Vine Linux is a Japanese, RPM-based, multi-purpose distribution. It is developed and maintained by Vinecaves, and it’s based on an earlier version of Fedora. It is one of those distributions that excludes non-free (proprietary) applications from its default installation. Unlike similar distributions, however, it has developed a smart method to make installing non-free applications very easy.

ALT Linux is an APT-ified, RPM-based distribution developed and maintained by the ALT Linux Team (ALT is recursive for ALT Linux Team). It was originally based on Mandrake (now Mandriva) Linux. There are two main development branches, “ALT Linux 5.0 Ark, a suite designed for making integrated solutions, and ALT Linux 5.0 School, a suite that is targeted at secondary [...]

gNewSense is a Linux desktop operating system that is derived from Ubuntu. It is essentially Ubuntu Linux with all non-free software removed. The project was initiated by Brian Brazil and Paul O’Malley.

Openfiler is an enterprise-grade, Linux-based networked attached server (NAS) cum storage area network (SAN) distro. It is the only Open Source and free NAS/SAN solution that we know of.

“CentOS is an enterprise-class Linux distribution derived from sources freely provided to the public by a prominent North American enterprise Linux vendor. CentOS conforms fully with the upstream vendor’s redistribution policy and aims to be 100% binary compatible. (CentOS mainly changes packages to remove upstream vendor branding and artwork).”

Fedora is an RPM-based Linux distribution. Development is sponsored by Red Hat, Inc. It is one of the so-called major distributions, and out of the box, does not have non-free application installed. Fedora’s installer, Anaconda, is used by several other Linux distributions, and features many enterprise features that is not available on other distributions installation programs.

“KNOPPIX is a bootable Live system on CD or DVD, consisting of a representative collection of GNU/Linux software, automatic hardware detection, and support for many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI and USB devices and other peripherals. KNOPPIX can be used as a productive Linux system for the desktop, educational CD, rescue system, or adapted and used as a platform for [...]

“Parsix GNU/Linux is a live and installation CD derived from KANOTIX and based on Debian. It is a complete GNOME-centric desktop-oriented distribution. Besides the dozens of supported languages, Parsix GNU/Linux also supports Persian keyboard and users can switch to Persian with Alt+Shift keys.”

Foresight is a Linux distribution built around the Conary package management system. The Foresight dev team maintains separate DVD install images for Gnome- and XFCE-based desktops for 32- and 64-bit architectures. There is also a CD install image, the Lite edition, a Kids edition, and a Mobile edition for netbooks and ultra mobile PCs

Zenwalk is a GNU/Linux distribution optimized for the i686 instruction set, but backward compatible with i486. It is based on Slackware Linux, and uses Xfce as the default desktop environment.

Mandriva (formerly Mandrake Linux) is an RPM-based Linux distribution. It is one of the “founding” Linux distributions, and has some of the best administrative tools. Mandriva S.A., the company behind the distribution, is just one of a handful of publicly-traded Open Source firms. Mandriva publishes three editions for the desktop: Mandriva One – This is a Live CD edition that [...]

Linpus is a Linux distribution developed and supported by Linpus Technologies, Inc., a company based in Taipei, Taiwan. It is very popular in Asia, with a significant market share in Taiwan and China. [warning]Linpus Linux 9.x is no longer available for download. See this forum post for details.[/warning]

FreeNAS is a m0n0Wall-based, Network Attached Storage (NAS) server designed mostly for embedded systems, but may be installed on generic PCs or USB key. It is developed by Olivier Cochard-Labbé and released under the BSD license.

Debian is a GNU/Linux operating system. It probably has the longest release cycle of any distro, but counts rock-solid stability as a key feature.