Introduction

#!/don't/panic
man 42

HitchHiker Linux is a very Unix-like distribution of Linux with a focus on simplicity, elegance and providing a solid base that the end user can turn into whatever they see fit.

Core Principles:

• The default installation should include the bare minimum required software to provide a solid base.
• Complexity should be discouraged in favor of code elegance, security and maintainability.
• End users should not be discouraged from tinkering with their system.
• The distribution should make as few assumptions as possible regarding end use.
• While newer releases of software often eliminate bugs and vulnerabilities, newer software packages are not by default more secure than stable, mature packages (newer is not always better).
• Any changes to the core system functionality, especially those which change expected functionality, must be well justified and well vetted before deployment.
• The base installation should include everything required to rebuild itself from source.
• The distribution should make as few changes to the upstream software as possible, delivering it as intended by the original author.
• Patching of sources should only be done to fix bugs or vulnerabilities.

HHL was born of a desire to harness the greater hardware support of Linux while paying respect to the Unix systems from which Linux was born. The author was a long time user of FreeBSD who migrated to Arch for several years, but has become increasingly frustrated with Systemd, Gnome, RedHat and Ubuntu dominance. It is believed that there is a need for a distribution that does not pander to ease of use for casual users at the expense of putting up roadblocks for experienced Unix veterans.

Architectures

HHL is running on the following processor architectures:

• x86 (minimum i486)
• x86_64
• armv7l
• aarch64
• riscv64