Incoming distros

Endorsement Process

Distributions looking to join our list of Free GNU/Linux distributions will have their applications go through a review process with several steps. Their progress through this process will be tracked here on this page, so they can view where they are and what their next steps will be. If something goes awry, or if the distro just has questions about the process or particular issues, they can always contact the FSF licensing team <licensing@fsf.org>.

• The process begins with an application sent to <webmasters@gnu.org> for an initial review. The distro should be sent to this page at this point so they understand the process and can track their progress. The webmasters do a brief check to make sure that it is a legitimate application (i.e. the application is filed by the maintainers of the distro, and is not clearly incompatible with the criteria for endorsement).

• Once the webmasters have completed their initial check, they will send the distro to the Workgroup for fully free GNU/Linux distributions mailing list for a full review.

• Each distro at this point will be assigned an "application manager", an individual volunteer on the list who wants to take on the role of ensuring that their application continues to move forward. The application manager will be listed here on this page along with the distro, and make sure to update the distro's progress here as well. They should create a page using our FSDG Checklist Template for the distro, and create an entry linking to that page in the list below.

• Once the distro has passed the mailing list review, they will be sent to <licensing@fsf.org> for final brief review and endorsement. The final determination of whether a distro gains endorsement will be made by the FSF licensing team.

Distros ready for final review by the FSF

The following distros have been passed community evaluation for all FSDG criteria and are awaiting final review by the FSF licensing team.

• FreeSlack
  • https://freeslack.net/
  • freenode: #freeslack
  • email: melikamp@melikamp.com

• LibertyBSD
  • https://libertybsd.net/
  • freenode: #libertybsd
  • email: riley@openmailbox.org

Distros currently being evaluated by the community

The following distros have been accepted by the GNU web-masters as candidates for community evaluation on the mailing list.

Distros that have requested consideration

The following distros have expressed a commitment to following the "Free System Distribution Guidelines" and have requested consideration for endorsement. They have stable releases ready to be evaluated but their review has not yet begun.

• ConnochaetOS
  • http://www.connochaetos.org/
  • email: hjensen@connochaetos.org

• Hyperbola
  • https://www.hyperbola.info/
  • freenode: #hyperbola
  • email: emulatorman@hyperbola.info

Distros in development but not yet ready to be evaluated

The following distros are in active development and have expressed a commitment to following the "Free System Distribution Guidelines" and an interest in being recognized by the FSF as a freedom-respecting operating system but do not yet have stable releases available.

• Gnuinos
  • http://gnuinos.org/
  • email: aitor@gnuinos.org
  • currently in beta
  • freenode: <aitor> there will be a stable release of gnuinos in august

• Heads
  • https://heads.dyne.org/
  • email: heads@dyne.org
  • irc.dyne.org:9999 #heads
  • currently in beta
  • freenode: <parazyd> no ETA for stable release of heads

Distros that are defunct or do not comply with the GNU FSDG

The following distros were evaluated and turned out not to actually be interested in fully complying with the guidelines, and/or project development had stopped.

• RawGNU
  • http://sortedbits.org/?page=systembuilder - developers confirmed to Jason Self that project is stopped indefinitely; was also using the standard kernel, etc.

• GNU+Linux from Source Code
  • http://katofiad.co.nz/wiki/Main_Page
  • ALERT: dead link

• Tlamaki
  • http://www.tlamaki.org
  • ALERT: dead link

• DelphOS
  • http://wiki.delphosproject.org/ (dead link) - developers confirmed to Franco Iacomella that is not yet usable, 1dec2010.

• Ichigo GNU Linux
  • A free distribution for devices with limited resources such as single board computers and tablets with sunxi processors. It includes the latest reverse engineered drivers and uses a modified version of linux-libre. The free bootloader will support full NAND.