LWN DISTRIBUTION SURVEY
			     version 0.31

     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: 29 March 2001

Name of person providing information:  Clifford Wolf

E-mail address:  clifford@clifford.at

Connection with this distribution: Founding developer
   (note, survey information from distribution creators/developers
    will replace information from other interested parties, wherever
    available.)

1.   What is the name of your distribution?  ROCK Linux

     What is the website for your distribution?  www.rocklinux.org

2.   What is the derivation of your distribution?

    _ SLS

    _ Slackware

    _ Jurix

    _ Red Hat

    _ Debian

    X 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?

2b.  If you answered "rolled from scratch" or other,
     do you use a package management system?

     If yes, which one?

     ROCK Linux Packages  (tar.bz2 files containing the package and
	 additional files in var/adm/* which contain package meta information
	 needed for updating, removing and maintaining packages).
	 Reorganization of the packaging system is a work in progress.

3.   What languages do you support?  Please list, including English,
     if appropriate.

     All documentation is in English. Small parts have been translated
     also to other languages.  Packages which do come with i18n support are
	 installed with locale files for various languages, if available.

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.

     X Alpha

     _ ARM

     _ IBM S/390

     X Intel x86/Pentium

     _ IA64

     _ NEC Mobile Gear PDAs

     X Sparc (in development)

     _ Sparc64

     X PowerPC

     _ PowerPC G4

     X RS/6000

     _ Microcontrollers

     _ Other, please list:


5a.  For what hardware platforms do you provide optimized binaries,
     if any?

     ROCK Linux has an auto-build system. So you create an entire
	 distribution optimized for whatever hardware you want.

6.  Why did you decide to produce a Linux distribution?

    There was no such distribution like ROCK Linux and I wanted
    a distribution with the attributes ROCK Linux has:

    o A flexible build system which allows me to easily create a
      optimized distribution adopted for my special needs.

    o Subdistributions (mini-distributions or special-purpose distributions
      based on the main-distribution). There are hooks in the build scripts
      for creating sub-distribution. Examples for existig sub-distributions
      are:   (1) ROCK Linux Install Disks
             (2) ROCK Router Linux (a linux based router without the need
                 harddisk, install and setup in 5 minutes)
             (3) ROCK Read-Only Linux (ROCK Linux on read-only media like
                 cdroms, e.g. for surfstations)

    o No complex configuration tools which makes manual configuration of
      the system hard or impossible.

    o much more ...

7.  What is the target audience for your distribution?

    High skilled UNIX/Linux users, admins and developers.

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.

      Clifford Wolf, clifford@rocklinux.org
	  Skaar, skaar@rocklinux.org
	  Chris Hamilton, chris@rocklinux.org
      Ripclaw, ripclaw@rocklinux.org
	  Pjotr, pjotr@rocklinux.org

9a.  How many developers in total are working on the distribution?

      It's hard to give exact numbers here. Probably up to
      20 people who do development or send bugfixes on a regular base.

9b.  How many of these developers are working full-time?

      That's easy: 0

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.

      Frank CD-ROM:  http://www.pinguin.at/
      CDs also available from Ambiguous Computer Company Ltd:
	  www.ambigc.com (email chris@ambigc.com)

11.  What other Linux distributions do you consider to be
     most similar in design goals and target audience?

      Slackware and Debian

12.  What version of the kernel are you currently shipping?

      2.4.2

13.  What C libraries are you supporting:

     _ 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?

      about 1 GB

15.  How many packages are provided, including both default and
     optional packages?

      about 450

16.  Is there a paid support service available?

      No

17.  If appropriate, in what area, geographically, are the
     developers and/or company located?

      Worldwide. I do know of developers in Europe, Asia, South and
      North America, Africa and Australia.

18.  When was your distribution first made available on the
     Internet?

      1997 as "GNUX", since 1998 under the name "ROCK Linux"

18a. If it is available on CD, when was it first made available on CD?

      1999

18c. When was it first publicly announced?

      1998 on various mailing lists

19.  Do you have any documentable statistics on usage that you
     could share?  Such as downloads, commercial box sales, etc.

      No

20.  Does this distribution conform to the Linux Standards Base
     as published so far or the File Hierarchy Standard?

      Mostly.

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).

       The implementation of LSB is a work in progress. Not all
       packages have been completely checked and adopted so far.

21.  Optional Description:

   ROCK Linux is a modern Linux Distribution with a powerful auto-build
   process, mostly designed for skilled Linux/Unix Administrators and
   available for multiple platforms. ROCK Linux is a small distribution,
   but it's not a "mini distribution". It comes with over 200 packages
   including X11 and the GNOME Desktop - but excluding menu-driven
   configuration tools (most professional users prefer configuration
   files), but a reasonably well configured installation of Rock Linux
   should be useful for any computer user (even beginners). ROCK Linux is
   free under the terms of the GPL.

   The "ROCK Linux Guide" gives a good introduction to ROCK Linux:

     http://www.rocklinux.org/projects/doc/GUIDE/

22.  Optional Comments:

23.  Any questions specific to the distribution?