Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
I think most Full Circle readers will know the names of the current list of the Ubuntu official flavors. These are Ubuntu variants with different desktops, which have been accepted, provided hosting support by Ubuntu’s sponsoring company, Canonical Limited, and developed as community-based projects. Over time new official flavors have been added, while some have disappeared.
What you may not know is that one of the features (not a bug) in the world of free software is that anyone can produce a new variant of any existing Linux distribution. With its solid back end and predictable development schedule, Ubuntu has often been used as the basis for non-official projects as well. These can be assembled by hand on top of the Ubuntu base, but there are also easy graphical tools that make it simple for almost anyone to create their own Ubuntu-based distribution. Some of these projects later became official flavors, some have continued as non-official projects and some have sputtered and died. That is the way it is in the Linux jungle.
In upcoming issues of Full Circle I am going to do reviews of some of these non-official Ubuntu derivatives that carry the Ubuntu name or at least echoes of it, the other ‘buntus out there. First I thought I would start with this introduction, a brief look at the world of Ubuntu, sort of a catalog of the family tree and try to cover the distributions that still carry at least parts of the name Ubuntu.
It is worth noting that there are also many Ubuntu-based distributions that carry non-Ubuntu names, like Pop!_OS, Trisquel and VanillaOS, but those are for another day.
The Beginning
You would think that the story of Ubuntu would start with Ubuntu, but it actually starts with Ubuntu’s parent, Debian. It was one of the first Linux distributions, founded in 1993. Ubuntu was developed from Debian, started in 2004 by Debian developer Mark Shuttleworth. He identified deficiencies in the Debian process and was determined to make improvements, such as a disciplined release schedule.
Ubuntu’s first release was in October 2004 and numbered 4.10, starting off the “year-month” release numbering system that remains pretty much universal in the Ubuntu world.
Ubuntu is now on its third desktop, having started with GNOME 2, moved to Unity and now to a modified version of GNOME 3. It continues as one of the world’s most popular Linux desktop distributions for government, business and personal use. There is also an official dedicated server version, Ubuntu Server, and a Chinese language edition, Ubuntu Kylin, which was first introduced in April 2013.
Current Official Flavors
The first official flavor of Ubuntu was Kubuntu, which uses the KDE desktop. Its first release was in April, 2005, just one release behind Ubuntu.
Edubuntu was up next in October 2005 as version 5.10. It is a version of Ubuntu with a school focus and the GNOME desktop. Edubuntu disappeared after 14.04 LTS but was resurrected in 2023 as 23.04 and continues today.
Next was Xubuntu, with its Xfce desktop, out just 8 months after Edubuntu, with 6.06 as its first release.
Ubuntu Studio, with its GNOME desktop and a focus on multimedia production first arrived in May 2007.
Lubuntu had a slow start, initially as just LXDE desktop packages for Ubuntu, starting with 8.10. It became a stand-alone distribution with 10.10 and an official flavor starting with 11.10. It is now on its second desktop, LXQt.
Ubuntu Touch was an official project of Canonical, started in 2011, but discontinued and then picked up by the UBPorts community, with a first new release in 2018. It was initially intended as an operating system for smart phones and tablets, with the goal of eventually running on all devices as a “convergence” desktop, but today remains primarily a phone operating system.
Ubuntu MATE, with its “classic” desktop based on GNOME 2, first came out in October 2014 and gained official flavor status the following spring with 15.04.
Ubuntu Budgie, with the Budgie desktop, first arrived as an unofficial derivative in April 2016. In November of that same year, it became an official flavor.
Ubuntu Unity was introduced unofficially in May 2020, bringing back the Unity 7 desktop. It reached official status two and half years later with its 22.10 release.
The first release of Ubuntu Cinnamon was in December 2019, using the Cinnamon desktop from Linux Mint. It reached official status in March, 2023 and is the most recently added official flavor.
Past Official Flavors
For a number of different reasons some official flavors have been discontinued.
Gobungtu was a very short-lived official Canonical version of Ubuntu, using only free software. It had only two releases, 7.10 and 8.04, before being rolled into the mainline Ubuntu as an installation menu option.
Ubuntu JeOS (Just Enough Operating System) was another official Canonical version aimed at virtual machine appliance use. It also did not last long, as only 7.10 and 8.04 came out before it was merged into the mainstream Ubuntu Server in October 2008.
In that same period Mythbuntu was introduced, with its first release also 7.10. It was an official flavor that included MythTV and could be used as a media controller. Its last release was 16.04.
Ubuntu Netbook Edition was, naturally, an official Canonical version of Ubuntu aimed at the then new netbook small-sized laptops. The first version was 8.04 and by 10.10 it had switched from its unique netbook interface to Unity. By 11.04 it was gone, merged into mainline Ubuntu. Today the netbooks themselves are gone too, replaced by modern notebook laptops, which are not much bigger.
Ubuntu GNOME was started in 2012 to bring the pure GNOME 3 desktop to Ubuntu following the switch of mainstream Ubuntu to Unity. It became an official flavor with 13.04 but, when mainline Ubuntu moved to GNOME with the 17.10 release, Ubuntu GNOME became redundant and its last release was 17.04.
The Unofficial ‘buntus
Here is where things get interesting and complex. It is impossible to make a complete list of Linux distributions that have carried the Ubuntu name or parts of it, but here are some of them, at least, in chronological order, by appearance.
Nubuntu, also known as Network Ubuntu, was a version of Ubuntu optimized for security testing, using the Fluxbox window manager. The project started in 2005, first out in 2006 and last released in 2008. By 2010, the official website had been taken down.
Fluxbuntu was a very short-lived distribution that first arrived in 2006 and was gone the following year. It only had two releases, neither one classified as “stable”. It used the lightweight Fluxbox window manager and was aimed at older and low-powered computers.
Geubuntu was another Ubuntu variant, using GNOME and the Enlightenment window manager. It was around from 2007 to 2010. In 2008 it was renamed OpenGEU to acknowledge that it did not meet Ubuntu’s software repository requirements and thus would not qualify as an official flavor.
Bubuntu was a French language Ubuntu derivative that used the same GNOME 2 desktop that Ubuntu used but with no top panel, no default sounds and with some extra applications added. Started in 2007, the last release was in 2009.
Also from 2007 was Scibuntu from Sweden, an Ubuntu version designed as a science workstation with the option to install software for many different science disciplines. It never got past a beta release.
Elbuntu also dates from 2007 and used the Enlightenment window manager. Based on Ubuntu 7.04, it used an early version of the PCMan file manager that later became the core of Lubuntu.
2007 was the year the religious Ubuntu versions appeared. Ubuntu Muslim Edition, also known as UbuntuME and later called Sabily (Arabic for “My Way”), was developed from 2007 to 2011 and included Islamic study tools. Ubuntu Christian Edition, also called UbuntuCE, is another religious study variant that was developed from 2007 to 2012 but was resurrected in 2022 and still exists today. Buddhabuntu, also called Ubuntu-Buddha and Ubuntu Buddhist Remix, was a version of Ubuntu that included Buddhism study tools and existed for a short time in 2009-2010. And, not to be left out, there was an Ubuntu Satanic Edition, with all of its releases in the 666 series. It was around from 2010 to 2012 and featured a focus on Ubuntu plus heavy metal music.
Eeebuntu appeared in December 2007 as a series of scripts to adapt Ubuntu to the Asus EEE PC netbook, becoming an actual distribution in December 2008. The name was changed to Aurora OS with the last release in 2009. Netbooks themselves had disappeared by 2013 replaced by smartphones, tablets and notebook laptops.
In 2008, another unofficial Ubuntu variant for the Asus EEE PC and other similar netbooks appeared, called Ubuntu EEE. It too started as just some Ubuntu modification scripts in 2007. There were trademark objections to the name that were brought up by Canonical in 2008 and the next year it was renamed EasyPeasy. The last release was in 2012.
Also from 2008 was Ubuntu Privacy Remix (UPR), a live CD version only with extra encryption tools included. The first version was 8.04r1 but it was gone by 2014, with version 12.04r1 being the last release.
GendBuntu is about as official as it gets for an unofficial Ubuntu derivative. It is the official operating system for France's National Gendarmerie police force. Started in 2008, it is still in use today.
Fredubuntu was a French educational version of Ubuntu for school use, based on Ubuntu 8.10. It seems to have just had a single release.
“Learn Free with Ubuntu” is the English translation of the Bulgarian Учи Свободен с Убунту. It is an Ubuntu derivative using the KDE desktop and aimed at educational use. It has been around since at least 2008 with the most recent release in 2016. Similar in concept to Edubuntu, it comes with specific applications for school use.
Estobuntu was an Estonian-language derivative of Ubuntu, that was active 2008-2014.
Runtu is a Russian language version based on the Ubuntu LTS versions with both Xfce and LXDE desktop versions. It was started in 2008 and is still active today.
Goobuntu was a Google-built distribution for Google’s own internal use that added some new packages and removed others. It first appeared around 2009, was never publicly released, but was shown at LinuxCon 2012. It was replaced at the company in 2018 by gLinux which is based on Debian Testing.
Moebuntu is not an actual Linux distribution but a series of scripts and instructions that first appeared around 2009 to take your vanilla Ubuntu installation and turn it into a pink-themed “moe-moe”, the Japanese term for a strong affection for anime and manga characters. If you love Sailor Moon then Moebuntu is for you!
Ubuntu Lite was a lightweight version of Ubuntu aimed at older and lower-powered computers, with an emphasis on low resource use, using the Openbox window manager. Its last release was in May 2009.
ABCbuntu was a short-lived, privacy-focused, live CD distribution from Italy with the last release version 10.10. It is still on SourceForge today for download, however.
Fuduntu was an attempt to produce an operating system with Gnome 2 that combined Fedora with Ubuntu and was initially a fork of Fedora. It was around from 2010 to 2013.
Miniubuntu, also called Ubuntu Mini Remix, was active from 2010 to 2017. It allowed users to build their own custom Ubuntu-based distribution based on its own minimal operating system.
Cobuntu was a briefly offered version of Ubuntu aimed at Korean language users and around in 2010-2011.
BlackBuntu was a security penetration testing and training derivative that was around from as early as 2011 and lasted until early 2023. It seems to have been recently discontinued.
The Turkey-based Macbuntu also dates from 2011 and was a project to create a version of Ubuntu that looked like Apple Mac OS-X. The last work on this was in 2015. The release of Ubuntu 11.04 with the very Mac-like Unity interface probably made this project redundant.
Not long after the Cinnamon desktop was started as part of Linux Mint, there was interest in creating an Ubuntu derivative. One early effort was called Cubuntu, which was started in 2012 and had its last release in 2017. Its successor is Ubuntu Cinnamon, now an official flavor. The last release is still available on SourceForge.
Emmabuntüs was originally based on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS when introduced in 2012. There was also an LXDE version based on Lubuntu. In 2014, it became based on Xubuntu and since 2016 it has been Debian-based. It is named for Emmaüs, a secular global solidarity movement named for a biblical story, plus Ubuntu. It is aimed at reclaimed, used computers for humanitarian work.
Also from 2012 was the Ubuntu Rescue Remix from Canada, a version of Ubuntu that included a collection of system rescue and recovery tools. The last version was 12.04.
Ubuntu Booloki Remix 3.2 was a minimal CD-based operating system, with no graphical interface, just command line and based on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. That sole release was made in 2012.
Mubuntu was a single release made in 2013, using the MATE desktop in place of Unity on top of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. The developer working on Mubuntu was invited in 2014 to join the team that was working on the Ubuntu MATE official flavor.
2013 was also the year that SecUntu was introduced. This was a minimal live CD version with tools for online safety. It included Firefox, but also Google Chrome. Based on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, there have been no further releases.
XPubuntu was a one-shot 2014 attempt to create an Ubuntu derivative that looked and worked just like the discontinued Microsoft Windows XP. It was based on Lubuntu 14.04 LTS and even used Microsoft’s well known “Bliss” wallpaper and a menu button marked “start”.
Matuntu is a Russian language distribution based on Ubuntu and using the MATE desktop. It was started in 2014 and is still active.
Wubuntu, also called Windows Ubuntu, is a version of Ubuntu that is intended to have an interface that is very similar to Microsoft Windows 11. In includes the Wine compatibility layer to run Windows applications and uses your choice of the KDE Plasma 5 or Cinnamon desktop. It is a “freemium” operating system, with the base version free and then a one-time $35 fee for all the “power toys” features. Around since at least 2014, it is still active.
Kodibuntu was a distribution based on Ubuntu, using the Kodi media and entertainment hub software for running TVs and such. The last version came out in 2016.
2017 saw the release of Slybuntu, based on Lubuntu 16.04.2, with the aim of being a fast and safe distribution for home users. This British effort included the Whisker menu and the Xfce panel from Xubuntu. It is still on SourceForge for download, but has not been developed since 2017.
Retrobuntu also came out in 2017. Based on Xubuntu 16.04 LTS and aimed at retro-gaming, it included Retropie and Kodi, but no actual games. The last release was in 2017.
Bluebuntu was an Ubuntu version from the United States that had an interface very similar to Microsoft Windows but development ended in 2019.
Ubuntu Web is a project to create a browser-based distribution to compete with Google’s ChromeOS. It was introduced in 2020 and based upon Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. I did a review of it in Full Circle 166 and, at the time, questioned whether there would be another release or not. There were a couple of updated 20.04 minor point releases, the last one being 20.04.4, but nothing more since March 2022.
Also from 2020 was UbuntuEd from India designed to fill in for Edubuntu after development of that official flavor stopped in 2014. But Edubuntu returned in 2023 and UbuntuEd was discontinued.
UwUntu has had two releases, 21.05 and 22.10. It is a class project by two students from Spain to create a “weeaboo” version of Ubuntu, meaning one infused with Japanese culture. The first release was in May 2021 and the last in October 2022. It is not clear if it is still active or not.
iBuntu is yet another attempt to take Ubuntu with the KDE desktop and make it look and work just like MacOS, including using Mac-like icon sets. It was still under active development in 2023.
I think from reading through this list, it is pretty clear that Ubuntu acts as a catalyst, providing a solid starting base and spurring others on to further development. Some of these projects have grown into lasting official flavors, while the majority have spluttered out, but all are a testament to the benefits of open, collaborative software.