5 pioneering Linux distros that quietly faded into history
5 pioneering Linux distros that quietly faded into history
https://www.howtogeek.com/these-pioneering-linux-distros-quietly-faded-into-history/
Publish Date: 2026-06-21 08:33:00
Source Domain: www.howtogeek.com
While some Linux distros have stood the test of time, others have fallen by the wayside, remembered only by their users.
Nothing lasts forever, not even operating systems. This article will take a look at some distros that offered some innovative features, but for one reason or another, aren’t available anymore.
Yggdrasil Linux/GNU/X
Your first chance at live-booting
Live Linux distros are common these days. They’re popular because they let you try out a distro to see how it will work with your hardware before you commit to a hard drive installation. Yggdrasil Linux/GNU/X was the first to introduce a complete Linux system that you could run from a CD-ROM, when all of these technologies were still new to PCs in the early ’90s.
It was a much more complete system than the “root-boot” images that were floating around. At the time, DOS ruled supreme and Windows was becoming the premier operating environment on the PC. You could get Unix systems like Xenix, but they were incredibly expensive. Yggdrasil offered an easy way to try out Linux for a modest sum of $99, though if your software was included you could get it for free.
Softlanding Linux System
An early path away from Microsoft
Like Yggdrasil, Softlanding Linux System or SLS was one of the first commercially-produced Linux distributions. It was founded by developer Peter MacDonald in 1992, shortly after Linus Torvalds announced the original Linux kernel on Usenet in late 1991. Its slogan was “Gentle touchdowns for DOS bailouts.” You could buy it on CD-ROM or tape, as well as download floppy images, though you would need over 30 floppy disks for a complete installation.
While SLS offered the Linux kernel, GNU utilities, an X Window System server, and other utilities, all standard fare in modern Linux distros, it was also infamous for the number of bugs in the system. MacDonald…
