I've started using Linux with Redhat 6.2, which was released in 2000. The list of popular distributions available back then was limited to Redhat, Mandriva, SUSE, Debian and Slackware. The search for 'Active' distributions on distrowatch listed 296 distributions as of today.

Lately, I have been looking into other distributions that, like Ubuntu, are working to make strides to attract new users. I still have Debian Etch burned to a CD, waiting for a test in our lab. Next up is going to be Fedora. In the past, I have never been too impressed with RPM-based distributions, but to be fair, most of this came from nightmare scenarios with Mandriva and SuSE.

The most of the best and the market dominant Linux distributions have one in thing in common - they have strong commercial support behind them. This applies to Ubuntu (Canonical), Fedora (RedHat), openSUSE (Novell). Debian is an exception as it is driven by a major non-profit organization.

With it being a while since we last compared many Linux distributions when it comes to their measurable desktop performance, we decided to run a new round of tests atop four of the most popular Linux distributions: OpenSuSE, Ubuntu, Fedora, and Mandriva.

While the community distributions Fedora and Ubuntu, as well as Mandriva, prepare for their spring releases, Novell has been busy completing final adjustments to SUSE Linux Enterprise. Smaller Linux distributions are also doing some spring cleaning and publishing updated versions.

You can categorize most GNU/Linux distributions as either community or commercial. Community-based distributions like Debian, Fedora, or CentOS are maintained largely by volunteers and donations of services or money, while commercial distributions like Suse, Red Hat, or Xandros are backed by a company and compete directly against proprietary operating systems such as Windows and OS X.

Last month the British Linux magazine, Linux Format, did a big comparison of the current crop of Linux packages or distributions (distros for short), concentrating on the ten most popular as measured by DistroWatch. They were SUSE (version 10.2), Fedora (Core 6), Mandriva (Spring 2007), PCLinuxOS (2007), Debian (version 4), Ubuntu (7.04 "Feisty"), Slackware (version 11) and Sabayon (version 3.4).

In many ways the Debian GNU/Linux project is unique among all the distributions that dot the Linux landscape. Apart from putting out a high-grade distribution, it has served as the base for a number of others - Ubuntu and Knoppix, to name just two - which have had a big impact on the growth of the Linux ecosystem.

Many Debian developers, one of the oldest of the Linux distributions, still have trouble dealing with Ubuntu, one of the most popular Linux distributions and also a Debian descendant.