[ Thanks to Kevin
Reichard for this link. ]
“Is the Linux pie large enough for vendors to focus on a very
specific segment? Apparently so, if Elfstone Linux is any
indication. Elfstone Linux is a specialized distribution designed
for programmers, engineers, and network administrators. As such,
Elfstone Linux succeeds–albeit with some noticeable limitations
that should keep Elfstone Linux within its target audience.”
“Elfstone Linux is designed solely as a server operating
system. That means that no unnecessary software is included in the
distribution: no KDE, no GNOME, no gewgaws that could possibly
impair performance or get in the way of ultimate system
performance. The creators of Elfstone Linux describe it as the
most UNIX-like of the commercial Linux distributions, and based on
our scanning of the installed directories, we can’t argue with that
assessment. As Linux moves into the enterprise, there’s a great
virtue in a Linux distribution that closely hews to UNIX
conventions (Slackware Linux is renowned for this capability), and
this capability certainly distinguishes Elfstone Linux.”
“In fact, Elfstone Linux is so server-oriented that it’s not
designed to co-exist with another operating system on a machine:
when you install it, you install it to take over a machine’s entire
hard drive. No choices for partitioning or dual booting here: your
box goes straight into Elfstone Linux. The assumption is that your
system will not be going down any time soon: when you boot an
Elfstone Linux system, your entire hardware configuration is
scanned to make sure that no new components like RAID arrays were
installed. This auto-sensing wouldn’t make sense for a consumer
distribution that might be booted daily, but makes sense for a
Linux server situation where reboots are much less frequent.”