CrunchBang Linux (abbreviated #!) was a
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution (often abbreviated as distro) is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and, often, a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one ...
derived from
Debian
Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of D ...
by Philip Newborough (who is more commonly known by his
username, corenominal).
CrunchBang was designed to use comparatively few system resources.
Instead of a
desktop environment
In computing, a desktop environment (DE) is an implementation of the desktop metaphor made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer operating system that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a graphica ...
it used a customized implementation of the
Openbox window manager. Many of its preinstalled applications used the
GTK+
GTK (formerly GIMP ToolKit and GTK+) is a free and open-source cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs). It is licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License, allowing both free and proprie ...
widget toolkit.
CrunchBang had its own
software repository but drew the vast majority of packages from Debian's repositories.
Philip Newborough announced on 6 February 2015 that he had stopped developing CrunchBang and that users would benefit from using vanilla Debian.
Some Linux distributions have arisen in its place in an effort to continue its environment. Among the most significant are BunsenLabs and CrunchBang++.
Editions
CrunchBang Linux provided an Openbox version for
i686
The P6 microarchitecture is the sixth-generation Intel x86 microarchitecture, implemented by the Pentium Pro microprocessor that was introduced in November 1995. It is frequently referred to as i686. It was succeeded by the NetBurst microarch ...
,
i486
The Intel 486, officially named i486 and also known as 80486, is a microprocessor. It is a higher-performance follow-up to the Intel 386. The i486 was introduced in 1989. It represents the fourth generation of binary compatible CPUs following the ...
and
amd64 architectures.
[DistroWatch]
CrunchBang Linux
". Retrieved on 28 January 2014. Until October 2010 there also was a "Lite" version with fewer installed applications. The "Lite" version was effectively discontinued after the distribution on which it was based – Ubuntu 9.04 – reached its
end-of-life and CrunchBang prepared to switch to a different base system.
CrunchBang 10, made available in February 2011, was the first version based on Debian. The final version, CrunchBang 11, was made available on 6 May 2013.
Each CrunchBang Linux release was given a
version number
Software versioning is the process of assigning either unique ''version names'' or unique ''version numbers'' to unique states of computer software. Within a given version number category (e.g., major or minor), these numbers are generally assig ...
as well as a
code name
A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial c ...
, using names of ''
Muppet Show'' characters. The first letter of the code name was the first letter of the upstream Debian release (previously Debian
Squeeze and CrunchBang
Statler and currently Debian
Wheezy
Wesley Tyler Glass (born October 26, 1992), known professionally as Wheezy, is an American record producer and songwriter. He has worked with artists such as Lil Uzi Vert, Young Thug, Lil Baby, Future, King Von, 21 Savage, Gunna, Nav, Play ...
and CrunchBang
Waldorf).
Reception
In May 2013 Jim Lynch of desktoplinuxreviews.com reviewed CrunchBang 11:
Successors
Newborough announced in February 2015 that he was abandoning further development of CrunchBang Linux, feeling that it no longer served a purpose. Many users disagreed, and a number of them proceeded to develop successor distributions
BunsenLabs
CrunchBang Linux (abbreviated #!) was a Linux distribution derived from Debian by Philip Newborough (who is more commonly known by his username, corenominal).
CrunchBang was designed to use comparatively few system resources. Instead of a deskt ...
, CrunchBang++ (#!++) and CrunchBang-Monara.
BunsenLabs

BunsenLabs Linux is a community-organized successor to Crunchbang. It is based on the
Debian 10 (Buster) stable release. Between 17 and 30 September 2015, CrunchBang's domain began redirecting t
BunsenLabs
BunsenLabs is one of the few modern Debian-based live distributions that still offers a CD edition supporting 32-bit systems, with both the X Window System and a modern version of Firefox, making the distro useful for running on old computers with just around 1 GB of RAM.
The latest version, based on Debian 10, was released on 2 August 2020.
CrunchBang++
CrunchBang PlusPlus (#!++) was developed in response to Newborough's announcement of the end of CrunchBang.
It is currently based on the
Debian
Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of D ...
Bullseye (release 11.1) distribution.
[ Release 1.0 was announced on 29 April 2015. A version based on Debian 10.0 was released on 8 July 2019. The version based on Debian 11.0 was released on 16 August 2021, and the version based on Debian 11.1 was released on 23 September 2021.]
CrunchBang-Monara
CrunchBang-Monara is another successor to CrunchBang. It is based on the Debian 8 stable release.
References
External links
* https://www.crunchbangplusplus.org/ Official Crunchbang++ website
Official website archives
on Archive.org
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
*
CrunchBang Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crunchbang Linux
Debian-based distributions
Discontinued Linux distributions
Linux distributions