distroWatch

The website was launched on 31 May 2001 and is maintained by Ladislav Bodnar.{{cite web|url=https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=about|title=About DistroWatch|work=DistroWatch|access-date=22 August 2021}}

Initially, Bodnar also wrote the Distrowatch Weekly (DWW). In November 2008, Bodnar decided to step down from the post of editor for DWW. Bodnar said he would continue to maintain the site{{cite web|url=https://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20081117|title=DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 278|work=DistroWatch|date=17 November 2008|access-date=22 August 2021}} while the DWW would be written by Chris Smart.{{cite web|url=https://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20081124|title=DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 279|work=DistroWatch|date=24 November 2008|access-date=22 August 2021}}

As of 2017, DistroWatch has donated a total of US$47,739 to various open source software projects since the launch of the Donations Program in March 2004.{{cite web|url=https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=donations|title=DistroWatch Donations Programme|work=DistroWatch|access-date=16 February 2020}}

The site maintains extensive comparison charts detailing differences between the package sets and software revisions of different distributions. It also provides some general characteristics of distributions such as the price and the supported processor architectures.e.g. see the Red Hat Enterprise Linux page on the web site https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=redhat There is also a Distrowatch weekly (often abbreviated DWW) that comes out every Monday "as a publication summarising the happenings in the distribution world on a weekly basis".

Distrowatch has a monthly donations program, a joint initiative between DistroWatch and two online shops selling low-cost CDs and DVDs with Linux, BSD and other open source software.

The database consists of hundreds of different open source distributions, mainly Linux but also BSD and Solaris. It also has a small number categorized as "Other OS", namely ReactOS, Haiku, KolibriOS, RISC OS and Minix.{{Cite web |title=DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD. |url=https://distrowatch.com/search.php?ostype=Other+OS&category=All&origin=All&basedon=All¬basedon=None&desktop=All&architecture=All&package=All&rolling=All&isosize=All&netinstall=All&language=All&defaultinit=All&status=All#simple |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=distrowatch.com}}

Distrowatch itself affirms that its page rankings are "a light-hearted way of measuring the popularity of Linux distributions and other free operating systems among the visitors of this website. They correlate neither to usage nor to quality, and should not be used to measure the market share of distributions. They simply show the number of times a distribution page on DistroWatch.com was accessed each day, nothing more."{{Cite web |title=How Mighty Mint became one of the most popular Linux distros |url=https://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/how-mighty-mint-became-one-of-the-most-popular-linux-distros-1146584 |access-date=22 May 2013 |work=TechRadar|date=12 May 2013 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/a-tale-of-two-distros-ubuntu-and-linux-mint/|title=A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint|author=Terry Relph-Knight|date=2012-02-10|access-date=2015-11-23|website=ZDNet}}{{cite web|url=https://lwn.net/Articles/470782/|title=Distribution "popularity"|date=2011-12-07|access-date=2015-11-23|author=Jake Edge|website=LWN.net}}{{cite web|url=http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20070111043418436|title=Groklaw - Some Facts about openSUSE and Distrowatch Figures - A Correction|publisher=Groklaw|access-date=17 June 2012|date=11 January 2007|archive-date=19 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519140817/http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20070111043418436|url-status=dead}}

PC World has written that "the page-hit counts on DistroWatch give some indication of which distributions are drawing the most interest at the moment, of course, but such measures can't be assumed to gauge who's actually using what or which are preferred overall".{{cite web|url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/254516/which_linux_distro_is_fairest_of_them_all_ubuntu_survey_says.html|title=Which Linux Distro Is Fairest of Them All? Ubuntu, Survey Says|publisher=PCWorld|date=25 April 2012|access-date=17 June 2012|first=Katherine|last=Noyes}}

On January 19th, 2025, Facebook began taking down posts that included "DistroWatch" on the basis that "Linux is malware". DistroWatch's Facebook account is currently locked.{{cite web|url=https://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20250127#sitenews|title=Facebook ban}}{{Cite web |last=Tyson |first=Mark |date=January 27, 2025 |title=Facebook flags Linux topics as 'cybersecurity threats' — posts and users being blocked |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/software/linux/facebook-flags-linux-topics-as-cybersecurity-threats-posts-and-users-being-blocked |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250127231405/https://www.tomshardware.com/software/linux/facebook-flags-linux-topics-as-cybersecurity-threats-posts-and-users-being-blocked |archive-date=January 27, 2025 |access-date=January 27, 2025 |website=Tom's Hardware |language=en}}

In a later statement, DistroWatch indicated that Facebook had lifted the ban. Facebook stated that the censorship of Linux groups and topics was "in error" and that the mistake and the underlying issue had been rectified.Facebook admits that the Linux topic crackdown was 'in error' and has been fixed|https://www.tomshardware.com/software/linux/facebook-admits-that-the-linux-topic-crackdown-was-in-error-and-has-been-fixed

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{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}

• {{Official website}}
• [https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=popularity DistroWatch popularity rankings]

• {{cite web |url= https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2005502,00.asp |title= Top 101 Classic Web Sites of 2006" |date= Aug 2006 |publisher= PC Magazine |url-status= dead |archive-date= July 25, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080725214742/http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2005502,00.asp }}
• {{cite web |url= https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2008-10-03-voa21/401336.html |title= Website of the Week — DistroWatch |date= Nov 1, 2009 |orig-year= 2008 |url-status= live |publisher= Voice of America |archive-date= Oct 17, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081017222336/http://www.voanews.com/english/Science/2008-10-03-voa21.cfm }}
• {{cite web |url= https://lwn.net/Articles/470782/ |title= Distribution "popularity" |date= Dec 7, 2011 |display-authors= 0 |first= Jake |last= Edge |publisher= LWN.net }}

{{Linux}}

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Category:Internet properties established in 2001

Category:Linux websites