There is no single distribution of the Linux software. Instead, there are many such distributions, available both via anonymous FTP and mail order on floppy, tape, or CD-ROM. This document is an attempt to present information on many of the available distributions of Linux. This document also contains information on many miscellaneous services and goods available for Linux, ranging from consulting and support to T-shirts and virtual beer.
The purpose of this document is to provide short summaries of the many Linux distributions and mail-order services, and to provide pointers for the reader to find more information.
The information presented here is far from complete; there are many more Linux distributions and services than are listed here. Unfortunately, we have not received submissions from many of the organizations providing these services. Please see Submissions To This Document near the end of this document for information on making a submission. It's easy and will take less then five minutes.
This document was originated by Bill Riemers. Matt Welsh maintained the second version. Erik Troan (ewt) then maintained the document to release 3.0.
In January 1995, Eric Raymond, while unaware of the existence of this document, began to develop a similar FAQ in the format of his now-discontinued "PC-clone UNIX Software Buyer's Guide", which had covered mainly System V UNIXes and BSD/OS.
In March 1995, Eric approached Erik about cooperating on a merged version. In early April 1995, Erik went to work for Red Hat Software, and (wishing to avoid a conflict of interest) handed the document to Eric. Eric merged in a lot of new information and added several new fields to the distribution entries.
Accordingly, this document is a sort of serial collaboration. The editorial `we' generally tags observations by all the maintainers; `I' is Eric (the current one) speaking.
We are delighted to acknowledge the contributions of all the Linux users and Internet hackers who have contributed information and feedback.
This document will be posted monthly to the newsgroups
comp.os.linux.answers . The document is archived on a number
of Linux FTP sites, including sunsite.unc.edu in
pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO.
You can also view the latest version of this on the World Wide Web via the URL http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/Distribution-HOWTO.html.
We now include an expanded overview of the Linux market with recommendations.
The Morse Telecommunications entry has been dropped, as Morse has let it be known that they are exiting the market, and we can no longer recommend purchasing a distribution dating back to their final freeze date in June '95.
The network distribution entry for Slackware has been dropped, as it was redundant with the Walnut Creek entry. The `Network Distributions' section has been merged into the main section.