8.Linux Popular distributions
    *  Arch Linux , a distribution based on the KISS principle with a rolling release system
    *  CentOS , a distribution derived from the same sources used by Red Hat, maintained by a dedicated volunteer community of developers with both 100% Red Hat - compatible versions and an upgraded version that is not always 100% upstream compatible
    *  Debian , a non-commercial distribution maintained by a volunteer developer community with a strong commitment to free software principles
    *  Fedora  which is a community distribution sponsored by Red Hat
    *  Gentoo , a distribution targeted at power users, known for its FreeBSD Ports-like automated system for compiling applications from source code
    *  Knoppix , The first Live CD distribution to run completely from removable media without installation to a hard disk. Derived from Debian
    *  Kubuntu , the KDE version of Ubuntu
    *  Linux Mint , a popular distribution based on and compatible with Ubuntu
    *  Mandriva , a Red Hat derivative popular in France and Brazil, today maintained by the French company of the same name
    *  OpenGEU , derived from Ubuntu: The project's goal is to combine the power of GNOME desktop with the eye-candy of Enlightenment 17.
    *  openSUSE , originally derived from Slackware, sponsored by the company Novell .
    *  Pardus , developed in Turkey, as a product of the Pardus Project. It was named after the Anatolian Leopard.
    *  PCLinuxOS , a derivative of Mandriva, grew from a group of packages into a popular, community-spawned desktop distribution.
    * Red Hat Enterprise Linux, which is a derivative of Fedora maintained and commercially supported by Red Hat
    *  Slackware , one of the first Linux distributions, founded in 1993, and since then actively maintained by Patrick J. Volkerding
    *  Ubuntu , a popular desktop distribution derived from Debian, maintained by Canonical
    * gOS and other netbook operating systems

DistroWatch maintains a popularity ranking of distribution information on its web site (using primarily page views), but this is not considered to be a reliable measure of distribution popularity.