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LinuxRaspberry Pi

What are the best Linux distributions that run on ARM architecture?

20

Options
Considered

849

User
Recs.

7 mins

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

The Best 1 of 19 OptionsWhy?

Best Linux distributions that run on ARM architecture	Price	Based On	Package Manager
95 Arch Linux ARM	-	Arch Linux	Pacman
82 Debian ARM	-	-	-
-- Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE)	-	Debian Testing	Debian Package manager
77 armbian	-	Debian	Debian Package Manager
76 Manjaro ARM	-	Archlinux ARM	-

Arch Linux ARM

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Top Pro

Configure how you want it

Top Con

Unstable

Arch's port is fairly immature and suffers some stability issues on many ARM platforms. See More

InsightfulBoreas's Experience

Arch linux is in my opinion the best arm supported linux distro. See More

Specs

Based On:Arch Linux

Package Manager:Pacman

Default Desktop Environment:NA

Init-System:Systemd

Top Pro

Simple to use

Top Con

It does take about 30 min tops to know how to use if new to Linux

EnchantingZelus's Experience

Simple to Use and Best Control on ARM Processors See More

Top Con

Hard to use

EnchantingAlQaum's Experience

It’s da most customizable See More

Top Con

Spotty package ports

Some packages are updated regularly, but many get well out of sync with upstream and upstream Arch, leading to stability problems. See More

18 Other Options Considered

Debian ARM

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Top Pro

Most mature port available

Debian's ARM port has been around a very long time, and as a result, it's quite mature and the porting team is very experienced. Few distributions can make similar claims. See More

SuccessfulKopala's Experience

Rock solid and stable. Simple package manager. Fully customizable. Very mature. See More

Top Pro

Handles most package managers well and makes getting those annoying OEM drivers working as easy as it's gonna be

Best for working with non-oem drivers that need some specific distribution installed on a Friday before 4 PM after a satanic ritual. Handles most package managers well and with a bit of work you can get their DKMS module installing on you favorite up to date kernel. Also easy to undo after you discover the OEM driver was actually better. See More

ReceptivePolyphemus's Experience

Top Pro

Most trustworthy and stable Linux distro

DecentNapkiraly's Experience

Installed on a wide range of server and personal computers. Absolute winner for am64 installs., See More

Manjaro ARM

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Top Pro

64-bit

Top Con

No support for Raspberry's GPU at all

No hardware acceleration. See More

ResponsibleAhriman's Experience

No hardware acceleration See More

Specs

Based On:Archlinux ARM

Top Pro

Large number of software available either in the repository or the AUR

Top Con

It is kind of slow to flash

ConscientiousTuireann's Experience

excellant See More

Top Pro

Rolling Release, always up to date

Void Linux

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Top Pro

Runit is fast and easy to configure

Runit init system is incredibly fast to boot and very simple to use. See More

Top Con

Not suitable for those new to Linux

Documentation is scarce, NTFS partitions aren't automatically mounted, etc. See More

Specs

Based On:Independent

Package Manager:XBPS & xbps-src

Default Desktop Environment:CLI, XFCE, Cinnamon, Enlightenment, LXDE, LXQt, MATE, GNOME

Init-System:runit

Top Pro

xbps (X Binary Package System)

A brand new package manager that is fast, full-featured, and tailored specifically for Void Linux. See More

Top Pro

BSD-like improvements with Linux

Full support for LibreSSL, an OpenSSL fork focused on maximizing security. The xbps-src package builder works in a similar manner to BSD's ports collection. See More

Top Pro

Rolling release

Top Pro

Very lightweight

Base installation can idle at less than 250 megabytes of RAM. See More

Top Pro

Xbps-src

Xbps-src is a source packages collection which is pretty similar to FreeBSD's ports and may replace AUR for Void users. See More

Top Pro

Easy to use installer

Unlike it's closest competitor, Arch, Void includes a very user-friendly and simple installer in the ISO. See More

Top Pro

Multiple Architectures

One of the few distros that supports multiple architectures using the same source repo. Can support aarch64, armv6, armv7, x86/x86_64 and i686. See More

Top Pro

Friendly forum

Unlike the Arch Forum, it is a friendly forum (although small). See More

Top Pro

Different DE's live ISO's are available

Arch Linux doesn't make ISO's with different DE's. One need to manually install it through CLI version. But Void which is competitor of Arch, provides a wide range of DE's ISOs. See More

Top Pro

Many packages

There are some packages in official repos, than may be found only in AUR See More

Top Pro

Musl image available

Musl libc is lighter and faster than bloated glibc. Musl has been argued to be more secure overall than glibc also. See More

OpenSUSE LEAP

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Top Pro

Extremely reliable

The packaging team is dependable resulting in system updates that come in a timely fashion and systems which rarely, if ever, break due to packaging. The versions of software that are selected and the configuration of them is typically extremely high quality. See More

Specs

Based On:Jurix>SUSE

Package Manager:RPM Package Manager

Default Desktop Environment:Plasma, GNOME, Xfce, LXQT

Init-System:Systemd

Top Pro

Easy installation and administration

openSUSE makes use of a GUI tool called YaST to install and setup an openSUSE system. YaST is very easy to use and makes the process of installing and maintaining an openSUSE installation a breeze. See More

openSUSE Tumbleweed

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Top Pro

Tumbleweed + OpenSUSE Build Service

Specs

Based On:Jurix>SUSE

Init-System:Systemd

Release Schedule:Rolling

Gentoo Linux

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Top Pro

A very large collection of software is available

There are more than 19.000 packages available in the official repository. And even more with overlays. See More

Top Pro

Full control of the software

You build the package from a source you can see and read. You decide which features you want to build in and which aren't needed. You can choose build options, optimisation and whatever else fancy stuff you want modified. With a binary distribution this simply isn't possible. See More

Top Pro

Portage's emerge is powerful

Portage is a package management system with a huge amount of options and features. See More

Top Pro

Can by optimized to any given CPU by using proper compile flags

Since everything is being built on your PC you can fine-tune the code to make use of your CPU. And all it requires is two lines of string variables in a global config. See More

Top Pro

Portability

There are many architectures available for Gentoo : i386, x86-64, PowerPC, PowerPC 64, sparc, DEC Alpha, ARM, MIPS, PA-RISC, S390, IA-64, sh, m68k. See More

Top Pro

Documentation and community are second to none

Provides a whole handbook to refer to during setup and usage. See More

Top Pro

Great for anyone who is serious about learning the intricacies of Linux

It's useful for both beginners and professionals. For the installation, Gentoo offers various types, which are referred to as stages. Basically meaning how in depth you would want to go into the process of installation. For beginners it's useful to choose for a starting distro due to its various stages that can be very time consuming but beneficial as you learn the composition in general of Linux. See More

Top Pro

Gentoo does not impose a standard look-and-feel

Top Pro

Freedom

You are free to do whatever you want with it. As a result, its configuration reflects your unique taste and personality. See More

Top Pro

Can be officially systemd-free

Gentoo's default init system is OpenRC. Gentoo also officially supports systemd-free Gnome and udev. Users are free to choose any init system they want. See More

Top Pro

Fully customizable

The usage of advanced features like USE flags makes it more customizable than any binary distribution. See More

Alpine Linux

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Top Pro

Small in size

Specs

Based On:LEAF Project

Package Manager:Alpine Package Keeper

Default Desktop Environment:N/A

Init-System:OpenRC

Fedora ARM

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TrustworthyDione's Experience

Ran it through termu x and anlinux. Fast on a 64bit phone aarch64 not so good on arm7 See More

FreeBSD

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Specs

Based On:Research Unix>Berkeley Software Distribution>

Package Manager:Ports

Default Desktop Environment:N/A

Init-System:BSDinit

Ubuntu MATE

Top Pro

Behaves like Ubuntu with Unity - after Ubuntu-Gnome transformation

No better place to continue Unity experience with Ubuntu (Left-side panel, HUD) and not as awkward as Gnome. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu

Package Manager:Debian Package Manger

Default Desktop Environment:MATE

Init-System:Systemd

Top Pro

Simplicity of Gnome with the power of Ubuntu

Debian was good to use but has limited documentation and is difficult to pick up. Ubuntu MATE brings the ease of design and logic of the Gnome 2 style desktop so it's easy to get around coupled with the vast documentation, forums and ease of learning/using the Ubuntu system. See More

Top Pro

Highly configurable

Comes with an option to configure as Windows-like, Mac-like, Gnome-like, etc. in a single click. Wonderful to get you started without having to learn it all from scratch. See More

Top Pro

Based on Ubuntu

Parrot GNU/Linux

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Specs

Based On:Debian Testing

Package Manager:Debian Package Manager

Default Desktop Environment:MATE, KDE

Init-System:Systemd

Ubuntu MATE

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