Ade Malsasa Akbar contact
Senior author, Open Source enthusiast.
Friday, January 4, 2019 at 22:58


If you want to redistribute (or, sell) GNU/Linux distros in CD or USB media, it's safe to include it with source code CDs. The problem is, some very popular GNU/Linux distros like Manjaro or even PureOS does not provide source code ISO (at least for now), so you can not easily download the source ISO to burn them to CD (you should do it manually from source repositories). In order you want to know which popular distros with source code ISO CD available, I compile this list for you. Among them are Trisquel, Debian, Slackware, Ubuntu, and KDE Neon. I include here their respective download links and some additional information.

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1. Trisquel


Source code ISO:

2. Debian


Source code ISO:

Source code ISO for Live Editions (GNOME, KDE, XFCE, LXDE, MATE, Cinnamon):


3. Slackware


Source code ISO:

4. Ubuntu


Source code ISO:
Special note: Official Flavors (K/X/Lubuntu, Ubuntu MATE/Budgie/Studio/Kylin) do not provide their respective source code ISOs and they do not point out clearly where to obtain; but all are included in one place within all source code ISOs above per release version. You can check, for example, source code of Kubuntu 18.04 is available on Source DVD2 of 18.04 along with Ubuntu MATE's source code and others'.

5. KDE neon


Source code ISO:

List of Distros Without Source Code ISO


Here's my compilation of distros I found out with no source CDs aside from binary CDs available. In other words, you can download binary ISO of them, but you cannot download the source ISO corresponding every release. Technically, you should create your own "source CD" by manually downloading the source packages from their respective source repositories. Please give me information if you know otherwise so I can revise these. I would be very glad if there is more distro to provide source code ISO. Thank you!

  • Mint
  • elementary OS
  • deepin
  • Fedora
  • openSUSE
  • Solus
  • Mageia
  • OpenMandriva
  • MX
  • CentOS
  • Manjaro
  • PureOS
  • UTUTO
  • EndlessOS
  • KNOPPIX
  • BlankON
  • IGOS Nusantara


This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.