of the operating system is Fedora 16, codenamed "Verne". It was released on November 8, 2011. Fedora 16 is dedicated to the memory of Dennis RitchieDennis Ritchie
Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie , was an American computer scientist who "helped shape the digital era." He created the C programming language and, with long-time colleague Ken Thompson, the UNIX operating system...
, who died about a month before the release.
Some of the features of Fedora 16 include:
- Inclusion of Gnome 3.2.1 desktop
- Updated to latest KDE Software CompilationKDE Software CompilationThe KDE Software Compilation is a desktop environment and an associated range of KDE Applications produced by KDE. Prior to version 4.4, released in February 2010, the Software Compilation was known as KDE, which used to stand for K Desktop Environment until November 2009...
4.7.2 - GRUB2 is now the boot-loader by default
- Ext4Ext4The ext4 or fourth extended filesystem is a journaling file system for Linux, developed as the successor to ext3.It was born as a series of backward compatible extensions to ext3, many of them originally developed by Cluster File Systems for the Lustre file system between 2003 and 2006, meant to...
driver is now used for Ext3Ext3The ext3 or third extended filesystem is a journaled file system that is commonly used by the Linux kernel. It is the default file system for many popular Linux distributions, including Debian...
and Ext2Ext2The ext2 or second extended filesystem is a file system for the Linux kernel. It was initially designed by Rémy Card as a replacement for the extended file system ....
file systems - HAL daemon now removed in favour of udisks, upower, and libudev
- Unification of the user interfaces for all problem reporting programs and mechanisms
- Virtualization improvements including OpenStack and Aeolus Conductor
- Fedora will now use UID/GIDs of up to 1000 for system accounts
- Enhanced cloud support including Condor Cloud, HekaFS, and pacemaker-cloud
Version history
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Red | Release no longer supported |
| Green | Release still supported |
| Blue | Future release |
| Project Name | Version | Code name | Release date | Kernel version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fedora Core | 1 | Yarrow | 2003-11-05 | 2.4.19 |
| 2 | Tettnang | 2004-05-18 | 2.6.5 | |
| 3 | Heidelberg | 2004-11-08 | 2.6.9 | |
| 4 | Stentz | 2005-06-13 | 2.6.11 | |
| 5 | Bordeaux | 2006-03-20 | 2.6.15 | |
| 6 | Zod | 2006-10-24 | 2.6.18 | |
| Fedora | 7 | Moonshine | 2007-05-31 | 2.6.21 |
| 8 | Werewolf | 2007-11-08 | 2.6.23 | |
| 9 | Sulphur | 2008-05-13 | 2.6.25 | |
| 10 | Cambridge | 2008-11-25 | 2.6.27 | |
| 11 | Leonidas | 2009-06-09 | 2.6.29 | |
| 12 | Constantine | 2009-11-17 | 2.6.31 | |
| 13 | Goddard | 2010-05-25 | 2.6.33 | |
| 14 | Laughlin | 2010-11-02 | 2.6.35 | |
| 15 | Lovelock | 2011-05-24 | 2.6.38 | |
| 16 | Verne | 2011-11-08 | 3.1.0 | |
| 17 | Beefy Miracle | May 2012 |
Derivatives
- Source: DistroWatchDistroWatchDistroWatch is a website which provides news, popularity rankings, and other general information about various Linux distributions as well as other free software/open source Unix-like operating systems such as OpenSolaris, MINIX and BSD. It now contains information on several hundred distributions...
list of Fedora derived Linux distributions - Source: Fedora WIKI list of derived distributions.
- Active Fedora Derivative Linux Distributions:
- Berry LinuxBerry LinuxBerry Linux is a Live CD Linux distribution that has English and Japanese support. Berry Linux is based on and is compatible with Fedora 15 packages. The distribution is primarily focused on use as a Live CD, but it can also be installed to a live USB drive...
– a medium-sized Fedora based distribution that provides support for Japanese and English. - BLAG Linux and GNUBLAG Linux and GNUBLAG Linux and GNU is a GNU/Linux distribution made by the Brixton Linux Action Group.BLAG is a single-CD distro with applications desktop users "expect" from a desktop including multimedia, graphics, desktop internet applications and more. BLAG also includes a collection of server packages...
– a stripped down 1-CD Fedora with DebianDebianDebian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
's APT system. - Ekaaty Linux – from Brazil.
- FuduntuFuduntuFuduntu Linux is a Fedora-based Linux distribution created by Andrew Wyatt. It is designed to fit in somewhere between Fedora and Ubuntu , and, while optimized for netbooks and other portable computers, it is a general-purpose OS....
- Optimized for netbooks, development headed by Jupiter creator Fewt. - Fusion Linux - Fedora Remix oriented more for Desktop users and usability, uses Linux Mint as model
- MythDoraMythDoraMythDora is a specialized operating system based on Fedora and MythTV. Since 2009, the version number comes from the version of Fedora used followed by the version of MythTV used. For example, the current version 12.23 uses Fedora 12 and MythTV 0.23. Like KnoppMyth, MythDora is designed to simplify...
– based around MythTVMythTVMythTV is a free and open source home entertainment application with a simplified "10-foot user interface" design for the living-room TV, and turns a computer with the necessary hardware into a network streaming digital video recorder, a digital multimedia home entertainment system, or home theater...
's media center capabilities. - Ojuba LinuxOjuba LinuxOjuba is an Arabic Linux distribution, produced by an Arabic team led by Mo'aied Al-Sa'ady. Ojuba is a computer operating system based on the Fedora distribution...
- an Arabic Linux distribution. - Omega - Rahul Sundaram, Red Hat's Community Engineer, has created a Fedora remix with full multimedia support including MP3 and DVD playback support by adding software from RPM Fusion and Livna software repositories by default.
- Red Hat Enterprise LinuxRed Hat Enterprise LinuxRed Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux-based operating system developed by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86, x86-64, Itanium, PowerPC and IBM System z, and desktop versions for x86 and x86-64...
– enterprise Linux offering from Red Hat, which branches from the current Fedora baseline. - PLS Linux Version of Fedora, designed and developed in Venezuela, which has a high performance client-server solutions, used by the Public Administration (Government of Venezuela).
- Russian Fedora RemixRussian Fedora RemixRussian Fedora Remix is a remix of the Fedora Linux distribution adapted for Russia. However, it is neither a copy of the original Fedora nor a new GNU/Linux distribution...
- version of Fedora, adapted for Russia. Contains proprietary drivers and software. - Xange – (formerly Simplis and Vixta) is an easy-to-use, Fedora-based desktop Linux distribution featuring the KDE desktop.
- Moblin – a distribution mainly for MIDs, netbooksNetbookNetbooks are a category of small, lightweight, legacy-free, and inexpensive laptop computers.At their inception in late 2007 as smaller notebooks optimized for low weight and low cost — netbooks omitted certain features , featured smaller screens and keyboards, and offered reduced computing...
and embedded devices.
- Berry Linux
- Not active (no release for over 12 months):
- ASPLinux – a Russian Fedora based distribution. ASPLinux also includes closed source NVIDIANVIDIANvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...
and ATIAtiAs a word, Ati may refer to:* Ati, a town in Chad* Ati, a Negrito ethnic group in the Philippines* Ati-Atihan Festival, an annual celebration held in the Philippines* Ati, a queen of the fabled Land of Punt in Africa...
drivers, and supports proprietary audio and video codecCodecA codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of "compressor-decompressor" or, more commonly, "coder-decoder"...
s. - Aurora SPARC LinuxAurora SPARC LinuxAurora SPARC Linux is an operating system, based on Fedora Core, for SPARC-based computers. Aurora was originally created after Red Hat dropped support for the SPARC architecture after Red Hat Linux 6.2....
– for the SPARC platform. - Eeedora – for the Asus Eee PCASUS Eee PCThe Asus Eee PC is a subnotebook/netbook computer line from ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated, and a part of the Asus Eee product family. At the time of its introduction in late 2007, it was noted for its combination of a light weight, Linux operating system, solid-state drive , and relatively low cost...
, started in 2007 - Fox Linux – made in Italy, designed for basic home computing tasks such as browsing the Web, writing and printing documents, using multimedia and burning discs.
- Linpus - made by Taiwanese company Linpus Technologies for the Asian market.
- Linux XPLinux XPLinux XP is a shareware Linux distribution designed to imitate Windows environment using GNOME desktop; it can run some Microsoft Windows programs using Wine compatibility layer...
– a commercial Linux distribution aimed at replacing Windows XPWindows XPWindows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
as a home-use desktop operating system. - Nusantara – a Linux distribution supported by the Indonesian ministry of technology as a desktop operating system.
- Open Discovery - An integrated High Performance Bioinformatics Linux Platform.
- Yellow Dog LinuxYellow Dog LinuxYellow Dog Linux, also known as YDL, is a free and open source operating system for high performance computing on multicore architectures. It focuses on GPU systems and computers using the Power Architecture . YDL is currently developed by Fixstars...
– for the PowerPC platform.
- ASPLinux – a Russian Fedora based distribution. ASPLinux also includes closed source NVIDIA
See also
- LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
- Red Hat LinuxRed Hat LinuxRed Hat Linux, assembled by the company Red Hat, was a popular Linux based operating system until its discontinuation in 2004.Red Hat Linux 1.0 was released on November 3, 1994...
- Red Hat Enterprise LinuxRed Hat Enterprise LinuxRed Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux-based operating system developed by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86, x86-64, Itanium, PowerPC and IBM System z, and desktop versions for x86 and x86-64...