By Gavin Wright Published: Oct 31, 2025 A Linux distribution -- often shortened to Linux distro -- is a complete operating system based on Linux. It is packaged with other components and software to make it fully usable out of the box. Because Linux is very modular, different distros will focus on different target use cases. Linux distributions, which are based on the Linux kernel, are often easier for users to deploy than the open source version of Linux.