What Linux distribution to choose?

[SensoVision]

Linux OS become more and more popular with time, so anyone who is interested in switching to Linux may find this article interesting. I'll try to tell about my point of view. Unfortunately or luckily there is no one ideal distribution for everyone. So the best way to choose distribution is to try it yourself, but if you're short on funds and can't download or order disks, I'll try to tell my experiences here. I'll also try to keep document updated if I got new version of the distros and/or have something new to say about it. I also advice to check http://distrowatch.com and http://www.linuxquestions.org/reviews/index.php/cat/2 to find more information and reviews about particular distro.

Also if you've heard that Linux can run limited software and couldn't be used as media system here is list of things I've done on my OS: watch programs from DVB and TV Tuner, had remote control over TV, record films when I'm not at home, have local server visible to my friend in network and also used as testing field for my projects, use DVB for satellite internet, listen to the music, creating panoramas(Hugin is my choice), viewing and re-touching my photos, burning CD and DVDs, recently I've start using UDF Packet writing(this allows you to use your disk as big floppy disk where you can dynamically write and delete files, and all disks are readable on Windows OS as well), programming, work with documents, web surfing and mailing, have bluetooth network with my mobile, iPAQ 2210, and girl's PC running Windows XP and Debian(this network share files and Internet), play games including Sim City 4 and GTA(but unfortunately this was year ago as I don't have time for this now). Not sure what other things worth mentioning but one of my friend also perform video editing and sound mixing on Linux.

First of all I would like to tell that few years ago when I hear word Linux I thought that Linux is RedHat and Mandrake(I think it 's happen because this name was marketed with money in time when other distro simply build and use their own OSs) but I don't know why there are two OS instead of one and what's the difference as both looks pretty same to me, I didn't know about others, but all is change when I've got my hands on Knoppix, I've open new world of OSs to myself and couldn't return to M$ Windows...

There are so many Linux distributions as each one have something unique and something what would work to one person wouldn't work for another, that's why people keep on creating various flavours of Linux.

First of all, each Linux distribution is build around standart kernel done by Linus Torvalds www.kernel.org but some distros had patched kernel with fixed bugs or exclude parts of code from it(I know there are some Linux flavours built on BSD and other kernels but I'll not cover them in this article).

Distros generally build using software packages with slight variations, but some distributions have different file structures(although LSB - Linux Standart Base project try to standardize these things).

Distribution are also differ by ideology and people who build them, some are made by companies like in case with RedHat and SUSE (SUSE is a Novel product) and have commercial support and paper manuals which could help you to study them, and some like Debian are done by communities of people around the globe which have it strong sides as well e.g. Debian have biggest database of pre-packaged programs(this mean that you shouldn't compile most of programs you're planning to use, and to install software you simply need to click mouse on program you wish to installed and that's it, even easier than on Windows where you have put the path where it would be installed and so), also since there are no company in charge of building distro, it could not become bankrupt or be sold, so you can be sure that your distro wouldn't go away.

I'll try to post my point of view on distributions so you can see good and bad sides of it from my point of view:
First I would categorized distributions by package managers. Package is a compressed program which contain info about what and where to install, it also contain dependency information e.g. tells what other programs or libraries are necessary in order to run particular program. Package manager server as frontend application which helps you to install these packages, de-install them cleanly so after program is deleted nothing is left after it and your system would back to previous state, select necessary dependencies, search through package database, download packages from mirrors and perform many other things.

There are two major package manager systems used on different distributions: DPKG (Debian) and RPM(RedHat). You can find more about different packages here: http://www.kitenet.net/~joey/pkg-comp/ (I didn't mention about TGZ (SlackWare) as it's not spread enough and I believe that this distribution would be a bit hard for people who just choosing their first Linux distro).

RPM was originally invented by RedHat and now is used in many distributions including Mandrake(currently named Mandriva), SUSE, ALT Linux and others.
DEB packages was invented by Debian GNU/Linux OS and was used on the distributions based on Debian, here are some of most known: Ubuntu, Knoppix, MEPIS, Xandros Desktop OS, Linspire(new name of Lindows) and others.
TGZ appeared on SlackWare and is used there till that moment but also used on system based on SlackWare e.g. SLAX(small but very nice LiveCD).

Before I start describing each distribution I'd like to say few words about GUI(Graphical user interface) in Linux, as some people believe that Linux is hard comparing to Windows because everything need to be done in text command line and there is no good GUI. That's absolutely not true!
e.g. People which have only work with Windows before and never even heard about Linux have no problems in working on my PC(BTW I'm using GNOME) after I've told them how application is named, everything else was intuitive(those folks wasn't gurus). So let's move, Linux vs Windows have several type of GUIs so you can also choose one you like and customize it for yourself if necessary.

The base of graphic interface is X.org(it could be referred as X-Window-System or XFree86, this is the name of script it was based on) basically saying it's provide way for your OS to talk to your graphic card and back. You can use X Window System as your GUI but it's not reach in features and not very human friendly(probably here is origin of the myth about bad GUI), but to make things easier there are many programs called WindowManagers, I wouldn't name them here as the list would be too big, for anyone interested you can check this Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_manager
I just say that these WindowManagers is just user interface and use XWindowSystem to communicate to your hardware. WM are usually lightweight and work a bit faster than Desktop Mangers like GNOME or KDE about which I would tell now.

Now I wish to tell about Desktop Environment(this mean that it's not only provide friendly user interface but also comes with a reach set of office, game and media applications) on Linux and actually all *nix based system and probably soon they also appear on Windows OS as well. If you're newcomer to Linux I advice you to choose not from WM but Desktop Environment since it has interface which would be more common for MS Windows users.

There are two competing desktop managers GNOME and KDE.
KDE appeared before GNOME but because it was built using commercial QT library which belongs to company www.trolltech.com and there was a fear that license could be changed in future and it was a treat for KDE existence, that's why GNOME appeared which was mainly aimed to be replacement for KDE. GNOME previously have a look very similar to KDE and was a bit slow but situation have changed for this time e.g. QT Library wouldn't become commercial in future, GNOME become robust in terms of speed and not just a clone of KDE anymore, it's got many unique features and own look.

GNOME: I've worked on both KDE and GNOME and find that GNOME is working faster, more stable and give me the way to customize my desktop in a way I wish to, it's also seems to be aimed to be as easy as possible for new people(I'm not very positive about this since this result in cutting some very handy features because of this but I really hope that developers would fix this and would make GNOME more configurable in future). you can check this Wiki to find out more about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME

KDE: I've start to work using KDE, but I had problems with stability running it, it's said that it was fixed in KDE 3.5 (maybe I have bad luck but it's still crashed on my PC last time I've tried it), I also doesn't like the way how it's deal with windows but it's matter of personal taste and you may like it. Here is the Wiki about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KDE

[SensoVision]

Now it's time to say few words about each distro:

Debian - www.debian.org
Supported Packages: DEB
Supported processor architectures: Alpha, Arm, HPPA, i386, IA64, m68k, Mips, PPC, S390, Sparc
Desktop managers: GNOME, KDE
Price: Free
Pros:
- have biggest repository of pre-packaged programs so you rarely need to compile everything from source(of course if you wish to you're always free to do so and compile program yourself or even make a package from it)
- each package is patched and seems to have less bugs and therefore frequently run more stable than original program from developer's site
- true open source distribution which make major accent on licensing. It's community driven project where many people from around the globe work on small part of the project, it's seems to me like a very effective concept as everyone had a time to do what he can do best.
- use powerful DPKG management system which let you effectively control all installed software on your system
- available for the biggest number of architectures

Cons:
- it's not known when new version would be released, basically saying it's happen when people doesn't report any bugs, than testing version become stable. This isn't good if you like to have the very fresh packages on your system, but from other side it gives better stability than some other distro could offer. But you can always use Testing version(I'm using it myself) which is pretty stable for desktop and have fresh packages.
- most users of this distro use mailists to conversate with each other, I find that it's could be a bit confusing for new people, but fortunately many forums have boards dedicated to Debian, and here is the forum which could be also used to obtain help: http://forums.debian.net/ . I'd also like to mention that our WKey is also supporting amongst them, so feel free to ask any Debian related questions here.
- in time I was merging from Windows to Linux I wasn't able to find book about Debian based distributions, but now situation maybe changed...
- need some configuration after installation in order to run GUI(e.g. you'll need to tell about resolution and refresh rate of your monitor, which mouse and keyboard you're using)

It's my favourite Linux distro and I'm using it currently. First of all I'd like to tell that there are many rumours telling that it has  installer which is hard to use(there is also joke that it's so hard that you only setup Debian once and never need to reinstall it).
Personally I can't agree with opinion that installer is hard to understand, it's not harder than installing Windows IMHO with only difference that you don't have to type serial number and after installation would need to use few commands in order to execute interface for installing graphical shell, but it's very easy and I would be glad to assist to anyone who would try to install it, just write me.
As for joke about installing OS once I can confirm that this is truth, thanks to DPKG manager you can cleanly install any program, your system never slowed down with time so unless you do something extreme you would never need to re-install OS like you have to do it with Windows.
For example for 1.5-2 years I've reinstalled my OS only once, I had to do it because my hard drive died. During these two years I've changed 5 motherboards(trying to get one I like most, for those for whom it's interesting I've stop my choice on ASUS A7V880 and later when change my CPU to AMD64 Sempron 3000+ I've switched to K8V-X SE), several TV tuners(also trying to get one which would have better picture, gladly my local shop let me test each one for free), video card, switch from Teac CD-Rewriter to NEC DVD-Recorder and had to exchange it for  Plextor PX716-A, and I've also change DVB SkyStar 2 card to Twinhan, and also change my WestenDigital 80GB drive to Seagate 80GB HDD. Now tell me would your Windows OS could live after all these devices?(BTW when I tried different motherboards I was trying nForce chipset and VIA and the only thing I need to do is re-compile kernel or use default one, with Windows you'll have to make fresh install).

Unlike other distro Debian isn't targeted for server or desktop so as to newbies or expert, it could be as hard or as easy as you wish it to be, e.g. you can install every package using graphical tool and use almost every system configuration through frontend and doesn't go to console each time you need to do something.

Installing everything from the package really save your time(and therefore money and nerves), as was mentioned before Debian have biggest repository of prepackaged software. But in the same time you're always free to compile everything or something from source if you wish it could be optimized specifically for your processor, you can do this either by hand or using standart tools e.g. apt-build (this utility is frontend for dealing with sources just like it deal with binary packages, so basically saying you would avoid steps usually necessary for compilation as system would do compilation almost automatically).
I've said that system configuration could be done through frontends but it's not mean that you're limited from editing configuration files by hand in the text editor like it done in SlackWare.


There are 3 flavours of Debian:
- Stable: very stable version which was tasted by many people and you can safely use it for production system like servers and be sure it wouldn't crash
- Testing: contain fresh software which was tested in Unstable release and no bugs were reported for particular package, once Testing would be "Frozen(process when now new packages is added and all current packages doesn't have bugs reported for it) it will become Stable and be released. This flavour is good for Desktop OS which doesn't require so much stability as servers.
- Unstable(Sid): this flavour have even fresher software than testing. It's used to fix bugs of the new software, and once most of bugs are fixed it goes to testing in order to be tested by wider public of people to discover if any bugs have left. It's not recommended to use it for servers and novice users.
- Experimental: actually Debian have also experimental branch which is used mostly by package developer folks, so I wouldn't mention about it.
More info about releases could be obtained here: http://www.debian.org/releases/
I find this system with different releases very good idea as you can choose what is more important for you not just what company wish you to use.
Should also say that I've start my experience with Stable release Debian Woody and after half month I decide that could try Unstable, I've used SID for 4 months or more, some bugs have happend but I can live with them, the only nasty problem I've got there is when I've got broken list of all installed packages. It take some time to fix this so I decide to try Testing to see how it works, from than I using it and not planning to switch for anything else.
Debian is just like LEGO constructor, you can do various things with it configuring system to suit your needs perfectly, the only thing you need is a bit of time, wish to learn new things and some free space on your hard drive.
I can tell many more things I'm excited about in Debian but let's move to other distributions 

KNOPPIX - http://www.knopper.net/
Supported Packages: DEB
Supported processor architectures: i486
Desktop managers: KDE, GNOME(was added only recently in DVD edition of Knoppix)
Price: Free
Pros:
- it's so called Live CD(CD which is bootable and let you run and work under your OS just from CD, even on PC which doesn't have hard drive). You can simply take CD with you insert into any PC boot from it and enjoy your full equipped Linux system
- have tons of software, especially newer DVD editions of Knoppix(could be used for various media tasks and administration purposes also)
- use powerful DPKG management system which let you effectively control all installed software on your system.
- could be used as a rescue disk not only for Linux but to Windows based OS as well(e.g. it could help you retrieve data if Windows won't boot or you can re-size your partitions if they have enough of free space).
- good for demonstation of how versatile Linux could be
- have very good hardware detection system(probably the best I've seen)
- almost fully configurable through GUI
- could save your preferences and documents to use them next time you'll be using Knoppix(they could be saved on HDD, Floppy or USB drive).
- easier to use than Windows OS

Cons:
- a bit slow as programs are compressed on CD and need to be loaded into RAM before you can use them, so speed greatly depends from speed of your system, your CD and amount of RAM available. You can speed up it by installing it on hard drive.
- boot process slow as well as device detection take quite some time and programs need to be loaded from CD/DVD drive.
- maybe it's just our local shop but two latest version I've got had German language used by default, it could be easily overridden by providing boot option like this "boot:knoppix lang=en" but I usually forget to do this.
- one of early CD based Knoppix versions had problems with setting correct refresh rate on my card but it seems to be fixed in lastest versions.

It was first Debian based distribution I've tried, previously I had installed RedHat, Mandrake, and FreeBSD. None of them get me really interested, I simply had them as second OS but boot there rarely and when I had not enough disk for Windows I've simply erased them. Once I've tried Knoppix I thought that if Live CD could do such things how original Debian would work, so same day I've ordered Debian Woody and that's how I've moved form Windows to Linux(I've tried many other distros including SLAX, SlackWare, SUSE, Gentoo, ALT Linux and others but didn't find anything so interesting as Debian itself).
Right now I'm using Knoppix as my rescue disk, it really comes handy when you repair PC to someone, this way you always have everything you need with you. It's worth to invest few bucks in order to get it even if you plan to use other distribution.

Ubuntu - Humanity to others - http://www.ubuntu.com
Supported Packages: DEB
Supported processor architectures: i486
Desktop managers: GNOME(there is KDE version of this distro called KUbuntu)
Price: Free (you can order disks for free from their site here: http://shipit.ubuntu.com )
Pros:
- very easy installation process, even more easier than on Debian(although you don't have as much control on the process as on Debian), it also takes longer as it's reinstalling more applications by default than Debian do.
- use powerful DPKG management system which let you effectively control all installed software on your system.
- probably it's more harder to brake than others as it use different model of security than most of other distributions(by this I mean that it's hard to brake for user, as it would require password from you for many administrative tasks).
- utilize powerful DPKG management system which let you effectively control all installed software on your system.
- Personally I don't like it but people new to Linux probably find security management system easier than with other distributions.
- have friendly and helpful support forums (the only other distro which have similar forums is Gentoo)
- you can order disk completely for free here no need to download: http://shipit.ubuntu.com (in package you'll get Installation and Live CD version).
- doesn't ask you any configuration questions, and work right after installation.
- completely configurable through GUI
- new versions are released on a regular base

Cons:
- If you prefer configuring system through console, you'll have to use sudo command to perform root tasks, not sure like others but I found it a bit annoying.
- you have to choose between GNOME or KDE distro or take one and install other yourself from source and maybe from repository(never checked this).
- aimed on the people new to Linux and because of this it's not so scaleable as Debian.
- when Ubuntu first appeared I've heard that it would it's repositories would be compatible to Debian ones(probably it was marketing trick to lure Debian users by fresh soft), but after some time packages start to be split using different scheme and become incompatible. Although from what I know you can still switch between repositories and use MEPIS packages instead of Debian ones having Debian as your base.

Ubuntu - African word, meaning "humanity to others". This distro was established by African millionare who support Open-Source movement. It's targeted as a desktop OS.
I've ordered those free disks out of curiosity to see how does it look like. I've installed Ubuntu only recently: Windows on PC of my girl's family simply stop to boot after 11 years old child played some game (she didn't told us exactly what she was doing, but it had happend to PC before).  Since nor me nor my girl had no time to install Windows but PC was needed in order to work with Word and Exel documents, I've proposed to install Ubuntu(as occasionally I had one set of disks with myself). installation process takes much longer than in case with Debian but it has less questions and didn't require any configuration. Ubuntu is working for about 1 month there and it's still looks fresh and not slow down like it was with Windows. I can recommend this distro to those people who is interested in making everything through GUI interface. You can also order set of CDs and give it away to friends so they can see Linux themselves.
If you not sure whenever choose Debian versatility or Ubuntu simplicity, you should maybe check another Debian based distro http://www.mepis.org/ it's cost is $10 USD or you can download it freely from the site, I didn't tried it myself as local shop doesn't have it and I can't download such big amounts from the web, but I've heard some positive feedback about this distro, if I had possibility try it myself, will post more info about it.


Linspire (AKA Lindows) - http://www.linspire.com/
Supported Packages: DEB
Supported processor architectures: i386
Desktop managers: KDE & GNOME
Price: Free $59.95 MSRP or $49.95 digital

This is another distro I didn't try myself because of it's price But I decide to wrote about it to warn about using this OS. It's positioned to be replacement to for Windows OS. But developers come too far as they remove one of the key features which make Linux so secure... they make all programs run with a root privileges which make big security threat to your system. That's why I strongly advice not to use this distro even if it's really easier to use as you didn't gain much in switching to Linux in terms of security...
But I should say that I still appreciate Linspire for sponsoring such projects as www.nvu.com
I also sincerely hope that they could do something about security in future.
That's all info which I can tell for now, if I had possibility to try out this OS, I'll tell more.

[SensoVision]

RedHat - www.redhat.com
Supported Packages: RPM
Supported processor architectures: i386, ia64, ppc, s390, s390x, x86-64
Desktop managers: GNOME and KDE(KDE was in times when I tried it but I've heard that it was removed from latest versions)
Price: Free $180 - $2,500

Pros:
- Easy to install
- available on average number of architectures

Cons:
- was pretty slow.
- when I've tried it(can't remember version right now, will update if find CD) it was a bit buggy, KDE crashed more frequently when I wish.
- was tricky in installing software as some dependencies doesn't work(I could have altered CD although so maybe it's not fault of RH)
- high cost... can you imagine to pay $180 - $2,500 for OS even if it's very good? I don't and actually I believe that Debian would work better, BTW even tech on Google which use RedHat as their OS on datacenters still use Debian to control RH machines here is the source: http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1306281842;fp;16;fpid;0

RedHat was most used distro in 90s here, ISPs and other companies used it so I manage to get few copies from them.
I've tried various versions of RedHat starting from year 1997 I think, and actually doesn't have any pleasant memories about it. System works but it didn't pleased me with performance and some things with configuration confused me. So when I tried Knoppix I really feel the difference. Programs won't compile for me giving Segfault error(could be caused by hardware but I've used same with Debian), later I've tried to compile same program on Debian and it works like a charm.
There is also free flavour of RedHat called  Fedora Core. Most likely it was started in order not to loose support of community, I didn't tried it myself but from what I've heard it's very limited on futures and got some bus as original RedHat.

SUSE LINUX - http://www.opensuse.org/
Supported Packages: RPM
Supported processor architectures: i586, ppc, x86_64
Desktop managers: GNOME and KDE
Price: $59.95USD it's also available free for downloading

Pros:
- easy to install
- have unique YaST tool which let you configure all aspects of your system through same graphical interface instead of using many different configurators.
- some time ago drivers for devices appear on SUSE before than on others, now it's not the case from what I know.
- if you buy box version you got books with documentation which let you get know your OS

Cons:
- using RPM package... e.g. if it use Debian package manager I could consider it as alternative OS in the past, but having so bad memories about RPM I decide not to try it, but have a chance to try it later thanks to my Friend who send me CD some time ago.
- if you boot from a Live CD you can get a feeling that system is hangs(don't worry you're not the only one, I know at least 4 person who thought so) but it just loading So be patient and it would start after 5-10 minutes.

I've got good experience trying this OS mostly because of powerful configuration utility called YaST, it's really handy feature and it would be good to see this project to be merged to Debian(if you interested here is the link: http://yast4debian.alioth.debian.org/ ). I would recommend it for use as desktop OS for people who looking for easy to use desktop Linux. If you doesn't prefer RPM over DPKG I would recommend to check Ubuntu or SimplyMEPIS.


Gentoo - http://www.gentoo.org/
Supported Packages: SRC (Portage)
Supported processor architectures: x86, amd64, hppa, ia64, ppc, ppc64, sparc
Desktop managers: KDE
Price: Free

Pros:
- support number of architectures
- has unique optimization feature so you can compile all system optimized for your CPU
- have very good forums and many supportive members

Cons:
- a bit buggy in my opinion and some things need tweaking to work(of course maybe I tried it too long ago and should order newer version)
- You'll need blazing fast CPU and a lot time on your hands in order to compile whole OS optimized for your PC.
- I believe that optimization isn't to be done for every package, but only to those dealing with graphic and other heavy duty tasks(if you think alike you can use apt-build tool on Debian to recompile package optimized specifically for your CPU).

I've installed it about year ago but since was a bit limited on time I didn't manage to try and build optimized packages. But I still wish to try and see how it works and does it really have speed improvements sufficient to compile everything from source instead of using pre-packaged programs.
I wouldn't advice it to novices but rather to people who have used Linux for quite some time.



Slackware Linux - http://www.slackware.com/
Supported Packages: TGZ
Supported processor architectures: i486
Desktop managers: KDE
Price: Free

Pros:
- works very fast(Patrick done good job here!)
- you have full control over your system in terms that you configure everything through text configuration files
- it's easier to create own TGZs packages comparing DEBs(I'm not talking here about checkinstall which is easy way to create DEB package)

Cons:
- some time ago GNOME was removed from the distro
- many packages have to be compiled form the source
- would be tricky to configure if you see Linux for the first time
- use it's own package management system which isn't widely supported as RPM and DEB

SlackWare seems to be favourite of many admins I know because all configuration is done via text files. Actually I like this distro and in the beginning I even considering to use it as my base OS but Debian won the this competition as it have much more pre-compiled software and this is essential if you simply need to make something and need some program urgently, so having a choice to use pre-packaged program and install it for few seconds and compile it from the source(depending on program it could take hours) I make my choice in favour of Debian.
From what I remember installation wasn't very tricky, maybe a bit more confusing than Debian had. I would advice to try this distro only if you have some background knowledge in working with Linux OS or really have much time on your hands to put them for learning and compiling.



Slax - http://slax.linux-live.org/
Supported Packages: TGZ
Supported processor architectures: i386
Desktop managers: KDE
Price: Free

Pros:
- Live CD(could run without installation from your CDROM drive)
- small, fit on 3 inch CD
- could work as a rescue CD
- works pretty fast maybe even faster than Knoppix sometimes
- could be used for demonstration purposes

Cons:
- use TGZ packages which aren't very spread.
- have limited number of application comparing to Knoppix

Just thought to mention about this distro as I like it. It's small, a bit faster I guess than other Live CDs and if you wish to have Linux in your pocket you can do it with SLAX as it can be burned to small CD. I doesn't see this OS to be used as replacement for main OS but it could be used as rescue disk.





That's all hope that my article was helpful to you. I'd appreciate any feedback and suggestions if you have any.
Also feel free to re-post this article but please provide link to the source.

[12noon]

That's a fantastic few posts.
 
The only thing is that i've tried both KDE & GNOME and find that KDE works much better for me and is much more user freindly. Well, the Suse linux version of KDE with it's Yast system for adding software and system updates is better for me anyway.

[Rifat]

Great posts, are there any other distros that send you their CD's (like Ubuntu does)?

[SensoVision]

Thank you, Rifat, glad you find this material useful.
Unfortunately I think that Ubuntu is the only one which send disks for free, other ask for small fee which usually cover costs of blank disk and shipping.
If you don't have reliable or cheap internet connection to download ISOs, maybe you can look for some online shop which sell disks for dollar or less? I've also read that in bigger cities there are Linux clubs where you can get installation disks for free or give away your old disks which you don't need anymore. Also if you let me know what distribution you're interested and where are you live I can ask local post office about shipping fees and send my old disks(of course if I had distribution you're looking for or didn't give away that disks to my friends ).

[donecweb]

You can order many distros of Linux like MEPIS from AllLinuxCD.com for about $1.65 per CD, with no shipping charge.
http://www.alllinuxcd.com/catalog/index.php?manufacturers_id=2

[Rifat]

The distros I'm looking for are SuSe and Debian, I'm pretty sure you can get them online but just haven't searched enough for them.