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Welcome to the RedSleeve Wikia Edit

RedSleeve Linux Wiki

RedSleeve Linux Edit

RedSleeve Linux is a 3rd party ARM port of a Linux distribution of a Prominent North American Enterprise Linux Vendor (PNAELV). They object to being referred to by name in the context of clones and ports of their distribution, but if you are aware of CentOS and Scientific Linux, you can probably guess what RedSleeve is based on.

RedSleeve is different from CentOS and Scientific Linux in that it isn’t a mere clone of the upstream distribution it is based on – it is a port to a new platform, since the upstream distribution does not include a version for ARM.

The reason RedSleeve was created is because ARM is making inroads into mainstream computing, and although Fedora has supported ARM for a while, it is a bleeding edge distribution that puts the emphasis on keeping up with the latest developments, rather than long term support and stability. This was not an acceptable solution for the people behind this project, so we set out to instead port a distribution that puts more emphasis on long term stability and support.

The initial RedSleeve release has been brought to you by Gordan Bobic and Donald Gullet. RedSleeve re-branding artwork is by Giles Meakin.

This is the Wiki for community updates and guides.

The main website for RedSleeve Linux is https://redsleeve.org

Questions and suggestions should be forwarded to the users mailing list.

RootFS and Login Edit

Generic RootFS

Installation Guides Edit

Install on Samsung Series 3 Chromebook

Install on CuBox-i

Install on QNAP TS-421

Install on a Gumstix Overo

Install on a Raspberry Pi

Install on a Cubox

Install on a QEMU

Install on Sheeva/Guru/Dream Plug

Install in VIA APC

Modified Packages Edit

Initially there were a total of 111 packages that had to be modified from their upstream versions to make them build on ARM and work as intended. With the upstream istro updates since then this, has reduced down to 91. Of those 39 only required only adjustment to the ExclusiveArch option in the SPEC file. Another 5 only required changes to to rebranding requirements on 3rd party rebuilds. The other 47 required additional patching to build and function correctly on ARM.

Some packages will not be updated further beyond their current versions unless a maintaier steps forward to addopt them. Be aware of any potential security implications of this on your deployment. These include the kernel and glibc. This is due to extensive patching in the upstream distribution which was only performed with any attention being paid to whether it builds and works on x86. In some cases (e.g. the kernel) patches in RedSleeve include fixes for what were quite clearly mispatches in the upstream package that only by luck weren't in the specific x86 build code path.

The full list of modified packages and patches required is available on the Modified Packages page.