Review of PHLAK 0.2 Linux (released mid-2003)

Stands for [P]rofessional [H]ackers [L]inux [A]ssault [K]it

During class I got this cd from a student in class. I played with Knoppix, but this is newer. It is a cut down version of Linux but is still up to date. I noticed when I boot the cd for the first time, it tells me that �Duel OS not found� but detects my harddrive and continues loading. This loads twice as fast as Knoppix and Suse Linux 9.0. Both Knoppix and Suse 9.0 use the KDE 3.1.2 desktop shell with familiar programs. It will load faster on a 56X cd rom like what I use at home then a standard 24X cdrom used in schools and such.  It comes with a new GNU *open source * shell called XFCE. It looks much like Gnome 2.0 but is very cut down.

Programs it has are as follows:

-         UNIX / LINUX terminal /w VI editor

-         XMMS 2.28

-         AbiWord 2.0 (word processor)

-         Mozilla Firebird 0.7

-         Apache (type of web server)

-         Firewall

-         Screen shot maker

-         That�s all she wrote

PHLAK would be great for game servers like Unreal Tournament 2003, Half-life, Call of Duty, Neverwinter Nights, and other games server programs which can be ran on Linux. It�s a lot more stable then Windows, and it probably won�t knock you off the game as much! Plus it�s free!

My Conclusion

Speed: 10/10 � for a graphical interface that boots up on cdrom this flavor of Linux has minimum specs for GUI. In this way it can probably be ran better on slower machines.

Programs: 3/10 Just comes with what you REALLY need. This OS doesn�t come with any binary editor like EMACS, or any games, or dial up tools, or network configurations. All of those need to be done in the terminal.

Stability 9/10 Very stable Looks like a good, low maintenance web server based operating system.

Installation � Requires no installation, boots of cdrom