Amazon Linux vs Ubuntu

Overview

Ubuntu

Stacks80.4K

Followers59.1K

Votes468

Amazon Linux

Stacks145

Followers149

Votes0

Amazon Linux vs Ubuntu: What are the differences?

Amazon Linux and Ubuntu are two popular Linux distributions commonly utilized for web hosting, server environments, and various other purposes. Let's explore the key differences between them.

Package Management: Amazon Linux employs the YUM package manager, which is native to Red Hat-based distributions. YUM provides a robust and reliable package management system, allowing for easy installation, updating, and removal of software packages. On the other hand, Ubuntu utilizes the APT package manager, which is native to Debian-based distributions. APT is known for its extensive software repositories and dependency management capabilities, making it an efficient tool for package management.
Updates and Support: Amazon Linux is designed specifically for Amazon Web Services (AWS) and is regularly updated and maintained by Amazon. It offers long-term support (LTS) releases, ensuring compatibility and stability for an extended period. Ubuntu, on the other hand, has a larger community of contributors and a more frequent release cycle. It offers both LTS and standard releases, providing users with a balance between cutting-edge features and long-term support.
Default Software Stack: Amazon Linux is optimized for server environments and focuses on providing a minimalistic base setup. It comes with a slimmed-down software stack, including essential components such as the Apache web server and the MySQL database. In contrast, Ubuntu offers a more comprehensive software selection, including a wider range of pre-installed applications and development tools. It provides a versatile platform suitable for various use cases.
Security Updates: Both Amazon Linux and Ubuntu place significant emphasis on security by regularly releasing updates and patches. However, Amazon Linux follows a strict security policy and may implement security patches more rapidly, considering its association with AWS. Ubuntu, on the other hand, has a well-established community-driven security team, ensuring timely updates and maintaining a high level of security.
System Requirements: Amazon Linux is built to be lightweight and optimized for cloud environments. It has lower system requirements and consumes less memory and disk space compared to Ubuntu. This makes it a favorable choice for resource-constrained environments or instances with limited compute resources. On the other hand, Ubuntu offers a more feature-rich experience and may require higher hardware specifications to deliver optimal performance.

In summary, Amazon Linux is tailored specifically for Amazon Web Services (AWS) environments, offering seamless integration with AWS services and optimized performance for cloud-based applications. Ubuntu, on the other hand, is a versatile and widely-supported distribution suitable for a variety of use cases, from desktop computing to server hosting, with a large community and extensive package repository, making it a flexible choice for both personal and enterprise needs.

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Advice on Ubuntu, Amazon Linux

Jerome/Zen

Software Engineer

Aug 2, 2020

Decided

Global familiarity, free, widely used, and as a debian distro feels more comfortable when rapidly switching between local macOS and remote command lines.

CentOS does boast quite a few security/stability improvements, however as a RHEL-based distro, differs quite significantly in the command line and suffers from slightly less frequent package updates. (Could be a good or bad thing depending on your use-case and if it is public facing)

271k views271k

Comments

Simon

Developer Advocate at k6 / Load Impact

Mar 7, 2020

Decided

At the moment of the decision, my desktop was the primary place I did work. Due to this, I can't have it blow up on me while I work. While Arch is interesting and powerful, Ubuntu offers (at least for me) a lot more stability and lets me focus on other things than maintaining my own OS installation.

299k views299k

Comments

Govind

Aug 5, 2020

Decided

Ubuntu is much more faster over Windows and helps to get software and other utilities easier and within a short span of time compared to Windows.

Ubuntu helps to get robustness and resiliency over Windows. Ubuntu runs faster than Windows on every computer that I have ever tested. LibreOffice (Ubuntu's default office suite) runs much faster than Microsoft Office on every computer that I have ever tested.

270k views270k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Ubuntu	Amazon Linux
Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning ‘humanity to others’. It also means ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. The Ubuntu operating system brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the world of computers.	The Amazon Linux AMI is a supported and maintained Linux image provided by Amazon Web Services for use on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2).
-	AWS Integration;Secure Configuration;Package Repository Access;Security Updates;Lightweight;AWS Support
Statistics
Stacks 80.4K	Stacks 145
Followers 59.1K	Followers 149
Votes 468	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 230 Free to use 96 Easy setup for testing discord bot 57 Gateway Linux Distro 54 Simple interface 9 Don't need driver installation in most cases Cons 5 Demanding system requirements 4 Adds overhead and unnecessary complexity over Debian 2 Snapd installed by default 1 Systemd	No community feedback yet
Integrations
No integrations available	Amazon EC2

What are some alternatives to Ubuntu, Amazon Linux?

Debian

Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel or the FreeBSD kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide. FreeBSD is an operating system including a kernel and other software.

Arch Linux

A lightweight and flexible Linux distribution that tries to Keep It Simple.

Fedora

Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that provides users with access to the latest free and open source software, in a stable, secure and easy to manage form. Fedora is the largest of many free software creations of the Fedora Project. Because of its predominance, the word "Fedora" is often used interchangeably to mean both the Fedora Project and the Fedora operating system.

Linux Mint

The purpose of Linux Mint is to produce a modern, elegant and comfortable operating system which is both powerful and easy to use.

CentOS

The CentOS Project is a community-driven free software effort focused on delivering a robust open source ecosystem. For users, we offer a consistent manageable platform that suits a wide variety of deployments. For open source communities, we offer a solid, predictable base to build upon, along with extensive resources to build, test, release, and maintain their code.

Linux

A clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit team of hackers across the Net. It aims towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification compliance.

CoreOS

It is designed for security, consistency, and reliability. Instead of installing packages via yum or apt, it uses Linux containers to manage your services at a higher level of abstraction. A single service's code and all dependencies are packaged within a container that can be run on one or many machines.

Gentoo Linux

It is a free operating system based on either Linux or FreeBSD that can be automatically optimized and customized for just about any application or need.

Alpine Linux

Alpine Linux is a security-oriented, lightweight Linux distribution based on musl libc and busybox.

Manjaro

It is an accessible, friendly, open-source Linux distribution and community. Based on Arch Linux, it provides all the benefits of cutting-edge software combined with a focus on getting started quickly, automated tools to require less manual intervention, and help readily available when needed.

Related Comparisons

Amazon Linux vs Ubuntu: What are the differences?

Amazon Linux and Ubuntu are two popular Linux distributions commonly utilized for web hosting, server environments, and various other purposes. Let's explore the key differences between them.

Package Management: Amazon Linux employs the YUM package manager, which is native to Red Hat-based distributions. YUM provides a robust and reliable package management system, allowing for easy installation, updating, and removal of software packages. On the other hand, Ubuntu utilizes the APT package manager, which is native to Debian-based distributions. APT is known for its extensive software repositories and dependency management capabilities, making it an efficient tool for package management.
Updates and Support: Amazon Linux is designed specifically for Amazon Web Services (AWS) and is regularly updated and maintained by Amazon. It offers long-term support (LTS) releases, ensuring compatibility and stability for an extended period. Ubuntu, on the other hand, has a larger community of contributors and a more frequent release cycle. It offers both LTS and standard releases, providing users with a balance between cutting-edge features and long-term support.
Default Software Stack: Amazon Linux is optimized for server environments and focuses on providing a minimalistic base setup. It comes with a slimmed-down software stack, including essential components such as the Apache web server and the MySQL database. In contrast, Ubuntu offers a more comprehensive software selection, including a wider range of pre-installed applications and development tools. It provides a versatile platform suitable for various use cases.
Security Updates: Both Amazon Linux and Ubuntu place significant emphasis on security by regularly releasing updates and patches. However, Amazon Linux follows a strict security policy and may implement security patches more rapidly, considering its association with AWS. Ubuntu, on the other hand, has a well-established community-driven security team, ensuring timely updates and maintaining a high level of security.
System Requirements: Amazon Linux is built to be lightweight and optimized for cloud environments. It has lower system requirements and consumes less memory and disk space compared to Ubuntu. This makes it a favorable choice for resource-constrained environments or instances with limited compute resources. On the other hand, Ubuntu offers a more feature-rich experience and may require higher hardware specifications to deliver optimal performance.

Amazon Linux vs Ubuntu

Overview