Rolling release
Encyclopedia
In software development
, a rolling release (or rolling updates) development model refers to a continuously developing software system; this is opposed to a standard release development model which uses software versions that must be reinstalled over the previous version. Rolling software, instead, is continuously updated
, in contrast to standard release software which is upgraded between versions. Rolling release development models are one of many types of software release life cycles and, in terms of software development methodology
in general, rolling release development models are less common than standard release development models in most mainstream
software sectors, such as operating systems.
Although a rolling release software development model can be used in the development of any piece or collection of software, it is typically, though not exclusively, seen in use by a minority of Linux distribution
s. Software distribution
s, of which Linux distributions form a very large proportion, are commonly referred to as distros, with rolling release distributions commonly referred to as rolling distros. When used as an adjective
(instead of a noun
) rolling release is often shortened to rolling, whether referring to distributions, software, or development models.
A rolling release is typically implemented using small and frequent updates
. However, simply having updates does not automatically mean that a piece of software is using a rolling release cycle; to qualify as a rolling release, the philosophy of developers must be to work with one code branch, as opposed to discrete versions. Software update
s are typically delivered to users by a package manager
software application on the user's personal computer
accessing, through the internet
, a remote software repository
(often via a download mirror) stored on an internet file server
.
Although rolling distributions use a rolling release software development model, the vast majority of the software contained within the distribution's software stack is usually standard release (i.e.] not rolling release) software. Also, not all software distribution
s based on, derived from, or related to rolling release distributions are necessarily rolling releases themselves. An example of this is ConnochaetOS (formerly DeLi Linux) which is a standard (i.e. non-rolling) release distribution based on the rolling release distribution Arch Linux
.
s and users
. The term "cyclically rolling" is not necessarily a standard term, though the term "cyclic release" is — see Counter-examples (non-rolling releases) section. The term "cyclically rolling" has been used in this article to differentiate rolling releases based on a "cyclical" (opposed to "rolling") development branch, since these have relevant differences from other types of rolling releases — see Freeze (software engineering)
and Further details subsection below.
For brevity, "partially rolling", "cyclically rolling", "optionally rolling" and "fully rolling" have been contracted to "part-rolling", "cyclic-rolling" "opt-rolling" and "full-rolling" in some parts of this article. The contraction of these terms is not necessarily a reflection of their standard use within the software community and is purely for the purpose of this article.
Rolling release software distribution
s in general often fall into one or more of the following software development model categories and subcategories:
of software packages
that are not rolling. These packages usually form either a non-rolling 'core' (such as the kernel
and other major packages) or conversely a non-rolling 'wrapper' (normally custom application software
to aid ease of use).
Cyclic-rolling distributions are based on a cyclical development branch of a non-rolling distribution; as a result the general age and stability of the packages does not remain consistent through the development cycle; especially across the end of a cycle, during a release of the non-rolling parent distribution.
In particular, prior to each release of the parent distribution, its primary development branch is frozen
. During this freeze
period, no major changes are made to the development branch, and it is at this point that it is at its most stable and bug
-free. At the new release of the parent distribution, the old development branch becomes the new stable branch and a fresh development branch is formed, restarting the whole software development cycle. It is at this point that the fresh development branch is now at its most unstable and buggy.
This software development
and release cycle can be disruptive for cyclical rolling release software distribution
s based on primary development branches, due to the freeze
period and the subsequent sudden discontinuity in stability and software bug
s, as most rolling release distributions try to maintain a steady and consistent user experience. This conflict arises due to the inherent difference between rolling release and non-rolling release software development models, hence making this a challenge for all cyclical rolling release software distribution
s to overcome.
Opt-rolling distributions either have a separate rolling and non-rolling release edition of the distribution, or can be optionally run as a rolling or a non-rolling release distribution. They are relatively rare, compared to other rolling release distribution models and tend to fall into four main subcategories (see Development models of opt-rolling distributions above).
Full-rolling distributions have psudeo-releases and installation
media that are simply a snapshot of the software distribution
at the time of the release. There is therefore no need to reinstall the operating system
, as is (usually) the case with upgrading between versions of a standard release. Also, a rolling release operating system
installed from an old install disc can be fully updated post-installation to the latest system software and application software
via the Internet
.
All rolling distributions (whether partial, cyclical or full) have software contained in the repositories
that is more current than that contained on the installation
media and usually contains very recent software releases – often the latest stable software releases available.
Mandriva Cooker, openSUSE Factory, Fedora Rawhide
and Debian Testing (on which LMDE and antiX
are based) are examples of primary development branches, and Debian Unstable (on which aptosid is based) is an example of a secondary development branch. By their very nature, these development branches tend to be unstable and buggy, with security fixes being slow, incomplete or non-existent; they also tend to lack support and documentation.
For these reasons, some software distribution
s recommended (either in the software documentation
or on the distribution's website
) that development branches, developmental milestone releases, pre-alpha software, alpha software, beta software and release candidates should generally not be used as enterprise software
in a production environment, in case of data loss
, etc.. A humorous example of such is the Linux distribution
Chakra GNU/Linux in alpha stage having the installation message “WARNING: This is alpha software, it could eat your hamster!!“.
Unlike rolling releases, development branches are primarily intended to be used by software developers, software testers
and early adopters rather than your average end-users
— see Software release life cycle.
, BSD
and Hurd
distributions
are all examples of full-rolling releases, except for those that are specifically indicated as PARTIAL (which are part-rolling) or CYCLICAL (which are cyclic-rolling). Distributions marked as OPTIONAL can be run either as rolling or non-rolling releases. Software distribution
s derived from another distribution (called the parent
distribution) are called child
distributions.
Those marked as FORK
, although still related to (shared ancestry), are now only derived from (forked codebase
) and no-longer based on (shared codebase
) their parent distribution, making them independent distributions. Software forking in software development
breaks binary-compatibility of software package
s between related software distribution
s in an analogous
manner to speciation
in biological evolution preventing cross-breeding between species
.
See GNU/Linux Distribution Timeline at Wikimedia for a Linux distribution
evolutionary tree.
See GNU/Linux Distribution Timelines for the original source material at Futurist.se.
Other than Arch Hurd
(which uses the GNU Hurd
kernel
) and the Gentoo/*BSD distributions (which use the BSD
kernels), the rest are all Linux distributions (which use the Linux kernel
). The following list of rolling distributions is grouped into families of related distributions.
Note: Although this list aims to be as comprehensive as possible, it almost certainly is not due to the huge number (literally hundreds) of software distribution
s (especially Linux distribution
s).
's website or from Wikipedia
or DistroWatch
, except where indicated otherwise by inline citations.
are all rolling release binary-based
Linux distributions related to, derived from, or based on, the independent rolling release binary-based
Linux distribution
Arch Linux
.
See List of Linux distributions#Pacman-based for a list of Linux distribution
s using Arch Linux
's Pacman package manager.
binary-based
Linux distribution
based on Debian-unstable, Debian's unstable development branch (Sid). Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) and antiX
are cyclical rolling release Deb
binary-based Linux distributions based on Debian-testing. Debian-testing is a cyclical development branch and prior to each release of Debian-stable, Debian-testing is frozen (and thus not rolling) affecting rolling distributions based on it — like LMDE and antiX.
Such distributions are therefore described on this page as cyclically rolling releases (or cyclic-rolling for short) to distinguish them from other forms of rolling releases, and are not classed as fully rolling releases (or full-rolling for short). For more information, see Development models section above. Also, please note that Debian
here refers specifically to Debian GNU/Linux (which uses the Linux kernel
) and not Debian GNU/kFreeBSD
(which uses the FreeBSD
kernel) nor Debian GNU/Hurd
(which uses the GNU Hurd
kernel).
as the primary desktop with Xfce
and Fluxbox
'spins' (or 'flavors') also available. Besides Debian's unstable repositories, aptosid uses its own package repositories and tools to help avoid potential breakage, otherwise more common when using Debian-unstable.Unlike LMDE, Linux Mint
's main editions are non-rolling and Ubuntu
-based, with GNOME
as the primary desktop and alternative spins for the KDE
, Fluxbox
and LXDE
desktops. As of August 2011, LMDE is only available with the GNOME
or Xfce
desktop; however, as with most distros, alternative desktops can be installed. It has been announced (on the Linux Mint Blog July 2011) that, like the Xfce spin, all future KDE spins of Linux Mint (from version 11 onwards) may be rolling and LMDE-based.
AntiX
is a MEPIS
Linux variant based on SimplyMEPIS but with IceWM
and Fluxbox
instead of KDE
as the desktop and based on Debian-testing instead of Debian-stable. As SimplyMEPIS is based on Debian-stable, SimplyMEPIS is not rolling.
Epidemic is a Brazilian Debian based Linux distribution with KDE
as the main desktop.
Vanillux is a Linux distribution based on Debian
which uses the GNOME3 desktop environment
with the GNOME Shell graphical user interface
.
Note: There are currently ongoing (as of September 2011) discussions amongst Debian developers (on Debian developer mailing list) regarding a proposal of developing a rolling release edition of Debian
called DebianCUT (DebianCUT unofficial website) — where "CUT" stands for "Continuously Usable Testing". This has been suggested to be either a new edition of Debian or to replace (or be a modified or re-branded version of) Debian-testing.
See List of Linux distributions#Debian-based for a list of Debian-based Linux distributions.
is an independent fixed release community developed
RPM
binary-based
Linux distribution
sponsored by Red Hat
and used as the base for Red Hat Linux
See List of Linux distributions#Fedora-based for a list of Fedora-based Linux distributions.
See List of Linux distributions#Gentoo-based for a list of Gentoo-based Linux distributions.
and Unity Linux
are rolling release RPM
binary-based
LiveCD Linux distributions related to, derived from, or based on, the independent non-rolling binary-based
Linux distribution
Mandriva Linux
. Mandriva Linux
is developed by Mandriva
and was originally forked from Red Hat Linux
. Both Mandriva Linux
and Red Hat Linux
use the RPM binary package format which was originally developed by Red Hat
.
See List of Linux distributions#Mandriva Linux-based for a list of Mandriva-based Linux distributions.
rPath Linux
, Foresight Linux
is a Linux distribution using the Conary Package Manager
and is available with the GNOME
or KDE
desktop environment
.
are derived from (i.e.] forks
of) the independent Linux distribution
Sorcerer Linux. Like Sorcerer, they are 'self-build
' source-based
(opposed to binary-based
) Linux distributions that put an emphasis on compiling software package
s from source-code, using a software compiler
, rather than installing
pre-compiled binary
software package
s.
Note: Gentoo Linux
, the Gentoo/*BSDs, Funtoo
, Calculate Linux
, Toorox Linux, and most other Gentoo-based distributions, are also source-based (rather than binary-based
) — with Sabayon Linux (which is binary-based
) being an obvious exception. However, all the other distributions referred to in this article are binary-based
(rather than source-based) distributions, as are the majority of Linux distribution
s and most software distribution
s in general.
is an independent RPM
binary-based
LiveCD Linux distribution. It is open source
and community developed
, produced by the openSUSE Project
which is sponsored by SUSE. SUSE was formally part of Novell
, both of which were acquired by Attachmate
. Novell
and SUSE were split and are now subsidiaries of The Attachmate
Group. openSUSE
is used as an open source
development platform for SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
(SLED) in a similar way that Fedora
is for Red Hat Enterprise Linux
(RHEL).
Note: By default openSUSE
is not a rolling release distribution since it has stable fixed releases and developmental "milestone
" releases, as well as a development branch and testing repository called 'Factory
'. However, it becomes a rolling release distribution when pointed at the rolling openSUSE Tumbleweed repository instead of the default repository.
See SUSE Linux distributions
for a list of SUSE-based Linux distributions.
is an independent RPM v5 binary-based
Linux distribution
– available with the KDE
(version 4 or 3), Xfce
or LXDE
desktops – which aims to be the "fastest out of the box
distribution". It uses hardware
recognition tools from Knoppix
. YOPER and Unity Linux
both use the RPM v5 fork
of the RPM package format and are collaborating on a package maintenance
software project called ubuild.
and occurs at a fixed point in time. A minor software release in-between software versions is called a point release
. Some software projects adopt a "flexible" release policy (where software is released only once it is considered 100% stable and complete) rather than a "rigid" release policy (where software is released on a specific per-determined date).
The term cyclic release is sometimes used to describe software where the software project uses a cyclic software development process
. Likewise, the term periodic release is sometimes used to describe software that is released at regular time intervals. Like rolling release, the terms fixed release, point release, cyclic release and periodic release do not apply solely to operating system
s and software distribution
s. They can apply to any piece or collection of software; for example application software
might adopt either a rolling release or fixed release software development model.
Examples of popular non-rolling release operating system
s and software distribution
s include Microsoft Windows
, Mac OS X
, most BSD
s and most Linux distribution
s. The following short list of non-rolling release operating systems and software distributions is primarily ordered by kernel
type and includes only a very small selection of non-rolling releases.
Key: † = Discontinued; P = Pre-release; O = Opt-rolling (non-rolling by default
).
Note: Unlike the list of rolling release software distributions (see above), this list does not aim to be comprehensive, due to the huge number of standard (i.e. non-rolling) release software distribution
s and operating system
s.
The XNU
and Hurd kernels
are based on the Mach
microkernel
. The GNU Project
's GNU Hurd
kernel is based on their GNU Mach
implementation of the Mach
microkernel
.
Solaris/Illumos
distributions – as well as Mac OS
, Darwin OS, IBM AIX, HP-UX
and Tru64 UNIX
– are all members of the Unix
family of operating systems; while Linuxes, BSDs
and Hurds
, along with iOS
, QNX
and Minix
, are all examples of Unix-like
operating systems.
See Unix History Tree diagram for an evolutionary tree of Unix
and Unix-like
operating system
s.
See Comparison of operating systems
for more information.
s and software distribution
s use a non-rolling release (or standard release) model rather than a rolling release model. They have significant changes between version numbers, requiring a complete operating system reinstall, or at least a major upgrade.
, standard releases require significant development effort being spent on keeping old versions up to date due to propagating bug
fixes back to the newest branch, as opposed to focusing more on the newest development branch. Also, unlike rolling releases, standard releases require more than one code branch to be developed and maintained, which increases the software development
and software maintenance
workload of the software developer
s and software maintainer
s.
On the other hand, software features and technology planning are easier in standard releases due to a better understanding of upcoming features in the next version(s) rather than simply the whim of the developers at any given time. Software release cycles can also be synchronized
with those of major upstream software projects, such as desktop environment
s. Hence, there are pros and cons
to both standard release and rolling release software development methodologies.
experience, standard releases are often viewed as more stable and bug
-free since software conflicts can be more easily addressed and the software stack more thoroughly tested and evaluated, during the software development cycle. For this reason, they tend to be the preferred choice in enterprise environments such as computer
workstation
s, IT consulting, system administration, and mission-critical tasks such as data management
and servers
.
However, rolling releases offer more current software which can also provide increased stability and fewer software bug
s along with the additional benefits of new features, greater functionality, faster running speeds, and improved system and application security
, among others. With the last of these, software security, the rolling release model can have advantages in timely security updates, fixing system or application security bug
s and vulnerabilities
, that standard releases may have to wait till the next release for. Though, in a rolling release distribution, where the user has chosen to run it as a highly dynamic system, the constant flux of software package
s can introduce new unintended software vulnerabilities.
s, please see Linux adoption
.
on a cutting-edge
or bleeding-edge operating system
, gives rolling release distributions a highly devoted following within the free and open source software community, which, though still a small minority, seems to be growing.
Indeed, within the rolling release user community, a rolling development model is often viewed as a 'must-have' feature when choosing and moving between software distribution
s (commonly referred to as distro hopping). In some cases, ardent fans of rolling distributions may become converts, opting solely to use rolling distributions, in a similar manner to 'Linux converts' with Linux adoption
.
s, the popular website DistroWatch
keeps page-hit statistics for its various distribution pages, including distributions which are rolling releases and those which have rolling release versions. This gives a very rough indication of the overall popularity landscape of software distribution
s and is used by some as an unofficial measure of popularity and use of various software distribution
s.
There are also no official figures for the total number of Linux systems, partly due to the difficulty of quantifying the number of PCs
running Linux (see Desktop Linux#Measuring adoption), since many users download Linux distribution
s. Hence, the sales figures for Linux systems and commercial Linux distributions indicate a much lower number of Linux systems and level of Linux adoption
than is the case; this is mainly due to Linux being free and open source software
that can be downloaded free of charge.
However, the website The Linux Counter Project (LiCo) (its new website can be found here) keeps a guesstimate
of the number of Linux systems, but does not distinguish between rolling release and standard release distributions.The DistroWatch
and Linux Counter
figures, taken together, could in theory be used to arrive at a very rough guesstimate
of the popularity and adoption of rolling distributions.
In September 2008 Steve Ballmer
(Microsoft
CEO) claimed 60% of servers run Linux. Linux is by far the most popular operating system among supercomputer
s, due to its superior performance, flexibility, speed and lower costs. In November 2008 Linux held an 87.8 percent share of the world's top 500 supercomputers.
As of June 2010 the operating systems used on the world's top 500 supercomputers were:
These figures indicate Linux
dominates the supercomputer
sector with a market-share of over 90% and climbing, and that Linux constitutes well over half of the server
market. However, it is unclear what proportion of these run rolling release Linux distribution
s. The vast majority of BSD systems are non-rolling since the only significant rolling release BSDs are the Gentoo/*BSD variants, which have nowhere near the popularity of major BSD distributions such as FreeBSD
; likewise, as GNU Hurd
is still experimental, Hurd distributions (rolling and non-rolling) have minimal market-share. BSD and Hurd adoption thus currently has negligible impact on the overall adoption of rolling distributions, since the vast majority of rolling distributions are Linux distributions and Linux adoption currently dwarfs that of BSD and Hurd in the PC, mobile
, enterprise
, server
and HPC sectors.
With major software distribution
s (such as Google Chrome OS
, openSUSE
Tumbleweed, Linux Mint
LMDE, Fuduntu
, Chakra Linux
, and the possibility of DebianCUT) opting for a rolling release software development model, the number and popularity of rolling distributions would appear – and has been asserted by some, particularly within the rolling community – to be on the rise. However, whether this is truly part of a bigger long-term software development and use trend (either towards favoring rolling releases over standard releases, or towards giving the user the option to use software in either manner) remains to be seen.
Also – if one takes into account the current explosion in mobile computing
with Google Android, iOS
and other mobile devices – although the absolute number of rolling release installs may have increased, the relative
number may not have. Whether the latter will may depend partly on the future of the Google Android (non-rolling) and Google Chrome OS
(rolling) operating systems — specifically, if Google
merges the two, whether the resulting operating system
will be a rolling release or not.
and software distribution
s in general; this section focuses on the most common of those that regard rolling distributions.
Regarding this last misconception, it is not a necessary condition for a rolling distribution to be bleeding-edge, and there are many bleeding-edge standard release distributions for which stability
is just as big an issue. Hence – though it is sometimes claimed by critic
s of rolling releases – rolling release distributions in general need not be inherently unstable, compared to standard release distributions. Rather, any apparent instability
is more likely to be to do with the developer
- and user
-base in general opting for a more cutting-edge
and bleeding-edge approach to software development
and use. Thus, it is more a reflection of the culture
and attitude
within the 'rolling' community, than it is a flaw
or failure
in the rolling release software development model. However, the majority of rolling distributions do tend to include cutting-edge and bleeding-edge software in their software repositories so the user
has the choice whether or not to use such.
of the rolling release, which can be refined and "frozen" and only maintained
for software security. This is often impractical since it requires duplication of effort. Typically, defects and characteristics of a particular software release are not specifically addressed in a separate/isolated effort (e.g. as patches
); instead, they are addressed in the main software development
effort.
See Wikibooks.org for more Wikibooks
.
Software development
Software development is the development of a software product...
, a rolling release (or rolling updates) development model refers to a continuously developing software system; this is opposed to a standard release development model which uses software versions that must be reinstalled over the previous version. Rolling software, instead, is continuously updated
Software Update
Software Update is a software tool by Apple Inc. that installs the latest version of Apple software on computers running Mac OS X. It was originally introduced to Mac users in Mac OS 9. A Windows version has been available since the introduction of iTunes 7, under the name Apple Software Update....
, in contrast to standard release software which is upgraded between versions. Rolling release development models are one of many types of software release life cycles and, in terms of software development methodology
Software development methodology
A software development methodology or system development methodology in software engineering is a framework that is used to structure, plan, and control the process of developing an information system.- History :...
in general, rolling release development models are less common than standard release development models in most mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
software sectors, such as operating systems.
Although a rolling release software development model can be used in the development of any piece or collection of software, it is typically, though not exclusively, seen in use by a minority of 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. Software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s, of which Linux distributions form a very large proportion, are commonly referred to as distros, with rolling release distributions commonly referred to as rolling distros. When used as an adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
(instead of a noun
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
) rolling release is often shortened to rolling, whether referring to distributions, software, or development models.
A rolling release is typically implemented using small and frequent updates
Patch (computing)
A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance...
. However, simply having updates does not automatically mean that a piece of software is using a rolling release cycle; to qualify as a rolling release, the philosophy of developers must be to work with one code branch, as opposed to discrete versions. Software update
Software Update
Software Update is a software tool by Apple Inc. that installs the latest version of Apple software on computers running Mac OS X. It was originally introduced to Mac users in Mac OS 9. A Windows version has been available since the introduction of iTunes 7, under the name Apple Software Update....
s are typically delivered to users by a package manager
Package management system
In software, a package management system, also called package manager, is a collection of software tools to automate the process of installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing software packages for a computer's operating system in a consistent manner...
software application on the user's personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
accessing, through the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, a remote software repository
Software repository
A software repository is a storage location from which software packages may be retrieved and installed on a computer.- Discussion :Many software publishers and other organizations maintain servers on the Internet for this purpose, either free of charge or for a subscription fee...
(often via a download mirror) stored on an internet file server
File server
In computing, a file server is a computer attached to a network that has the primary purpose of providing a location for shared disk access, i.e. shared storage of computer files that can be accessed by the workstations that are attached to the computer network...
.
Although rolling distributions use a rolling release software development model, the vast majority of the software contained within the distribution's software stack is usually standard release (i.e.] not rolling release) software. Also, not all software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s based on, derived from, or related to rolling release distributions are necessarily rolling releases themselves. An example of this is ConnochaetOS (formerly DeLi Linux) which is a standard (i.e. non-rolling) release distribution based on the rolling release distribution Arch Linux
Arch Linux
Arch Linux is an independently developed, Linux-based operating system for i686 and x86-64 computers. It is composed predominantly of free and open source software, and supports community involvement....
.
Development models
For the purpose of this article rolling releases have been divided into the categories "partially rolling" (or part-rolling), "cyclically rolling" (or cyclic-rolling), "optionally rolling" (or opt-rolling) and "fully rolling" (or full-rolling). The terms "partially rolling" (along with synonyms "semi-rolling" and "half-rolling"), "optionally rolling" and "fully rolling" are standard terms used by software developerSoftware developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
s and users
User (computing)
A user is an agent, either a human agent or software agent, who uses a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified by a username , screen name , nickname , or handle, which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term.Users are...
. The term "cyclically rolling" is not necessarily a standard term, though the term "cyclic release" is — see Counter-examples (non-rolling releases) section. The term "cyclically rolling" has been used in this article to differentiate rolling releases based on a "cyclical" (opposed to "rolling") development branch, since these have relevant differences from other types of rolling releases — see Freeze (software engineering)
Freeze (software engineering)
In software engineering, a freeze is a point in time in the development process after which the rules for making changes to the source code or related resources become more strict, or the period during which those rules are applied...
and Further details subsection below.
For brevity, "partially rolling", "cyclically rolling", "optionally rolling" and "fully rolling" have been contracted to "part-rolling", "cyclic-rolling" "opt-rolling" and "full-rolling" in some parts of this article. The contraction of these terms is not necessarily a reflection of their standard use within the software community and is purely for the purpose of this article.
Rolling release software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s in general often fall into one or more of the following software development model categories and subcategories:
Development models of part-rolling distributions
- Part-rolling distribution with a non-rolling stable core; e.g. PCLinuxOSPCLinuxOSPCLinuxOS, often shortened to PCLOS, is a GNU/Linux distribution, with KDE Plasma Desktop as its default user interface. It is a primarily free software operating system for personal computers aimed at ease of use...
and Chakra GNU/Linux. - Part-rolling distribution with a non-rolling wrapper around a rolling base; e.g. Toorox Linux.
Development models of cyclic-rolling distributions
- Cyclic-rolling distribution based on a cyclical (usually primary) development branch of a non-rolling release 'parent' distribution; e.g. antiXAntiXantiX is a Linux distribution based on MEPIS which itself is based on the Debian testing distribution. It replaces the Mepis KDE desktop environment with the Fluxbox and IceWM window managers, making it suitable for older, less powerful x86 based systems...
and LMDE.
Development models of opt-rolling distributions
- Separate rolling edition of a primarily non-rolling release distribution; e.g. LMDE. [Note: Depending on one's definition, LMDE might or might not qualify as such since it uses a 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...
base instead of Linux MintLinux MintLinux 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...
's UbuntuUbuntu (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...
base, making them binaryBinary fileA binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
incompatible.] - A non-rolling release distribution that can be run as a rolling release, usually via a rolling software repositorySoftware repositoryA software repository is a storage location from which software packages may be retrieved and installed on a computer.- Discussion :Many software publishers and other organizations maintain servers on the Internet for this purpose, either free of charge or for a subscription fee...
; e.g. openSUSE Tumbleweed, - Rolling distribution on which is based a non-rolling release edition of the same distribution.
- Rolling distribution which is designed to be optionally able to run as a non-rolling release distribution.
Development models of full-rolling distributions
- Full-rolling distribution based on a rolling (usually secondary) development branch of a non-rolling release 'parent' distribution; e.g. aptosid.
- Full-rolling distribution based on another full-rolling 'parent' distribution; e.g. Sabayon Linux, Calculate LinuxCalculate LinuxCalculate Linux is an optimized distribution designed for rapid deployment in a corporate environment. It is based on the Gentoo project and includes numerous pre-configured functions....
& FuntooFuntooFuntoo is a a free operating system, more precisely a GNU/Linux distribution based on Gentoo, and initiated in 2008 by Daniel Robbins former Gentoo Linux project leader.- History :...
(all based on Gentoo LinuxGentoo LinuxGentoo Linux is a computer operating system built on top of the Linux kernel and based on the Portage package management system. It is distributed as free and open source software. Unlike a conventional software distribution, the user compiles the source code locally according to their chosen...
) and KahelOSKahelOSKahelOS is a Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. It uses Arch Linux's pacman package manager and is a rolling release. It comes with a ready to install GNOME environment....
, Arch HurdArch HurdArch Hurd is an operating system based on Arch Linux, but uses GNU Hurd kernel instead of Linux.The Arch Hurd project was founded on an Arch Linux forum thread and, after a few weeks with many contributions, progressed to the point where it could boot in a virtual machine...
, ArchBang & CTKArch (all based on Arch LinuxArch LinuxArch Linux is an independently developed, Linux-based operating system for i686 and x86-64 computers. It is composed predominantly of free and open source software, and supports community involvement....
). - Full-rolling independent distribution; e.g. Arch LinuxArch LinuxArch Linux is an independently developed, Linux-based operating system for i686 and x86-64 computers. It is composed predominantly of free and open source software, and supports community involvement....
, Gentoo LinuxGentoo LinuxGentoo Linux is a computer operating system built on top of the Linux kernel and based on the Portage package management system. It is distributed as free and open source software. Unlike a conventional software distribution, the user compiles the source code locally according to their chosen...
& YOPERYOPERYoper Linux—Your Operating System—is a Linux distribution for PCs with i686 or higher processor types. It can be used for both personal computers and server use and uses hardware recognition tools known from Knoppix...
.
Further details
Part-rolling (or semi-rolling or half-rolling) distributions have a subsetSubset
In mathematics, especially in set theory, a set A is a subset of a set B if A is "contained" inside B. A and B may coincide. The relationship of one set being a subset of another is called inclusion or sometimes containment...
of software packages
Software package (installation)
In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....
that are not rolling. These packages usually form either a non-rolling 'core' (such as the kernel
Kernel (computing)
In computing, the kernel is the main component of most computer operating systems; it is a bridge between applications and the actual data processing done at the hardware level. The kernel's responsibilities include managing the system's resources...
and other major packages) or conversely a non-rolling 'wrapper' (normally custom application software
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
to aid ease of use).
Cyclic-rolling distributions are based on a cyclical development branch of a non-rolling distribution; as a result the general age and stability of the packages does not remain consistent through the development cycle; especially across the end of a cycle, during a release of the non-rolling parent distribution.
In particular, prior to each release of the parent distribution, its primary development branch is frozen
Freeze (software engineering)
In software engineering, a freeze is a point in time in the development process after which the rules for making changes to the source code or related resources become more strict, or the period during which those rules are applied...
. During this freeze
Freeze (software engineering)
In software engineering, a freeze is a point in time in the development process after which the rules for making changes to the source code or related resources become more strict, or the period during which those rules are applied...
period, no major changes are made to the development branch, and it is at this point that it is at its most stable and bug
Software bug
A software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
-free. At the new release of the parent distribution, the old development branch becomes the new stable branch and a fresh development branch is formed, restarting the whole software development cycle. It is at this point that the fresh development branch is now at its most unstable and buggy.
This software development
Software development
Software development is the development of a software product...
and release cycle can be disruptive for cyclical rolling release software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s based on primary development branches, due to the freeze
Freeze (software engineering)
In software engineering, a freeze is a point in time in the development process after which the rules for making changes to the source code or related resources become more strict, or the period during which those rules are applied...
period and the subsequent sudden discontinuity in stability and software bug
Software bug
A software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
s, as most rolling release distributions try to maintain a steady and consistent user experience. This conflict arises due to the inherent difference between rolling release and non-rolling release software development models, hence making this a challenge for all cyclical rolling release software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s to overcome.
Opt-rolling distributions either have a separate rolling and non-rolling release edition of the distribution, or can be optionally run as a rolling or a non-rolling release distribution. They are relatively rare, compared to other rolling release distribution models and tend to fall into four main subcategories (see Development models of opt-rolling distributions above).
Full-rolling distributions have psudeo-releases and installation
Installation (computer programs)
Installation of a program is the act of putting the program onto a computer system so that it can be executed....
media that are simply a snapshot of the software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
at the time of the release. There is therefore no need to reinstall the 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 is (usually) the case with upgrading between versions of a standard release. Also, a rolling release 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...
installed from an old install disc can be fully updated post-installation to the latest system software and application software
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
via the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
All rolling distributions (whether partial, cyclical or full) have software contained in the repositories
Software repository
A software repository is a storage location from which software packages may be retrieved and installed on a computer.- Discussion :Many software publishers and other organizations maintain servers on the Internet for this purpose, either free of charge or for a subscription fee...
that is more current than that contained on the installation
Installation (computer programs)
Installation of a program is the act of putting the program onto a computer system so that it can be executed....
media and usually contains very recent software releases – often the latest stable software releases available.
Development branches
Other Linux distributions may maintain a development branch in between releases. These development branches (dev-branches) are often labelled with the suffix -current, -unstable, -testing or -snapshot and may resemble a rolling release because software in such a branch is continually updated. However, unlike a rolling release, primary development branches are intended to be the next release, and will be frozen and tested prior to such a release.Mandriva Cooker, openSUSE Factory, Fedora Rawhide
Rawhide (computing)
Rawhide is the development tree for the Fedora Linux distribution. It is continually revised, with software being added, removed, and updated. In many cases, this software is made of CVS, Subversion or Git snapshots....
and Debian Testing (on which LMDE and antiX
AntiX
antiX is a Linux distribution based on MEPIS which itself is based on the Debian testing distribution. It replaces the Mepis KDE desktop environment with the Fluxbox and IceWM window managers, making it suitable for older, less powerful x86 based systems...
are based) are examples of primary development branches, and Debian Unstable (on which aptosid is based) is an example of a secondary development branch. By their very nature, these development branches tend to be unstable and buggy, with security fixes being slow, incomplete or non-existent; they also tend to lack support and documentation.
For these reasons, some software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s recommended (either in the software documentation
Software documentation
Software documentation or source code documentation is written text that accompanies computer software. It either explains how it operates or how to use it, and may mean different things to people in different roles....
or on the distribution's website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
) that development branches, developmental milestone releases, pre-alpha software, alpha software, beta software and release candidates should generally not be used as enterprise software
Enterprise software
Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application software , is software used in organizations, such as in a business or government, contrary to software chosen by individuals...
in a production environment, in case of data loss
Data loss
Data loss is an error condition in information systems in which information is destroyed by failures or neglect in storage, transmission, or processing. Information systems implement backup and disaster recovery equipment and processes to prevent data loss or restore lost data.Data loss is...
, etc.. A humorous example of such is the 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...
Chakra GNU/Linux in alpha stage having the installation message “WARNING: This is alpha software, it could eat your hamster!!“.
Unlike rolling releases, development branches are primarily intended to be used by software developers, software testers
Software testing
Software testing is an investigation conducted to provide stakeholders with information about the quality of the product or service under test. Software testing can also provide an objective, independent view of the software to allow the business to appreciate and understand the risks of software...
and early adopters rather than your average end-users
User (computing)
A user is an agent, either a human agent or software agent, who uses a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified by a username , screen name , nickname , or handle, which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term.Users are...
— see Software release life cycle.
Rolling distributions: Examples
The following LinuxLinux
Linux 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...
, BSD
Berkeley Software Distribution
Berkeley Software Distribution is a Unix operating system derivative developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1977 to 1995...
and Hurd
GNU Hurd
GNU Hurd is a free software Unix-like replacement for the Unix kernel, released under the GNU General Public License. It has been under development since 1990 by the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation...
distributions
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
are all examples of full-rolling releases, except for those that are specifically indicated as PARTIAL (which are part-rolling) or CYCLICAL (which are cyclic-rolling). Distributions marked as OPTIONAL can be run either as rolling or non-rolling releases. Software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s derived from another distribution (called the parent
Parent
A parent is a caretaker of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is of a child . Children can have one or more parents, but they must have two biological parents. Biological parents consist of the male who sired the child and the female who gave birth to the child...
distribution) are called child
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
distributions.
Those marked as FORK
Fork (software development)
In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
, although still related to (shared ancestry), are now only derived from (forked codebase
Codebase
The term codebase, or code base, is used in software development to mean the whole collection of source code used to build a particular application or component. Typically, the codebase includes only human-written source code files, and not, e.g., source code files generated by other tools or...
) and no-longer based on (shared codebase
Codebase
The term codebase, or code base, is used in software development to mean the whole collection of source code used to build a particular application or component. Typically, the codebase includes only human-written source code files, and not, e.g., source code files generated by other tools or...
) their parent distribution, making them independent distributions. Software forking in software development
Software development
Software development is the development of a software product...
breaks binary-compatibility of software package
Software package (installation)
In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....
s between related software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s in an analogous
Analogy
Analogy is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject to another particular subject , and a linguistic expression corresponding to such a process...
manner to speciation
Speciation
Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. The biologist Orator F. Cook seems to have been the first to coin the term 'speciation' for the splitting of lineages or 'cladogenesis,' as opposed to 'anagenesis' or 'phyletic evolution' occurring within lineages...
in biological evolution preventing cross-breeding between species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
.
See GNU/Linux Distribution Timeline at Wikimedia for a 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...
evolutionary tree.
See GNU/Linux Distribution Timelines for the original source material at Futurist.se.
Other than Arch Hurd
Arch Hurd
Arch Hurd is an operating system based on Arch Linux, but uses GNU Hurd kernel instead of Linux.The Arch Hurd project was founded on an Arch Linux forum thread and, after a few weeks with many contributions, progressed to the point where it could boot in a virtual machine...
(which uses the GNU Hurd
GNU Hurd
GNU Hurd is a free software Unix-like replacement for the Unix kernel, released under the GNU General Public License. It has been under development since 1990 by the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation...
kernel
Kernel (computing)
In computing, the kernel is the main component of most computer operating systems; it is a bridge between applications and the actual data processing done at the hardware level. The kernel's responsibilities include managing the system's resources...
) and the Gentoo/*BSD distributions (which use the BSD
Berkeley Software Distribution
Berkeley Software Distribution is a Unix operating system derivative developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1977 to 1995...
kernels), the rest are all Linux distributions (which use 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....
). The following list of rolling distributions is grouped into families of related distributions.
List of rolling release software distributions
- Arch-related: Arch LinuxArch LinuxArch Linux is an independently developed, Linux-based operating system for i686 and x86-64 computers. It is composed predominantly of free and open source software, and supports community involvement....
, ArchBang, Chakra GNU/Linux (FORKFork (software development)In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
| PARTIAL: non-rolling core), Parabola GNU/Linux, CTKArch, KahelOSKahelOSKahelOS is a Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. It uses Arch Linux's pacman package manager and is a rolling release. It comes with a ready to install GNOME environment....
& Arch HurdArch HurdArch Hurd is an operating system based on Arch Linux, but uses GNU Hurd kernel instead of Linux.The Arch Hurd project was founded on an Arch Linux forum thread and, after a few weeks with many contributions, progressed to the point where it could boot in a virtual machine... - Debian-based: aptosid (Debian-unstable base), LMDE (CYCLICAL: Debian-testing base), antiXAntiXantiX is a Linux distribution based on MEPIS which itself is based on the Debian testing distribution. It replaces the Mepis KDE desktop environment with the Fluxbox and IceWM window managers, making it suitable for older, less powerful x86 based systems...
(CYCLICAL: Debian-testing & MEPISMEPISMEPIS is a set of Linux distributions, distributed as Live CDs that can be installed onto a hard disk drive.MEPIS is developed and maintained by an active community begun by Warren Woodford and the eponymous company MEPIS LLC....
base), Epidemic Linux & Vanillux - Fedora-based: 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....
- Gentoo-based: Gentoo LinuxGentoo LinuxGentoo Linux is a computer operating system built on top of the Linux kernel and based on the Portage package management system. It is distributed as free and open source software. Unlike a conventional software distribution, the user compiles the source code locally according to their chosen...
, Gentoo/FreeBSDGentoo/FreeBSDGentoo/FreeBSD is a Unix-like operating system developed by Gentoo Linux developers in order to bring Gentoo Linux design, structure, and tools such as Portage and the Gentoo Linux baselayout to the FreeBSD operating system...
, Gentoo/NetBSD, Gentoo/OpenBSD, Gentoo/DragonflyBSD, FuntooFuntooFuntoo is a a free operating system, more precisely a GNU/Linux distribution based on Gentoo, and initiated in 2008 by Daniel Robbins former Gentoo Linux project leader.- History :...
, Calculate LinuxCalculate LinuxCalculate Linux is an optimized distribution designed for rapid deployment in a corporate environment. It is based on the Gentoo project and includes numerous pre-configured functions....
, Toorox Linux (PARTIAL: non-rolling wrapper), Sabayon Linux, Google Chrome OSGoogle Chrome OSGoogle Chrome OS is a Linux-based operating system designed by Google to work exclusively with web applications. Google announced the operating system on July 7, 2009 and made it an open source project, called Chromium OS, that November....
(and its development base Chromium OSChromium OSChromium OS is the open source development version of Google Chrome OS.Chrome OS's source code was released on November 19, 2009 under the same BSD license as Chromium OS.-User interface:...
) - Mandriva-related: Unity LinuxUnity LinuxUnity Linux is a rolling release GNU/Linux distribution maintained by a group of volunteers and is meant to be a base on which other distributions can build. Its default desktop environment is Openbox...
, PCLinuxOSPCLinuxOSPCLinuxOS, often shortened to PCLOS, is a GNU/Linux distribution, with KDE Plasma Desktop as its default user interface. It is a primarily free software operating system for personal computers aimed at ease of use...
(FORKFork (software development)In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
| PARTIAL: non-rolling core) - rPath-based: Foresight LinuxForesight Linux- External links :* *...
- Sorcerer-related: Sorcerer Linux, Source Mage (FORKFork (software development)In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
) & Lunar LinuxLunar LinuxLunar Linux is an operating system maintained around a source-based package management system also called Lunar. The project is a descendant of the Sorcerer Linux distribution.The installation disk installs a complete bootstrap development system first...
(FORKFork (software development)In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
) - SUSE-based: openSUSEOpenSUSEopenSUSE is a general purpose operating system built on top of the Linux kernel, developed by the community-supported openSUSE Project and sponsored by SUSE...
(OPTIONAL: rolling when using Tumbleweed repository)
- Other (Independent): YOPERYOPERYoper Linux—Your Operating System—is a Linux distribution for PCs with i686 or higher processor types. It can be used for both personal computers and server use and uses hardware recognition tools known from Knoppix...
Note: Although this list aims to be as comprehensive as possible, it almost certainly is not due to the huge number (literally hundreds) of software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s (especially 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).
Rolling distributions: Further details
The information contained within this section is sourced either directly from the software distributionSoftware distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
's website or from Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
or 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...
, except where indicated otherwise by inline citations.
Arch-related rolling distributions
Chakra GNU/Linux, ArchBang, CTKArch, Parabola GNU/Linux and KahelOSKahelOS
KahelOS is a Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. It uses Arch Linux's pacman package manager and is a rolling release. It comes with a ready to install GNOME environment....
are all rolling release binary-based
Binary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
Linux distributions related to, derived from, or based on, the independent rolling release binary-based
Binary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
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...
Arch Linux
Arch Linux
Arch Linux is an independently developed, Linux-based operating system for i686 and x86-64 computers. It is composed predominantly of free and open source software, and supports community involvement....
.
- Arch LinuxArch LinuxArch Linux is an independently developed, Linux-based operating system for i686 and x86-64 computers. It is composed predominantly of free and open source software, and supports community involvement....
is an independent community developedCommunity developmentCommunity development is a broad term applied to the practices and academic disciplines of civic leaders, activists, involved citizens and professionals to improve various aspects of local communities....
Linux distributionLinux distributionA 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...
that subscribes to the KISS philosophyKISS principleKISS is an acronym for the design principle Keep it simple, Stupid!. Other variations include "keep it simple and stupid", "keep it short and simple", "keep it simple sir", "keep it simple or be stupid" or "keep it simple and straightforward"...
and aims to use only 'vanilla softwareVanilla softwareVanilla software is computer software that is not customized from its delivered form - i.e. it is used without any customizations applied to it...
' packagesSoftware package (installation)In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....
(i.e. plain/non-customized), minimizing the number of software patchesPatch (computing)A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance...
and giving a 'simpler' operating systemOperating systemAn 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...
. It uses the Pacman package manager and is a 'self-buildSelf-build"Self-build" is the practice of creating an individual home for yourself through a variety of different methods. The term 'self build' is specifically used in the UK and Ireland when an individual obtains a building plot and then builds their own home on that plot...
' distribution. - Chakra GNU/Linux is a part-rolling LiveCD Linux distribution, that emerged from a modular modified KDEKDEKDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
desktop for Arch Linux called KDEmod. KDEmod has now been merged into 'The Chakra Project' and is no-longer available for Arch Linux. Like Arch Linux, Chakra GNU/Linux subscribes to the KISS philosophy. It focuses exclusively on the KDE desktop, describing itself as "GTKGTK+GTK+ is a cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. It is licensed under the terms of the GNU LGPL, allowing both free and proprietary software to use it. It is one of the most popular toolkits for the X Window System, along with Qt.The name GTK+ originates from GTK;...
free by default", but has a 'bundles system' that allows some popular GTKGTK+GTK+ is a cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. It is licensed under the terms of the GNU LGPL, allowing both free and proprietary software to use it. It is one of the most popular toolkits for the X Window System, along with Qt.The name GTK+ originates from GTK;...
-based applications to be run inside their own self-contained filesystem. Originally forkedFork (software development)In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
from Arch Linux, Chakra GNU/Linux is now independent of Arch Linux — thus making it still Arch-related (due to shared ancestry), but now Arch-derived (i.e.] forked from Arch's codebaseCodebaseThe term codebase, or code base, is used in software development to mean the whole collection of source code used to build a particular application or component. Typically, the codebase includes only human-written source code files, and not, e.g., source code files generated by other tools or...
), rather than Arch-based (i.e.] following Arch's codebaseCodebaseThe term codebase, or code base, is used in software development to mean the whole collection of source code used to build a particular application or component. Typically, the codebase includes only human-written source code files, and not, e.g., source code files generated by other tools or...
). - ArchBang is a lightweight Linux distributionLinux distributionA 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...
with a minimalistic OpenboxOpenboxOpenbox is a free window manager for the X Window System, licensed under the GNU General Public License. Originally derived from Blackbox 0.65.0 , Openbox has now been totally rewritten in the C programming language and since version 3.0 is not based upon any code from Blackbox.Openbox is designed...
desktop. Its name was inspired from CrunchBang LinuxCrunchBang LinuxCrunchBang Linux is a lightweight Debian based Linux distribution, created by Philip Newborough, designed to offer a good balance of speed and functionality.- Features :...
(or #!), a lightweight Debian-based Linux distributionLinux distributionA 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...
which also uses a minimalistic OpenboxOpenboxOpenbox is a free window manager for the X Window System, licensed under the GNU General Public License. Originally derived from Blackbox 0.65.0 , Openbox has now been totally rewritten in the C programming language and since version 3.0 is not based upon any code from Blackbox.Openbox is designed...
desktop. - CTKArch is a lightweight Linux distributionLinux distributionA 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...
with a stylized OpenboxOpenboxOpenbox is a free window manager for the X Window System, licensed under the GNU General Public License. Originally derived from Blackbox 0.65.0 , Openbox has now been totally rewritten in the C programming language and since version 3.0 is not based upon any code from Blackbox.Openbox is designed...
desktop and support for the new 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...
BtrfsBtrfsBtrfs is a GPL-licensed copy-on-write file system for Linux.Development began at Oracle Corporation in 2007....
filesystem. - Parabola GNU/Linux is a 'self-buildSelf-build"Self-build" is the practice of creating an individual home for yourself through a variety of different methods. The term 'self build' is specifically used in the UK and Ireland when an individual obtains a building plot and then builds their own home on that plot...
' Libre Linux distribution endorsed by the Free Software FoundationFree Software FoundationThe Free Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software...
(FSF) as being fully 100% free software. Free softwareFree softwareFree software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
(or 'libre software') is 'freeFreeFree may refer to:* Free will* Political freedom* Economic freedom* Something given or supplied without payment * Gratis versus Libre, the distinction between the two meanings aboveFree may also refer to:- Arts and philosophy :...
' as in 'freedom', where as freewareFreewareFreeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
is 'freeFreeFree may refer to:* Free will* Political freedom* Economic freedom* Something given or supplied without payment * Gratis versus Libre, the distinction between the two meanings aboveFree may also refer to:- Arts and philosophy :...
' as in 'free of charge'. Most of the software distributionSoftware distributionSoftware distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s listed on this page are open source software and freewareFreewareFreeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
, but not fully 100% 'Free softwareFree softwareFree software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
', as defined by the FSF. However, they are all based on software which is, such as the GNUGNUGNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...
operating systemOperating systemAn 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...
(see GNU projectGNU ProjectThe GNU Project is a free software, mass collaboration project, announced on September 27, 1983, by Richard Stallman at MIT. It initiated GNU operating system development in January, 1984...
) with the 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...
, GNU HurdGNU HurdGNU Hurd is a free software Unix-like replacement for the Unix kernel, released under the GNU General Public License. It has been under development since 1990 by the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation...
or BSD kernelsKernel (computing)In computing, the kernel is the main component of most computer operating systems; it is a bridge between applications and the actual data processing done at the hardware level. The kernel's responsibilities include managing the system's resources...
. - KahelOSKahelOSKahelOS is a Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. It uses Arch Linux's pacman package manager and is a rolling release. It comes with a ready to install GNOME environment....
is a FilipinoPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
Linux distributionLinux distributionA 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...
that uses the GNOMEGNOMEGNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
desktop. - Arch HurdArch HurdArch Hurd is an operating system based on Arch Linux, but uses GNU Hurd kernel instead of Linux.The Arch Hurd project was founded on an Arch Linux forum thread and, after a few weeks with many contributions, progressed to the point where it could boot in a virtual machine...
is a lightweight Hurd distribution with a stylized OpenboxOpenboxOpenbox is a free window manager for the X Window System, licensed under the GNU General Public License. Originally derived from Blackbox 0.65.0 , Openbox has now been totally rewritten in the C programming language and since version 3.0 is not based upon any code from Blackbox.Openbox is designed...
desktop and the experimental GNU HurdGNU HurdGNU Hurd is a free software Unix-like replacement for the Unix kernel, released under the GNU General Public License. It has been under development since 1990 by the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation...
kernelKernel (computing)In computing, the kernel is the main component of most computer operating systems; it is a bridge between applications and the actual data processing done at the hardware level. The kernel's responsibilities include managing the system's resources...
. Therefore, although based on Arch LinuxArch LinuxArch Linux is an independently developed, Linux-based operating system for i686 and x86-64 computers. It is composed predominantly of free and open source software, and supports community involvement....
, it is not a Linux distributionLinux distributionA 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...
as it does not use the Linux kernelLinux kernelThe 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....
.
See List of Linux distributions#Pacman-based for a list of 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 using Arch Linux
Arch Linux
Arch Linux is an independently developed, Linux-based operating system for i686 and x86-64 computers. It is composed predominantly of free and open source software, and supports community involvement....
's Pacman package manager.
Debian-based rolling distributions
Aptosid is a rolling release DebDeb (file format)
deb is the extension of the Debian software package format and the most often used name for such binary packages. Like the "Deb" part of the term Debian, it originates from the name of Debra, erstwhile girlfriend and now ex-wife of Debian's founder Ian Murdock.Debian packages are also used in...
binary-based
Binary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
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...
based on Debian-unstable, Debian's unstable development branch (Sid). Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) and antiX
AntiX
antiX is a Linux distribution based on MEPIS which itself is based on the Debian testing distribution. It replaces the Mepis KDE desktop environment with the Fluxbox and IceWM window managers, making it suitable for older, less powerful x86 based systems...
are cyclical rolling release Deb
Deb (file format)
deb is the extension of the Debian software package format and the most often used name for such binary packages. Like the "Deb" part of the term Debian, it originates from the name of Debra, erstwhile girlfriend and now ex-wife of Debian's founder Ian Murdock.Debian packages are also used in...
binary-based Linux distributions based on Debian-testing. Debian-testing is a cyclical development branch and prior to each release of Debian-stable, Debian-testing is frozen (and thus not rolling) affecting rolling distributions based on it — like LMDE and antiX.
Such distributions are therefore described on this page as cyclically rolling releases (or cyclic-rolling for short) to distinguish them from other forms of rolling releases, and are not classed as fully rolling releases (or full-rolling for short). For more information, see Development models section above. Also, please note that 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...
here refers specifically to Debian GNU/Linux (which uses 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....
) and not Debian GNU/kFreeBSD
Debian GNU/kFreeBSD
Debian GNU/kFreeBSD is an operating system released by the Debian project. It uses the kernel of FreeBSD combined with a GNU based userland. The majority of software in Debian GNU/kFreeBSD is built from the same sources as Debian GNU/Linux. The k in kFreeBSD refers to the fact that only the kernel...
(which uses the FreeBSD
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
kernel) nor Debian GNU/Hurd
Debian GNU/Hurd
Debian GNU/Hurd is the Debian project's distribution of the GNU operating system, using the GNU Hurd microkernel. Its developers are hoping to be able to release Debian GNU/Hurd for the next major release of Debian, "wheezy"....
(which uses the GNU Hurd
GNU Hurd
GNU Hurd is a free software Unix-like replacement for the Unix kernel, released under the GNU General Public License. It has been under development since 1990 by the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation...
kernel).
- Previously known as Sidux, aptosid is a rolling release Linux distribution based on Debian-unstable, Debian's unstable development branch (
KDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
as the primary desktop with Xfce
Xfce
Xfce is a free software desktop environment for Unix and other Unix-like platforms, such as Linux, Solaris, and BSD – though recent compatibility issues have arisen with regard to BSD Unix platforms...
and Fluxbox
Fluxbox
Fluxbox is a stacking window manager for the X Window System, which started as a fork of Blackbox 0.61.1, with the same aim to be lightweight. Its user interface has only a taskbar, a pop-up menu accessible by right-clicking on the desktop, and minimal support for graphical icons...
'spins' (or 'flavors') also available. Besides Debian's unstable repositories, aptosid uses its own package repositories and tools to help avoid potential breakage, otherwise more common when using Debian-unstable.
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...
's main editions are non-rolling 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...
-based, with GNOME
GNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
as the primary desktop and alternative spins for the KDE
KDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
, Fluxbox
Fluxbox
Fluxbox is a stacking window manager for the X Window System, which started as a fork of Blackbox 0.61.1, with the same aim to be lightweight. Its user interface has only a taskbar, a pop-up menu accessible by right-clicking on the desktop, and minimal support for graphical icons...
and LXDE
LXDE
LXDE is a free and open source desktop environment for Unix and other POSIX compliant platforms, such as Linux or BSD. The goal of the project is to provide a desktop environment that is fast and energy efficient...
desktops. As of August 2011, LMDE is only available with the GNOME
GNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
or Xfce
Xfce
Xfce is a free software desktop environment for Unix and other Unix-like platforms, such as Linux, Solaris, and BSD – though recent compatibility issues have arisen with regard to BSD Unix platforms...
desktop; however, as with most distros, alternative desktops can be installed. It has been announced (on the Linux Mint Blog July 2011) that, like the Xfce spin, all future KDE spins of Linux Mint (from version 11 onwards) may be rolling and LMDE-based.
AntiX
antiX is a Linux distribution based on MEPIS which itself is based on the Debian testing distribution. It replaces the Mepis KDE desktop environment with the Fluxbox and IceWM window managers, making it suitable for older, less powerful x86 based systems...
is a MEPIS
MEPIS
MEPIS is a set of Linux distributions, distributed as Live CDs that can be installed onto a hard disk drive.MEPIS is developed and maintained by an active community begun by Warren Woodford and the eponymous company MEPIS LLC....
Linux variant based on SimplyMEPIS but with IceWM
IceWM
IceWM is a stacking window manager for the X Window System graphical infrastructure, written by Marko Maček. It was coded from scratch in C++ and is released under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License...
and Fluxbox
Fluxbox
Fluxbox is a stacking window manager for the X Window System, which started as a fork of Blackbox 0.61.1, with the same aim to be lightweight. Its user interface has only a taskbar, a pop-up menu accessible by right-clicking on the desktop, and minimal support for graphical icons...
instead of KDE
KDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
as the desktop and based on Debian-testing instead of Debian-stable. As SimplyMEPIS is based on Debian-stable, SimplyMEPIS is not rolling.
KDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
as the main desktop.
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...
which uses the GNOME3 desktop environment
Desktop environment
In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...
with the GNOME Shell graphical user interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
.
Note: There are currently ongoing (as of September 2011) discussions amongst Debian developers (on Debian developer mailing list) regarding a proposal of developing a rolling release edition of 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...
called DebianCUT (DebianCUT unofficial website) — where "CUT" stands for "Continuously Usable Testing". This has been suggested to be either a new edition of Debian or to replace (or be a modified or re-branded version of) Debian-testing.
See List of Linux distributions#Debian-based for a list of Debian-based Linux distributions.
Fedora-based rolling distributions
FedoraFedora (operating system)
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...
is an independent fixed release community developed
Community development
Community development is a broad term applied to the practices and academic disciplines of civic leaders, activists, involved citizens and professionals to improve various aspects of local communities....
RPM
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...
binary-based
Binary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
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...
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....
and used as the base for Red Hat Linux
Red 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...
- 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....
is a rolling release RPMRPM Package ManagerRPM 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...
binary-basedBinary fileA binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
Linux distributionLinux distributionA 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...
which uses the GNOMEGNOMEGNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
desktop environmentDesktop environmentIn graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...
and is based on FedoraFedora (operating system)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...
.
See List of Linux distributions#Fedora-based for a list of Fedora-based Linux distributions.
Gentoo-based rolling distributions
- Gentoo LinuxGentoo LinuxGentoo Linux is a computer operating system built on top of the Linux kernel and based on the Portage package management system. It is distributed as free and open source software. Unlike a conventional software distribution, the user compiles the source code locally according to their chosen...
is an independent 'self-buildSelf-build"Self-build" is the practice of creating an individual home for yourself through a variety of different methods. The term 'self build' is specifically used in the UK and Ireland when an individual obtains a building plot and then builds their own home on that plot...
' source-basedSource codeIn computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
(opposed to binary-basedBinary fileA binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
) distribution that puts an emphasis on compilingCompilerA compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...
software packageSoftware package (installation)In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....
s from source-code using the Portage Package ManagerPortage (software)Portage is a package management system used by Gentoo Linux, based on the concept of ports collections. Gentoo is sometimes referred to as a meta-distribution due to the extreme flexibility of Portage, which makes it operating-system-independent. The Gentoo/Alt project is concerned with using...
, rather than installing pre-compiled binaryBinary fileA binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
software packageSoftware package (installation)In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....
s. It supports a wide range of computer architectureComputer architectureIn computer science and engineering, computer architecture is the practical art of selecting and interconnecting hardware components to create computers that meet functional, performance and cost goals and the formal modelling of those systems....
s and desktop environmentDesktop environmentIn graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...
s. - Gentoo/FreeBSDGentoo/FreeBSDGentoo/FreeBSD is a Unix-like operating system developed by Gentoo Linux developers in order to bring Gentoo Linux design, structure, and tools such as Portage and the Gentoo Linux baselayout to the FreeBSD operating system...
, Gentoo/NetBSD, Gentoo/OpenBSD and Gentoo/DragonflyBSD are part of the Gentoo/*BSD project which is itself part of the Gentoo/AltGentoo/AltGentoo/Alt is a Gentoo Linux project created to manage porting the Portage framework and other features to other operating systems, such as Mac OS X and the free BSDs...
project to port Gentoo to other kernels, besides Linux. - Funtoo LinuxFuntooFuntoo is a a free operating system, more precisely a GNU/Linux distribution based on Gentoo, and initiated in 2008 by Daniel Robbins former Gentoo Linux project leader.- History :...
is 'self-buildSelf-build"Self-build" is the practice of creating an individual home for yourself through a variety of different methods. The term 'self build' is specifically used in the UK and Ireland when an individual obtains a building plot and then builds their own home on that plot...
' and source-basedSource codeIn computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
but differs from Gentoo in its use of a bazaar-style development modelThe Cathedral and the BazaarThe Cathedral and the Bazaar is an essay by Eric S. Raymond on software engineering methods, based on his observations of the Linux kernel development process and his experiences managing an open source project, fetchmail. It examines the struggle between top-down and bottom-up design...
. - Calculate LinuxCalculate LinuxCalculate Linux is an optimized distribution designed for rapid deployment in a corporate environment. It is based on the Gentoo project and includes numerous pre-configured functions....
is a source-basedSource codeIn computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
distribution aimed at business and enterprise deployment. It has KDEKDEKDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
as its primary desktop, but is also available with GNOMEGNOMEGNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
or XfceXfceXfce is a free software desktop environment for Unix and other Unix-like platforms, such as Linux, Solaris, and BSD – though recent compatibility issues have arisen with regard to BSD Unix platforms...
. - Sabayon Linux is a binary-basedBinary fileA binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
LiveCD Linux distributionLinux distributionA 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...
with a wide range of desktops available. Sabayon subscribes to the "just works"/"out of the boxOut of the boxOut of the box is the term used to denote items, functionalities, or features that do not require any additional installation. In addition to being used for tangible products, the phrase is often used in a less literal sense for software, which may not be distributed in an actual box but offer...
" philosophy and is intended to make Gentoo easier to use for less experienced Linux users. - Toorox Linux is a source-basedSource codeIn computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
Linux distributionLinux distributionA 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...
which (like Sabayon) aims to make Gentoo 'newbie-friendly'. However (unlike Sabayon) although the Gentoo base is rolling, the Toorox wrapper is not rolling, making Toorox Linux only part-rolling. Also, Sabayon is binary-based, where as Toorox is source-based. Toorox Linux is available with the KDEKDEKDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
or GNOMEGNOMEGNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
desktop environmentDesktop environmentIn graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...
. - Google Chrome OSGoogle Chrome OSGoogle Chrome OS is a Linux-based operating system designed by Google to work exclusively with web applications. Google announced the operating system on July 7, 2009 and made it an open source project, called Chromium OS, that November....
is based on the open source software project Chromium OSChromium OSChromium OS is the open source development version of Google Chrome OS.Chrome OS's source code was released on November 19, 2009 under the same BSD license as Chromium OS.-User interface:...
; it is a netbookNetbookNetbooks 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...
orientated operating systemOperating systemAn 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...
built around the Linux kernelLinux kernelThe 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....
with GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
's Chrome BrowserGoogle ChromeGoogle Chrome is a web browser developed by Google that uses the WebKit layout engine. It was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2, 2008, and the public stable release was on December 11, 2008. The name is derived from the graphical user interface frame, or...
(which is based on the open sourceOpen sourceThe term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
Chromium browserChromium (web browser)Chromium is the open source web browser project from which Google Chrome draws its source code. The project's hourly Chromium snapshots appear essentially similar to the latest builds of Google Chrome aside from the omission of certain Google additions, most noticeable among them: Google's...
) as the desktop's graphical user interfaceGraphical user interfaceIn computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
. NetbookNetbookNetbooks 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...
s using Google Chrome OSGoogle Chrome OSGoogle Chrome OS is a Linux-based operating system designed by Google to work exclusively with web applications. Google announced the operating system on July 7, 2009 and made it an open source project, called Chromium OS, that November....
are referred to as ChromebookChromebookA Chromebook is a personal computer running Google Chrome OS. The devices comprise a distinct class of personal computer falling between a pure cloud client and traditional laptop.The first devices for sale, by Acer Inc...
s, whilst netbooks using Chromium OSChromium OSChromium OS is the open source development version of Google Chrome OS.Chrome OS's source code was released on November 19, 2009 under the same BSD license as Chromium OS.-User interface:...
are referred to as Chromiumbooks. Google Chrome OS is the only rolling distribution referred to in this article that is not open source software, nor freely downloadable from the internet. However, its base, Chromium OS, is open source software and freely downloadable from the internet. - Chromium OSChromium OSChromium OS is the open source development version of Google Chrome OS.Chrome OS's source code was released on November 19, 2009 under the same BSD license as Chromium OS.-User interface:...
is the open source software project and operating systemOperating systemAn 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...
that GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
's Chrome OS is based on. The relationship between Chrome OS and Chromium OSChromium OSChromium OS is the open source development version of Google Chrome OS.Chrome OS's source code was released on November 19, 2009 under the same BSD license as Chromium OS.-User interface:...
is similar to that between 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...
and FedoraFedora (operating system)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...
, that between SUSE Linux Enterprise DesktopSUSE Linux Enterprise DesktopSUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop , formerly introduced as Novell Linux Desktop, is a Linux distribution supplied by Novell and targeted at the business market. It is targeted for desktops. New major versions are released at an interval of 24–36 months, while minor versions are released every 9–12...
and openSUSEOpenSUSEopenSUSE is a general purpose operating system built on top of the Linux kernel, developed by the community-supported openSUSE Project and sponsored by SUSE...
, and that formally existing between Solaris and openSolarisOpenSolarisOpenSolaris was an open source computer operating system based on Solaris created by Sun Microsystems. It was also the name of the project initiated by Sun to build a developer and user community around the software...
(now openIndianaOpenIndianaOpenIndiana is a Unix-like computer operating system released as free and open source software. It forked from OpenSolaris after the discontinuation of that project by Oracle and aims to continue development and distribution of the OpenSolaris codebase. The project operates under the umbrella of...
). This is a common practice where a commercial companyCompanyA company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
or corporationCorporationA corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
wants to utilize an open-source software development model and the resources of the open-source communityCommunityThe term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
to aid the software developmentSoftware developmentSoftware development is the development of a software product...
and software testingSoftware testingSoftware testing is an investigation conducted to provide stakeholders with information about the quality of the product or service under test. Software testing can also provide an objective, independent view of the software to allow the business to appreciate and understand the risks of software...
of a software platform to base its commercial product on.
See List of Linux distributions#Gentoo-based for a list of Gentoo-based Linux distributions.
Mandriva-related rolling distributions
PCLinuxOSPCLinuxOS
PCLinuxOS, often shortened to PCLOS, is a GNU/Linux distribution, with KDE Plasma Desktop as its default user interface. It is a primarily free software operating system for personal computers aimed at ease of use...
and Unity Linux
Unity Linux
Unity Linux is a rolling release GNU/Linux distribution maintained by a group of volunteers and is meant to be a base on which other distributions can build. Its default desktop environment is Openbox...
are rolling release RPM
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...
binary-based
Binary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
LiveCD Linux distributions related to, derived from, or based on, the independent non-rolling binary-based
Binary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
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...
Mandriva Linux
Mandriva Linux
Mandriva Linux is a Linux distribution distributed by Mandriva. It uses the RPM Package Manager...
. Mandriva Linux
Mandriva Linux
Mandriva Linux is a Linux distribution distributed by Mandriva. It uses the RPM Package Manager...
is developed by Mandriva
Mandriva
Mandriva S.A. is a publicly traded Linux and open source software company with its headquarters in Paris, France and development center in Curitiba, Brazil. Mandriva, S.A...
and was originally forked from Red Hat Linux
Red 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...
. Both Mandriva Linux
Mandriva Linux
Mandriva Linux is a Linux distribution distributed by Mandriva. It uses the RPM Package Manager...
and Red Hat Linux
Red 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...
use the RPM binary package format which was originally developed 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....
.
- PCLinuxOSPCLinuxOSPCLinuxOS, often shortened to PCLOS, is a GNU/Linux distribution, with KDE Plasma Desktop as its default user interface. It is a primarily free software operating system for personal computers aimed at ease of use...
is a part-rolling Linux distributionLinux distributionA 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...
available with a large selection of desktop environments that evolved into a distribution from originally being a software repositorySoftware repositoryA software repository is a storage location from which software packages may be retrieved and installed on a computer.- Discussion :Many software publishers and other organizations maintain servers on the Internet for this purpose, either free of charge or for a subscription fee...
for Mandriva LinuxMandriva LinuxMandriva Linux is a Linux distribution distributed by Mandriva. It uses the RPM Package Manager...
users. It aims to be easy for new users, especially those use to Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. Originally forkedFork (software development)In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
from Mandriva LinuxMandriva LinuxMandriva Linux is a Linux distribution distributed by Mandriva. It uses the RPM Package Manager...
, PCLinuxOSPCLinuxOSPCLinuxOS, often shortened to PCLOS, is a GNU/Linux distribution, with KDE Plasma Desktop as its default user interface. It is a primarily free software operating system for personal computers aimed at ease of use...
is now independent of Mandriva Linux, pulling many of its software packagesSoftware package (installation)In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....
from other distributions — thus making it still Mandriva-related (due to shared ancestry), but now Mandriva-derived (i.e.] forked from Mandriva's codebaseCodebaseThe term codebase, or code base, is used in software development to mean the whole collection of source code used to build a particular application or component. Typically, the codebase includes only human-written source code files, and not, e.g., source code files generated by other tools or...
), rather than Mandriva-based (i.e.] following Mandriva's codebaseCodebaseThe term codebase, or code base, is used in software development to mean the whole collection of source code used to build a particular application or component. Typically, the codebase includes only human-written source code files, and not, e.g., source code files generated by other tools or...
). - Unity LinuxUnity LinuxUnity Linux is a rolling release GNU/Linux distribution maintained by a group of volunteers and is meant to be a base on which other distributions can build. Its default desktop environment is Openbox...
uses OpenboxOpenboxOpenbox is a free window manager for the X Window System, licensed under the GNU General Public License. Originally derived from Blackbox 0.65.0 , Openbox has now been totally rewritten in the C programming language and since version 3.0 is not based upon any code from Blackbox.Openbox is designed...
as the default desktop and is intended as a core distribution for other Linux distributions, referred to by Unity LinuxUnity LinuxUnity Linux is a rolling release GNU/Linux distribution maintained by a group of volunteers and is meant to be a base on which other distributions can build. Its default desktop environment is Openbox...
users as branches (not to be confused with development branches), to base themselves on. These "branches" (often called distrolets by 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...
users), based on Unity LinuxUnity LinuxUnity Linux is a rolling release GNU/Linux distribution maintained by a group of volunteers and is meant to be a base on which other distributions can build. Its default desktop environment is Openbox...
, include the following Linux distributions: Unite17, HUMANity, SAMitySam LinuxSAMity Linux is a GNU/Linux distribution, with Xfce as its default user interface. It is an open-source operating system for personal computers aimed at ease of use.-External links:*...
, TinyMeTinyMeTinyMe is a lightweight Unity Linux-based operating system, using the Openbox window manager. It is aimed at making the computing experience as bloat- and lag-free as possible and is well-suited to older computers, enthusiasts devoted to small/fast systems, or users who just want a minimal...
, ChameleonOS, Granular LinuxGranular LinuxGranular, or Granular Linux, is a Linux distribution targeted at the common desktop users. Granular is based on PCLinuxOS and comes as an installable live CD. The CD version of Granular features two desktop environments - KDE and a development version of Enlightenment...
and Synergy Linux. Like YOPERYOPERYoper Linux—Your Operating System—is a Linux distribution for PCs with i686 or higher processor types. It can be used for both personal computers and server use and uses hardware recognition tools known from Knoppix...
, Unity LinuxUnity LinuxUnity Linux is a rolling release GNU/Linux distribution maintained by a group of volunteers and is meant to be a base on which other distributions can build. Its default desktop environment is Openbox...
is an RPM v5 distribution. RPM v5 is a fork of the RPM package format.
See List of Linux distributions#Mandriva Linux-based for a list of Mandriva-based Linux distributions.
rPath-based rolling distributions
Based on the independent Linux distributionLinux 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...
rPath Linux
RPath
rPath, Inc. is a technology company based in Raleigh, North Carolina that provides a platform for enterprise IT organizations, independent software vendors and on-demand service providers to automate the process of constructing , deploying and updating software stacks across physical, virtual and...
, Foresight Linux
Foresight Linux
- External links :* *...
is a Linux distribution using the Conary Package Manager
Conary (package manager)
Conary is a free software package management system created by rPath and distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License Version 3. It focuses on installing packages through automated dependency resolution against distributed online repositories, and providing a concise and...
and is available with the GNOME
GNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
or KDE
KDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
desktop environment
Desktop environment
In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...
.
Sorcerer-related rolling distributions
Source Mage and Lunar LinuxLunar Linux
Lunar Linux is an operating system maintained around a source-based package management system also called Lunar. The project is a descendant of the Sorcerer Linux distribution.The installation disk installs a complete bootstrap development system first...
are derived from (i.e.] forks
Fork (software development)
In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
of) the independent 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...
Sorcerer Linux. Like Sorcerer, they are 'self-build
Self-build
"Self-build" is the practice of creating an individual home for yourself through a variety of different methods. The term 'self build' is specifically used in the UK and Ireland when an individual obtains a building plot and then builds their own home on that plot...
' source-based
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
(opposed to binary-based
Binary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
) Linux distributions that put an emphasis on compiling software package
Software package (installation)
In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....
s from source-code, using a software compiler
Compiler
A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...
, rather than installing
Installation (computer programs)
Installation of a program is the act of putting the program onto a computer system so that it can be executed....
pre-compiled binary
Binary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
software package
Software package (installation)
In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....
s.
Note: Gentoo Linux
Gentoo Linux
Gentoo Linux is a computer operating system built on top of the Linux kernel and based on the Portage package management system. It is distributed as free and open source software. Unlike a conventional software distribution, the user compiles the source code locally according to their chosen...
, the Gentoo/*BSDs, Funtoo
Funtoo
Funtoo is a a free operating system, more precisely a GNU/Linux distribution based on Gentoo, and initiated in 2008 by Daniel Robbins former Gentoo Linux project leader.- History :...
, Calculate Linux
Calculate Linux
Calculate Linux is an optimized distribution designed for rapid deployment in a corporate environment. It is based on the Gentoo project and includes numerous pre-configured functions....
, Toorox Linux, and most other Gentoo-based distributions, are also source-based (rather than binary-based
Binary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
) — with Sabayon Linux (which is binary-based
Binary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
) being an obvious exception. However, all the other distributions referred to in this article are binary-based
Binary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
(rather than source-based) distributions, as are the majority of 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 and most software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s in general.
SUSE-based rolling distributions
openSUSEOpenSUSE
openSUSE is a general purpose operating system built on top of the Linux kernel, developed by the community-supported openSUSE Project and sponsored by SUSE...
is an independent RPM
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...
binary-based
Binary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
LiveCD Linux distribution. It is open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
and community developed
Community development
Community development is a broad term applied to the practices and academic disciplines of civic leaders, activists, involved citizens and professionals to improve various aspects of local communities....
, produced by the openSUSE Project
OpenSUSE Project
The openSUSE Project is a community project to produce, improve and document the openSUSE Linux distribution and make it the "world's best Linux distribution".-Project:The openSUSE Project is a community program sponsored by Novell, AMD and IP Exchange...
which is sponsored by SUSE. SUSE was formally part of Novell
Novell
Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
, both of which were acquired by Attachmate
Attachmate
Attachmate Corporation is a software company owned by an investment group led by Francisco Partners, Golden Gate Capital, and Thoma Cressey Bravo. Attachmate focuses on terminal emulation, legacy modernization, managed file transfer, and enterprise fraud management software. Attachmate Corporation...
. Novell
Novell
Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
and SUSE were split and are now subsidiaries of The Attachmate
Attachmate
Attachmate Corporation is a software company owned by an investment group led by Francisco Partners, Golden Gate Capital, and Thoma Cressey Bravo. Attachmate focuses on terminal emulation, legacy modernization, managed file transfer, and enterprise fraud management software. Attachmate Corporation...
Group. openSUSE
OpenSUSE
openSUSE is a general purpose operating system built on top of the Linux kernel, developed by the community-supported openSUSE Project and sponsored by SUSE...
is used as an open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
development platform for SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop , formerly introduced as Novell Linux Desktop, is a Linux distribution supplied by Novell and targeted at the business market. It is targeted for desktops. New major versions are released at an interval of 24–36 months, while minor versions are released every 9–12...
(SLED) in a similar way that Fedora
Fedora (operating system)
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...
is for 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...
(RHEL).
Note: By default openSUSE
OpenSUSE
openSUSE is a general purpose operating system built on top of the Linux kernel, developed by the community-supported openSUSE Project and sponsored by SUSE...
is not a rolling release distribution since it has stable fixed releases and developmental "milestone
Milestone
A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts...
" releases, as well as a development branch and testing repository called 'Factory
Factory (computing)
Factory is the development tree for the openSUSE distribution. It is continually revised, with software being added, removed, and updated. In many cases, this software is made of CVS, Subversion or Git snapshots....
'. However, it becomes a rolling release distribution when pointed at the rolling openSUSE Tumbleweed repository instead of the default repository.
See SUSE Linux distributions
SUSE Linux distributions
SUSE Linux is a computer operating system. It is built on top of the open source Linux kernel and is distributed with system and application software from other open source projects. SUSE Linux is of German origin and mainly developed in Europe. The first version appeared in early 1994, making...
for a list of SUSE-based Linux distributions.
Other (Independent) rolling distributions
YOPERYOPER
Yoper Linux—Your Operating System—is a Linux distribution for PCs with i686 or higher processor types. It can be used for both personal computers and server use and uses hardware recognition tools known from Knoppix...
is an independent RPM v5 binary-based
Binary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
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...
– available with the KDE
KDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
(version 4 or 3), Xfce
Xfce
Xfce is a free software desktop environment for Unix and other Unix-like platforms, such as Linux, Solaris, and BSD – though recent compatibility issues have arisen with regard to BSD Unix platforms...
or LXDE
LXDE
LXDE is a free and open source desktop environment for Unix and other POSIX compliant platforms, such as Linux or BSD. The goal of the project is to provide a desktop environment that is fast and energy efficient...
desktops – which aims to be the "fastest out of the box
Out of the box
Out of the box is the term used to denote items, functionalities, or features that do not require any additional installation. In addition to being used for tangible products, the phrase is often used in a less literal sense for software, which may not be distributed in an actual box but offer...
distribution". It uses hardware
Hardware
Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....
recognition tools from Knoppix
Knoppix
Knoppix, or KNOPPIX , is an operating system based on Debian designed to be run directly from a CD / DVD or a USB key , one of the first of its kind for any operating system. Knoppix was developed by Linux consultant Klaus Knopper. When starting a program, it is loaded from the removable medium...
. YOPER and Unity Linux
Unity Linux
Unity Linux is a rolling release GNU/Linux distribution maintained by a group of volunteers and is meant to be a base on which other distributions can build. Its default desktop environment is Openbox...
both use the RPM v5 fork
Fork (software development)
In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
of the RPM package format and are collaborating on a package maintenance
Software maintenance
Software Maintenance in software engineering is the modification of a software product after delivery to correct faults, to improve performance or other attributes....
software project called ubuild.
Counter-examples (
non-rolling releases) The most common form of non-rolling release (or standard release) software is fixed release software, where (unlike a continuous rolling release) the release is discreteDiscrete
Discrete in science is the opposite of continuous: something that is separate; distinct; individual.Discrete may refer to:*Discrete particle or quantum in physics, for example in quantum theory...
and occurs at a fixed point in time. A minor software release in-between software versions is called a point release
Point release
A point release is a minor release of a software project, especially one intended to fix bugs or do minor cleanups rather than add features. The term implies that such releases are relatively frequent, and is generally used with respect to open source projects being developed in the "bazaar model"...
. Some software projects adopt a "flexible" release policy (where software is released only once it is considered 100% stable and complete) rather than a "rigid" release policy (where software is released on a specific per-determined date).
The term cyclic release is sometimes used to describe software where the software project uses a cyclic software development process
Software development process
A software development process, also known as a software development life cycle , is a structure imposed on the development of a software product. Similar terms include software life cycle and software process. It is often considered a subset of systems development life cycle...
. Likewise, the term periodic release is sometimes used to describe software that is released at regular time intervals. Like rolling release, the terms fixed release, point release, cyclic release and periodic release do not apply solely to 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...
s and software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s. They can apply to any piece or collection of software; for example application software
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
might adopt either a rolling release or fixed release software development model.
Examples of popular non-rolling release 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...
s and software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s include Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, most BSD
Berkeley Software Distribution
Berkeley Software Distribution is a Unix operating system derivative developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1977 to 1995...
s and most 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. The following short list of non-rolling release operating systems and software distributions is primarily ordered by kernel
Kernel (computing)
In computing, the kernel is the main component of most computer operating systems; it is a bridge between applications and the actual data processing done at the hardware level. The kernel's responsibilities include managing the system's resources...
type and includes only a very small selection of non-rolling releases.
List of non-rolling release operating systems and software distributions
- DOS-based: FreeDOSFreeDOSFreeDOS is an operating system for IBM PC compatible computers. FreeDOS is made up of many different, separate programs that act as "packages" to the overall FreeDOS Project...
, DR-DOSDR-DOSDR-DOS is an MS-DOS-compatible operating system for IBM PC-compatible personal computers, originally developed by Gary Kildall's Digital Research and derived from Concurrent PC DOS 6.0, which was an advanced successor of CP/M-86...
, Multiuser DOSMultiuser DOSMultiuser DOS is a soft real-time multi-user multi-tasking operating system for IBM PC-compatible microcomputers.An evolution of the older Concurrent CP/M-86 and Concurrent DOS operating systems, it was originally developed by Digital Research and later further developed by Novell...
, PTS-DOSPTS-DOSPTS-DOS is a disk operating system, a DOS clone, developed in Russia by PhysTechSoft.- History and versions :PhysTechSoft was formed in 1991 in Moscow, Russia by graduates and members of MIPT, informally known as PhysTech. At the end of 1993, PhysTechSoft released the first commercially available...
, MS DOS†, Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
-pre-NT† (e.g. Windows 1.0Windows 1.0Windows 1.0 is a 16-bit graphical operating environment, developed by Microsoft and released on 20 November 1985. It was Microsoft's first attempt to implement a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based operating environment on the PC platform. Windows 1.0 was the first version of Windows...
, Windows 2.xWindows 2.xWindows 2.x can refer to either an individual or all of the following versions of Microsoft Windows:* Windows 2.0* Windows 2.1x...
& Windows 3.xWindows 3.xWindows 3.x can refer to either an individual or all of the following versions of Microsoft Windows:*Windows 3.0*Windows 3.1x*Windows 3.2...
; superseded by Windows NTWindows NTWindows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
) - NT-based: Windows NTWindows NTWindows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
(e.g. 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...
, Windows VistaWindows VistaWindows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
, Windows 7 & Windows 8Windows 8Windows 8 is the codename for the next version of the Microsoft Windows computer operating system following Windows 7. It has many changes from previous versions. In particular it adds support for ARM microprocessors in addition to the previously supported x86 microprocessors from Intel and AMD...
P), ReactOSReactOSReactOS is an open source computer operating system intended to be binary compatible with application software and device drivers made for Microsoft Windows NT versions 5.x and up... - CEWindows CEMicrosoft Windows CE is an operating system developed by Microsoft for embedded systems. Windows CE is a distinct operating system and kernel, rather than a trimmed-down version of desktop Windows...
-based: Windows CEWindows CEMicrosoft Windows CE is an operating system developed by Microsoft for embedded systems. Windows CE is a distinct operating system and kernel, rather than a trimmed-down version of desktop Windows...
(e.g. Windows Embedded Compact 7), Windows MobileWindows MobileWindows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
, Windows PhoneWindows PhoneWindows Phone is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft, and is the successor to its Windows Mobile platform, although incompatible with it. Unlike its predecessor, it is primarily aimed at the consumer market rather than the enterprise market...
(e.g. Windows Phone 7Windows Phone 7Windows Phone is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft, and is the successor to its Windows Mobile platform, although incompatible with it. Unlike its predecessor, it is primarily aimed at the consumer market rather than the enterprise market...
& Windows Phone 7.5Windows Phone 7.5Windows Phone 7.5 is a major software update for Windows Phone, the mobile operating system by Microsoft. Although the OS internally identifies itself as version 7.1, it is marketed as version 7.5 in all published materials intended for end-users...
) - XNUXNUXNU is the computer operating system kernel that Apple Inc. acquired and developed for use in the Mac OS X operating system and released as free and open source software as part of the Darwin operating system...
(MachMach (kernel)Mach is an operating system kernel developed at Carnegie Mellon University to support operating system research, primarily distributed and parallel computation. Although Mach is often mentioned as one of the earliest examples of a microkernel, not all versions of Mach are microkernels...
&BSD)-based: Mac OSMac OSMac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
(e.g. Mac OS XMac OS XMac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
), iOSIOSiOS is an operating system for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV.IOS may also refer to:-Companies and organisations:* Illinois Ornithological Society, American state-based bird club...
, Darwin OS, PureDarwin, GNU-DarwinGNU-DarwinGNU-Darwin is a project to package applications for the Mac OS X and Darwin operating systems. They also distribute versions of the Darwin operating system and the OpenDarwin operating system which is based on Darwin, although the versions they distribute tend to lag behind the current releases...
, OpenDarwin† - GNU HurdGNU HurdGNU Hurd is a free software Unix-like replacement for the Unix kernel, released under the GNU General Public License. It has been under development since 1990 by the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation...
(GNU MachGNU MachGNU Mach is an implementation of the Mach microkernel. It is the default microkernel in the GNU Hurd operating system. GNU Mach runs on IA-32 machines. GNU Mach is maintained by developers on the GNU project...
)-based: Debian GNU/HurdDebian GNU/HurdDebian GNU/Hurd is the Debian project's distribution of the GNU operating system, using the GNU Hurd microkernel. Its developers are hoping to be able to release Debian GNU/Hurd for the next major release of Debian, "wheezy".... - MachMach (kernel)Mach is an operating system kernel developed at Carnegie Mellon University to support operating system research, primarily distributed and parallel computation. Although Mach is often mentioned as one of the earliest examples of a microkernel, not all versions of Mach are microkernels...
-based: Tru64 UNIXTru64 UNIXTru64 UNIX is a 64-bit UNIX operating system for the Alpha instruction set architecture , currently owned by Hewlett-Packard . Previously, Tru64 UNIX was a product of Compaq, and before that, Digital Equipment Corporation , where it was known as Digital UNIX .As its original name suggests, Tru64... - kFreeBSD-based: FreeBSDFreeBSDFreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
, Debian GNU/kFreeBSDDebian GNU/kFreeBSDDebian GNU/kFreeBSD is an operating system released by the Debian project. It uses the kernel of FreeBSD combined with a GNU based userland. The majority of software in Debian GNU/kFreeBSD is built from the same sources as Debian GNU/Linux. The k in kFreeBSD refers to the fact that only the kernel...
, PC-BSDPC-BSDPC-BSD is a Unix-like, desktop-oriented operating system based on FreeBSD. It aims to be easy to install by using a graphical installation program, and easy and ready-to-use immediately by providing KDE SC as the pre-installed graphical user interface. PC-BSD provides official binary nVidia and...
, DesktopBSDDesktopBSDDesktopBSD is a Unix-derivative, desktop-oriented operating system based on FreeBSD. Its goal is to combine the stability of FreeBSD with the ease-of-use of KDE, which is the default graphical user interface.- History and development :...
, Dragonfly BSDDragonFly BSDDragonFly BSD is a free Unix-like operating system created as a fork of FreeBSD 4.8. Matthew Dillon, an Amiga developer in the late 1980s and early 1990s and a FreeBSD developer between 1994 and 2003, began work on DragonFly BSD in June 2003 and announced it on the FreeBSD mailing lists on July...
, MidnightBSDMidnightBSDMidnightBSD is a free Unix-like, desktop-oriented operating system based on FreeBSD 6.1. It borrows heavily from the NEXTSTEP graphical user interface.- History and development :...
, GhostBSDGhostBSDGhostBSD is a free Unix-like operating system based on FreeBSD and used as a live CD and a hard disk install. The Developers Eric Turgeon and Nahuel Sanchez founded this software-project in 2010 after they met in the official FreeBSD Forum. They both agreed on the GNOME-desktop environment.-...
, FreeNASFreeNASFreeNAS is a free network-attached storage server, supporting: CIFS , FTP, NFS, rsync, AFP protocols, iSCSI, S.M.A.R.T., local user authentication, and software RAID , with a web-based configuration interface. FreeNAS takes less than 64 MB once installed on CompactFlash, hard drive or USB flash...
, Tomahawk Desktop - kOpenBSDOpenBSDOpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It was forked from NetBSD by project leader Theo de Raadt in late 1995...
-based: OpenBSDOpenBSDOpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It was forked from NetBSD by project leader Theo de Raadt in late 1995...
, GNOBSD - kNetBSD-based: NetBSDNetBSDNetBSD is a freely available open source version of the Berkeley Software Distribution Unix operating system. It was the second open source BSD descendant to be formally released, after 386BSD, and continues to be actively developed. The NetBSD project is primarily focused on high quality design,...
, Debian GNU/NetBSD† - 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...
-based: UbuntuUbuntu (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...
, Debian GNU/LinuxDebianDebian 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...
, SlackwareSlackwareSlackware is a free and open source Linux-based operating system. It was one of the earliest operating systems to be built on top of the Linux kernel and is the oldest currently being maintained. Slackware was created by Patrick Volkerding of Slackware Linux, Inc. in 1993...
, Redhat Linux, CentOSCentOSCentOS 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...
, FedoraFedora (operating system)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...
, Mandriva LinuxMandriva LinuxMandriva Linux is a Linux distribution distributed by Mandriva. It uses the RPM Package Manager...
, SUSE LinuxO, MeeGo, WebOS, Google Android, and many more... - Solaris/IllumosIllumosIllumos is a derivative of OS/Net , which basically is a Solaris/OpenSolaris kernel with the bulk of the drivers, core libraries, and basic utilities. It is dependent on OS/Net, which Illumos will follow very closely while allowing to retain changes to code which might be unacceptable to upstream...
-based: Solaris, OpenSolarisOpenSolarisOpenSolaris was an open source computer operating system based on Solaris created by Sun Microsystems. It was also the name of the project initiated by Sun to build a developer and user community around the software...
†, OpenIndianaOpenIndianaOpenIndiana is a Unix-like computer operating system released as free and open source software. It forked from OpenSolaris after the discontinuation of that project by Oracle and aims to continue development and distribution of the OpenSolaris codebase. The project operates under the umbrella of...
, Nexenta OSNexenta OSNexenta OS, officially known as the Nexenta Core Platform, is a computer operating system based on OpenSolaris and Ubuntu that runs on IA-32- and x86-64-based systems. It emerged in fall 2005, after Sun Microsystems started the OpenSolaris project in June of that year. Version 1.0 was released in...
, SchilliXSchilliXSchilliX is a Live CD operating system distribution based on OpenSolaris. It was released on 17 June 2005, three days after the first release of OpenSolaris. Its developers claim that it is the first OpenSolaris distribution...
, BeleniXBeleniXBeleniX is an operating system distribution built using the OpenSolaris source base. It can be used as a Live CD as well as installed to hard disk. From the information provided on the BeleniX website, it may appear that currently, BeleniX is compiled only for 32-bit execution... - MinixMinixMINIX is a Unix-like computer operating system based on a microkernel architecture created by Andrew S. Tanenbaum for educational purposes; MINIX also inspired the creation of the Linux kernel....
-based: MINIX 3MINIX 3MINIX 3 is a project to create a small, highly reliable and functional Unix-like operating system. It is published under the BSD license.The main goal of the project is for the system to be fault-tolerant by detecting and repairing its own faults on the fly, without user intervention... - Neutrino-based: QNXQNXQNX is a commercial Unix-like real-time operating system, aimed primarily at the embedded systems market. The product was originally developed by Canadian company, QNX Software Systems, which was later acquired by Canadian BlackBerry-producer Research In Motion.-Description:As a microkernel-based...
, BlackBerry OSBlackBerry OSBlackBerry OS is a proprietary mobile operating system, developed by Research In Motion for its BlackBerry line of smartphone handheld devices...
, BlackBerry Tablet OSBlackBerry Tablet OSBlackBerry Tablet OS is an operating system based on the QNX Neutrino real-time operating system designed to run Adobe AIR and BlackBerry WebWorks applications... - SPARTAN-based: HelenOSHelenOSHelenOS is an operating system based on a multiserver microkernel design. The source code of HelenOS is published under a BSD License.- Technical overview :...
- Others: IBM AIX, HP-UXHP-UXHP-UX is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V and first released in 1984...
, SymbianSymbianSymbian is a mobile operating system and computing platform designed for smartphones and currently maintained by Accenture. The Symbian platform is the successor to Symbian OS and Nokia Series 60; unlike Symbian OS, which needed an additional user interface system, Symbian includes a user...
Key: † = Discontinued; P = Pre-release; O = Opt-rolling (non-rolling by default
Default (computer science)
A default, in computer science, refers to a setting or value automatically assigned to a software application, computer program or device, outside of user intervention. Such settings are also called presets, especially for electronic devices...
).
Note: Unlike the list of rolling release software distributions (see above), this list does not aim to be comprehensive, due to the huge number of standard (i.e. non-rolling) release software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s and 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...
s.
The XNU
XNU
XNU is the computer operating system kernel that Apple Inc. acquired and developed for use in the Mac OS X operating system and released as free and open source software as part of the Darwin operating system...
and Hurd kernels
Kernel (computing)
In computing, the kernel is the main component of most computer operating systems; it is a bridge between applications and the actual data processing done at the hardware level. The kernel's responsibilities include managing the system's resources...
are based on the Mach
Mach (kernel)
Mach is an operating system kernel developed at Carnegie Mellon University to support operating system research, primarily distributed and parallel computation. Although Mach is often mentioned as one of the earliest examples of a microkernel, not all versions of Mach are microkernels...
microkernel
Microkernel
In computer science, a microkernel is the near-minimum amount of software that can provide the mechanisms needed to implement an operating system . These mechanisms include low-level address space management, thread management, and inter-process communication...
. The GNU Project
GNU Project
The GNU Project is a free software, mass collaboration project, announced on September 27, 1983, by Richard Stallman at MIT. It initiated GNU operating system development in January, 1984...
's GNU Hurd
GNU Hurd
GNU Hurd is a free software Unix-like replacement for the Unix kernel, released under the GNU General Public License. It has been under development since 1990 by the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation...
kernel is based on their GNU Mach
GNU Mach
GNU Mach is an implementation of the Mach microkernel. It is the default microkernel in the GNU Hurd operating system. GNU Mach runs on IA-32 machines. GNU Mach is maintained by developers on the GNU project...
implementation of the Mach
Mach (kernel)
Mach is an operating system kernel developed at Carnegie Mellon University to support operating system research, primarily distributed and parallel computation. Although Mach is often mentioned as one of the earliest examples of a microkernel, not all versions of Mach are microkernels...
microkernel
Microkernel
In computer science, a microkernel is the near-minimum amount of software that can provide the mechanisms needed to implement an operating system . These mechanisms include low-level address space management, thread management, and inter-process communication...
.
Solaris/Illumos
Illumos
Illumos is a derivative of OS/Net , which basically is a Solaris/OpenSolaris kernel with the bulk of the drivers, core libraries, and basic utilities. It is dependent on OS/Net, which Illumos will follow very closely while allowing to retain changes to code which might be unacceptable to upstream...
distributions – as well as Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
, Darwin OS, IBM AIX, HP-UX
HP-UX
HP-UX is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V and first released in 1984...
and Tru64 UNIX
Tru64 UNIX
Tru64 UNIX is a 64-bit UNIX operating system for the Alpha instruction set architecture , currently owned by Hewlett-Packard . Previously, Tru64 UNIX was a product of Compaq, and before that, Digital Equipment Corporation , where it was known as Digital UNIX .As its original name suggests, Tru64...
– are all members of the Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
family of operating systems; while Linuxes, BSDs
Berkeley Software Distribution
Berkeley Software Distribution is a Unix operating system derivative developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1977 to 1995...
and Hurds
GNU Hurd
GNU Hurd is a free software Unix-like replacement for the Unix kernel, released under the GNU General Public License. It has been under development since 1990 by the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation...
, along with iOS
IOS
iOS is an operating system for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV.IOS may also refer to:-Companies and organisations:* Illinois Ornithological Society, American state-based bird club...
, QNX
QNX
QNX is a commercial Unix-like real-time operating system, aimed primarily at the embedded systems market. The product was originally developed by Canadian company, QNX Software Systems, which was later acquired by Canadian BlackBerry-producer Research In Motion.-Description:As a microkernel-based...
and Minix
Minix
MINIX is a Unix-like computer operating system based on a microkernel architecture created by Andrew S. Tanenbaum for educational purposes; MINIX also inspired the creation of the Linux kernel....
, are all examples of Unix-like
Unix-like
A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....
operating systems.
See Unix History Tree diagram for an evolutionary tree of Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
and Unix-like
Unix-like
A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....
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...
s.
See Comparison of operating systems
Comparison of operating systems
These tables compare general and technical information for a number of widely used and currently available operating systems.Because of the large number and variety of available Linux distributions, they are all grouped under a single entry; see comparison of Linux distributions for a detailed...
for more information.
Comparison of rolling & non-rolling releases
The vast majority of operating systemOperating 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...
s and software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s use a non-rolling release (or standard release) model rather than a rolling release model. They have significant changes between version numbers, requiring a complete operating system reinstall, or at least a major upgrade.
Advantages and disadvantages: software development
In terms of the software development processSoftware development process
A software development process, also known as a software development life cycle , is a structure imposed on the development of a software product. Similar terms include software life cycle and software process. It is often considered a subset of systems development life cycle...
, standard releases require significant development effort being spent on keeping old versions up to date due to propagating bug
Software bug
A software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
fixes back to the newest branch, as opposed to focusing more on the newest development branch. Also, unlike rolling releases, standard releases require more than one code branch to be developed and maintained, which increases the software development
Software development
Software development is the development of a software product...
and software maintenance
Software maintenance
Software Maintenance in software engineering is the modification of a software product after delivery to correct faults, to improve performance or other attributes....
workload of the software developer
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
s and software maintainer
Software maintainer
In free and open source software, a software maintainer is usually one or more people who build source code into a binary package for distribution, commit patches, or organize code in a source repository....
s.
On the other hand, software features and technology planning are easier in standard releases due to a better understanding of upcoming features in the next version(s) rather than simply the whim of the developers at any given time. Software release cycles can also be synchronized
Synchronization
Synchronization is timekeeping which requires the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. The familiar conductor of an orchestra serves to keep the orchestra in time....
with those of major upstream software projects, such as desktop environment
Desktop environment
In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...
s. Hence, there are pros and cons
Decision making
Decision making can be regarded as the mental processes resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios. Every decision making process produces a final choice. The output can be an action or an opinion of choice.- Overview :Human performance in decision terms...
to both standard release and rolling release software development methodologies.
Advantages and disadvantages: end-user experience
As far as the end-userEnd-user
Economics and commerce define an end user as the person who uses a product. The end user or consumer may differ from the person who purchases the product...
experience, standard releases are often viewed as more stable and bug
Software bug
A software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
-free since software conflicts can be more easily addressed and the software stack more thoroughly tested and evaluated, during the software development cycle. For this reason, they tend to be the preferred choice in enterprise environments such as computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
workstation
Workstation
A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems...
s, IT consulting, system administration, and mission-critical tasks such as data management
Data management
Data management comprises all the disciplines related to managing data as a valuable resource.- Overview :The official definition provided by DAMA International, the professional organization for those in the data management profession, is: "Data Resource Management is the development and execution...
and servers
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
.
However, rolling releases offer more current software which can also provide increased stability and fewer software bug
Software bug
A software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
s along with the additional benefits of new features, greater functionality, faster running speeds, and improved system and application security
Application security
Application security encompasses measures taken throughout the application's life-cycle to prevent exceptions in the security policy of an application or the underlying system through flaws in the design, development, deployment, upgrade, or maintenance of the application.Applications only...
, among others. With the last of these, software security, the rolling release model can have advantages in timely security updates, fixing system or application security bug
Security bug
A security bug is a software bug that benefits someone other than intended beneficiaries in the intended ways.Security bugs introduce security vulnerabilities by compromising one or more of:* Authentication of users and other entities...
s and vulnerabilities
Vulnerability (computing)
In computer security, a vulnerability is a weakness which allows an attacker to reduce a system's information assurance.Vulnerability is the intersection of three elements: a system susceptibility or flaw, attacker access to the flaw, and attacker capability to exploit the flaw...
, that standard releases may have to wait till the next release for. Though, in a rolling release distribution, where the user has chosen to run it as a highly dynamic system, the constant flux of software package
Software package (installation)
In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....
s can introduce new unintended software vulnerabilities.
Popularity & adoption of rolling distributions
This subsection is focused on the popularity and adoption of rolling distributions. For a more general look at the popularity and adoption of Linux distributionLinux 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, please see Linux adoption
Linux adoption
Linux adoption refers to new use of the Linux computer operating system by homes, organizations, companies, and governments, while Linux migration refers to the change from using other operating systems to using Linux....
.
Popularity of rolling distributions
The ability to install, customize and configure only once, yet still continue to run the very 'latest and greatest' application softwareApplication software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
on a cutting-edge
State of the art
The state of the art is the highest level of development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field, achieved at a particular time. It also refers to the level of development reached at any particular time as a result of the latest methodologies employed.- Origin :The earliest use of the term...
or bleeding-edge 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...
, gives rolling release distributions a highly devoted following within the free and open source software community, which, though still a small minority, seems to be growing.
Indeed, within the rolling release user community, a rolling development model is often viewed as a 'must-have' feature when choosing and moving between software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s (commonly referred to as distro hopping). In some cases, ardent fans of rolling distributions may become converts, opting solely to use rolling distributions, in a similar manner to 'Linux converts' with Linux adoption
Linux adoption
Linux adoption refers to new use of the Linux computer operating system by homes, organizations, companies, and governments, while Linux migration refers to the change from using other operating systems to using Linux....
.
Adoption of rolling distributions
Although there are no official figures on adoption of rolling release software distributionSoftware distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s, the popular website 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...
keeps page-hit statistics for its various distribution pages, including distributions which are rolling releases and those which have rolling release versions. This gives a very rough indication of the overall popularity landscape of software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s and is used by some as an unofficial measure of popularity and use of various software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s.
There are also no official figures for the total number of Linux systems, partly due to the difficulty of quantifying the number of PCs
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
running Linux (see Desktop Linux#Measuring adoption), since many users download 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. Hence, the sales figures for Linux systems and commercial Linux distributions indicate a much lower number of Linux systems and level of Linux adoption
Linux adoption
Linux adoption refers to new use of the Linux computer operating system by homes, organizations, companies, and governments, while Linux migration refers to the change from using other operating systems to using Linux....
than is the case; this is mainly due to Linux being free and open source software
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...
that can be downloaded free of charge.
However, the website The Linux Counter Project (LiCo) (its new website can be found here) keeps a guesstimate
Guesstimate
Guesstimate is an informal English contraction of guess and estimate, first used by American statisticians in 1934 or 1935. It is defined as an estimate made without using adequate or complete information, or, more strongly, as an estimate arrived at by guesswork or conjecture...
of the number of Linux systems, but does not distinguish between rolling release and standard release distributions.The 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...
and Linux Counter
Linux Counter
The Linux Counter attempts to measure the number of people using the GNU/Linux operating system, along with the number of machines those users use. The counter is run by a nonprofit membership organization called the Linux Counter Project...
figures, taken together, could in theory be used to arrive at a very rough guesstimate
Guesstimate
Guesstimate is an informal English contraction of guess and estimate, first used by American statisticians in 1934 or 1935. It is defined as an estimate made without using adequate or complete information, or, more strongly, as an estimate arrived at by guesswork or conjecture...
of the popularity and adoption of rolling distributions.
In September 2008 Steve Ballmer
Steve Ballmer
Steven Anthony "Steve" Ballmer is an American business magnate. He is the chief executive officer of Microsoft, having held that post since January 2000. , his personal wealth is estimated at US$13.9 billion, ranking number 19 on the Forbes 400.-Early life:Ballmer was born in Detroit, Michigan to...
(Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
CEO) claimed 60% of servers run Linux. Linux is by far the most popular operating system among supercomputer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
s, due to its superior performance, flexibility, speed and lower costs. In November 2008 Linux held an 87.8 percent share of the world's top 500 supercomputers.
As of June 2010 the operating systems used on the world's top 500 supercomputers were:
| OS | Share |
|---|---|
| Linux Linux Linux 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... |
91.0% |
| Unix Unix Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna... |
4.4% |
| Hybrid Unix/Linux Unix-like A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification.... |
3.4% |
| Windows HPC | 1.0% |
| BSD | 0.2% |
These figures indicate Linux
Linux
Linux 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...
dominates the supercomputer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
sector with a market-share of over 90% and climbing, and that Linux constitutes well over half of the server
Server
Server may refer to:In computing:*Server , a server application, operating system, computer, or applianceIn jobs and roles:* Altar server, an acolyte who assists the clergy during services...
market. However, it is unclear what proportion of these run rolling release 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. The vast majority of BSD systems are non-rolling since the only significant rolling release BSDs are the Gentoo/*BSD variants, which have nowhere near the popularity of major BSD distributions such as FreeBSD
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
; likewise, as GNU Hurd
GNU Hurd
GNU Hurd is a free software Unix-like replacement for the Unix kernel, released under the GNU General Public License. It has been under development since 1990 by the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation...
is still experimental, Hurd distributions (rolling and non-rolling) have minimal market-share. BSD and Hurd adoption thus currently has negligible impact on the overall adoption of rolling distributions, since the vast majority of rolling distributions are Linux distributions and Linux adoption currently dwarfs that of BSD and Hurd in the PC, mobile
Mobile computing
Mobile computing is a form of human–computer interaction by which a computer is expected to be transported during normal usage. Mobile computing has three aspects: mobile communication, mobile hardware, and mobile software...
, enterprise
Enterprise software
Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application software , is software used in organizations, such as in a business or government, contrary to software chosen by individuals...
, server
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
and HPC sectors.
With major software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s (such as Google Chrome OS
Google Chrome OS
Google Chrome OS is a Linux-based operating system designed by Google to work exclusively with web applications. Google announced the operating system on July 7, 2009 and made it an open source project, called Chromium OS, that November....
, openSUSE
OpenSUSE
openSUSE is a general purpose operating system built on top of the Linux kernel, developed by the community-supported openSUSE Project and sponsored by SUSE...
Tumbleweed, Linux 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...
LMDE, Fuduntu
Fuduntu
Fuduntu 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....
, Chakra Linux
Chakra Linux
Chakra GNU/Linux is a Linux distribution originally based on Arch Linux and focused on the latest KDE software. According to DistroWatch Chakra GNU/Linux ranks among the 20 most popular Linux distributions and is well received by critics....
, and the possibility of DebianCUT) opting for a rolling release software development model, the number and popularity of rolling distributions would appear – and has been asserted by some, particularly within the rolling community – to be on the rise. However, whether this is truly part of a bigger long-term software development and use trend (either towards favoring rolling releases over standard releases, or towards giving the user the option to use software in either manner) remains to be seen.
Also – if one takes into account the current explosion in mobile computing
Mobile computing
Mobile computing is a form of human–computer interaction by which a computer is expected to be transported during normal usage. Mobile computing has three aspects: mobile communication, mobile hardware, and mobile software...
with Google Android, iOS
IOS
iOS is an operating system for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV.IOS may also refer to:-Companies and organisations:* Illinois Ornithological Society, American state-based bird club...
and other mobile devices – although the absolute number of rolling release installs may have increased, the relative
Relative
-General use:*Kinship, the principle binding the most basic social units society. If two people are connected by circumstances of birth, they are said to be relatives-Philosophy:...
number may not have. Whether the latter will may depend partly on the future of the Google Android (non-rolling) and Google Chrome OS
Google Chrome OS
Google Chrome OS is a Linux-based operating system designed by Google to work exclusively with web applications. Google announced the operating system on July 7, 2009 and made it an open source project, called Chromium OS, that November....
(rolling) operating systems — specifically, if Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
merges the two, whether the resulting 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...
will be a rolling release or not.
Common myths & misconceptions
There are many myths and misconceptions regarding LinuxLinux
Linux 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...
and software distribution
Software distribution
Software distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s in general; this section focuses on the most common of those that regard rolling distributions.
- Some rolling distributions take snapshotsSnapshot (computer storage)In computer systems, a snapshot is the state of a system at a particular point in time. The term was coined as an analogy to that in photography. It can refer to an actual copy of the state of a system or to a capability provided by certain systems....
of the distribution at regular time intervals and use "version" numbers to label these. During a snapshot point, a rolling distribution may try to minimize the number of software bugSoftware bugA software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
s. The snapshots are normally then made available for download form the web to be used by users as install media. These are quite different from release versions used in non-rolling distributions as they are not releases per se (though they are sometimes referred to as such) but snapshots. As a result, this can confuse new users as to whether a distribution is a rolling release, due to the use of "version" numbers, which are often associated with non-rolling releases.
- The distinctionDistinction*Distinction may refer to:* Distinction is a social force that places different values on different individuals....
between rolling release software distributionSoftware distributionSoftware distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s and development branches of standard release software distributionSoftware distributionSoftware distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s is often overlooked by usersUser (computing)A user is an agent, either a human agent or software agent, who uses a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified by a username , screen name , nickname , or handle, which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term.Users are...
inexperienced with rolling distributions. This can lead to confused comments, such as: "distro-X is a rolling distribution if you use its development branch" — where distro-X is a standard release distribution. Even in rare cases where the development branch is a rolling (opposed to the more common cyclical) development branch, this does not make the distribution rolling. Unlike standard release distributions, rolling release distributions do not have development branches.
- Some non-rolling release (aka standard release) application softwareApplication softwareApplication software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
, operating systemOperating systemAn 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...
s and software distributionSoftware distributionSoftware distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s are capable of rolling software upgrades (treating the software upgrade as if it were a major software updateSoftware UpdateSoftware Update is a software tool by Apple Inc. that installs the latest version of Apple software on computers running Mac OS X. It was originally introduced to Mac users in Mac OS 9. A Windows version has been available since the introduction of iTunes 7, under the name Apple Software Update....
), without the need for a full reinstall of the software to overwrite the old version with the new one. Such software is sometimes confused with rolling release software, where, in fact, it is usually standard release software with rolling upgrades. Distributions with this capability tend to warn against or discourage new users from using rolling upgrades (instead recommending a fresh install) as they can break the operating system, especially at the hands of inexperienced users. There are many significant differences between rolling release and standard release software, with not needing to be reinstalled being only one of these. Hence, it is a necessary condition but not a sufficient condition of rolling release software.
- A common misconception about rolling release distributions is that users are forced to accept rolling software updateSoftware UpdateSoftware Update is a software tool by Apple Inc. that installs the latest version of Apple software on computers running Mac OS X. It was originally introduced to Mac users in Mac OS 9. A Windows version has been available since the introduction of iTunes 7, under the name Apple Software Update....
s, even if they do not wish to. This is not the case. Just because a rolling system can be cutting-edgeState of the artThe state of the art is the highest level of development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field, achieved at a particular time. It also refers to the level of development reached at any particular time as a result of the latest methodologies employed.- Origin :The earliest use of the term...
or bleeding-edge, doesn't mean the user is forced to run such a system. The choice of which rolling updates to accept is completely within the user's control, and a user can choose to run a more 'conservative' system set-up if they so wish. Also, more than one version of a given software packageSoftware package (installation)In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....
is often available in the software repositorySoftware repositoryA software repository is a storage location from which software packages may be retrieved and installed on a computer.- Discussion :Many software publishers and other organizations maintain servers on the Internet for this purpose, either free of charge or for a subscription fee...
, giving the user the freedom to choose which to run.
- A warning often made regarding rolling distributions is that they are NOT for 'newbies' (new users). Though this may generally be true for the majority of newbies and the majority of rolling distributions (particularly when it comes to the likes of Gentoo LinuxGentoo LinuxGentoo Linux is a computer operating system built on top of the Linux kernel and based on the Portage package management system. It is distributed as free and open source software. Unlike a conventional software distribution, the user compiles the source code locally according to their chosen...
, FuntooFuntooFuntoo is a a free operating system, more precisely a GNU/Linux distribution based on Gentoo, and initiated in 2008 by Daniel Robbins former Gentoo Linux project leader.- History :...
, Source Mage, Lunar LinuxLunar LinuxLunar Linux is an operating system maintained around a source-based package management system also called Lunar. The project is a descendant of the Sorcerer Linux distribution.The installation disk installs a complete bootstrap development system first...
and Arch LinuxArch LinuxArch Linux is an independently developed, Linux-based operating system for i686 and x86-64 computers. It is composed predominantly of free and open source software, and supports community involvement....
) it is a sweeping generalization to apply it to all rolling distributions and all newbies. For example, PCLinuxOSPCLinuxOSPCLinuxOS, often shortened to PCLOS, is a GNU/Linux distribution, with KDE Plasma Desktop as its default user interface. It is a primarily free software operating system for personal computers aimed at ease of use...
, Sabayon Linux, LMDELinux MintLinux 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 Google Chrome OSGoogle Chrome OSGoogle Chrome OS is a Linux-based operating system designed by Google to work exclusively with web applications. Google announced the operating system on July 7, 2009 and made it an open source project, called Chromium OS, that November....
are specifically intended to be 'newbie friendly'. Not aimed at newbies per se, 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....
, Chakra LinuxChakra LinuxChakra GNU/Linux is a Linux distribution originally based on Arch Linux and focused on the latest KDE software. According to DistroWatch Chakra GNU/Linux ranks among the 20 most popular Linux distributions and is well received by critics....
and Toorox do intend to be more more 'user friendlyUser FriendlyUser Friendly is a discontinued daily webcomic about the staff of a small, fictional Internet service provider, Columbia Internet. The strip's humor tends to be centered around technology jokes and geek humour....
' than the distributions they are based on or derived from. Also, users new to Linux but with a keen interest in computer softwareComputer softwareComputer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
(e.g. IT enthusiasts, programmerProgrammerA programmer, computer programmer or coder is someone who writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. One who practices or professes a formal approach to...
s or computer scienceComputer scienceComputer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
students) might primarily wish to understand how a Linux system is built, works and is put together, for which Arch LinuxArch LinuxArch Linux is an independently developed, Linux-based operating system for i686 and x86-64 computers. It is composed predominantly of free and open source software, and supports community involvement....
, Gentoo LinuxGentoo LinuxGentoo Linux is a computer operating system built on top of the Linux kernel and based on the Portage package management system. It is distributed as free and open source software. Unlike a conventional software distribution, the user compiles the source code locally according to their chosen...
or Linux From ScratchLinux From ScratchLinux From Scratch is a type of a Linux installation and the name of a book written by Gerard Beekmans among others. The book gives readers instructions on how to build a Linux system from source...
might be likely recommendations. Although it may be argued that non-rolling distributions make better starting distributions for your average newbie, it is worth noting that unlike most software distributionSoftware distributionSoftware distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s rolling distributions do not force the user to reinstall in order to run current software. For newbies that are inexperienced with re-installs and lack an experienced user to turn to, a 'newbie friendly' rolling distribution might be viewed by some as worth considering.
- Another common assertionAssertionThe term assertion has several meanings:* Assertion , a computer programming technique* Logical assertion, logical assertion of a statement* Proof by assertion, an assertion as opposed to an argument...
is that, by their very nature, rolling distributions in general are inherently unstable. Rolling distributions are often highly customizable, especially 'self-buildSelf-build"Self-build" is the practice of creating an individual home for yourself through a variety of different methods. The term 'self build' is specifically used in the UK and Ireland when an individual obtains a building plot and then builds their own home on that plot...
' ones, which can give the userUser (computing)A user is an agent, either a human agent or software agent, who uses a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified by a username , screen name , nickname , or handle, which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term.Users are...
more control over stability (and other attributes) than many standard release distributions. Also, although rolling distributions generally have the latest stable software packageSoftware package (installation)In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....
s available in their software repositorySoftware repositoryA software repository is a storage location from which software packages may be retrieved and installed on a computer.- Discussion :Many software publishers and other organizations maintain servers on the Internet for this purpose, either free of charge or for a subscription fee...
, the freshness of the packages in the repositories can vary from distribution to distribution, and need not be bleeding-edge in all cases. Also, as mentioned previously, more than one version of a given software packageSoftware package (installation)In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....
is often available in the software repositorySoftware repositoryA software repository is a storage location from which software packages may be retrieved and installed on a computer.- Discussion :Many software publishers and other organizations maintain servers on the Internet for this purpose, either free of charge or for a subscription fee...
, giving the user the freedom to choose which to run.
Regarding this last misconception, it is not a necessary condition for a rolling distribution to be bleeding-edge, and there are many bleeding-edge standard release distributions for which stability
Stability
-Mathematics:*Stability theory, the study of the stability of solutions to differential equations and dynamical systems**Lyapunov stability**Structural stability*Stability of a point in geometric invariant theory....
is just as big an issue. Hence – though it is sometimes claimed by critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
s of rolling releases – rolling release distributions in general need not be inherently unstable, compared to standard release distributions. Rather, any apparent instability
Instability
In numerous fields of study, the component of instability within a system is generally characterized by some of the outputs or internal states growing without bounds...
is more likely to be to do with the developer
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
- and user
User (computing)
A user is an agent, either a human agent or software agent, who uses a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified by a username , screen name , nickname , or handle, which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term.Users are...
-base in general opting for a more cutting-edge
State of the art
The state of the art is the highest level of development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field, achieved at a particular time. It also refers to the level of development reached at any particular time as a result of the latest methodologies employed.- Origin :The earliest use of the term...
and bleeding-edge approach to software development
Software development
Software development is the development of a software product...
and use. Thus, it is more a reflection of the culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
and attitude
Attitude (psychology)
An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like or dislike for something. Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person, place, thing, or event— this is often referred to as the attitude object...
within the 'rolling' community, than it is a flaw
Defect
- Geometry and physical sciences :* Defect , a characteristic of a polyhedron* Topological defect* Isoperimetric defect* Crystallographic defect, a structural imperfection in a crystal- Pop music :* The Defects, Northern-Irish punk rock band...
or failure
Failure
Failure refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success. Product failure ranges from failure to sell the product to fracture of the product, in the worst cases leading to personal injury, the province of forensic...
in the rolling release software development model. However, the majority of rolling distributions do tend to include cutting-edge and bleeding-edge software in their software repositories so the user
User (computing)
A user is an agent, either a human agent or software agent, who uses a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified by a username , screen name , nickname , or handle, which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term.Users are...
has the choice whether or not to use such.
Focus of effort
It is common to occasionally take snapshotsSnapshot (computer storage)
In computer systems, a snapshot is the state of a system at a particular point in time. The term was coined as an analogy to that in photography. It can refer to an actual copy of the state of a system or to a capability provided by certain systems....
of the rolling release, which can be refined and "frozen" and only maintained
Software maintenance
Software Maintenance in software engineering is the modification of a software product after delivery to correct faults, to improve performance or other attributes....
for software security. This is often impractical since it requires duplication of effort. Typically, defects and characteristics of a particular software release are not specifically addressed in a separate/isolated effort (e.g. as patches
Patch (computing)
A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance...
); instead, they are addressed in the main software development
Software development
Software development is the development of a software product...
effort.
See also
- Operating systemOperating systemAn 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...
- Release engineeringRelease engineeringRelease engineering, frequently abbreviated as "releng", is a sub-discipline in software engineering concerned with the compilation, assembly, and delivery of source code into finished products or other software components. Associated with the software release life cycle, it is often said that...
- Software distributionSoftware distributionSoftware distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
- Software versioning
- Software release cycle
- Software release life cycle
- Software testingSoftware testingSoftware testing is an investigation conducted to provide stakeholders with information about the quality of the product or service under test. Software testing can also provide an objective, independent view of the software to allow the business to appreciate and understand the risks of software...
- Software developmentSoftware developmentSoftware development is the development of a software product...
- Software development methodologySoftware development methodologyA software development methodology or system development methodology in software engineering is a framework that is used to structure, plan, and control the process of developing an information system.- History :...
- Software development philosophy
- Software development processSoftware development processA software development process, also known as a software development life cycle , is a structure imposed on the development of a software product. Similar terms include software life cycle and software process. It is often considered a subset of systems development life cycle...
- Software development model
- Agile software developmentAgile software developmentAgile software development is a group of software development methodologies based on iterative and incremental development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams...
- Iterative and incremental developmentIterative and incremental developmentIterative and Incremental development is at the liver of a cyclic software development process developed in response to the weaknesses of the waterfall model...
- Spiral modelSpiral modelThe spiral model is a software development process combining elements of both design and prototyping-in-stages, in an effort to combine advantages of top-down and bottom-up concepts. Also known as the spiral lifecycle model , it is a systems development method used in information technology...
- Waterfall modelWaterfall modelThe waterfall model is a sequential design process, often used in software development processes, in which progress is seen as flowing steadily downwards through the phases of Conception, Initiation, Analysis, Design, Construction, Testing, Production/Implementation and Maintenance.The waterfall...
Further reading
- Book:Free and Open Source Software
- Book:Open Source
- Book:Desktop Linux
See Wikibooks.org for more Wikibooks
Wikibooks
Wikibooks is a Wiki hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation for the creation of free content textbooks and annotated texts that anyone can edit....
.
External links
- Rolling Release A website about rolling releases, focused almost exclusively on Arch LinuxArch LinuxArch Linux is an independently developed, Linux-based operating system for i686 and x86-64 computers. It is composed predominantly of free and open source software, and supports community involvement....
. - DistroWatch A website with a databaseDatabaseA database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
of, and news and information about, software distributionSoftware distributionSoftware distribution can refer to:* The process of software distribution, from creator to the user,* A collection of software, also referred to as a distribution, or a distro, which is set of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can be used essentially "as is" for its...
s.