StrongBox Linux Release 1.0-Beta-7

Thursday October 14^th, 2004

Helmer Computing Corporation has just released a StrongBox Linux Beta-7 iso. This is the second public release of StrongBox, and is meant to attract people interested in testing and giving feedback on the new StrongBox Linux Distribution.

StrongBox Linux is intended to be a reference design of the Partially Embedded Computing concept, as outlined in the PEC Manifesto document. It's currently mostly complete, and ready for testing. A quick concept and getting started guide for those in a hurry can be found here. A more complete manual can be found here. And a roadmap of up and coming features can be found here.

Note: this release is a secure release of the operating system. As such, all the features in it are fully functional by themselves; however, in order to save configurations, you must have either installed your own CA (Certificate Authority) in the initrd or get a free certificate signed by the Helmer Computing CA. Turning off securemode is not recommended as it does leave your system more open to intrusion. Free personal keys will be provided indefinitely to all alpha/beta testers of StrongBox. Run the "freecert" command to instantly get a key.

Creating your own customized version of StrongBox with your own CA is possible. A howto will be forthcoming, and we'll be happy to maintain custom ISO images and bundles for your organization for a reasonable fee.

Liam Helmer

Helmer Computing Corporation