CRUX Linux (simply CRUX for now on) is a source-based Linux distribution created by Per Liden, targeting advanced and intermediate users.
As reported on CRUX Website, the main philosophy behind the distribution is to "keep it simple". Update: Screenshots added.Disclaimer: I've been a CRUX Linux user for a while and I recently became a CLC (Crux Linux Community) maintainer, though I still think of myself more as a user than a contributor. That said, I'll try to be as impartial as possible writing this review.
Supported Platforms
The official CRUX distribution is available for i686 systems only; however a contributed i586 ISO image is available and a PPC port is on the final stage (rc3 at the time I'm writing)and should be available soon at http://www.crux-it.org.
I just finished installing CRUX in a Dell Dimension 8100 PIV 1400MHz with 256 MB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce MX 64Mb, two Maxtor 20GB Hard Disks; PS/2 mouse and keyboard. I'll use this machine as a reference.
The other machine I loaded with CRUX is a notebook:
Dell Inspiron 5000, 256MB of RAM, ATI Rage Mobility 2P
and 6GB Hard Disk, optical USB Mouse.
I installed the latest version available: CRUX Linux 1.2
Since to use CRUX you must compile your own kernel and modules, the hardware compatibility list is basically the same as the Linux kernel.(2.4.21 on the tested release). No third-party modules are available on the CD, in case of unsupported hardware the only option is to fetch the drivers from another machine. The bootable CD-Rom kernel is compiled with a relatively small set of options, that should be enough to boot the machine and proceed with installation.
InstallationIt seems that today every review about a Linux distribution has to begin with the Installation procedure. With CRUX this section will be quite different as there isn't a real installation program.
After booting the CD, you'll basically have to:
- login as root to a bash prompt;
- use fdisk or cdisk to edit your disk partition(s)
- initialize your filesystem (including swap partitions)
- mount the partition you want to install CRUX onto
- launch the Setup script
The Setup script will show a simple list of available packages
you can choose to install on your system. Notably, you can initially
choose if you want a fresh installation or an upgrade from a previous
release. From my past experience I can say that upgrades work
as expected; I never found particular problems during the procedure.
The Setup script took less than 10 minutes to complete on the
tested machine.
See next section for a brief list of available packages.
At this point, manual editing of some configuration files
is needed (i.e. /etc/fstab, /etc/rc.conf). Vi or pico are
the available editors during setup.
Next step is to reboot the machine and compile your
custom kernel; after this you're ready to boot the final
system for the first time.
Packages are divided in two categories:
- base: around 30 packages necessary to build a barebones
system: zlib, gcc, glibc, sed, binutils, etc. and few standard
daemons: cron, sendmail.
- opt: again about 30 packages with optional software: xfree86,
openssh, windowmaker, gtk, mozilla, cdrtools, etc.
The default (and only) window manager is WindowMaker. The
screenshot in this page shows the default desktop.
As you can see the "keep it simple" motto is reflected in the number
of packages available. The ISO image is less than 200MB and only a
small set of carefully chosen applications is available.
But don't worry: a selection of additional packages
is available through the port system.
- "CRUX, Page 1"
- "CRUX, Page 2"
Related Articles
Technology White Papers
"At the end of a week in which Electronic Arts confirmed it wasn't developing a thing for the Wii U, one of the software engineers in EA Sports' Canada studio, in a series of since-deleted tweets, disparaged the console as 'crap' and suggested Nintendo should give up on hardware altogether. 'The Wii U is crap. Less powerful than an Xbox 360. Poor online/store. Weird tablet', tweeted Bob Summerwill, listed as a senior software engineer at EA Canada, in a reply to a tweet posting a link about EA's no-Wii U news. 'Nintendo are walking dead at this point'." The Wii U is turning into the 21st century's Virtual Boy.
0 "In NixOS, the entire operating system - the kernel, applications, system packages, configuration files, and so on - is built by the Nix package manager from a description in a purely functional build language. The fact that it's purely functional essentially means that building a new configuration cannot overwrite previous configurations. Most of the other features follow from this." Interesting approach. A Linux distribution, sure, but with some very refreshing ideas about system configuration.
Appfour added, among other features, C/C++ support to its new version of AIDE. From Android-IDE, "Now you can write parts of your app or your whole app in C/C++ on your device. AIDE supports the Standard Android NDK toolchain (GCC 4.6 + Bionic, STL, ...). No changes are necessary if you want to build an app developed on a PC with Eclipse. C/C++ development is fully integrated: Build errors appear in the error list and files can easily be navigated to with Go to file. The editor supports C/C++ syntax highlighting."
Ars nails it: "The answer is that Google did announce what amounts to a fairly substantial Android update yesterday. They simply did it without adding to the update fragmentation problems that continue to plague the platform. By focusing on these changes and not the apparently-waiting-in-the-wings update to the core software, Google is showing us one of the ways in which it's trying to fix the update problem."
"It is good for programmers to understand what goes on inside a processor. The CPU is at the heart of our career. What goes on inside the CPU? How long does it take for one instruction to run? What does it mean when a new CPU has a 12-stage pipeline, or 18-stage pipeline, or even a 'deep' 31-stage pipeline? Programs generally treat the CPU as a black box. Instructions go into the box in order, instructions come out of the box in order, and some processing magic happens inside. As a programmer, it is useful to learn what happens inside the box. This is especially true if you will be working on tasks like program optimization. If you don't know what is going on inside the CPU, how can you optimize for it? This article is about what goes on inside the x86 processor's deep pipeline."
"It was the only moment I heard regret slip into Otellini's voice during the several hours of conversations I had with him. 'The lesson I took away from that was, while we like to speak with data around here, so many times in my career I've ended up making decisions with my gut, and I should have followed my gut,' he said. 'My gut told me to say yes.'" The world would've been a much different place - Apple would have been less dependant on Samsung for its chips, which probably would've meant less money for Samsung to develop its Galaxy business.Glass is getting some love at Google I/O as well. New applications have been released - Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Elle, Tumblr, and CNN. Perhaps more interesting: the newly announced Google Glass Developer Kit will allow offline applications and direct hardware access - great for hacking and expanding Glass' potential. This kit will really allow hackers to put Glass through its paces."But Beck and Merrill decided that simply banning toxic players wasn't an acceptable solution for their game. Riot Games began experimenting with more constructive modes of player management through a formal player behavior initiative that actually conducts controlled experiments on its player base to see what helps reduce bad behavior. The results of that initiative have been shared at a lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and on panels at the Penny Arcade Expo East and the Game Developers Conference." Absolutely fascinating stuff. I'm a League of Legends player, and to be honest, the community isn't nearly as bad as some make it out to be. I'm happy Riot games has the guts to employ science to address the issue.
"Android and iOS, the number one and number two ranked smartphone operating systems worldwide, combined for 92.3% of all smartphone shipments during the first quarter of 2013 as Windows Phone crept past BlackBerry for 3rd place. According to the International Data Corporation Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Android smartphone vendors and Apple shipped a total of 199.5 million units worldwide during 1Q13, up 59.1% from the 125.4 million units shipped during 1Q12." Windows Phone doubles from a few to twice few, iOS loser market share as its growth is slower than that of the overall market. BlackBerry continues slide into irrelevance."According to the latest research from our Wireless Smartphone Strategies service, global Android smartphone profits reached US$5 billion in total during the first quarter of 2013. Samsung dominated and captured an impressive 95 percent share of all Android smartphone profits." Wow.