A minimal, or "lightweight", distribution means a small footprint,
with lower memory
and processing speed requirements. Alpine Linux is a popular option where users will
find most features disabled or not installed by default, but still has everything you need
for a containerized app. Security needs: Some Linux users
may have specific security
concerns to consider. Kali Linux is an example of a distro designed for security tasks,
such as Penetration Testing,
Security Research, Computer Forensics and Reverse
Engineering.
Business, corporate, or academic environments may
have unique concerns from
consumer environments. For example Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server (SLES) and Oracle Linux offer 24/7 global support and subscription-
based service. CentOS is another popular enterprise distro
that is community-supported
but still compatible with RHEL.
A large user community that consistently contributes to the distribution, fixing bugs,
adding
features, helping with questions, etc. is another good consideration. Ubuntu is
one of the most popular distos. openSUSE has been around
longer than most other
distributions and offers in addition to the stable version (Leap) a rolling version
(Tumbleweed). Many other distros rapidly grow popular as the needs and preferences of
the user community change. The Linux.org site has resources to help you assess what's
available,
well-supported, or growing in popularity.
