![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/1.1.png\")
<\/p>\n
You might have heard of Linux From Scratch (LFS). It\u2019s a do-it-yourself approach to building a Linux system from a set of automated scripts. However, it\u2019s not exactly a piece of cake. This is where AryaLinux steps in.<\/p>\n
Before you start wondering: no, the name is not inspired by Game of Thrones; it\u2019s a nod to the Indian civilization. AryaLinux is designed to help you\u00a0build a working Linux installation from scratch<\/strong>. It comes in two flavors,\u00a0XFCE and MATE<\/strong>, and acts as any other distribution in Live mode. The installation takes place in the terminal, and the AryaLinux Builder tool prompts you to enter information at various stages of the process.<\/p>\n The default set of build scripts will only install a base Linux system. To install applications and a desktop environment, you\u2019ll need to use\u00a0ALPS<\/strong>\u00a0(Arya Linux Packaging System). This is a simple package manager that can install applications and resolve dependencies. The applications it can install are defined in build scripts. ALPS can\u2019t uninstall or upgrade them yet, though this might change as AryaLinux continues to develop.<\/p>\n Compartmentalization and app isolation are two terms that came into spotlight recently, popularized by projects like Docker and implemented on a certain level in Ubuntu\u2019s snap packages. The main idea is to separate running apps and services from the OS core for increased security. Qubes OS builds on that \u2013 with a twist.<\/p>\n Technically speaking, it would be more correct to call Qubes OS a\u00a0Xen distribution<\/strong>\u00a0than a Linux one. Xen is a hypervisor \u2013 a technology implementation that controls virtual machines. Unlike VirtualBox and VMWare which run within an existing OS, Xen has the ability to run directly on hardware. Qubes OS takes advantage of this. It has a default, system-level virtual machine called dom0, which runs on startup and controls the GUI. It doesn\u2019t have network access and you\u2019re not supposed to run any apps in it. That\u2019s what AppVMs are for.<\/p>\n AppVMs are called qubes, and they are based on Template VMs. Every Template VM contains software that qubes can access and use, but they can\u2019t modify the Template VM file system. The default Template VM comes with Fedora.<\/p>\n The latest version of Qubes OS replaces KDE with\u00a0XFCE<\/strong>\u00a0as the default environment. However, you can\u00a0install other distributions, or even Microsoft Windows, in additional Template VMs<\/strong>. This means you can use multiple Linux distributions on one Qubes OS system.<\/p>\n Qubes OS assigns\u00a0<\/strong>different security domains to qubes<\/strong>. They are represented in the main Start menu\u00a0and you can distinguish between qubes by name (work, personal, browsing\u2026), or\u00a0color. The latter distinction is supported by the window manager. Every app you open will have a differently colored border, depending on which qube it belongs to. You can manage all your qubes in the Qubes VM Manager tool \u2013 add, remove, and rename them, as well as see which ones are active, and on which TemplateVMs they are based. Naturally, you can seamlessly move files and copy\/paste information between qubes.<\/p>\n The best open source projects are those that can change people\u2019s lives for the better. Endless OS is a distribution with great potential for just that. It\u2019s\u00a0made for beginners and inexperienced users<\/strong>, and\u00a0aimed particularly at those without reliable internet access<\/strong>. That\u2019s why Endless OS strives to be extra user-friendly, and comes packed with a whole bunch of apps, educational videos, a massive collection of books, and even articles from Wikipedia. All this content is made available offline, completely for\u00a0<\/strong>free.<\/strong><\/p>\n Think about it: we take a lot for granted because we can always \u201cjust Google it\u201d, but the resources provided by Endless OS are invaluable to people in developing countries. Endless OS is also a great distro for all schoolchildren. You can even use it as a portable knowledge repository if you plan to spend some time off the grid.<\/p>\n Endless OS doesn\u2019t have a \u201ctraditional\u201d package management system. Among other things, this means you\u2019re limited to software available in the Endless App Center. Under the surface, Endless OS is a heavily modified Ubuntu build combined with interesting projects like\u00a0OSTree<\/a>, which makes it possible to use multiple bootable filesystems with different versions of apps on one system. The desktop is based on Gnome Shell, additionally simplified to resemble\u00a0a mix of Microsoft\u2019s Modern UI tiles and your average<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>smartphone home screen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Ubuntu might be the most remixed Linux distribution ever\u00a0and while some remixes are fantastic, others are mostly pointless. But did you know there are remixes of open SUSE? Thanks to a service called\u00a0SUSE Studio<\/a>, anyone can modify and redistribute open SUSE. Although open SUSE is a great distro, it\u2019s more often recommended for business use-cases than as an everyday desktop OS. Gecko Linux wants to change that, and it\u2019s already on the right path.<\/p>\n One of the main reasons why Gecko Linux was created is because there were no Live installation media for open SUSE Leap. With Gecko Linux, you can try out several different versions and flavors of open SUSE. First, there are two main versions:\u00a0Static<\/strong>\u00a0(based on open SUSE Leap, which is a stable branch) and\u00a0Rolling<\/strong>\u00a0(based on open SUSE Tumbleweed, a rolling-release branch). The second part is where Gecko Linux goes above and beyond open SUSE, and lets you choose one of seven\u00a0desktop environments<\/a>\u00a0(Cinnamon, Xfce, Gnome, Plasma 5, MATE, Budgie, LXQt), plus a bare-bones version with Open box and only a few essential apps.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re big on analogies, you could say that Gecko Linux is to open SUSE what Linux Mint is (or was) to Ubuntu. It aims to make the original distribution more user-friendly by providing proprietary codecs out-of-the-box and making it easier to install third-party apps, perform system administration tasks, and manage package dependencies. What is truly exciting about Gecko Linux, is the ability to\u00a0try it out directly in your browser<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Void Linux prides itself in being an independent Linux distribution, not derived from any other project. It\u2019s a\u00a0truly lightweight distribution<\/strong>\u00a0that boots surprisingly fast even on dated hardware, and has its own package management system called XBPS. Advanced users who like all the control, but none of the hassle will appreciate Void Linux the most.<\/p>\n One of the things they might notice immediately is that Void Linux doesn\u2019t use systemd. Instead, it relies on runit to supervise system services and run levels. When it comes to security, Void Linux uses the Libre SSL security protocol, a more secure fork of Open SSL. These two features set Void Linux apart from the majority of Linux distributions. More cool options are provided by XBPS. It can build packages from source with the help of installation scripts (templates), use multiple repositories and sub-repositories, resume unfinished updates and installations, and check for errors in packages themselves.<\/p>\n Void Linux is a rolling release distribution that aims to provide the latest software, but keep the base system as stable as possible. If you don\u2019t feel like setting up a desktop environment from scratch, you can download\u00a0Live images<\/strong>\u00a0with Xfce, MATE, LXDE, Enlightenment, or Cinnamon.<\/p>\n Maybe you\u2019ve never experienced it yourself, but you\u2019ve surely heard or read about someone who was a victim of a malicious attack on the Internet. Malware is not the only threat to worry about \u2013 there\u2019s also government surveillance, and\u00a0we\u2019re all subject to tracking\u00a0from advertisers and our beloved social networks. It\u2019s getting increasingly difficult to protect oneself online.<\/p>\n Subgraph OS is built on the presumption that your computer will, at some point, become a target, and it\u2019s therefore\u00a0hardened to resist breaches<\/strong>\u00a0and prevent damage. You can think of Subgraph OS as a very secure cake, with layers upon layers of protection and enhancements.<\/p>\n With Subgraph OS,\u00a0disk encryption\u00a0is obligatory \u2013 you can\u2019t install it on an unencrypted file system. The kernel is fortified with Grsecurity patches. Applications that require network access (such as\u00a0browsers, messengers, and email clients) run in their own containers (sandboxes), and their connections are routed through\u00a0Tor<\/strong>. Thanks to Metaproxy, every application uses its own Tor circuit, and there\u2019s also a firewall just in case. Most of these precautions are configured automatically, and the distribution looks and feels familiar since it\u2019s based on Debian and uses Gnome 3.<\/p>\n Nix OS is a showcase for the\u00a0Nix package manager<\/a>, a clever and exciting project that might appeal to people who enjoy\u00a0functional programming<\/strong>. Nix builds everything from declarative configuration files, and the principles of the package manager are applied in practice throughout Nix OS.<\/p>\n This means you can configure the entire system in a simple file and rebuild it on another computer. When you make changes to your existing configuration, packages affected by the change will be rebuilt automatically \u2013 no need to update them one by one. Nix OS supports system rollbacks by design, since every new configuration is saved and isolated from previous ones. If something goes wrong, or you\u2019re not happy with the new setup, just boot into the old one.<\/p>\n Another interesting feature of Nix OS is that root access is not required to install applications. Every user has their own profile, and packages they install are stored there. It\u2019s also possible to\u00a0install multiple versions of the same application<\/strong>\u00a0without them overlapping. The downside of Nix OS might be that you\u2019ll have to get acquainted with its build language in order to maintain the system. The installation is somewhat complex, but well-explained\u00a0in the documentation<\/a>. Nix OS offers Live installation media with KDE, but you can install other environments as well.<\/p>\n A person might think there is no\u00a0difference between Ubuntu and Linux Mint\u00a0\u2013 and they would be wrong. The same is true for Nix OS and Guix SD. Although they are similar on every level, differences exist, and they\u2019re mainly a matter of software freedom. Guix SD is one of those rare Linux distributions (or rather, GNU\/Linux distributions) that comply with the GNU Free System Distribution Guidelines, and that are considered 100% Free by the Free Software Foundation.<\/p>\n Consequently, Guix SD uses\u00a0dmd<\/a>\u00a0(GNU Shepherd) instead of systemd, and has the Linux-libre kernel, which isn\u2019t polluted by proprietary code. As with Nix OS, Guix SD is configured via declarative files. However, it doesn\u2019t use the same language to write those files \u2013 while Nix has its own implementation, Guix uses GNU Guile to implement Scheme. However, this does not prevent Guix SD from having access to Nix packages. If this is something you want, it\u2019s possible with the \u201cimport\u201d option in the Guix package manager.<\/p>\n The rest is pretty much the same: on Guix SD, you can have multiple versions of the same application without interference. Package building is independent from the system, so it can\u2019t cause damage or make undesired changes to your configuration. Guix SD offers\u00a0Gnome, Xfce, and Enlightenment<\/strong>\u00a0as the desktop choices, but a graphical installer is not available yet.<\/p>\n Imagine the perfect Linux distribution. It would take only the\u00a0best parts from other distributions<\/strong>, and make them all work together. Bedrock Linux is getting closer to making that dream a reality.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an experimental distro, so you won\u2019t be using it as your default system just yet. However, it\u2019s worth knowing about because it might be onto something revolutionary. Bedrock Linux asks you to install other Linux distributions, then \u201chijacks\u201d or converts them into one system. Using Bedrock Linux means using multiple Linux distributions at once, but without it being obvious. You can open three applications from three different distributions and use them on the same desktop, at the same time. Bedrock Linux also makes it possible to get newer versions of software from another distro if it\u2019s not available in your preferred one.<\/p>\n The process of configuring Bedrock Linux is somewhat difficult, and it\u2019s not possible to use it in Live mode. Still, it\u2019s a fascinating concept with ambitious plans for the future. We are hoping they\u2019ll succeed.<\/p>\n You might consider this \u201ccheating\u201d because Maru OS is not a distribution you can install on your computer. It\u2019s an\u00a0OS for your Android smartphone<\/strong>, intended to replace the default system and introduce you to the notion of convergence.<\/p>\n Maru OS has two \u201cmodes\u201d. The mobile one is based on\u00a0Android Lollipop, and it makes your phone work like any other smartphone. The\u00a0desktop mode<\/strong>\u00a0(based on Debian Jessie) is activated when you connect your phone to a screen via an HDMI cable. That\u2019s when the magic happens, and you\u2019re able to use your phone as a full-fledged desktop OS.<\/p>\n The desktop is a slick Xfce setup, and you\u2019ll need Bluetooth peripherals (mouse and keyboard) to interact with it. Naturally, you can move files between desktop and mobile modes, and access them regardless of the active mode. Maru OS achieves this by using containers, where Linux is installed as a guest container \u201cinside\u201d Android. Maru OS\u00a0provides a 2-in-1 solution<\/strong>, and lets you carry a desktop Linux system with you at all times. Canonical, eat your heart out.<\/p>\n Maru OS still has some issues. For now, it\u00a0only supports the\u00a0Nexus 5<\/strong>, and Google Play is not installed by default (though\u00a0there are workarounds<\/a>). Users have also reported problems with display timeout while Maru OS is running in desktop mode, as well as significant battery drain. However, we believe Maru OS is worth trying; if nothing else, at least for the novelty.<\/p>\n These distributions prove that the Linux community is still full of creativity and good ideas, and prepared for whatever the future might bring. There are many more similar projects worth checking out, such as\u00a0Trenta OS<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Clear Linux Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 10 Linux Distros You Should Know About – PC – The Internet, where expert and not-so-expert people struggle to choose what makes a \u201creal\u201d Linux distro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1699,5739],"tags":[31710,31705,31687,31719,31686,31695,31709,31706,31718,31717,31715,31688,31689,31711,31697,31707,31690,31696,31701,31713,31694,31693,31700,31692,31708,6726,31699,31703,31683,31685,31698,31714,31691,31704,31712,31716,31702,31684],"class_list":["post-10627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-linux","category-pc","tag-all-linux-distros","tag-arch-based-distros","tag-arch-linux","tag-best-distros","tag-best-linux-distro","tag-best-linux-distros","tag-best-linux-distros-2016","tag-compare-linux-distros","tag-cool-linux-distros","tag-different-linux-distros","tag-distros-of-linux","tag-distrowatch","tag-elementary-os","tag-enterprise-linux-distros","tag-latest-linux-distros","tag-linux-desktop-distros","tag-linux-distros","tag-linux-distros-2016","tag-linux-distros-comparison","tag-linux-distros-for-laptops","tag-linux-distros-list","tag-linux-server-distros","tag-list-of-linux-distros","tag-new-linux-distros","tag-new-linux-distros-2016","tag-parrot-os","tag-popular-linux-distros","tag-small-linux-distros","tag-subgraph-os","tag-tails-os","tag-top-10-linux-distros","tag-top-5-linux-distros","tag-top-linux-distros","tag-top-linux-distros-2016","tag-top-linux-server-distros","tag-top-ten-linux-distros","tag-ubuntu-based-distros","tag-whonix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/1.2.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/1.3.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s special about this Linux distribution?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
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2.\u00a0Qubes OS<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/2.1.png\")
<\/p>\n[ad type=”banner”]\n![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/2.2.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/2.3.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s special about this Linux distribution?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
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3.\u00a0Endless OS<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/3.1.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/3.2.png\")
<\/p>\n[ad type=”banner”]\n![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/3.3.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s special about this Linux distribution?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
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4.\u00a0GeckoLinux<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/4.1.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/4.2.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/4.3.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s special about this Linux distribution?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
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5.\u00a0Void Linux<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/5.1-2.png\")
<\/p>\n[ad type=”banner”]\n![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/5.2-2.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s special about this Linux distribution?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
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6.\u00a0Subgraph OS<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/6.1-1.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/6.2.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s special about this Linux distribution?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
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7.\u00a0Nix OS<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/7.1-2.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/7.2-3.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s special about this Linux distribution?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
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8.\u00a0Guix SD<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/8.1.png\")
<\/p>\n[ad type=”banner”]\n![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/8.2.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s special about this Linux distribution?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
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9.\u00a0Bedrock Linux<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/9.1-2.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/9.2.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s special about this Linux distribution?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
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10.\u00a0Maru OS<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/10.1-2.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/10.2.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s special about this Linux distribution?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
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Some Linux Distros\u00a0worth checking out<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n