Pardus Linux is an open source distribution of Linux based on the Debian GNU/Linux operating system and sponsored by the Scientific & Technological Research Council of Turkey.
It comes with some unique features that are not available in other distributions, such as Mudur, a startup framework to speed up the boot process, and PiSi, an efficient package management system with a user-friendly graphical interface.
As its name suggests, this is a community-derived edition of the original Pardus Linux, designed to include a multilingual installer, smaller packages, faster updates, a powerful package manager, fast startup times, as well as new and up-to-date applications.
Distributed in multiple flavors
The system is distributed into two flavors, one with the GNOME desktop environment and another one with KDE Plasma Workspaces and Applications. Each edition is available for download as Live DVD ISO images in English and Turkish languages, supporting both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures.
Minimal boot menu
Both Pardus Linux Community Editions provide users with a minimalistic boot menu, allowing users to start the live environment with default settings or in safe graphics mode, in case the first option does not recognize the video card.
Default applications
The KDE edition is beautifully crafted, with a single taskbar on the bottom edge of the screen, and includes applications like TeamViewer, Skype, FileZilla, Chromium, Mozilla Firefox, PuTTY, Mozilla Thunderbird, Pidgin, Blender, GIMP, digiKam, Inkscape, Audacity, LibreOffice, Amarok, and VLC Media Player.
On the other hand, the GNOME flavor has been customized with a nice main menu and the same panel on the upper part of the screen. It includes almost the same applications that are found in the KDE edition, except for Deluge, Rhythmbox, Synaptic Package Manager, and the standard GNOME apps.
Bottom line
The conclusion is that Pardus Linux Community Edition is a great Linux distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux and designed for both KDE and GNOME enthusiasts. It can easily become your only operating system, suitable for high-end machines.
