There are many Linux distributions (operating systems) for the Raspberry Pi single-board computers. In this article, I am going to talk about the 5 best Linux distributions for the Raspberry Pi. So, let’s get started!
Raspberry Pi OS
Raspberry Pi OS was previously known as Raspbian OS. It is the official operating system for the Raspberry Pi single-board computers.
Raspberry Pi OS is based on Debian GNU/Linux. The latest version of the Raspberry Pi OS (at the time of this writing) is based on Debian 10 Buster (the latest stable version of Debian). Raspberry Pi OS is very lightweight for the Raspberry Pi single-board computers. You can run it on every single version (older and newer) of the Raspberry Pi single-board computers.
There are 3 versions of the Raspberry Pi OS available for download on the official website of Raspberry Pi, these are the following:
- Raspberry Pi OS with desktop and recommended software
This Raspberry Pi OS image has most of the necessary software and libraries required for Raspberry Pi projects and the Raspberry Pi OS desktop environment pre-installed. - Raspberry Pi OS with desktop
This Raspberry Pi OS image only has the bare minimum number of programs and the Raspberry Pi OS desktop environment pre-installed. - Raspberry Pi OS Lite
This is the minimal version of the Raspberry Pi OS. It does not have any Raspberry Pi OS desktop environment pre-installed. So, you will have to do your work from the command line. Also, a very limited number of command line programs are pre-installed. This one requires a very little amount of RAM to run. So, you will be able to use almost all of the RAM of your Raspberry Pi for other programs.
official website of Raspberry Pi.
If you need any assistance on installing Raspberry Pi OS on your Raspberry Pi, check my other articles:
- How to Install Raspberry Pi OS on Raspberry Pi 4
- How to Install and Configure Raspberry Pi OS on Raspberry Pi 4 Without External Monitor
Here is a screenshot of the Raspberry Pi OS (with the desktop environment) running on the Raspberry Pi.
official website of Ubuntu.
If you need any assistance on installing Ubuntu on your Raspberry Pi, check my other articles:
- Install Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS on Raspberry Pi 4 in Headless Mode and SSH Into It
- Install Ubuntu Desktop 20.04 LTS on Raspberry Pi 4
Fedora
Fedora is also a great operating system for the Raspberry Pi. There are different versions of the Fedora operating system for Raspberry Pi’s different purposes.
The versions of the Fedora operating system for the Raspberry Pi are:
- Fedora Workstation
- Fedora Server
- Fedora IoT
This is a desktop operating system for the Raspberry Pi that uses the GNOME 3 desktop environment. You can use it on your Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 400.
This is a headless server version of the Fedora operating system, and it does not come with any graphical desktop environment. So, it is lightweight and does not consume a lot of memory. You can run it on your Raspberry Pi 3 or Raspberry Pi 4 single-board computers.
This is also a headless version of the Fedora operating system that does not come with any graphical desktop environment installed. It is more lightweight than the server version. You can use the Fedora IoT version on older versions of the Raspberry Pi (i.e., Raspberry Pi 2, Raspberry Pi 1, Raspberry Pi Zero) as well.
official website of Fedora.
If you need any assistance on installing Fedora on your Raspberry Pi, check my article on How to Install Fedora 33 on Raspberry Pi 4.
Here is a screenshot of the Fedora 33 Workstation running on the Raspberry Pi 4.
official website of Manjaro.
If you need any assistance on installing Manjaro on your Raspberry Pi, check my article: Install Manjaro on Raspberry Pi 4.
Here is a screenshot of the Manjaro – KDE Plasma desktop environment running on the Raspberry Pi 4.
official website of Offensive Security.
If you need any assistance on installing Kali Linux on your Raspberry Pi, check my article: Install Kali Linux on Raspberry Pi 4.
Here is a screenshot of Kali Linux running on the Raspberry Pi 4.
