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The LWN distribution survey is a tool to gather comparable
information about Linux distributions. All provided surveys
will be made publicly available in their entirety. They
are dated, so that multiple versions of a survey for a
specific distribution can exist, providing historical
information.
______________________________________________________________________________
Survey Date:
2000.02.06
Name of person providing information:
Wookey
E-mail address:
wookey@aleph1.co.uk
Connection with this distribution:
(note, survey information from distribution creators/developers
will replace information from other interested parties, wherever
available.)
Creator
1. What is the name of your distribution?
Aleph ARMlinux
What is the website for your distribution?
http://www.aleph1.co.uk/armlinux/distros.html
2. What is the derivation of your distribution?
_ SLS
_ Slackware
_ Jurix
_ Red Hat
X Debian
_ rolled from scratch
_ other (Please name: )
2a. If you answered anything besides "rolled from scratch", do
you still consider your distribution "tied" to its derivation,
e.g., you release updates to your distribution based on updates
from the original distribution?
Yes (for the Desktop variants).
2b. If you answered "rolled from scratch" or other,
do you use a package management system?
If yes, which one?
3. What languages do you support? Please list, including English,
if appropriate.
Our Docs are all in English, although language support in te distro itself is
Debian current support (85 languages varying from very complete to barely started).
4. Would you classify your distribution as a "mini"-distribution?
(This is a very flexible term, covering Linux distributions
sized for a floppy or smaller, up through CD or disk-based
Linux distributions that are on the small size. It is more a
matter of perception, in terms of whether you define the
distribution partially by its small size compared to generic
distributions like Debian, Red Hat, et al.)
_ yes
X no
4a. If you answered yes to the above, please mark any of the
following that are applicable:
_ CD-based, e.g., intended to be booted from and run directly
from a CD without requiring a hard disk.
_ Disk-based, small, but intended to be run from a hard disk.
Presumably too large for a floppy.
_ Floppy-based
How many floppies for the base distribution?
How many floppies for supported add-ons?
_ Flash-disk-based
_ Other
Please explain:
5. Hardware Support. Please mark all the hardware platforms that
your distribution supports.
_ Alpha
X ARM
_ IBM S/390
_ Intel x86/Pentium
_ IA64
_ NEC Mobile Gear PDAs
_ Sparc
_ Sparc64
_ PowerPC
_ PowerPC G4
_ RS/6000
_ Microcontrollers
_ Other, please list:
5a. For what hardware platforms do you provide optimized binaries,
if any?
none - we provide generic ARM binaries.
6. Why did you decide to produce a Linux distribution?
The only one existing for ARM was very old (aout/RedHat3 vintage) and
done by a hacker for hackers. We felt that a professionally supported
and documented up-to-date distro was something people wanted and was
necessary to spread the user base. The Debian ARM effort (primarily by
Netwinder people) made this possible.
7. What is the target audience for your distribution?
Risc PC users.
8. Would you consider your distribution to be:
X general purpose, e.g., useful for servers, desktops, and
requiring tailoring for specific purposes.
_ special purpose, e.g., specifically tailored for a single
functionality or a small group of functionalities.
8a. If you consider your distribution to be special purpose,
below are a list of possible purposes. Please check all that
apply and add any that are missing:
_ Appliances, such as:
_ Communications Server
_ Router/Firewall
_ Web Cache
_ DOS/Windows support, via:
_ DOS partition
_ DOS/Windows install, separate boot
_ Windows Users, accessible from Windows
_ Diskless Terminal support
_ Education/Schools
_ Ease-of-use, for non-technical users
_ Embedded Systems
_ High-end and Cluster computing
_ Non-exportable crytographic support
_ Older, slower hardware (pre-Pentium, for example)
_ Optimized performance
_ Reduced memory usage
_ Rescue disk
_ Security
_ Targeted user market, such as:
_ ISPs
_ E-commerce sites
_ Highly Experienced, Technical users
_ Physically challenged
_ other
9. Who are the primary developers for your distribution?
Please provide email addresses.
Wookey wookey@aleph1.co.uk
Chris Rutter chris@fluff.org
Tak-Shing Chan chan@aleph1.co.uk
Peter Naulls peter@erble.freeserve.co.uk
Phil Blundell philb@gnu.org
9a. How many developers in total are working on the distribution?
Difficult to say as the line between us and Debian-arm is very blurred.
Directly 'about 2' is probably fair. Indirectly 'about 6'
9b. How many of these developers are working full-time?
one (termtime), three out of university term
10. Is there a packaged or commercial version of your distribution
for sale? if so, please gives the names and URL's of the
company or companies that provide it.
This is, essentially, the packaged commercial version of Debian for ARM.
Aleph One Ltd
http://www.aleph1.co.uk/armlinux/
11. What other Linux distributions do you consider to be
most similar in design goals and target audience?
Difficult question. The Rebel internal distribution for Netwinder is
the only other significant Desktop distribution but it only comes with
their machines (ie isn't available separately). The Debian-arm distro
is closest in many ways.
12. What version of the kernel are you currently shipping?
2.2.16-rmk3
13. What C libraries are you supporting:
X_ a.out
_ glibc
X glibc2
13a. Which C library is the default for your builds? (Check only one)
_ a.out
_ glibc
X glibc2
14. How large is your default installation?
~200MB
15. How many packages are provided, including both default and
optional packages?
~4200
16. Is there a paid support service available?
Yes, install support included with distro.
17. If appropriate, in what area, geographically, are the
developers and/or company located?
Cambridge, UK
18. When was your distribution first made available on the
Internet?
<fx: guilty> It isn't all yet. Most of the parts that are
different from Debian are, but CD images are not yet uploaded (our
pipe and websapce are too feeble - soon to be fixed)
18a. If it is available on CD, when was it first made available on CD?
December 2000
18c. When was it first publicly announced?
December 2000
19. Do you have any documentable statistics on usage that you
could share? Such as downloads, commercial box sales, etc.
Commercial sales: ~70 so far (~8 weeks)
20. Does this distribution conform to the Linux Standards Base
as published so far or the File Hierarchy Standard?
Almost entirely - it is certainly the intention, although there seem
to be a few things that Debian and the LSB-FHS test suite disagreed on
and were being worked out (oct 25th 2000)
20a. If your distribution only partially conforms with the
LSB/FHS, please describe what portions it conforms with
and in what instances it does not conform (and why, if
you wish to give that background).
See discussion at:
http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0010/msg01440.html
21. Optional Description:
Aleph ARMlinux is a full, modern (elf, Debian 2.2-based) distribution
for RISC OS machines. Currently supports Acorn/Castle Risc PCs (see
web compatibility list to check your particular hardware). It includes
thousands of applications on 3CD (binary), 3 more for source. It is
supplied with the 'Guide to ARMlinux' book which has clear
installation instructions and teaches Linux basics from a RISCOS
perspective along with other useful info.
22. Optional Comments:
23. Any questions specific to the distribution?