Introduction

D. E. Evans' Core Linux Distribution is a minimal distribution of the GNU/Linux operating system designed to be the basis for a complete system constructed by the end user. A fresh installation of Core will boot into a console and provide the user with the tools needed to download, compile and install other applications. Core contains nothing beyond what is required to perform these tasks.

Core is primarily designed for experienced Linux users, though it has found an audience with those looking to learn about the internals and operation of a Linux system. Core requires the user to manually configure, compile and install applications and expects the user to consult man pages and other documentation.

This project is the outgrowth, and an evolution, of my use of Josh Devin's Core Linux Distribution. I tried Core 2 and Prime, but I prefer Devin's more meticulous, minimalist design. It is not related to Tiny Core, nor Fedora's CoreOS.

Installation

These instructions are incomplete, but should be sufficient:

Download, burn, and boot the ISO
Partition, format, and mount the hard drive
Run 'install_core [mount point]'
Optional packages in /pkgs/optional/ can be installed with corepkg(8)
Copy the kernel source from /pkgs/kernel/ to /usr/src/ of the hard drive
- compile and install the Linux kernel
- or copy the /boot/{bzImage,config,SystemMap}/ files to the /boot/ directory of the installed system
- otherwise the /pkgs/kernel/linux-6.6+2.cpk package is installed
Run 'chroot [mount point] bash -l' to chroot into the new system
- Run grub-install [sda]
- Review and modify the files under /etc/ (e.g. fstab)
- Review the GRUB configuration (see an example in /boot/6.6/)
exit the chroot, then reboot and start constructing the new system.

Kernel firmware note

Kernel firmware is not provided with Core. Some chips, especially video, have issues that cause a problem during boot because of a requirement for this firmware. With my AMD (Evergreen) desktop, blacklisting the radeon module on boot is a temporary work around: modprobe.blacklist=radeon. Another more aggressive work around is nomodeset.

For further information visit:

Download

Due to upload restrictions, the ISO is Bzip2 compressed:

D. E. Evans Core IUR [install upgrade repair] ISO (Linux 6.6 AMD64)
SHA384: c7d0e43b5ac62237073743d91eda7dc2596d0c0ec459fecd9808ae5db6f806d6e8d6d3fb9dbdfcfef19ff27d2ee98f8a

CorePKG is now hosted by the GNU Project: nongnu.org/corepkg

My 32-bit rebuild of Core is provided here: /dee/software/linux/coredistro/.