Amazon Linux vs Solus

Amazon Linux is AWS’s portfolio of Linux-based operating systems for EC2 instances and Docker container workloads. Amazon Linux 2023 is an RPM-based general-purpose distribution designed for AWS integration and cloud scale. It is optimized for EC2 and works with Systems Manager and the AWS CLI. Versioned repositories lock machine images and container images to a package state while letting customers choose when to update. AWS provides an EC2 image launchable from the console, SDK or CLI, plus container images usable outside AWS, including local development. The distribution supports x86-64 and 64-bit ARM architectures, including Graviton2 or later on EC2, and uses DNF. AL2023 offers configurable SELinux and cryptographic policies, kernel live patching, and five years of support through June 2029. Amazon Linux 2027 is available as a public preview for non-production testing, with separate support limits.

Solus is a free, independent Linux operating system for home and office use on personal computers. It comes in Budgie, GNOME, Plasma and Xfce desktop editions. Budgie includes settings tools and Raven for notifications, media playback and sound-device controls; Xfce is intended as a lightweight option for less powerful hardware. Solus follows a stable rolling release model, with weekly updates that the project says are tested before release and do not require system reinstalls. It ships with Firefox, Thunderbird and LibreOffice, and supports Flatpak applications. The Software Center provides graphical software management, while eopkg handles package operations from the command line. Minimum requirements are a 64-bit x86-64 processor, 4 GB RAM and 10 GB free disk space. Solus is available as installable ISO images for physical computers, including desktops and laptops. Installation help is available through its documentation, Matrix community and forum. The project describes itself as volunteer-run and reliant on community donations.