A Linux distribution is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel, and often a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one of the Linux distributions, which are available for a wide variety of systems ranging from embedded devices and personal computers to powerful supercomputers.
A live CD is a complete bootable computer installation including operating system which runs directly from a CD-ROM or similar storage device into a computer's memory, rather than loading from a hard disk drive. A live CD allows users to run an operating system for any purpose without installing it or making any changes to the computer's configuration. Live CDs can run on a computer without secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive, or with a corrupted hard disk drive or file system, allowing data recovery.
Kanotix, also referred to as KANOTIX, is an operating system based on Debian, with advanced hardware detection. It can run from an optical disc drive or other media i.e. USB-stick without using a hard disk drive.
Installation of a computer program, is the act of making the program ready for execution. Installation refers to the particular configuration of a software or hardware with a view to making it usable with the computer. A soft or digital copy of the piece of software (program) is needed to install it. There are different processes of installing a piece of software (program). Because the process varies for each program and each computer, programs often come with an installer, a specialised program responsible for doing whatever is needed for the installation. Installation may be part of a larger software deployment process.
Technical variations of Linux distributions include support for different hardware devices and systems or software package configurations. Organizational differences may be motivated by historical reasons. Other criteria include security, including how quickly security upgrades are available; ease of package management; and number of packages available.
DRBL is a NFS-/NIS server providing a diskless or systemless environment for client machines.
Mondo Rescue is free disaster recovery software. It supports Linux and FreeBSD (i386). It's packaged for multiple distributions. It also supports tapes, disks, USB devices, network and CD/DVD as backup media, multiple filesystems, LVM, software and hardware RAID. Restoration may be done from a physical media including OBDR tape support, or CD/DVD/USB media, or from the network through PXE.
Linux Mint is a community-driven Linux distribution based on Ubuntu, bundled with a variety of free and open-source applications. It can provide full out-of-the-box multimedia support for those who choose to include proprietary software such as multimedia codecs.
Software remastering is software development that recreates system software and applications while incorporating customizations, with the intent that it is copied and run elsewhere for "off-label" usage. The term comes from remastering in media production, where it is similarly distinguished from mere copying.
Wubi is a free software Ubuntu installer, that was the official Windows-based software, from 2008 until 2013, to install Ubuntu from within Windows, to a single file within an existing Windows partition.
UNetbootin is a cross-platform utility that can create live USB systems and can load a variety of system utilities or install various Linux distributions and other operating systems without a CD.
Opsi is a software distribution and management system for Microsoft Windows clients, based on Linux servers. Opsi is developed and maintained by uib GmbH from Mainz, Germany. The main parts of Opsi are open-source licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License.
The TurnKey Linux Virtual Appliance Library is a free open-source software project which develops a range of Debian-based pre-packaged server software appliances. Turnkey appliances can be deployed as a virtual machine, in cloud computing services such as Amazon Web Services or installed in physical computers.
Peppermint OS is a Linux distribution based on Debian and Devuan Stable, it uses the Xfce desktop environment. It aims to provide a familiar environment for newcomers to Linux, which requires relatively low hardware resources to run.
Dracut is a set of tools that provide enhanced functionality for automating the Linux boot process. The tool named dracut is used to create a Linux boot image (initramfs) by copying tools and files from an installed system and combining it with the Dracut framework, which is usually found in /usr/lib/dracut/modules.d.
JLIVECD is an open source CLI based live CD/DVD customization tool for Debian, Arch Linux, Ubuntu family distributions and Linux Mint and some of their derivatives. The host system is not restricted to be the same as the live CD/DVD system.
Universal USB Installer (UUI) is an open-source live Linux USB flash drive creation software. It allows users to create a bootable live USB flash drive using an ISO image from a supported Linux distribution, antivirus utility, system tool, or Microsoft Windows installer. The USB boot software can also be used to make Windows 8, 10, or 11 run entirely from USB.
Calamares is a free and open-source independent and distro-agnostic system installer for Linux distributions.
Ventoy is a free and open-source utility used for writing image files such as .iso, .wim, .img, .vhd(x), and .efi files onto storage media to create bootable USB flash drives. Once Ventoy is installed onto a USB drive, there is no need to reformat the disk to update it with new installation files; it is enough to copy the .iso, .wim, .img, .img(x), or .efi file(s) to the USB drive and boot from them directly. Ventoy will present the user with a boot menu to select one of these files.
