Linux分发版本数量日渐增多，对Linux的新用户来说令人迷惑，这是编写本页的原因。全球Linux用户公认的应用得最广泛的分发版本。当然也许有很多其他的分发版本可以更好地满足你的特定需求，不过就一般而言，所有这些分发版本都很流行，拥有非常活跃的论坛或邮件列表，要是被难住了可以在那里提问。Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS 和MEPIS Linux被认为是最容易上手的，新用户不必非得掌握其复杂性，就可以尽快体验到Linux的生产力；在另一端，Slackware Linux, Gentoo Linux和FreeBSD是更先进的分发版本，在有效使用之前需要进行大量学习。openSUSE, Fedora, Debian GNU/Linux 和 Mandriva Linux可以看作难度中等的优良分发版本。KNOPPIX是可以直接使用的live CD（或live DVD），最初作为一个测试和演示工具非常流行，不过现在大多数主要分发版本也都提供了live CD/DVD。这些分发版本大致按照DistroWatch的流行程度排序，不过顺序并不代表其市场份额或产品质量。
Ubuntu
Ubuntu首发于2004年9月。作为相对较新的后来者，起初该项目与先前的其他项目似乎并无区别，不久，它的邮件列表就充满了迫切的用户和热情的开发人员的沸沸扬扬的讨论， 随后数年，Ubuntu一举成为最流行的卓面Linux分发版本，它对易用的自由桌面操作系统开发做出了巨大贡献，可与市场上的任何专有系统相匹敌。
Ubuntu的令人震惊的成功，原因何在？第一，该项目由Mark Shuttleworth创立，他是一个传奇性的南非巨富，前Debian开发者，世界第二名太空旅客，他的公司Isle of Man-based Canonical Ltd当前为该项目提供财政支持。其次，Ubuntu从其它类似项目中学到很多教训，从一开始就加以避免----它具备优秀的基于Web的基础结构，Wiki风格的文档，创造性的缺陷报告体制，以及对最终用户的专业支持途径。第三，受惠于创立者的富有，Ubuntu有财力向任何有兴趣的用户发放免费CD，使它得以快速传播。
在技术方面，Ubuntu基于Debian "Sid" (不稳定分支)，但是包含了一些优秀的软件包，诸如GNOME，FireFox和OpenOffice.org的最新版本。它的发行计划可以预期，每6个月发行一个版本，此外还有不定期的长期支持（LTS）版本，依版本不同，在3至5年内提供安全更新支持（非LTS版本支持期为18个月）。Ubuntu的其它特色包括可安装的Live CD，创意十足的美工和桌面主题，为Windows用户提供的迁移助手，支持最新技术，例如3D桌面效果，易于安装专有的设备驱动程序（如ATI和NVIDIA显卡以及无线网络设备），对非自由软件或者受专利限制的媒体编码解码器(codec)提供按需支持。
优点：固定的发布周期和支持期限；对初学者友好；文档丰富齐全，包括官方和用户贡献的文档。
缺点：Ubuntu的某些自身软件（如Launchpad, Rosetta）是专有的；与Debian的兼容性有欠缺
软件包管理：高级软件包工具(APT)，使用DEB软件包
当前版本：用于32位(i386)和64位(x86_64)处理器的Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu 和 Xubuntu; Ubuntu Server版本也支持SPARC处理器
基于Ubuntu的替换选择推荐：MEPIS Linux (desktop), Linux Mint (desktop), Freespire (desktop), gNewSense (自由软件)
openSUSE
openSUSE的历史可以追溯到1992年，4个德国的Linux狂热分子Roland Dyroff, Thomas Fehr, Hubert Mantel and Burchard Steinbild发起了这个项目，名字为SuSE（Software und System Entwicklung软件与系统开发） Linux。早期，这家年轻的公司销售装有Slackware Linux的软盘套装，随后不久，在1996年5月，随着4.2版本的发布，SuSE Linux成为独立的分发版本。随后几年，开发人员接纳了RPM软件包管理格式并推出了YaST，一种易用的图形化系统管理工具。由于频繁更新、优秀的印刷文档和获得方便（在欧洲和北美范围的商店发售），致使SuSE Linux分发版本越来越流行。
SuSE Linux于2003年晚期被Novell公司收购，短期之内，SuSE Linux在开发、授权和可获得性方面出现重大变化，YaST分发遵守GPL授权协议，ISO镜像通过公开的下载服务器自由分发，最重要的是，该分发版本的开发第一次面向公共参与人员开放。自从openSUSE项目首发，2005年10月版本10.0发布之后，该分发版本完全体现了free这个词的两方面的含义（自由+免费）。openSUSE代码已经成为Novell商业产品的基础系统，该产品开始命名为Novell Linux，随后改名为SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop和SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.
现在，openSUSE拥有大量心满意足的拥趸，openSUSE从用户得到高分的首要原因是其令人愉悦的精练的桌面环境（KDE和GNOME），优秀的系统管理实用程序（YaST），对购买包装版本的用户来说，其文档印刷之精美领袖群伦。不过，最近Novell和Microsoft有些龃龉，并对Microsoft争执的Linux上的知识产权问题作出让步，结果导致诸多责难，导致某些用户转向其他分发版本。尽管Novell低调处理与Microsoft的纠纷，Microsoft还没有执行任何权利，对其他致力于社区友好的Linux公司来说，这个问题仍然如锋芒在背。
优点：全面、直观的配置工具，大规模的软件包库，优秀的Web站点基础结构和印刷文档。
缺点：2006年11月Novell与Microsoft的专利交易使Microsoft关于Linux方面的知识产权声明合法化；资源负担较重的桌面安装和图形化实用工具有时看起来有点儿“臃肿缓慢”。
软件包管理：YaST图形化和命令行使用工具使用RPM软件包
可用版本：openSUSE 32位 (i386), 64位 (x86_64)和PowerPC (ppc)处理器(也有非安装的live DVD版本); SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop/Server 用于i586, IA64, PowerPC, s390, s390x 和 x86_64架构。
Fedora
Fedora正式登场的时间是2004年9月，不过它的发端要回溯到1995年，两个Linux空想家Bob Young和Marc Ewing发布了Red Hat Linux。该公司的首个产品Red Hat Linux 1.0 “Mother’s Day”同年发布，随即推出了若干故障修订更新。1997年，Red Hat推出了革命性的RPM软件包管理系统，具备依赖性解决方案和其他的高级特性，由此迅速提高了普及率，超越Slackware Linux成为全球最广泛使用的Linux分发版本。近年，Red Hat固定了时间表，定期每6个月发布一次。
2003年，Red Hat Linux 9发布之后，公司对其产品系列进行了彻底改变，它在其商业产品上保留了Red Hat商标，以Red Hat Enterprise Linux命名，同时发布Fedora Core，这是由Red Hat发起，面向社区的分发版本，为“Linux爱好者”而设计。这项变革最初曾遭到批评，但终于被Linux社区接纳为“新”的分发版本，逻辑上被当作Red Hat Linux的后继。Fedora发布了若干高质量版本之后重拾金瓯，依旧是市场上最受欢迎的操作系统之一。与此同时，Red Hat迅速成为全球最大最盈利的Linux公司，它具有富有创新性的产品系列，还推出了诸如Red Hat认证工程师（RHCE）认证计划。
尽管Fedora的方向很大程度上由Red Hat公司掌控，该产品看起来（无论这种看法是对是错）就像Red Hat Enterprise Linux的试验床，不可否认的是Fedora是现今最富有革新精神的分发版本之一。它在Linux核心、glibc和GCC方面的贡献有目共睹，最近还集成了SELinux功能，Xen虚拟化技术和其他的企业级特性，获得公司客户的广泛赞誉。不过在负面因素方面，Fedora始终没有清晰的面向桌面的战略，这样的目标定位本来可以让它不再单单面向“Linux 爱好者”，更易于为其他用户使用。
优点：高度创造性；杰出的安全特性；大量的支持软件包；严格遵守自由软件的宗旨。
缺点：Fedora优先倾向于企业特性而不是桌面易用性。
软件包管理：YUM图形化和命令行实用工具，使用RPM软件包。
可用版本：Fedora 32位(i386), 64位 (x86_64)和PowerPC (ppc)处理器; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 用于 i386, IA64, PowerPC, s390x和 x86_64 架构;也有live CD 和live DVD版本
基于Fedora的替换选择推荐：BLAG Linux And GNU (桌面，自由软件)， Berry Linux (live CD), Yellow Dog Linux (用于Apple PowerPC系统)
基于Red Hat的替换选择推荐：CentOS, Scientific Linux, StartCom Enterprise Linux, Lineox。
return 于 2007-08-08 16:08:30发表:
Debian GNU/Linux
Debian GNU/Linux was first announced in 1993. Its founder, Ian Murdock, envisaged the creation of a completely non-commercial project developed by hundreds of volunteer developers in their spare time. With sceptics far outnumbering optimists at the time, it was destined to disintegrate and collapse, but the reality was very different. Debian not only survived, it thrived and, in less than a decade, it became the largest Linux distribution and possibly the largest collaborative software project ever created!
The success of Debian GNU/Linux can be illustrated by the following numbers. It is developed by over 1,000 volunteer developers, its software repositories contain more than 20,000 packages (compiled for 11 processor architectures), and it is responsible for inspiring over 120 Debian-based distributions and live CDs. These figures are unmatched by any other Linux-based operating system. The actual development of Debian takes place in three main branches (or four if one includes the bleeding-edge "experimental" branch) of increasing levels of stability: "unstable" (also known as "sid"), "testing" and "stable". This progressive integration and stabilisation of packages and features, together with the project's well-established quality control mechanisms, has earned Debian its reputation of being one of the best-tested and most bug-free distributions available today.
However, this lengthy and complex development style also has some drawbacks: the stable releases of Debian are not particularly up-to-date and they age rapidly, especially since new stable releases are only published once every 1 - 3 years. Those users who prefer the latest packages and technologies are forced to use the potentially buggy Debian testing or unstable branches. The highly democratic structures of Debian have led to controversial decisions and gave rise to infighting among the developers. This has contributed to stagnation and reluctance to make radical decisions that would take the project forward.
Pros: Very stable; remarkable quality control; includes over 20,000 software packages; supports more processor architectures than any other Linux distribution
Cons: Conservative - due to its support for many processor architectures, newest technologies are not always included; slow release cycle (one stable release every 1 - 3 years); discussions on developer mailing lists and blogs can be uncultured at times
Software package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using DEB packages
Available editions: Installation CD/DVD and live CD images for 11 processor architectures, including all 32-bit and 64-bit processors from Intel, AMD, Power and others
Suggested Debian-based alternatives: Ubuntu, Damn Small Linux, KNOPPIX, sidux, Dreamlinux, Elive, Xandros, 64 Studio
Debian GNU/Linux 4.0
Mandriva Linux
Mandriva Linux was launched by Gaël Duval in July 1998 under the name of Mandrake Linux. At first, it was just a re-mastered edition of Red Hat Linux with the more user-friendly KDE desktop, but the subsequent releases also added various user-friendly touches, such as a new installer, improved hardware detection, and intuitive disk partitioning utility. As a result of these enhancements, Mandrake Linux flourished. After attracting venture capital and turning into a business, the fortunes of the newly established MandrakeSoft fluctuated widely between a near bankruptcy in early 2003 to a flurry of acquisitions in 2005. The latter, after merging with Brazil's Conectiva, saw the company change its name to Mandriva.
Mandriva Linux is primarily a desktop distribution. Its best loved features are cutting edge software, superb system administration suite (DrakConf), excellent implementation of its 64-bit edition, and extensive internationalisation support. It had an open development model long before many other popular distributions, with intensive beta testing and frequent stable releases. In recent years, it has also developed an array of installable live CDs and has launched Mandriva Flash - a complete Mandriva Linux system on a bootable USB Flash device.
Despite the technical excellence, Mandriva Linux has been losing momentum in recent years. This has partly to do with the emergence of other user-friendly distributions that have caught up with Mandriva, but also with some controversial decisions by the company which have alienated a large sector of the distribution's user base. Mandriva's web presence is a messy conglomeration of several different web sites, while its "Mandriva Club", originally designed to provide added value to paying customers, has been getting mixed reviews. Although the company has been addressing some of the criticism, it continues to face an uphill battle in persuading new Linux users or users of other distributions to try (and buy) its products.
Pros: Beginner-friendly, especially the commercial editions; excellent central configuration utility; very good out-of-the-box support for dozens of languages; installable live CD
Cons: The company's customer service has developed bad reputation over the years; complex, confusing web site infrastructure; dropping popularity due to its commercial nature and unpopular corporate decisions in the past
Software package management: URPMI with Rpmdrake (a graphical front-end for URPMI) using RPM packages; "SMART" available as an alternative method
Available editions: Freely downloadable Mandriva Free and One editions for 32-bit (i386) and 64-bit (x86_64) processors; commercial Mandriva Discovery, PowerPack and PowerPack Plus editions for 32-bit (i386) and 64-bit (x86_64); also high-end "Corporate" solutions for desktops, servers and firewalls, all with long-term support options
Suggested Mandriva-based alternatives: PCLinuxOS (desktop), MCNLive (live CD)
Mandriva Linux 2007.1
PCLinuxOS
PCLinuxOS was first announced in 2003 by Bill Reynolds, better known as "Texstar". Prior to creating his own distribution, Texstar was already a well-known developer in the Mandrake Linux community of users for building up-to-date RPM packages for the popular distribution and providing them as a free download. In 2003 he decided to build a new distribution, initially based on Mandrake Linux, but with several significant usability improvements. The goals? It should be beginner-friendly, have out-of-the box support for proprietary kernel modules, browser plugins and media codecs, and should function as a live CD with a simple and intuitive graphical installer.
Several years and development releases later, PCLinuxOS is rapidly approaching its intended state. In terms of usability, the project offers out-of-the-box support for many technologies most Windows-to-Linux migrants would expect from their new operating system. On the software side of things, PCLinuxOS is a KDE-oriented distribution, with a customised and always up-to-date version of the popular desktop environment. Its growing software repository contains other desktops, however, and offers a great variety of desktop packages for many common tasks. For system configuration, PCLinuxOS has retained much of Mandriva's excellent Control Centre, but has replaced its package management system with APT and Synaptic, a graphical package management front-end.
On the negative side, PCLinuxOS lacks any form of roadmap or release goals. Despite the growing community involvement in the project, most development and decision-making remains in the hands of Texstar who tends to be on the conservative side when judging the stability of a release. As a result, the development process of PCLinuxOS tends to be long and a new version is not released until all known bugs are solved. There are currently no plans for a 64-bit edition of PCLinuxOS.
Pros: Out-of-the-box support for graphics drivers, browser plugins and media codecs; fast boot times; up-to-date software
Cons: No 64-bit edition offered; no out-of-the-box support for non-English languages; lacks release planning
Software package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using RPM packages
Available editions: MiniMe, Junior and BigDaddy editions for 32-bit (i586) processor architectures
Suggested PCLinuxOS-based alternative: SAM Linux Desktop
PCLinuxOS 2007
MEPIS Linux
MEPIS Linux was first announced in 2003 by Warren Woodford and his company, MEPIS LLC. The idea was to turn the Debian unstable branch into a beginner-friendly distribution, complete with automatic hardware configuration, support for popular media formats, and latest software packages. MEPIS Linux pioneered the concept of an easily installable live CD - a user could simply boot the CD, investigate the content, and then install it to a hard disk with just a few mouse clicks.
In the following years the developers focused on providing reliable hardware support for all kinds of troublesome hardware, including software modems and wireless network cards. In 2006, largely due to the volatility of Debian's unstable branch, the base system of MEPIS Linux was switched from Debian to Ubuntu, which freed the development team from fixing the Debian bugs and to concentrate on usability enhancements. Originally MEPIS Linux consisted of two editions - a desktop-oriented SimplyMEPIS and a developer-oriented ProMEPIS, but the latter edition was later dropped. Currently, the project provides both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of SimplyMEPIS.
On the negative side, the distribution lacks any clear roadmap or release schedule, but it appears that periodically updated versions will be released with older code base and newer technologies, such as the 3D desktop features. As a consequence, SimplyMEPIS is no longer as up-to-date as it once was. Beta testing tends to be extremely long and final releases are frequently delayed by months from the original projection. While SimplyMEPIS CD images are available for free download, MEPIS LLC encourages satisfied users to sign up for paid-for access to a premium server, which constitutes the company's only source of income.
Pros: Beginner-friendly; excellent hardware auto-detection and support; intuitive, installable live CD
Cons: Software in its repositories not always up-to-date, lacks development roadmap
Software package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using DEB packages
Available editions: SimplyMEPIS for 32-bit (i386) and 64-bit (x86_64) processors
SimplyMEPIS 6.5
KNOPPIX
The first public release of KNOPPIX was made in early 2003. This event was quickly followed by an astonishing number of highly positive reviews in the Linux media; this was the first Linux live CD that required no manual configuration. The KNOPPIX CD was meant to be placed in the CD-ROM drive and a few minutes after boot, the computer would run a full-featured, graphical Linux operating system with thousands of applications - all without the need to install anything on the computer's hard disk. Although KNOPPIX certainly wasn't the first Linux live CD, its creator, Klaus Knopper, went further than any other developer before him in scripting a hardware auto-detection and auto-configuration routine that put similar scripts produced by commercial Linux companies to shame.
The Debian-based KNOPPIX became such a huge success that many Linux users found it an indispensable and portable tool for a variety of tasks. It could be used to recover files and data from hard disks, to demonstrate the capabilities of Linux to new users, to test Linux hardware compatibility of laptops and desktop computers before purchase, or to boot it in Internet cafés and use it as a full-blown Linux operating system for every-day tasks. In fact, it became such a popular tool that within a short period of time dozens of similar projects sprouted all over the Internet, using Klaus Knopper's hardware auto-detection scripts and developing KNOPPIX-based variants ranging from full desktop systems to highly specialised forensics, testing and recovery tasks.
While KNOPPIX can be considered beginner-friendly in terms of its hands-off auto-configuration, it also includes many advanced features better suited for more technical users. Especially the recent DVD editions of the product came with a large number of software packages, including all popular desktops and many server applications pulled from Debian's unstable and testing archives. This increase in software numbers brought some problems, however; KNOPPIX has become slow (especially the DVD edition), buggy (Klaus Knopper does not seem to believe in public beta testing) and messy (in terms of menu arrangements on the different desktop systems). There is no release planning, but new KNOPPIX versions appear roughly twice a year, usually shortly after major Linux exhibitions in Germany, where new KNOPPIX versions are first unveiled to the public. It has lost some of its original glory due to the fact that most major Linux distributions now also offer live CD/DVD editions of their product.
Pros: Unparalleled hardware auto-detection and auto-configuration; portable operating system that can be used for rescue, demonstration and testing tasks; provides a hard-disk installation script
Cons: Recent releases somewhat buggy; lack of polish and unification of menus across the different desktop environments; slow when run from DVD
Software package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using DEB packages
Available editions: Live CD and Live DVD editions for 32-bit (i386) processors
Suggested Debian/KNOPPIX-based alternatives: Damn Small Linux, sidux, Xandros Desktop, Elive, Dreamlinux, Parsix GNU/Linux, grml
KNOPPIX 5.1.1
Slackware Linux
Slackware Linux, created by Patrick Volkerding in 1992, is the oldest surviving Linux distribution. Forked from the now-discontinued SLS project, Slackware 1.0 came on 24 floppy disks and was built on top of Linux kernel version 0.99pl11-alpha. It quickly became the most popular Linux distribution, with some estimates putting its market share to as much as 80% of all Linux installations in 1995. Its popularity decreased dramatically with the arrival of Red Hat Linux and other, more user-friendly distributions, but Slackware Linux still remains a much-appreciated operating system among the more technically-oriented system administrators and desktop users.
Slackware Linux is a highly technical, clean distribution, with only a very limited number of custom utilities. It uses a simple, text-based system installer and a comparatively primitive package management system that does not resolve software dependencies. As a result, Slackware is considered one of the cleanest and least buggy distributions available today - the lack of Slackware-specific enhancements reduces the likelihood of new bugs being introduced into the system. All configuration is done by editing text files. There is a saying in the Linux community that if you learn Red Hat, you'll know Red Hat, but if you learn Slackware, you'll know Linux. This is particularly true today when many other Linux distributions keep developing heavily customised products to meet the needs of less technical Linux users.
While this philosophy of simplicity has its fans, the fact is that in today's world, Slackware Linux is increasingly becoming a "core system" upon which new, custom solutions are built, rather than a complete distribution with a wide variety of supported software. The only exception is the server market, where Slackware remains popular, though even here, the distribution's complex upgrade procedure and lack of officially supported automated tools for security updates makes it increasingly uncompetitive. Slackware's conservative attitude towards the system's base components means that it requires much manual post-installation work before it can be tuned into a modern desktop system.
Pros: Highly stable, clean and bug-free, strong adherence to UNIX principles
Cons: Limited number of officially supported applications; conservative in terms of base package selection; complex upgrade procedure; no official 64-bit edition
Software package management: "pkgtools" using TGZ (TAR.GZ) packages
Available editions: Installation CDs and DVD for 32-bit (i486) processors
Suggested Slackware-based alternatives: Zenwalk Linux (desktop), VectorLinux (desktop), SLAX (live CD), Slamd64 Linux (64-bit), Bluewhite64 Linux (64-bit), Wolvix (desktop, live CD), GoblinX (desktop, live CD)
Other distributions with similar philosophies: Arch Linux, Frugalware Linux, KateOS
Slackware Linux 12.0
Gentoo Linux
The concept of Gentoo Linux was devised in around the year 2000 by Daniel Robbins, a former Stampede Linux and FreeBSD developer. It was the author's exposure to FreeBSD and its "autobuild" feature called "ports", which inspired him to incorporate some of the FreeBSD software management principles into Gentoo under the name of "portage". The idea was to develop a Linux distribution that would allow users to compile the Linux kernel and applications from source code directly on their own computers, thus maintaining a highly-optimised and always up-to-date system. By the time the project released its 1.0 version in March 2002, Gentoo's package management was considered a superior alternative to some binary package management systems, especially the then widely-used RPM.
Gentoo Linux was designed for power users. Originally, the installation was cumbersome and tedious, requiring hours or even days of compiling on the command line to build a complete Linux distribution; however, in 2006 the project simplified the installation procedure by developing an installable Gentoo live CD with a point-and-click installer. Besides providing an always up-to-date set of packages for installation with a single command, the other important features of the distribution are excellent security, extensive configuration options, support for many architectures, and the ability to keep the system up-to-date without re-installing. The Gentoo documentation was repeatedly labelled as the best online documentation of any distribution.
Gentoo Linux has lost much of its original glory in recent years. Some Gentoo users have come to a realisation that the time-consuming compiling of software packages brings only marginal speed and optimisation benefits. Ever since the resignation of Gentoo's founder and benevolent dictator from the project in 2004, the newly established Gentoo Foundation has been battling with lack of clear directions and frequent developer conflicts, which resulted in several high-profile departures of well-known Gentoo personalities. It remains to be seen whether Gentoo can regain its innovative qualities of the past or whether it will slowly disintegrate into a loose collection of personal sub-projects lacking clearly-defined goals.
Pros: Excellent software management infrastructure, unparalleled customisation and tweaking options, superb online documentation
Cons: Occasional instability and risk of breakdown, the project suffers from lack of directions and frequent infighting between its developers
Software package management: "Portage" using source (SRC) packages
Available editions: Minimal installation CD and live CD (with GNOME) for Alpha, AMD64, HPPA, IA64, MIPS, PPC, SPARC and x86 processors; also "stages" for manual installation from command line
Suggested Gentoo-based alternatives: SabayonLinux (desktop, live CD/DVD), VLOS (desktop), Ututo (desktop, free software only)
Other source-based distributions: Lunar Linux, Source Mage GNU/Linux, Sorcerer, Linux From Scratch
Gentoo Linux 2007.0
FreeBSD
FreeBSD, a direct descendant of AT&T UNIX, has a long and turbulent history dating back to 1993. Unlike Linux distributions, which are defined as integrated software solutions consisting of the Linux kernel and thousands of software applications, FreeBSD is a tightly integrated operating system built from a BSD kernel and the so-called "userland" (therefore usable even without extra applications). This distinction is largely lost once installed on an average computer system - like many Linux distributions, a large collection of easily installed, (mostly) open source applications are available for extending the FreeBSD core, but these are usually provided by third-party contributors and aren't strictly part of FreeBSD.
FreeBSD has developed a reputation for being a fast, high-performance and extremely stable operating system, especially suitable for web serving and similar tasks. Many large web search engines and organisations with mission-critical computing infrastructures have deployed and used FreeBSD on their computer systems for years. Compared to Linux, FreeBSD is distributed under a much less restrictive license, which allows virtually unrestricted re-use and modification of the source code for any purpose. Even Apple's Mac OS X is known to have been derived from BSD. Besides the core operating system, the project also provides over 15,000 software applications in binary and source code forms for easy installation on top of the core FreeBSD.
While FreeBSD can certainly be used as a desktop operating system, it doesn't compare well with popular Linux distributions in this department. The text-mode system installer offers little in terms of hardware detection or system configuration, leaving much of the dirty work to the user in a post-installation setup. In terms of support for modern hardware, FreeBSD generally lags behind Linux, especially in supporting popular desktop and laptop gadgets, such as wireless network cards or digital cameras. Those users seeking to exploit the speed and stability of FreeBSD on a desktop or workstation should consider one of the available desktop FreeBSD projects, rather than FreeBSD itself.
Pros: Fast and stable; availability of over 15,000 software applications (or "ports") for installation; very good documentation
Cons: Tends to lag behind Linux in terms of support for exotic hardware, limited availability of commercial applications; lacks graphical configuration tools
Software package management: A complete command-line package management infrastructure using either binary packages or source-based "ports" (TBZ)
Available editions: Installation CDs for Alpha, AMD64, i386, IA64, PC98 and SPARC64 processors
Suggested FreeBSD-based alternatives: PC-BSD (desktop), DesktopBSD (desktop), FreeSBIE (live CD)
Other BSD alternatives: OpenBSD, NetBSD, DragonFly BSD
FreeBSD 6.2