Zenwalk GNU/Linux is a desktop-focused

Linux distribution A Linux distribution, often abbreviated as distro, is an operating system that includes the Linux kernel for its kernel functionality. Although the name does not imply product distribution per se, a distro—if distributed on its own—is oft ...

founded by Jean-Philippe Guillemin. It is based on

Slackware Slackware is a Linux distribution created by Patrick Volkerding in 1993. Originally based on Softlanding Linux System (SLS), Slackware has been the basis for many other Linux distributions, most notably the first versions of SUSE Linux distr ...

with very few modifications at system level making it 100% compatible with Slackware. It aims to be a modern, multi-purpose Linux distribution by focusing on internet applications, multimedia and programming tools. It comes with many specialized tools and is designed for beginners and advanced users alike, as it offers system configuration via both graphical tools and the command line.

History

Zenwalk was originally called Minislack up to version 1.1. It was renamed with version 1.2, released on 12 August 2005. Originally using

KDE KDE is an international free software community that develops free and open-source software. As a central development hub, it provides tools and resources that enable collaborative work on its projects. Its products include the KDE Plasma gra ...

as its desktop environment, it moved to

Xfce Xfce or XFCE (pronounced as four individual letters, ) is a Free and open-source software, free and open-source desktop environment for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. Xfce aims to be fast and Lightweight software, lightweight whil ...

with version 0.3, although

GNOME A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...

and KDE packages have always been available separately.

Aims

The Zenwalk Project aims to create a

lightweight Linux distribution A light-weight Linux distribution is a Linux distribution that uses lower memory and processor-speed requirements than a more "feature-rich" Linux distribution. The lower demands on hardware ideally result in a more responsive machine, and allow ...

, through using only one application per task on the release

ISO image An optical disc image (or ISO image, from the ISO 9660 file system used with CD-ROM media) is a disk image that contains everything that would be written to an optical disc, disk sector by disc sector, including the optical disc file system. IS ...

; optimization for a specific

instruction set architecture In computer science, an instruction set architecture (ISA) is an abstract model that generally defines how software controls the CPU in a computer or a family of computers. A device or program that executes instructions described by that ISA, ...

, to increase execution speed; and introducing a comprehensive package management system with dependency resolution.

Package management

Zenwalk uses the netpkg

package management system A package manager or package management system is a collection of software tools that automates the process of installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing computer programs for a computer in a consistent manner. A package manager deals wi ...

. Developed in-house, it provides the main functionality of the

apt-get Advanced Package Tool (APT) is a free-software user interface that works with core libraries to handle the installation and removal of software on Debian and Debian-based Linux distributions. APT simplifies the process of managing software on ...

variety of package managers. It uses Slackware's .tgz package format, but adds dependency resolution capabilities. It uses meta files to provide dependency information, as well as package description during the install process. This convenience is available only to the official Zenwalk mirrors listed in the netpkg configuration file, ''netpkg.conf''. In addition to the original ''netpkg'' command line interface, ''xnetpkg'' provides a GUI frontend with similar capabilities. Zenwalk is also compatible with Slackware package management tools such as

slapt-get slapt-get is an Advanced Packaging Tool, APT-like package management system for Slackware. Slapt-get tries to emulate the features of Debian's (apt-get) as closely as possible. Released under the terms of the GNU General Public License, slapt ...

and its frontends, and have similar functionality as that of netpkg. As of Zenwalk 4.6, package compatibility with Slackware is still maintained. Slackware packages may be used in place of Zenwalk packages where necessary.

Supported architectures

Starting with version 8.0, Zenwalk Linux is built and optimized primarily for the

x86_64 x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new operating modes: 64-bit mode a ...

architecture; 32-bit

i486 The Intel 486, officially named i486 and also known as 80486, is a microprocessor introduced in 1989. It is a higher-performance follow-up to the i386, Intel 386. It represents the fourth generation of binary compatible CPUs following the Inte ...

architecture is no longer supported.

Project versions

At one time there were five main versions of Zenwalk : *Zenwalk Standard, a distribution aimed at mainstream desktop and development use. Designed to be a stand-alone operating system, it installs to the hard drive by way of an ncurses-based installer. It includes all of the officially released software packages that are deemed most useful by the Zenwalk community. The default install also includes development packages like gcc, and some proprietary media packages (such as Adobe Flash Player) and drivers in order to provide a full featured default install. The default desktop environment is

. *Zenwalk Core (discontinued), a Zenwalk system built for user customization. Released with no X Window System binaries, its aim was to allow a skilled user to build a system fit for their needs. The project's lead developer was Emmanuel Bailleul. *ZenLive (discontinued), a Zenwalk system built on a

Live CD A live CD (also live DVD, live disc, or live operating system) is a complete booting, bootable computer installation including operating system which runs directly from a CD-ROM or similar storage device into a computer's memory, rather than lo ...

design. ZenLive followed the progress made by the full Zenwalk system closely, thus mirroring the version number, and attempted to stay true to the original distribution's goals. In addition, it included all of the necessary libraries and applications to develop and compile software, a particularly rare feature in Live CD distributions. The original ZenLive team left the project after version 6.0 was released but ZenwalkLive project was revived by an enthusiastic user and developed as a one-man-project. With version 6.4 the live-framework changed from deprecated linux-live-scripts to slackware-live-scripts. *Zenwalk Gnome (discontinued), with

as the default desktop environment. *Zenwalk Openbox (discontinued), supplied with

Openbox Openbox is a free, stacking window manager for the X Window System, licensed under the GNU General Public License. Originally derived from Blackbox 0.65.0 (a C++ project), Openbox has been completely re-written in the C programming language ...

as stand-alone window manager. It was a very lightweight version of the operating system and did not use

LXDE LXDE (abbreviation for Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment) is a Free and open-source software, free desktop environment with comparatively low resource requirements. This makes it especially suitable for use on older or resource-constrained pe ...

in its choice of software. It still uses Thunar File Manager over PCManFM which is standard on LXDE-based systems such as Lubuntu.

Derivatives

There are currently three known Zenwalk-based distributions: *Arudius, a now-discontinued live CD distribution for information assurance with tools for penetration testing and vulnerability analysis *SLAMPP, intended to be used as a home server *Zencafe, an

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n distribution designed for

internet cafes The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a network of networks that consists of private, publ ...

Live USB

Live USB A live USB is a portable USB-attached external data storage device containing a full operating system that can be booted from. The term is reminiscent of USB flash drives but may encompass an external hard disk drive or solid-state drive, thou ...

of Zenwalk Linux for versions up to 5.2 can be created manually or with

UNetbootin UNetbootin ("Universal Netboot Installer") is a cross-platform utility that can create live USB systems and can load a variety of system utilities or install various Linux distributions and other operating systems without a CD. Modes USB ins ...

.UNetbootin - Homepage and Downloads
/ref> Current versions of Zenwalk can also booted from a USB using

Ventoy Ventoy is a free and open-source utility used for creating bootable USB media storage devices with files such as .iso, .wim, .img, .vhd(x), and . Once Ventoy is installed on a USB drive, new installation files can be added without reformattin ...

, but only for installation, not a live session.

Notes

References

External links

* *
Zenwalk 4.8 Review at Tech Source from Bohol

Zenwalk in Tomsk (Siberian, Russia)

Zenwalk Linux 15.0 First Review
{{Linux distributions Slackware Linux distributions without systemd Linux distributions