10 Linux Distros You Need to Know

Linux, originally developed as a free-to-use operating system, is growing more powerful, capable, and user-friendly by day. Currently there are a large number of Linux versions, called distributions or "distros" for short, available in the market, each followed by a large group of users and developers who are working to further enhance the product. To identify the best fit for your organization, it's important to know the capabilities and limitations of these distros.

The Linux operating system is basically a kernel or a wrapper over the physical hardware that enables applications to interact with the underlying processing machinery. Since it is open source, organizations are free to use its core elements to build and release their own distros. A large number of organizations have already developed several flavors of Linux distros targeting different audiences and adding flexibility and choices based on their requirements.

There are now hundreds of distros, with different capabilities and functionalities, available on the market. Some of them provide a superior graphical user interface (GUI), while others are known for faster performance. Only a few are known for their commercial support, and even fewer are preferred for their simplified or faster deployment mechanisms. To develop or expand a Linux environment, one option is to develop a distro from scratch, potentially matching all of your requirements but also requiring huge amounts of time and effort. Alternatively, many Linux distros are available for commercial use.

Identifying the Linux distro that can serve all of an organization's needs can be a tricky task. Here are some of the most commonly used Linux distros, with a high-level analysis of their strengths and weaknesses to help organizations determine which will best meet their requirements.