GNU variants (also called GNU distributions or distros for short[ vague ]) are operating systems based upon the GNU operating system [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] (the Hurd kernel, the GNU C library, system libraries and application software like GNU coreutils, bash, the Guix package manager, etc). According to the GNU project and others, these also include most operating systems using the Linux kernel and a few others using BSD-based kernels. [6] [7] [2]
GNU users usually obtain their operating system by downloading GNU distributions, which are available for a wide variety of systems ranging from embedded devices (for example, LibreCMC) and personal computers (for example, Debian GNU/Hurd) to powerful supercomputers (for example, Rocks Cluster Distribution).
Hurd is one of two official kernels developed for the GNU system, and was the exclusive official kernel before Linux-libre also became an official GNU package. Debian GNU/Hurd was discussed for a release as technology preview with Debian 7.0 Wheezy, however these plans were discarded due to the immature state of the system. [8] However the maintainers of Debian GNU/Hurd decided to publish an unofficial release on the release date of Debian 7.0. Debian GNU/Hurd is not considered yet to provide the performance and stability expected from a production system. Among the open issues are incomplete implementation of Java and X.org graphical user interfaces and limited hardware driver support. [9] About two thirds of the Debian packages have been ported to Hurd. [10]
Arch Hurd is a derivative work of Arch Linux, porting it to the GNU Hurd system with packages optimised for the Intel P6 architecture. Their goal is to provide an Arch-like user environment (BSD-style init scripts, pacman package manager, rolling releases, and a simple set up) on the GNU Hurd, which is stable enough for at least occasional use. Currently it provides a LiveCD for evaluation purposes and installation guides for LiveCD and conventional installation. [11] [12] [13]
The term GNU/Linux or GNU+Linux is used by the FSF and its supporters to refer to an operating system where the Linux kernel is distributed with a GNU system software. Such distributions are the primary installed base of GNU packages and programs and also of Linux. The most notable official use of this term for a distribution is Debian GNU/Linux.
As of 2018, the only GNU variants recommended by the GNU Project for regular use are Linux distributions committed to the Free System Distribution Guidelines; most of which refer to themselves as "GNU/Linux" (like Debian), and actually use a deblobbed version of the Linux kernel (like the Linux-libre kernel) and not the mainline Linux kernel. [14]
Debian GNU/kFreeBSD is an operating system for IA-32 and x86-64 computer architectures. It is a distribution of GNU with Debian package management and the kernel of FreeBSD. The k in kFreeBSD is an abbreviation for kernel of, [15] and reflects the fact that only the kernel of the complete FreeBSD operating system is used. The operating system was officially released with Debian Squeeze (6.0) on February 6, 2011. [16] One Debian GNU/kFreeBSD live CD is Ging, which is no longer maintained. [17]
Debian GNU/NetBSD was an experimental port of GNU user-land applications to NetBSD kernel. No official release of this operating system was made; although work was conducted on ports for the IA-32 [18] and DEC Alpha [19] architectures, it has not seen active maintenance since 2002 and is no longer available for download. [20]
As of September 2020, the GNU Project does not recommend or endorse any BSD operating systems. [21]
Nexenta OS is the first distribution that combines the GNU userland (with the exception of libc; OpenSolaris' libc is used) and Debian's packaging and organisation with the OpenSolaris kernel. Nexenta OS is available for IA-32 and x86-64 based systems. Nexenta Systems, Inc initiated the project and sponsors its continued development. [22] Nexenta OS is not considered a GNU variant, due to the use of OpenSolaris libc. Multiple Illumos distributions use GNU userland by default. [23]
The Cygwin project is an actively-developed compatibility layer in the form of a C library providing a substantial part of the POSIX API functionality for Windows, as well as a distribution of GNU and other Unix-like programs for such an ecosystem. It was first released in 1995 by Cygnus Solutions (now Red Hat).
In 2016 Microsoft and Canonical added an official compatibility layer to Windows 10 that translates Linux kernel calls into Windows NT ones, the reverse of what Wine does. This allows ELF executables to run unmodified on Windows, and is intended to provide web developers with the more familiar GNU userland on top of the Windows kernel. [24] [25] [26] The combination has been dubbed "Linux for Windows", even though Linux (i.e. the operating system family defined by its common use of the Linux kernel) is absent.
Debian, also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a free and open source Linux distribution, developed by the Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock in August 1993. Debian is the basis for many other distributions, such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Tails, Proxmox, Kali Linux, Pardus, TrueNAS SCALE, and Astra Linux.
GNU is an extensive collection of free software, which can be used as an operating system or can be used in parts with other operating systems. The use of the completed GNU tools led to the family of operating systems popularly known as Linux. Most of GNU is licensed under the GNU Project's own General Public License (GPL).
GNU Hurd is a collection of microkernel servers written as part of GNU, for the GNU Mach microkernel. It has been under development since 1990 by the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation, designed as a replacement for the Unix kernel, and released as free software under the GNU General Public License. When the Linux kernel proved to be a viable solution, development of GNU Hurd slowed, at times alternating between stasis and renewed activity and interest.
A Linux distribution is an operating system that includes the Linux kernel for its kernel functionality. Although the name does not imply product distribution per se, a distro, if distributed on its own, is often obtained via a website intended specifically for the purpose. Distros have been designed for a wide variety of systems ranging from personal computers to servers and from embedded devices to supercomputers.
Portage is a package management system originally created for and used by Gentoo Linux and also by ChromeOS, Calculate, and Funtoo Linux among others. Portage is based on the concept of ports collections. Gentoo is sometimes referred to as a meta-distribution due to the extreme flexibility of Portage, which makes it operating-system-independent. The Gentoo/Alt project was concerned with using Portage to manage other operating systems, such as BSDs, macOS and Solaris. The most notable of these implementations is the Gentoo/FreeBSD project.
The GNU C Library, commonly known as glibc, is the GNU Project implementation of the C standard library. It provides a wrapper around the system calls of the Linux kernel and other kernels for application use. Despite its name, it now also directly supports C++. It was started in the 1980s by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU operating system.
The GNU/Linux naming controversy is a controversy regarding whether computer operating systems that use GNU software and the Linux kernel should be referred to as "GNU/Linux" or "Linux" systems.
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.
Nexenta OS, officially known as the Nexenta Core Platform, is a discontinued computer operating system based on OpenSolaris and Ubuntu that runs on IA-32- and x86-64-based systems. It emerged in fall 2005, after Sun Microsystems started the OpenSolaris project in June of that year. Nexenta Systems, Inc. initiated the project and sponsored its development. Nexenta OS version 1.0 was released in February 2008.
SpareMiNT is a software distribution based on FreeMiNT, which consists of a MiNT-like operating system (OS) and kernel plus GEM compatible AES.
These tables compare free software / open-source operating systems. Where not all of the versions support a feature, the first version which supports it is listed.
Linux is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution (distro), which includes the kernel and supporting system software and libraries — many of which are provided by the GNU Project — to create a complete operating system.
WeeChat is a free and open-source Internet Relay Chat client that is designed to be light and fast. It is released under the terms of the GNU GPL-3.0-or-later and has been developed since 2003.
According to the Free Software Foundation Latin America, Linux-libre is a modified version of the Linux kernel that contains no binary blobs, obfuscated code, or code released under proprietary licenses. In the Linux kernel, those types of code are mostly used for proprietary firmware images. While generally redistributable, they do not give the user the freedom to audit, modify, or, consequently, redistribute their modified versions. The GNU Project keeps Linux-libre in synchronization with the mainline Linux kernel.
Illumos is a partly free and open-source Unix operating system. It is based on OpenSolaris, which was based on System V Release 4 (SVR4) and the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). Illumos comprises a kernel, device drivers, system libraries, and utility software for system administration. This core is now the base for many different open-sourced Illumos distributions, in a similar way in which the Linux kernel is used in different Linux distributions.
Arch Hurd is a distribution of the GNU operating system with GNU Hurd kernel.
GNU Guix is a functional cross-platform package manager and a tool to instantiate and manage Unix-like operating systems, based on the Nix package manager. Configuration and package recipes are written in Guile Scheme. GNU Guix is the default package manager of the GNU Guix System distribution.
PacBSD was an operating system based on Arch Linux, but used the FreeBSD kernel instead of the Linux kernel and the GNU userland. The PacBSD project began on an Arch Linux forum thread in April 2012. It aimed to provide an Arch-like user environment, utilizing the OpenRC init system, the pacman package manager, and rolling-release.
Hyperbola GNU/Linux-libre is an independent Linux distribution for the i686 and x86-64 architectures using the package-manager from Arch Linux and some patchsets from the Debian development though stopping using patchsets from Debian beyond the version Debian 12. It includes the GNU operating system components and the Linux-libre kernel instead of the generic Linux kernel. Hyperbola GNU/Linux-libre is listed by the Free Software Foundation as a completely free operating system, true to their Free System Distribution Guidelines.
Variants of the GNU operating system, which use the kernel Linux, are now widely used; though these systems are often referred to as "Linux", they are more accurately called "GNU/Linux systems".
This work is initiated and sponsored by Nexenta Systems, Inc. Technical support is available from a variety of sources, including Community and Web Forums.
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