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Trustix, a Worthy Contender?
Linux.com (also owned by OSTG) is running a quick look at Trustix, a Linux distro designed for servers that focuses on ground up security and stability. From the article: "No operating system can claim to be completely secure. There will always be zero-day exploits, configurations errors, user errors, and other factors that can defeat the best security for any system. On the other hand, it's always good to start from a secure base and then add more security. Trustix provides a reliable and secure Linux distribution that you can build upon. There are no wasteful graphical displays and no wizards to set up your firewall. If you aren't comfortable with the command line, forget about Trustix. [...] That said, Trustix does a good job of keeping your system up-to-date, and if you have the required experience, you'll find that it's a robust distro. As a simple server distro with a high level of security and customizability, Trustix is a worthy contender."
Umm, I'd rather pick some other distros that are known for stable secure server platforms that have been around and tested than some new one that continues the string of terrible linux distro names.
Distributions are open source. Why develop yet another distribution rather than build upon the security of existing OSes? Why not develop a fork of a more popular--and known--distribution and opt not to package it with X, etc? I'm sure almost any of the distributions out there would welcome additional developers that focus on security and stability.
I'm all for the command line, and in fact like the flexibility of the command line, set-up files, etc.
But there's no doubt that with flexibility comes a lot of responsibility. And if you put responsibility in the hands of humans, then there will be an error somewhere along the way. If you want reliable security, not just potential security, it's a lot better to be able to just click the checkbox next to 'FTP' on a firewall dialogue than have to slog through iptable entries.
Sounds like these guys have the wrong philosophy. A server built for security makes sure that dumb administrators can't mess it up.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
It's an OpenBSD wannabee without the proven track record?
EVERYTHING starts without a track record. The only way to accumulate one is to go down to the track and start running.
Happy belated zeroeth birthday, Trustix!
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way