Distrowatch
- Jean-Christophe Miler
- Linux , Open source
- June 7, 2025
Table of Contents
DistroWatch.com is a website dedicated to tracking and reporting on the wide variety of Linux distributions and BSD operating systems available. Launched in May 2001, it serves as a central hub for news, reviews, and general information about the open-source operating system landscape. The site is an invaluable resource for both newcomers looking for their first distribution and veterans who want to stay updated on the latest developments across the community.
Purpose and Content
DistroWatch aims to “put the fun back into computing” by providing comprehensive, objective information about distributions, including their status, origin, supported architectures, and desktop environments. Key content areas on the site include:
- Release Announcements: Timely updates on new stable, beta, and release candidate versions of tracked distributions.
- Headlines: Daily news articles covering events, security updates, and general happenings in the Linux and BSD world.
- DistroWatch Weekly (DWW): A popular weekly newsletter that provides an editorial, reviews of new and updated distributions, and summaries of the week’s biggest headlines.
- Package Tracking: Information about the software packages included in various distributions and their current version numbers.
- Reviews and Ratings: Visitor-submitted ratings and in-depth reviews of different operating systems.