The 7 Best Scientific Linux Distros Available in 2020

Scientific Linux distros are not very popular among mass people,
but they provide a huge value to the scientific community. As a
Linux user, you already know that there are at least a few hundred
of official and unofficial Linux distributions available to use
right now. Most of them are general-purpose distributions. Normally
Linux distros are very popular among
science enthusiasts and researchers. This is because of the
light-weight footprint and straight-cut productivity it provides.
^[1]

Of course, you can use any Linux distro for your research and
scientific works. All you have to do is to download your necessary
software and configure it accordingly. But scientific Linux
distributions are specially developed, keeping the scientists in
mind. These Linux distributions have all the necessary scientific
software preinstalled and configured.

This is why the researchers in the field of science and
technology don’t need to waste their valuable time configuring
their machine. They can easily utilize their Linux machine for the
betterment of mankind. Moreover, these are developed and maintained
by scientists all over the world who have a great appreciation for
the open-source software.

Best Scientific Linux
Distros

---

Migrating from one distro to another is not a pleasant task to
do. Because you have to clean install the distro and set up all the
things anew. So you have to think before you leap. There are a few
scientific Linux distros currently being maintained. These are
targeted at different kinds of scientists. If you are a researcher
of biological science, then Bio-Linux would be better. On the other
hand, if you are a robotics guy, then you may find Fedora Robotics
attractive. Because there you will find all your robotics software
preinstalled.

If you are a scientist or student of science and technology, you
should not stick to a general-purpose distro. You can choose a
scientific distro to boost up your research or academic stuff. But
here comes the most confusing part in which distro will be the
best. Hence we tried out and extensively tested 7 scientific Linux
distros that are best in their category and made a list in
non-chronological order. I hope this will help to find your next
daily driver.

1. Bio-Linux

---

Bio-Linux is a powerful Linux distribution for solving different
problems related to bioinformatics^[2]. Many researchers in the
field of biological science vastly depend on this Linux distro. It
is one of the most cited Linux distributions in different thesis
and scientific papers.

Though it is not based on the most recent version of Ubuntu, you
will get a very stable experience. This distro was developed by the
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, which is based in the United
Kingdom. You can install it along with other OS in dual boot
method, or even it can be run inside a virtual box. It has a sister
project named CloudBioLinux, which is used for cloud computing in bioinformatics.
^[3]

Key features of Bio-Linux

• Bio-Linux has more than 250 pre-installed tools related to
  biology and bioinformatics.
• It has almost 50 tools that support the graphical user
  interface for easier operation.
• This distro has the in-built Galaxy environment, which is used
  for browser-based data analysis and workflow construction.
• It supports running live from a bootable drive so that you can
  use it on the go.
•  The MATE desktop environment is the default in this
  distro for a better workflow.
• Apart from pre-installed packages, many other packages can be
  directly installed via C2D4U.

Get Bio-Linux^[4]

2. Fedora Robotics
Suite

---

Fedora Robotics Suite, also known as Robotics Suite, another
scientific distro which is a spin-off to the popular Linux
distribution Fedora. It is specially designed to use in the field
of robotics and engineering. Fedora Project, the developer of this
distro, is a community-driven organization that believes in
innovation and excellence. Their main distro Fedora has a very
special place among the Linux users.

Hence the Fedora Robotics Suite is no different because tons of
robotics libraries and software^[5] built into it. It also
provides you with some ready-made development environments and
simulators. You don’t need to be an experienced robotics engineer
to use this operating system. Rather if you have a keen interest in
the field of mechatronics, then this distro can help you with
developing your skills.

Key Features of Fedora Robotics
Suite

• The popular robotic server tool, Player, provides almost 130
  different device drivers for data processing and complex
  planning.
• The Robotics Suite is a complete software package pre-installed
  with Fedora that provides many useful tools for hardware
  enthusiasts.
• You will find all the common tools like Eclipse, Arduino IDE
  built-in with this distro.
• Fedora Robotics Suite has huge developer support that provides
  regular updates.
• If you find any problems regarding this distro, you can
  instantly get assistance from the expert users by its community and
  forum.

Get Fedora Robotics
Suite ^[6]

3. Fedora Astronomy
Suite

---

Fedora Astronomy Suite is another popular Fedora project. The
Fedora Labs is a dedicated project that brings different
purpose-driven Linux distributions for the special group o users.
It is normally built upon the latest possible, stable build of the
Fedora workstation. Fedora Astronomy Suite brings a complete suite of astronomy
Software^[7], which is very useful
for amateur and professional astronomers.

The setup ISO is a bit heavier than other regular distributions.
It’s because of the variety of preinstalled tools comes with the
vanilla installation. As always, it comes with the live image ready
option so that you can try it out before making a decision. From
the popular GIMP to the Kstars, which is a popular space simulation
software, you will find everything you need for your stargazing in
this distro.

Key Features of Fedora Astronomy
Suite

• It has an in-built Astropy python library for big data analysis
  related to space exploration.
• It gives users the option to try out the features from the next
  stable build via the Beta channel.
• The INDI library is a unique feature of this distro that
  provides the users an opportunity to control the astronomical
  apparatus.
• Redshift, AstrOmatic, Siril, Virtual Planet, Celestia, etc. are
  some of the best built-in software packages that are available in
  this distro.

Get Fedora Astronomy
Suite^[8]

4. Poseidon Linux

---

Poseidon was the God of Seas from Greek mythology who was also
known as Neptune to the Romans. In this modern world, a group of
young scientists from different parts of the world came along and
developed a Linux-based operating system for scientific purposes.
They named it Poseidon Linux because most of the developers were
Oceanologists. Isn’t it interesting!

Initially, this scientific Linux distro was based on Kurumin.
But currently, it is being developed and maintained based on
another popular distribution Ubuntu. This distro mainly focuses on
different types of GIS software. Apart from this, Poseidon Linux is
widely used in graphical modeling, visualization, statistical
analysis, etc.

Key Features of Poseidon Linux

• The core of the Poseidon Linux is Debian, which provides better
  system stability and more software support across different
  repositories.
• It is based on Ubuntu LTS, and this is why it is more
  accessible to mass users across different regions.
• The additional software packages to recommend to use with this
  distro can be easily found on the official website.
• The developer team members are scientists and researchers. This
  is why they know what a scientist wants and develops this distro
  according to that.

Get Poseidon
Linux^[9]

5. Fedora Scientific

---

Fedora Scientific is yet another Linux distribution built for
the science enthusiasts out there. It is a spin build upon the
basis of Fedora KDE. This distribution is maintained under the
banner of Fedora Science and Technology SIG. This project was
started by Amit Saha who is an avid Linux enthusiast and full-time
scientific researcher.

Amit Saha developed this distribution based on the idea that he
has to install a bunch of scientific tools for his research after
clean installing an operating system. Although this project was
just a mere solution to his problem, later it got huge support from
the Linux community. At present many people are involved in this
open-source project and it is highly appreciated by the scientific
community.

Key Features of Fedora
Scientific

• It features a wide range of scientific tools for Physics,
  Mathematics, and other branches.
• Fedora Scientific is a great distro for software engineers as
  it has some useful software built into it.
• It has a beautifully written online documentation^[10] that will help even the
  beginners to get started with this distro.
• There is a large Fedora community to help you with this distro
  if you face any problem.

Get Fedora
Scientific^[11]

6. Lin4Neuro

---

This is yet another popular scientific Linux distro. Lin4Neuro
is a Japanese Linux distribution for use in the field of
neuroimaging analysis. The latest version of Lin4Neuro is built
upon Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. It uses the same XFCE desktop environment^[12] which provides easy
operation. The founder and lead developer of this project are
Kiyotaka Nemoto. He is an Assistant Professor of the Medicine
Faculty of University of Tsukuba, Japan.

Though the latest version of this distro is old, it provides a
solid and stable output that makes the scientists leaning towards
this distro. Apart from the neuroimaging analysis, it has many
useful tools built-in that can help the researchers to continue
their research in life sciences.

Key Features of Lin4Neuro

• 3dSlicer, AFNI, Convert3d, DSI Studio, Virtual MRI, and
  different other useful neuroimaging software packages are built
  into it.
• If you use this for neuroscience then you will get support
  directly from the founder who is a veteran in this field.
• This trimmed distro is so lightweight that it takes lesser time
  than any other distro to boot up with all the tools.
• Many scientific papers have cited this Lin4Neuro numerous
  times. Hence you will find the solution to different problems and
  experiments using this software easily.

Get Lin4Neuro^[13]

7. CAELinux

---

CAELinux is an open-source operating system based on Linux. It
is designed and developed especially for the engineers who work
with computer-aided design software. This project was started in
2005 with the vision to make a platform that will help the
engineering community with simulation and design. It gained much
popularity, but nowadays the development is not active anymore.

But this distro provides so much stability and performance that
if you don’t care about the latest designed user-interface, then
you should try out this distro. With the LiveDVD feature of this
distro, you can make your computer and open engineering development
workstation without even installing it into your hard drive.

Key Features of CAELinux

• It has built-in design and simulation environments, including
  CAD, CAM, CFD, PCB design, and modern 3D printing.
• With the built-in PyCAM tool, you can easily make codes for
  controlling Computer Numerical Control machines for the
  manufacturing process.
• This is a very useful distro for the electronics and robotics
  lab where much precision needed because of its built-in advanced
  PCB and microcontroller design tools.
• This distro has built-in tools for simulating almost any modern
  physics phenomenon. This is why the STEM students will get many
  advantages using it.

Get CAELinux^[14]

Final Thoughts

---

The above mentioned scientific Linux distros provide a
productive environment for the researchers and science students to
work on their project. Although some of the above projects are no
longer officially maintained or in other words, the development is
no longer active. But they are so well optimized and stable that
these have become the comfort zone for many veteran researchers.
Many researchers are found who don’t want to migrate to modern
distros from these special-purpose Linux distributions.

We all know that the modern and general-purpose Linux distros
are being maintained regularly and provide a better value. Still,
you should give these scientific distros a try if you are a science
enthusiast or young researcher. All of them support booting from
the external drive so that you can try them out before making a
decision. And, if you are already a user of any of these distros,
don’t forget to comment on your experiences below.