Linux distribution
Crux 3.7
Michael Reed examines a Linux distro that caters for experts as well as intermediate users who want to improve their Linux skills.
IN BRIEF
Crux is the sum of the system itself and the instructions to make a working system. It’s both a learning tool and a utility for building a custom system.
SPECS
CPU: x86-64 Mem: 1GB HDD: 20GB
The text-mode Crux installer script simply installs packages from the installation medium and nothing else – a sensible job for a helper script.
Crux is a minimalist distro that expects a lot from you in terms of manual installation and configuration. The bootable ISO image provides a textmode live environment, and it’s up to you to follow the official setup instructions, which resemble a long tutorial document. The distro itself is lightweight and uses a sourcebased packaging system and a simplified set of init scripts. In other words, most aspects of the start-up scripts and system configuration are simple enough to manipulate in a text editor. As well as offering an excellent learning opportunity, Crux can be used to build a minimalist Linux system with your own preferred set of components.