Differences between stal/IX and regular Linux
15 hours ago
- #musl-libc
- #system-design
- #Linux-alternative
- stal/IX is a reimagined system that maintains Linux API/ABI compatibility but rethinks fundamentals.
- The system is designed for ease of understanding its workings, not just ease of use.
- Uses a custom init system, previously runit, for lightweight service management.
- Filesystem resembles Nix/Guix with features like atomic updates and multiversioning.
- All system files are owned by user 'IX', eliminating suid binaries; sudo is a thin layer over SSH.
- Process management ensures every process (except init) has a non-init parent; others are terminated.
- Uses musl libc internally, supports static linking, and allows arbitrary libc choices for userland software.
- No ld.so; emphasizes static linking and single binary executables.
- X support is deprecated to focus on future-proof, efficient package management.
- User sessions must start from a login shell, even in SSH, with patches for compatibility.
- Packages are cross-compiled for multiple platforms (aarch64, riscv) via CI.
- Introduces a custom file type association mechanism, diverging from traditional XDG MIME applications.