Kwort Linux 4.3.4 review

In my endeavor to revisit lightweight Linux distributions I looked back on my old dream to try CRUX Linux distribution. Since my last attempt ended up in failure, I decided to look if there were any CRUX-based distributions around with the simplified installation process. With the help of DistroWatch.com filter I found that only two CRUX-based distributions existed. Between two of them, the Kwort Linux seemed like the one I may have been looking for. There were few uncertainties though:

• It wasn't clear if I would also need to build kernel during installation process similar to CRUX distribution.
• At that time the project homepage was down despite its relative recent release (2019-06-16), casting doubts if it will be maintained in the future.
• I wasn't sure how distribution's kpkg package manager operates, and if it is still maintained. Finally, I didn't know if I would be able to use CRUX ports system alongside with it. I believe together with BSD style init system it makes an essence of CRUX Linux and support for it was one of requirements to CRUX based distribution as well.

Nevertheless, I downloaded the ISO image from linuxtracker.org with the intention to try it out on my VIA EPIA-M900 motherboard later on. The ISO image is around ~917 MB in size. Fortunately, before my attempt, the homepage was partially restored with the documentation available in github (by the time I finished an article, the homepage is fully recovered and updated). It provided answers to some of those uncertainties except maintainability prospects of this small distribution. CRUX ports appeared to be supported to a certain extent, installation process didn't require to recompile the kernel as well. Furthermore, I also checked that kpkg mirrors were still updated regularly. All those factors combined gave a decent reason to try Kwort Linux.

The Kwort Linux did not have a "real" installer so to speak. Once booted, it automatically logins into console and gives a long message on the installation process. It can be always reprinted using "helpinstall" command. All the steps are manual: 1) first step is to partition the hard drive using one of fdisk/cfdisk (for MBR) or gdisk/cgdisk (for GPT) utilities. In my case I didn't need to partition hard drive since I just reused partitions used by previously installed SparkyLinux. 2) format partitions using mkfs. command; 3) mount those partitions to /mnt/install/ for root and /mnt/install/ for other partitions (if any); 4) run pkgsinstall command to install base packages; 5) use jumpOS command to chroot to your newly installed system; 6) finally configure your system by editing /etc/fstab, /etc/rc.conf (vim editor was available), creating users and installing bootloader (lilo or grub2 options are available). After all these steps, system installation is finished and computer can be rebooted.

In my case everything went smoothly and the newly installed system booted successfully. By default, kpkg package manager doesn't have any repositories, so the first command requires to install one. europa.kdb is available after installation and can be installed using kpkg instkdb /root/europa.kdb command. Alternative ctrl-c.kdb mirror was available here. After that, package manager is pretty simple to use kpkg update && kpkg upgrade will upgrade the system. Unfortunately, the package manager doesn't handle dependency management, thus, issues appeared right after the first upgrade. Several applications were failing to start citing missing library files. In all cases, I solved it by reinstalling those libraries. However, the challenge was to find the right package, as at times, few libraries were needed to be reinstalled before application started to work again. Another issue is that kpkg is pretty limited. During the time of writing this article, it had 203 packages only.

To partially circumvent missing packages, CRUX ports can be used. To achieve that, initially you need to install packages from CD image kpkg install /mnt/cdrom/packages_more/ports/*.tar.gz. After that, just refer to CRUX ports documentation. Unfortunately, not everything successfully compiled too and during kpkg upgrade, packages may interfere if versions doesn't match. Nevertheless, I successfully used ports system to install some applications unavailable in kpkg package manager mirrors (like wget). As a last resort, I compiled some packages manually from original repositories (like openchrome video driver).

To run Xorg you just need to run startx command. It did not seem that there's any display manager available as well. The default window manager is Openbox combine with conky and tint2. There are some distribution specific shortcuts like alt+z to lunch urxvt or alt+x to launch the browser. Actually, no alternative to Openbox was available in kpkg, though ports system provided some.

Probably, the final point is that though the kernel binary was provided during installation, no kernel updates are available. So, in order to update it, compiling manually is necessary. The installer provides 4.19.46 version in the ISO image. I successfully updated to 4.19.88 soon after installation.

In conclusion, I can say that Kwort is a really different distribution compared to the mainstream. It requires more manual work and research but in turn it gives one of the leanest systems available, fast boot process and complete control in your hands. It is suitable mainly for the experienced Linux user or the person who is not afraid to tinker with his/her system. It can be a perfect distribution for your secondary PCs, testing and rescue purposes or on dual boot as well. For desktop usage, one should have quite minimal requirements, since running typical heavy weight applications or games may be a challenging task. Here there is a nice response from a distribution creator and developer, along with its features and goals. It also has an IRC channel on OFTC network where you can reach him directly.

Default Kwort Linux 4.3.4 desktop