Monthly archive

Most Popular Linux Distributions – August 2026

In August 2026, Starbuntu was the most-viewed operating system on OpenSourceFeed, ahead of CachyOS and EndeavourOS. GNOME Desktop Environment led the desktop environments. The biggest climber in the top 50 was Ubuntu, up from #98 to #18.

Aug 1, 2026 – Aug 31, 2026 · compared with July 2026

See the live ranking →

Operating Systems

#1 Starbuntu

Ubuntu-based

– 100/100

#2 CachyOS

Arch-based

Latest: CachyOS August 2026

▲ 2 75/100

#3 EndeavourOS

Arch-based

Latest: EndeavourOS Titan Nova

▲ 21 67/100

Biggest risers

Ubuntu #98 → #18 ▲ 80 places up from rank 98
Mageia #105 → #45 ▲ 60 places up from rank 105
Parsix GNU/Linux #96 → #37 ▲ 59 places up from rank 96

Biggest fallers

RedCore Linux #9 → #49 ▼ 40 places down from rank 9
KITE GNU/Linux #6 → #35 ▼ 29 places down from rank 6
PorteuX Linux #2 → #22 ▼ 20 places down from rank 2

1 Starbuntu Ubuntu-based Openbox –No change 100 out of 100
2 CachyOS Arch-based KDE PlasmaXfceMATE ▲ 2 places up from rank 4 75 out of 100
3 EndeavourOS Arch-based XfceMATECinnamon ▲ 21 places up from rank 24 67 out of 100
4 AerynOS (formerly Serpent OS) Independent GNOMECOSMIC ▲ 3 places up from rank 7 58 out of 100
5 MX Linux Debian-based XfceKDE PlasmaFluxbox ▲ 57 places up from rank 62 58 out of 100
6 Tails Debian-based GNOME ▲ 15 places up from rank 21 58 out of 100
7 4MLinux Independent Jwm ▲ 7 places up from rank 14 50 out of 100
8 Arch Linux Independent GNOMEKDE PlasmaMATE ▲ 25 places up from rank 33 50 out of 100
9 Clover OS or CloverOS Gentoo-based Fvwm ▲ 3 places up from rank 12 50 out of 100
10 CutefishOS Debian-based Cutefish ▲ 5 places up from rank 15 50 out of 100
11 Nitrux Linux Debian-based Hyprland ▲ 8 places up from rank 19 50 out of 100
12 ROSA Linux Independent GNOMEXfceKDE Plasma ▼ 9 places down from rank 3 47 out of 100
13 Debian Independent GNOMEKDE PlasmaXfce ▲ 15 places up from rank 28 44 out of 100
14 Gentoo Linux Independent BudgieCinnamonFvwm-crystal ▲ 3 places up from rank 17 44 out of 100
15 Fedora Linux Independent GNOMEKDE PlasmaMATE ▼ 10 places down from rank 5 42 out of 100
16 GhostBSD FreeBSD-based MATE ▼ 5 places down from rank 11 42 out of 100
17 NixOS Independent GNOMEKDE PlasmaXfce ▲ 3 places up from rank 20 42 out of 100
18 Ubuntu Debian-based UnityGNOMECutefish ▲ 80 places up from rank 98 42 out of 100
19 elementary OS Ubuntu-based Pantheon ▼ 6 places down from rank 13 39 out of 100
20 Linux Mint Ubuntu-based MATECinnamonXfce ▲ 30 places up from rank 50 39 out of 100
21 Lubuntu Ubuntu-based LXDELXQt ▲ 9 places up from rank 30 39 out of 100
22 PorteuX Linux Slackware-based CinnamonGNOMEKDE Plasma ▼ 20 places down from rank 2 39 out of 100
23 Zorin OS Ubuntu-based GNOMEXfce ▲ 34 places up from rank 57 39 out of 100
24 Antergos NeXT Arch-based KDE PlasmaCinnamonXfce ▼ 2 places down from rank 22 36 out of 100
25 Damn Small Linux (DSL) Antix-based FluxboxJwm ▼ 15 places down from rank 10 36 out of 100
26 UbuntuDDE Remix Ubuntu-based Deepindesktop ▲ 10 places up from rank 36 36 out of 100
27 CRUX Independent Openbox ▲ 41 places up from rank 68 33 out of 100
28 Kali Linux Debian-based XfceGNOMEKDE Plasma ▲ 20 places up from rank 48 33 out of 100
29 Kubuntu Ubuntu-based KDE Plasma ▲ 20 places up from rank 49 33 out of 100
30 Netrunner Debian-based KDE Plasma ▲ 43 places up from rank 73 33 out of 100
31 Sparky Linux Debian-based LXQtMATELXDE ▲ 24 places up from rank 55 33 out of 100
32 SteamOS Arch-based KDE Plasma ▲ 24 places up from rank 56 33 out of 100
33 Chakra Linux Independent KDE Plasma ▼ 6 places down from rank 27 31 out of 100
34 FreeBSD Independent ▲ 35 places up from rank 69 31 out of 100
35 KITE GNU/Linux Ubuntu-based GNOMELXDE ▼ 29 places down from rank 6 31 out of 100
36 Kodachi Linux Debian-based Xfce ▼ 18 places down from rank 18 31 out of 100
37 Parsix GNU/Linux Debian-based GNOME ▲ 59 places up from rank 96 31 out of 100
38 Pentoo Gentoo-based Xfce ▼ 7 places down from rank 31 31 out of 100
39 PureOS Debian-based GNOME ▼ 4 places down from rank 35 31 out of 100
40 Pop!_OS Ubuntu-based GNOME ▼ 8 places down from rank 32 28 out of 100
41 Solus Linux Independent BudgieXfceGNOME ▲ 36 places up from rank 77 28 out of 100
42 ArchBang Arch-based Openboxi3 ▲ 5 places up from rank 47 25 out of 100
43 deepin Debian-based Deepindesktop ▼ 20 places down from rank 23 25 out of 100
44 Linux From Scratch Independent ▲ 48 places up from rank 92 25 out of 100
45 Mageia Independent GNOMEKDE PlasmaXfce ▲ 60 places up from rank 105 25 out of 100
46 Porteus Slackware-based CinnamonMATEKDE Plasma ▲ 18 places up from rank 64 25 out of 100
47 Raspberry Pi OS Debian-based Labwc (wayland)Pixel (legacy) ▼ 8 places down from rank 39 25 out of 100
48 ReactOS Independent Windows 9x inspired desktop ▼ 7 places down from rank 41 25 out of 100
49 RedCore Linux Gentoo-based KDE Plasma ▼ 40 places down from rank 9 25 out of 100
50 Redox OS Independent Optional gui orbital ▲ 2 places up from rank 52 25 out of 100
51 TrueOS FreeBSD-based Lumina ▲ 27 places up from rank 78 25 out of 100
52 Apricity OS Arch-based CinnamonGNOME ▼ 44 places down from rank 8 22 out of 100
53 Enso OS Ubuntu-based Xfce ▼ 37 places down from rank 16 22 out of 100
54 feren OS Linuxmint-based Cinnamon ▼ 20 places down from rank 34 22 out of 100
55 Linux Lite Ubuntu-based Xfce ▲ 6 places up from rank 61 22 out of 100
56 Q4OS Debian-based TrinityKDE Plasma ▲ 19 places up from rank 75 22 out of 100
57 Sabayon Linux Gentoo-based KDE PlasmaGNOMEXfce ▲ 28 places up from rank 85 22 out of 100
58 Ubuntu Cinnamon Ubuntu-based Cinnamon ▲ 52 places up from rank 110 22 out of 100
59 antiX Debian-based IcewmFluxboxJwm ▼ 22 places down from rank 37 19 out of 100
60 NetBSD Independent ▲ 53 places up from rank 113 19 out of 100
61 Pardus Debian-based XfceGNOME ▲ 13 places up from rank 74 19 out of 100
62 Rhino Linux Ubuntu-based Unicorn ▲ 46 places up from rank 108 19 out of 100
63 Slackel Slackware-based OpenboxMATE ▲ 24 places up from rank 87 19 out of 100
64 Vanilla OS Debian-based GNOME ▲ 25 places up from rank 89 19 out of 100
65 ArcoLinux Arch-based XfceOpenboxi3 ▼ 7 places down from rank 58 17 out of 100
66 Arya Linux LFS-based MATEXfceGNOME ▲ 24 places up from rank 90 17 out of 100
67 Mauna Linux Debian-based XfceGNOMEMATE ▲ 3 places up from rank 70 17 out of 100
68 Neptune Debian-based KDE Plasma ▲ 4 places up from rank 72 17 out of 100
69 Oracle Linux Red Hat-based GNOME ▲ 26 places up from rank 95 17 out of 100
70 Raspbian Debian-based ▼ 30 places down from rank 40 17 out of 100
71 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Independent GNOME ▼ 20 places down from rank 51 17 out of 100
72 SpiralLinux Debian-based CinnamonXfceGNOME ▲ 37 places up from rank 109 17 out of 100
73 Trisquel GNU/Linux Ubuntu-based MATE ▼ 29 places down from rank 44 17 out of 100
74 ArchLabs Arch-based Openbox ▼ 36 places down from rank 38 14 out of 100
75 Calculate Linux Gentoo-based KDE PlasmaMATEXfce ▲ 7 places up from rank 82 14 out of 100
76 DragonFly FreeBSD-based AwesomeCinnamonFluxbox ▲ 35 places up from rank 111 14 out of 100
77 Endless OS Debian-based GNOME ▼ 52 places down from rank 25 14 out of 100
78 Gnoppix AI Linux Debian-based XfceGNOMEKDE Plasma ▲ 26 places up from rank 104 14 out of 100
79 KaOS Independent KDE Plasma ▼ 50 places down from rank 29 14 out of 100
80 KDE neon Ubuntu-based KDE Plasma ▲ 3 places up from rank 83 14 out of 100
81 Korora Fedora-based GNOMEKDE PlasmaMATE ▼ 21 places down from rank 60 14 out of 100
82 Manjaro Linux Arch-based KDE PlasmaXfceMATE ▲ 2 places up from rank 84 14 out of 100
83 OpenMandriva Independent KDE Plasma ▼ 20 places down from rank 63 14 out of 100
84 openSUSE Independent GNOMEKDE PlasmaXfce ▲ 10 places up from rank 94 14 out of 100
85 Tiny Core Linux Independent ▼ 42 places down from rank 43 14 out of 100
86 Antergos Arch-based CinnamonGNOMEKDE Plasma ▲ 15 places up from rank 101 11 out of 100
87 Archman Arch-based XfceMATEKDE Plasma ▼ 6 places down from rank 81 11 out of 100
88 Elive Linux Debian-based Enlightenment ▲ 15 places up from rank 103 11 out of 100
89 MakuluLinux Debian-based XfceCinnamon ▲ 23 places up from rank 112 11 out of 100
90 RefreshOS Debian-based KDE Plasma ▼ 48 places down from rank 42 11 out of 100
91 Shark Linux Debian-based MATE ▼ 38 places down from rank 53 11 out of 100
92 SolydXK Debian-based XfceKDE Plasma ▼ 4 places down from rank 88 11 out of 100
93 Ubuntu GNOME Ubuntu-based GNOME ▼ 48 places down from rank 45 11 out of 100
94 Ubuntu MATE Ubuntu-based MATE ▼ 28 places down from rank 66 11 out of 100
95 Ultimate Edition Ubuntu-based BudgieGNOMEKDE Plasma ▼ 28 places down from rank 67 11 out of 100
96 BackBox Linux Ubuntu-based Xfce ▼ 5 places down from rank 91 8 out of 100
97 Bodhi Linux Ubuntu-based Moksha ▲ 5 places up from rank 102 8 out of 100
98 Maui Linux Kdeneon-based KDE Plasma ▼ 5 places down from rank 93 8 out of 100
99 MidnightBSD FreeBSD-based LuminaGNOME ▼ 28 places down from rank 71 8 out of 100
100 NomadBSD FreeBSD-based Openbox ▲ 6 places up from rank 106 8 out of 100
101 PCLinuxOS Independent XfceKDE PlasmaMATE ▼ 75 places down from rank 26 8 out of 100
102 Salix Slackware-based Xfce ▼ 26 places down from rank 76 8 out of 100
103 Trident Trueos-based Lumina ▼ 38 places down from rank 65 8 out of 100
104 Ubuntu Budgie Ubuntu-based Budgie ▼ 25 places down from rank 79 8 out of 100
105 Voyager Live Debian-based GNOMEXfce ▼ 5 places down from rank 100 8 out of 100
106 Devuan GNU+Linux Debian-based Xfce ▼ 47 places down from rank 59 6 out of 100
107 Peppermint OS Debian-based LXDE ▼ 10 places down from rank 97 6 out of 100
108 Puppy Linux Independent JwmRoxfiler ▼ 1 places down from rank 107 6 out of 100
109 Siduction Debian-based KDE PlasmaXfceLXQt ▼ 23 places down from rank 86 6 out of 100
110 Slax Linux Debian-based Fluxbox ▼ 56 places down from rank 54 6 out of 100
111 Ubuntu Unity Ubuntu-based Unity ▼ 31 places down from rank 80 3 out of 100
112 Uruk GNU/Linux Pureos-based MATE ▼ 13 places down from rank 99 3 out of 100
113 Xubuntu Ubuntu-based Xfce ▼ 67 places down from rank 46 3 out of 100

Desktop Environments

#1 GNOME Desktop Environment

Latest: GNOME 51

– 100/100

#2 Cutefish Desktop

Desktop like macOS

▲ 4 50/100

#3 Cinnamon Desktop

Latest: Cinnamon 3.4 (Dead Link)

▲ 2 44/100

Biggest risers

LXQt Desktop Environment #15 → #7 ▲ 8 places up from rank 15
Budgie Desktop #12 → #4 ▲ 8 places up from rank 12
helloSystem #17 → #13 ▲ 4 places up from rank 17

Biggest fallers

Trinity Desktop #7 → #15 ▼ 8 places down from rank 7
MATE Desktop #2 → #8 ▼ 6 places down from rank 2
Pantheon Desktop #3 → #9 ▼ 6 places down from rank 3

1 GNOME Desktop Environment GNOME 51 –No change 100 out of 100
2 Cutefish Desktop ▲ 4 places up from rank 6 50 out of 100
3 Cinnamon Desktop Cinnamon 3.4 (Dead Link) ▲ 2 places up from rank 5 44 out of 100
4 Budgie Desktop Budgie Desktop 10.7 ▲ 8 places up from rank 12 42 out of 100
5 Xfce Xfce 4.20 ▼ 1 places down from rank 4 42 out of 100
6 Lumina Desktop Lumina Desktop 1.4.0 ▲ 2 places up from rank 8 33 out of 100
7 LXQt Desktop Environment LXQt 2.4.0 ▲ 8 places up from rank 15 33 out of 100
8 MATE Desktop MATE Desktop 1.20 ▼ 6 places down from rank 2 33 out of 100
9 Pantheon Desktop ▼ 6 places down from rank 3 28 out of 100
10 KDE Plasma Plasma 5.14.4 ▼ 1 places down from rank 9 25 out of 100
11 LXDE ▲ 3 places up from rank 14 17 out of 100
12 Deepin Desktop ▲ 1 places up from rank 13 14 out of 100
13 helloSystem ▲ 4 places up from rank 17 14 out of 100
14 Regolith Desktop ▼ 4 places down from rank 10 11 out of 100
15 Trinity Desktop ▼ 8 places down from rank 7 11 out of 100
16 Enlightenment –No change 8 out of 100
17 Moksha Desktop ▼ 6 places down from rank 11 6 out of 100

Rankings archive

Year in review 2025 2024 2023

2026 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct

2025 Nov Dec

Methodology

Data source: Page views of each distribution and desktop page on OpenSourceFeed during this calendar month, from the Google Analytics Data API. Hits on old or alias URLs are merged into the main page.
Popularity score: Each entry's page views divided by those of the #1 entry in the same list, scaled to 100.
Rank change: Compared with the rank in July 2026. “NEW” means the entry was not ranked then.
Frozen data: This page is a snapshot. It is not updated after the period ends; see the live ranking for current numbers.