Void Linux Drops Systemd & Switches To LibreSSL

Back in June of 2013 we covered Void Linux as a new rolling-release Linux distribution built from scratch but since then we haven't come across much Void Linux news until a few days ago when a Phoronix reader wrote in about the latest progress with this interesting Linux distribution.

Here's some progress made to this distribution that uses the XBPS packaging system, aims for a minimalistic approach, and is rolling-release based similar to Gentoo or Arch:

- Void Linux dropped systemd support in favor of Runit. Systemd can be optionally used but Runit has become the default init system. Runit aims to be a SysVinit replacement that runs on Linux and other BSD/OSX/Solaris platforms.

- Void Linux has replaced OpenSSL with LibreSSL, one of the first Linux distributions to do so.

- The Void Linux build system now supports various custom build options (similar in use to Gentoo's use flags) and supports cross-compiling to other platforms.

- Like many distributions out there, Void Linux has been ported to many ARM platforms like the Raspberry Pi, Odroid, and CubieBoard.

- MATE 1.8.1 is now packaged for Void as the increasingly-supported GNOME2 desktop fork.

- Various improvements to the XBPS packaging system.

More news on Void Linux can be found via the project's site at VoidLinux.eu.