Pardus

Pardus is a Latin word meaning leopard and is used in biology as the scientific name Panthera pardus for the large spotted cat. Panthera pardus is a widely distributed felid native to Africa and parts of Asia. It inhabits a broad range of environments, from forests and scrub to grasslands and mountainous regions. Leopards are typically solitary and territorial, with a broad, muscular build and a coat pattern of rosettes or spots that helps camouflage them in their habitats. They are adaptable carnivores, preying on a variety of mammals and birds and often using trees as both vantage points and refuges. Reproduction is relatively slow, with females raising litters of cubs that stay with them for up to two years. The species faces threats from habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict, and poaching, and the IUCN lists Panthera pardus as Vulnerable, with some regional subspecies more endangered than others.

Pardus is also the name of a Turkish Linux distribution developed by the Pardus Project. It was created to provide a desktop-oriented operating system with strong Turkish-language support and an emphasis on security and usability for government, education, and general users. The distribution introduced the PiSi package manager and aimed to offer a coherent, localized computing experience with regular updates and institutional deployments. Through the 2000s and 2010s, Pardus released multiple major versions and supported national digital initiatives, while later development shifted toward community-driven efforts and ongoing maintenance of existing releases.