DISTROS
Site for Distros: www.distrowatch.com
Debian: Volunteer maintained. Uses the popular apt
package system used as a base for many other Distros
RedHat: Commercial.
Used by large corporations, governments, and schools. Related to Fedora
(open source branch), and CentOS (free version). Uses the rpm package system
Why pay?
SUPPORT!
Slackware: One of the oldest. Not for beginners
Ubuntu:
Based on Debian. Very popular, and used on some commercial
desktops. Easy to install and use. Recently headed in a direction that alienated
many users.
Linux MINT: Evolved from Ubuntu. Much more
polished and usable. Keeps a more
conventional desktop like Ubuntu used to.
Better out-of-box-experience.
Puppy:
Lightweight, and fast. Great on
older systems. Has own proprietary
packages, but some versions support Ubuntu, or Slackware packages.
CentOS:
Built from RedHat
source. Essentially RedHat
without support
FreeBSD:
Not Linux, but UNIX. Worth a look
for comparison, but I recommend GhostBSD for beginners. OS X, and iOS are based on BSD variants
GhostBSD:
FreeBSD for beginners
Damn Small: Started the mini distro
movement. Always less than 50M
Tiny Core: Full GUI operating system in
a 14M download. Amazing!
Multimedia: OpenElec, XBMC, GeexBox
Make your own ROKU.
OpenElec and XBMC run on the Raspberry Pi
Security
– Forensics: Kali, BackBox
Recover files, test network security.
Disk
Utilities: Parted Magic, Clonezilla
Free alternatives to Partition Magic and
Ghost
Hirens Boot CD includes both
PBX
(phone systems): AsteriskNOW
Make your own phone system
Ham Radio:
HOW TO TRY
Live
CD/DVD:
boot from CD/DVD. Does not touch your operating system!
Can install later
There’s one on HIRENS
Install
into VM:
Install
on an older computer
Make
a bootable USB
Install
to USB
Use a large USB stick, and a live CD/DVD
AVAILABLE TONIGHT
Linux
Mint MATE 32 bit
Linux
Mint MATE 64 bit
CentOS 32
bit
Puppy
LUPU
TinyCORE
Or, download
your own ISOs and burn
