Linux

Tux the Linux MascotLinux is a free and open source alternative to the Microsoft Windows Operating System, initially developed back in 1991. It has grown in use over the years with it being used in a diverse range of situations including, powering the New York stock exchange and mobile phones, as well as super computers.

What’s with the penguin?

The penguin, or Tux to call him by name, became the mascot of the Linux operating system back in 1996. The concept came from Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux and was designed by a man called Larry Ewing.

Distros

Unlike Windows, where Microsoft is the only organisation that produces the operating system, Linux has many distributions, or distros for short, as they are more commonly known. Each distro is based on the same core software, known as the Linux Kernel. Due to the open source nature of Linux, some distros are based on others, where a person or organisation has taken a distro, made their own enhancements and released it, for example Ubuntu is based on the Debian distro. Below are just a small number of the distros available.

AlmaLinux LogoAlmaLinux is a Linux distribution that is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and is developed by the AlmaLinux OS Foundation, along with support from its community. It was first released back in March 2021, with the aim of filling the gap left by the discontinuation of CentOS Linux.

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Arch Linux LogoArch Linux is said to be a lightweight and flexible Linux distribution that tries to keep it simple. It is independently developed and designed for general purpose usage.

The default installation of Arch Linux is minimal by design, allowing users to add only the packages they require. It works on a rolling release model, where there are no major releases. It is kept up to date by updating all the individual packages it includes when they are available.

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BlackArch Linux LogoBlackArch Linux, as the name might suggest, is based on Arch Linux. It is a distribution that is aimed at penetration testers and security researchers, as it contains various tools for penetration testing. It also has a repository that contains over 2900 tools, which can either be installed individually or in groups.

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CAINE Linux LogoCAINE, short for Computer Aided INvestigative Environment, is a Linux distribution that was created as a Digital Forensics project. It is said to offer a complete forensic environment.

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CSI Linux LogoCSI Linux is a distribution that is focused on cyber security, digital forensics and open-source intelligence. It is based on Ubuntu, and aims to allow for the efficient collection, analysis and interpretation of digital evidence.

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Debian LogoDebian is one of the earlier distributions of Linux, which started out back in 1993, with its first stable release in 1996. It is used for personal computers, as well as network servers, and is a popular starting point for other Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu. Debian does not have the backing of a large organisation, but is instead developed by a large community of volunteers over the internet.

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Fedora LogoFedora Linux is a Linux distribution that is developed by the Fedora Project, along with its community and is sponsored by Red Hat Inc., who provide an enterprise version of Linux. The Fedora Project was created back in 2003 when Red Hat Inc. discontinued its free offering to concentrate on its enterprise edition, which is based on Fedora Linux.

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Gentoo LogoGentoo Linux was first released by Daniel Robbins back in 2002 and is today developed by the Gentoo Foundation, which Daniel founded back in 2004. Gentoo is a highly customisable Linux distribution that allows the creation of very efficient desktops and servers, by giving greater control over what services are installed.

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Kali Linux LogoKali is based on Debian Linux and was first released back in March 2013. It is maintained and funded by OffSec (formerly Offensive Security), a company that provides information security training, as well as penetration testing services, and is designed to be used for digital forensics and penetration testing.

On Kali's 10th birthday, in 2023, a new version was announced, Kali Purple. The purple in the name refers to the fact that it is aimed at purple cyber security teams, containing both defensive, as well as some of the original offensive cyber security tools.

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Linux Mint LogoLinux Mint has been around since 2006, when a beta release of Linux Mint 1.0 was released. The project was started by Clement Lefebvre and today continues to be developed by the Linux Mint team, together with its community. There are a number of different editions, which are either based on Ubuntu or Debian Linux directly.

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Oracle Linux LogoOracle Linux, previously known as Oracle Enterprise Linux, is a distribution of Linux from Oracle Corporation, that is free to use. It is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and was first released back in 2006. Oracle also provides the "Oracle Linux Support program", which is a paid for service that customers can use to get support with Oracle Linux.

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Parrot OS Linux LogoParrot OS is a Debian based Linux distribution that is designed for security experts, developers and privacy aware people. It has three main editions, Security, Home and Architect Edition, as well as support for the Raspberry Pi and Docker.

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Qubes OS LogoQubes OS, which was first released back in September 2012, is designed to provide strong security for desktop computing through isolation and compartmentalisation. It aims to achieve this by utilising the Xen virtualisation software to create multiple security domains to isolate and compartmentalise tasks being undertaken, for example, one security domain for personal and one for work. An application in one security domain works independently of the same application in a different security domain. The Chrome web browser can be used to illustrate this, where bookmarks can exist in the personal security domain, but are not visible in the work domain. If malware were to infect the work domain, everything in the personal domain would be safe because the malware would be contained in the work domain.

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Raspbian LogoRaspbian is a Linux distribution that is based on Debian and is optimised for use on the Raspberry Pi, which is a credit card sized computer. Although it isn't affiliated with the Raspberry Pi Foundation, who make the Raspberry Pi, it is the only distribution that the foundation officially supports.

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Red Hat LogoRed Hat Enterprise Linux is developed by Red Hat Inc., a company that specialises in providing open source software to the enterprise community and has been around since 2003. Although it is open source, like other Linux distributions, Red Hat uses strict trademark rules to restrict free re-distribution of its officially supported versions. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is based on Fedora Linux, a distribution developed by the Fedora Project, together with its community and is also sponsored by Red Hat Inc.

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Rocky Linux LogoRocky Linux is developed by the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, along with support from its community. It is said to be 100% compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux and aims to provide a community-supported, production-grade enterprise operating system.

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Tails Linux LogoTails is based on Debian Linux and was first released in June 2009. It is a security focused distribution that is aimed at preserving both the privacy and anonymity of its users. All of its outgoing connections are forced to go through Tor, which is software that enables anonymous communication, whilst non-anonymous connections are blocked. It is designed to run directly from a USB device or DVD, without having to be installed, although it is also possible to use on a virtual machine.

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Ubuntu LogoUbuntu is based on the Debian distro and developed by a company called Canonical Ltd, which is based in the Isle of Man and owned by Mark Shuttleworth. Canonical also provides technical support and other Ubuntu related services, which is where their revenue comes from, as Ubuntu itself is free.

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Whonix LogoWhonix is a security focused Linux distribution, based on Debian, which aims to provide privacy, security and anonymity. It was first released back in February 2012 and is developed by The Tor Project, Inc, a research-education non-profit organisation, based in Massachusetts, USA. Unlike most Linux distributions it is designed to run purely within a virtual machine and is distributed as two separate virtual machine images that are used together, a Workstation image and a Gateway image, that utilises Tor to enable anonymous communication.

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Zorin OS LogoZorin OS is a Linux distro that was first released back in 2008 with the aim of making Linux simple to use for everyone, not just those who are more technically minded. One of the ways it does this is by providing familiarity in the user interface between other operating systems that people are more used to, such Windows and macOS.

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