The recent announcement of  the 2.x branch of Linux Netwosix may prompt LinuxWorld readers to ask why there were two releases--1.3 and 2.0-rc1--of this software within a week.  So we contacted its creator, 19-yeard-old Vincenzo Ciaglia (left) of the University of Salerno, Italy to find the answer  to this and other questions.

"Well, let’s start saying that Linux Netwosix is a powerful and optimized Linux distribution for servers and Network Security related jobs. It can also be used for special operations such as penetration testing with its big collection of security oriented software and sources," Ciaglia told us. "It's a light distribution created for the requirements of every SysAdmin and it's very portable and highly configurable. Its philosophy is to give greater liberty for configuration to the SysAdmin."

Ciaglia also said that "only in this way the system administrator can configure a powerful and stable server machine. Linux Netwosix also has a powerful ports system (Nepote) similar to thexBSD systems but more flexible and usable." (More information about Nepote is available here: http://nepote.netwosix.org.)

Other questions and answersL

LW: What's the vision behind Linux Netwosix? Why are you creating this software?

Ciaglia: We think that its light structure could make Linux Netwosix suited for all network security work. For a good network plan, the sysadmin needs a light system that is highly configurable. Every sysadmin wants to configure networks, and work with them, with the possibility of doing everything alone.

And Linux Netwosix's iso image is about 240 Mb, so offers a very fast download that can easily be burned onto a single CD. Moreover, Netwosix chooses the best "network security" related software for you. After you have burned your iso image, you will find many additional packages ready to be compiled and configured.

You can then use Nepote to compile, without doing anything alone, your packages in the best way possibile for your system. I've been working at this particular aspect a lot recently, and in the near future I'm planning to expand the portage tree, doing other 300/400 packages ports, with everyone security oriented. Users can contribute to expand the portage tree and Nepote with their port as well.