Awesome Linux Resources

Table of Content

• Distributions
  • Beginners
    • elementary OS
    • Fedora
    • Linux Mint
    • Ubuntu
  • Intermediate
    • CentOS
    • Debian GNU/Linux
    • Mageia
    • Manjaro
    • openSUSE
  • Advanced
    • Arch Linux
• Learning Resources
  • Books
  • Courses
• X Desktop Environments
  • GNOME
  • KDE
  • Xfce
  • LXDE
  • Other Desktop Environments
• X Windows Managers
• Applications
  • Console-based Applications
  • GUI-based Applications
    • GNOME-based
    • KDE-based
    • Based on Other Desktop Environments
    • Distro-based Package Management Tools
• Useful Websites
• Other Useful Awesome Lists
• License

Distributions

Distributions are organized into three different categories: for beginners, for intermediate users and for advanced users. In those categories, the distributions are organized in the alphabetical order.

Beginners

elementary OS

elementary OS is an Ubuntu-based desktop distribution. Some of its more interesting features include a custom desktop environment called Pantheon and many custom apps including Photos, Music, Videos, Calendar, Terminal, Files, and more. It also comes with some familiar apps like the Midori web browser and Geary mail.

Latest version: elementary OS Freya (0.3)

Default Desktop Environment: Pantheon

Fedora

Fedora (formerly Fedora Core) is a Linux distribution developed by the community-supported Fedora Project and owned by Red Hat. Fedora contains software distributed under a free and open-source license and aims to be on the leading edge of such technologies. Fedora has a reputation for focusing on innovation, integrating new technologies early on and working closely with upstream Linux communities. The default desktop in Fedora is the GNOME desktop environment and the default interface is the GNOME Shell. Other desktop environments, including KDE, Xfce, LXDE, MATE and Cinnamon, are available. Fedora Project also distributes custom variations of Fedora called Fedora spins. These are built with specific sets of software packages, offering alternative desktop environments or targeting specific interests such as gaming, security, design, scientific computing and robotics.

Latest version: Fedora Twenty Two (22)

Default Desktop Environment: GNOME

Screenshot:

Linux Mint

Linux Mint is an Ubuntu-based distribution whose goal is to provide a more complete out-of-the-box experience by including browser plugins, media codecs, support for DVD playback, Java and other components. It also adds a custom desktop and menus, several unique configuration tools, and a web-based package installation interface. Linux Mint is compatible with Ubuntu software repositories.

Latest version: Rebecca (17.1)

Default Desktop Environment: Cinnamon and MATE

Screenshot:

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a complete desktop Linux operating system, freely available with both community and professional support. The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Manifesto: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit. "Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.

Latest version: Ubuntu 15.10 (Wily Werewolf)

Default Desktop Environment: Unity

Screenshot:

Intermediate

CentOS

CentOS as a group is a community of open source contributors and users. Typical CentOS users are organisations and individuals that do not need strong commercial support in order to achieve successful operation. CentOS is 100% compatible rebuild of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux, in full compliance with Red Hat's redistribution requirements. CentOS is for people who need an enterprise class operating system stability without the cost of certification and support.

Latest version: CentOS 7.1

Default Desktop Environment: GNOME

Screenshot:

Debian GNU/Linux

The Debian Project is an association of individuals who have made common cause to create a free operating system. This operating system is called Debian GNU/Linux, or simply Debian for short. Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel. [...] Debian comes with over 50,000 packages (precompiled software that is bundled up in a nice format for easy installation on your machine) - all of it free. It's a bit like a tower. At the base is the kernel. On top of that are all the basic tools. Next is all the software that you run on the computer. At the top of the tower is Debian -- carefully organizing and fitting everything so it all works together.

Latest version: Debian Jessie (8.0)

Default Desktop Environment: GNOME

Screenshot:

Mageia

Mageia is a fork of Mandriva Linux formed in September 2010 by former employees and contributors to the popular French Linux distribution. Unlike Mandriva, which is a commercial entity, the Mageia project is a community project and a non-profit organisation whose goal is to develop a free Linux-based operating system.

Latest version: Mageia 5

Default Desktop Environment: KDE

Screenshot:

Manjaro

Manjaro Linux is a fast, user-friendly, desktop-oriented operating system based on Arch Linux. Key features include intuitive installation process, automatic hardware detection, stable rolling-release model, ability to install multiple kernels, special Bash scripts for managing graphics drivers and extensive desktop configurability. Manjaro Linux offers Xfce as the core desktop options, as well as a minimalist Net edition for more advanced users. Community-supported GNOME 3/Cinnamon and KDE flavours are available. Users also benefit from the supportive and vibrant Manjaro community forum.

Latest version: Not applicable (Rolling Release system)

Default Desktop Environment: XFCE, KDE

Screenshot:

openSUSE

The openSUSE project is a community program sponsored by SUSE Linux and other companies. Promoting the use of Linux everywhere, this program provides free, easy access to openSUSE, a complete Linux distribution. The openSUSE project has three main goals: make openSUSE the easiest Linux for anyone to obtain and the most widely used Linux distribution; leverage open source collaboration to make openSUSE the world's most usable Linux distribution and desktop environment for new and experienced Linux users; dramatically simplify and open the development and packaging processes to make openSUSE the platform of choice for Linux developers and software vendors. It also offers a rolling release version called Tumbleweed for experienced users.

Latest version: openSUSE 42.1

Default Desktop Environment: KDE, GNOME, XFCE, LXDE (Choose on installation)

Screenshot:

Advanced

Arch Linux

Arch Linux is an independently developed, i686- and x86_64-optimised Linux distribution targeted at competent Linux users. It uses 'pacman', its home-grown package manager, to provide updates to the latest software applications with full dependency tracking. Operating on a rolling release system, Arch can be installed from a CD image or via an FTP server. The default install provides a solid base that enables users to create a custom installation. In addition, the Arch Build System (ABS) provides a way to easily build new packages, modify the configuration of stock packages, and share these packages with other users via the Arch Linux user repository.

Latest version: Not applicable (Rolling Release system)

Default Desktop Environment: Not applicable (there's no default Desktop environment)

Screenshot: Not applicable (there's no default look)

Learning Resources

Books

The Linux Command Line [4.34]

This is a great introduction to the Linux command line. It's also freely available online. - @4iar

You've experienced the shiny, point-and-click surface of your Linux computer—now dive below and explore its depths with the power of the command line.

Courses

Introduction to Linux (LFS101x.2) [Free]

Organized by the Linux Foundation, it's a great free course to learn basics about Linux. - @aleksandar-todorovic

Linux Alternatives to Windows Applications [Free]

If you used Windows and decided to switch to Linux, this course should help you to find their alternatives. It's pretty short and you can finish it in a day. - @aleksandar-todorovic

Learn Linux The Hard Way [Free]

This is a great guide for those who prefer a fast-paced introduction to the Linux command line. It's written in a similar style to Zed A. Shaw's Learn X The Hard Way. - @4iar

X Desktop Environments

You cannot talk about a unified Linux look because there is no such thing.

GNOME

GNOME 3 is an easy and elegant way to use your computer. It is designed to put you in control and bring freedom to everybody. GNOME 3 is developed by the GNOME community, a diverse, international group of contributors that is supported by an independent, non-profit foundation.

KDE

The KDE® Community is an international technology team dedicated to creating a free and user-friendly computing experience, offering an advanced graphical desktop, a wide variety of applications for communication, work, education and entertainment and a platform to easily build new applications upon. We have a strong focus on finding innovative solutions to old and new problems, creating a vibrant atmosphere open for experimentation.

Xfce

Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment for UNIX-like operating systems. It aims to be fast and low on system resources, while still being visually appealing and user friendly.

LXDE

The "Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment" is an extremely fast-performing and energy-saving desktop environment. Maintained by an international community of developers, it comes with a beautiful interface, multi-language support, standard keyboard short cuts and additional features like tabbed file browsing. LXDE uses less CPU and less RAM than other environments. It is especially designed for cloud computers with low hardware specifications, such as netbooks, mobile devices (e.g. MIDs) or older computers. LXDE can be installed on many Linux distributions including Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE and Ubuntu. It is the standard for Knoppix and lubuntu. LXDE also runs on OpenSolaris and BSD. LXDE provides a fast desktop experience; connecting easily with applications in the cloud. LXDE supports a wealth of programs that can be installed locally with Linux systems. The source code of LXDE is licensed partly under the terms of the GNU General Public License and partly under the LGPL.

Other Desktop Environments

• Cinnamon - Cinnamon strives to provide a traditional user experience. Cinnamon is a fork of GNOME 3.
• EDE - EDE is a small desktop environment built to be responsive, light in resource usage and to have a familiar look and feel.
• Enlightenment - The Enlightenment desktop shell provides an efficient window manager based on the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries along with other essential desktop components like a file manager, desktop icons and widgets. It supports themes, while still being capable of performing on older hardware or embedded devices.
• LXQt - LXQt is the Qt port and the upcoming version of LXDE, the Lightweight Desktop Environment. It is the product of the merge between the LXDE-Qt and the Razor-qt projects: A lightweight, modular, blazing-fast and user-friendly desktop environment.
• MATE - Mate provides an intuitive and attractive desktop to Linux users using traditional metaphors. MATE is a fork of GNOME 2.
• Pantheon - Pantheon is the default desktop environment originally created for the elementary OS distribution. It is written from scratch using Vala and the GTK3 toolkit. With regards to usability and appearance, the desktop has some similarities with GNOME Shell and Mac OS X.
• Unity - Unity is a shell for GNOME designed by Canonical for Ubuntu.

X Windows Managers

• 9wm - 9wm is an X window manager which attempts to emulate the Plan 9 window manager 8-1/2 as far as possible within the constraints imposed by X.
• awesome - awesome is a highly configurable, next generation framework window manager for X. It is very fast, extensible and licensed under the GNU GPLv2 license.
• Blackbox - Blackbox is the fast, lightweight window manager for the X Window System you have been looking for, without all those annoying library dependencies. Blackbox is built with C++ and contains completely original code (even though the graphics implementation is similar to that of WindowMaker).
• Compiz - OpenGL compositing window manager. It has a plug-in system to be changed at runtime
• dwm - dwm is a dynamic window manager for X. It manages windows in tiled, monocle and floating layouts. All of the layouts can be applied dynamically, optimising the environment for the application in use and the task performed.
• Enlightenment - Enlightenment is not just a window manager for Linux/X11 and others, but also a whole suite of libraries to help you create beautiful user interfaces with much less work than doing it the old fashioned way and fighting with traditional toolkits, not to mention a traditional window manager
• Fluxbox - Fluxbox is a windowmanager for X that was based on the Blackbox 0.61.1 code. It is very light on resources and easy to handle but yet full of features to make an easy, and extremely fast, desktop experience. It is built using C++ and licensed under the MIT-License.
• FVWM - FVWM is an extremely powerful ICCCM-compliant multiple virtual desktop window manager for the X Window system
• i3 - i3 is a tiling window manager, completely written from scratch. The target platforms are GNU/Linux and BSD operating systems, our code is Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) under the BSD license. i3 is primarily targeted at advanced users and developers.
• IceWM - IceWM is a window manager for the X Window System (freedesktop, XFree86). The goal of IceWM is speed, simplicity, and not getting in the user's way.
• JWM - JWM is a light-weight window manager for the X11 Window System. JWM is written in C and uses only Xlib at a minimum. Because of its small footprint, JWM makes a good window manager for older computers and less powerful systems, such as the Raspberry Pi, though it is perfectly capable of running on modern systems.
• Matchbox - Matchbox is an Open Source base environment for the X Window System running on non-desktop embedded platforms such as handhelds, set-top boxes, kiosks and anything else for which screen space, input mechanisms or system resources are limited.
• Mutter - Mutter is a window manager for the X Window System, and is in the process of becoming a Wayland compositor; it became the default window manager in GNOME 3, replacing Metacity.
• Openbox - Openbox is a highly configurable, next generation window manager with extensive standards support.
• pekwm - pekwm is a window manager that once upon a time was based on the aewm++ window manager, but it has evolved enough that it no longer resembles aewm++ at all.
• ratpoison - Ratpoison is a simple Window Manager with no fat library dependencies, no fancy graphics, no window decorations, and no rodent dependence. It is largely modelled after GNU Screen which has done wonders in the virtual terminal market.
• Sawfish - Sawfish is an extensible window manager using a Lisp-based scripting language. Its policy is very minimal compared to most window managers. Its aim is simply to manage windows in the most flexible and attractive manner possible.
• wmii - A small, scriptable window manager, with a 9P filesystem interface and an acme-like layout.
• xmonad - xmonad is a dynamically tiling X11 window manager that is written and configured in Haskell. In a normal WM, you spend half your time aligning and searching for windows. xmonad makes work easier, by automating this.

Applications

The list of awesome Linux applications that you should be using.

Console-based Applications

• git - Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency. Git is easy to learn and has a tiny footprint with lightning fast performance. It outclasses SCM tools like Subversion, CVS, Perforce, and ClearCase with features like cheap local branching, convenient staging areas, and multiple workflows.
• nano - GNU nano (or nano) is a text editor which aims to introduce a simple interface and intuitive command options to console based text editing. nano supports features including colorized syntax highlighting, DOS/Mac file type conversions, spellchecking and UTF-8 encoding. nano opened with an empty buffer typically occupies under 1.5 MB of resident memory.
• fuck - A magnificent command line tool which corrects your previously mistyped command (see this .gif).
• vim - Vim is an advanced text editor that seeks to provide the power of the de-facto Unix editor 'Vi', with a more complete feature set.
• vtop - Command-line tools like “top” make it difficult to see CPU usage across multi-process applications (like Apache and Chrome), spikes over time, and memory usage. Vtop is a free and open source activity monitor for the command line. It’s written in node.js and can be easily extended.

GUI-based Applications

Empty for now.

To add new content to this page, please refer to CONTRIBUTING.md file.

GNOME-based

• Gedit - Gedit is the GNOME text editor. While aiming at simplicity and ease of use, gedit is a powerful general purpose text editor.
• Gnome Builder - Builder is a new IDE for GNOME that is focused on bringing the power of our platform to more developers than ever before. It is currently under heavy development and needs your help to become a success.

for general gnome apps, visit: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps

KDE-based

Empty for now.

To add new content to this page, please refer to CONTRIBUTING.md file.

Based on other desktop environments

Empty for now.

To add new content to this page, please refer to CONTRIBUTING.md file.

Distro-based Package Management Tools

• Y PPA Manager (Ubuntu) - Search for packages in Launchpad PPAs.
• PacmanXG (Arch) - GUI front-end for pacman. Depends on neither GTK+ nor Qt, just X11.
• pirut (Fedora) - pirut provides a set of graphical tools for managing software.
• Synaptics (Debian and .deb users) - Synaptic is a graphical package management program for apt. It provides the same features as the apt-get command line utility with a GUI front-end based on Gtk+.
• YaST (openSUSE) - YaST is the main package management tool on openSUSE.
• YumEx (Fedora) - YumEx is a GUI for the dnf package manager, it is written in Python and is using the PyGTK toolkit for GUI Components.

Useful Websites

Compute Freely

A friendly place to start for the Free & Open Source Software and Linux curious.

Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is a non-profit consortium dedicated to fostering the growth of Linux. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and is supported by leading Linux and open source companies and developers from around the world.

Linux.com

For the community, by the community, Linux.com strives to be the central source for informed, reasonable, and intelligent Linux information, software, documentation and answers across the server, desktop/netbook, mobile, and embedded areas.

Linux.org

Although its design is outdated, Linux.org is (probably) the most popular forum and it's full of awesome Linux tutorials categorized by their difficulty. - @aleksandar-todorovic

Kernel.org

The Linux Kernel Organization is a California Public Benefit Corporation established in 2002 to distribute the Linux kernel and other Open Source software to the public without charge.

Opensource.com

Opensource.com is an online publication focused on how open source is applied to different areas including business, education, government, health, law and other disciplines of life.

Our goal is to further the open source way by sharing the open source movement. Our community of readers is made up of those who believe that open participation and sharing can tackle the business, social, environmental, and technological challenges facing us today.

Other Useful Awesome Lists

• awesome
• awesome lists for programming languages
• awesome-shell
• awesome-emacs
• awesome-vim
• awesome-sysadmin

License

This repository is licensed under the Do What the Fuck You Want to Public License. Its full content is located in the LICENSE file.