Rubix Linux 1.0 review

Rubix is a Linux distribution forked from Slackware Linux. It differs from its parent in that Rubix uses Arch Linux's 'pacman' for s

License: GPL (GNU General Public License) File size: 0K Developer: Joshua Rubin

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Rubix is a Linux distribution forked from Slackware Linux.

It differs from its parent in that Rubix uses Arch Linux's 'pacman' for simplified package management with dependency resolution and it has a completely revamped init system, maintaining the BSD style, but adding modularity.

What is Rubix?

It is a new Linux distribution that is something of a fork of Slackware 10.1.
It will branch off in its own direction very quickly, in many ways, it already has.
It maintains the Slackware traditions of Simplicity, Security and Stability.
It will run on all i486 hardware and newer and is optimized for i686.
It is designed to support mission critical hardware and be very admin friendly.
It is a great distribution for knowledgable *NIX users!
If you know Slackware, you will do great in Rubix!

How is Rubix different from Slackware?

Rubix uses Arch Linux's pacman for simplified package management with dependency resolution.
Rubix has completely revamped the init system, maintaining the BSD style, but adding modularity.
Rubix uses gcc 3.4.1 and compiles most packages with SSP (aka: ProPolice), and PIE (Position Independant Executable) wherever possible, but will never patch software just to make it compile with SSP andor PIE. This means that Rubix should not be thought of as a hardened distribution as many packages can not be compiled with SSP, however, it does mean that Rubix is harder than most. This logic makes most software more secure and does not require downstream patching for compatability, a major goal of Rubix.

What's New in This Release:
This is the inaugural release of the Rubix Linux operating system. Rubix Linux is distributed with the Linux kernel versions 2.6.15.5, 2.4.32 and 2.4.32-grsec. Rubix Linux is well equipped to serve in both desktop and server roles. Rubix has exceptional hardware detection with udev replacing hotplug for 2.6 kernels and the latest KDE desktop version 3.5.1. Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.1 and Thunderbird 1.5 are now the default web browser and email client. Rubix Linux also supports the best modern filesystems including ext2, ext3, JFS, XFS, ReiserFS and now Reiser4 (with 2.6 kernels) from installation.