Openwall Project
Encyclopedia
The Openwall Project is a source for various software, including Openwall GNU
/*/Linux
(Owl), a security-enhanced operating system designed for servers. Openwall patches
and security extensions have been included into many major Linux distribution
s.
As the name implies, Openwall GNU/*/Linux draws source code and design concepts from numerous sources, most importantly to the project is its usage of the Linux kernel
and parts of the GNU userland, others include the BSDs, such as OpenBSD
for its OpenSSH
suite and the inspiration behind its own blowfish
-based crypt
for password hashing, compatible with the OpenBSD implementation.
GNU
GNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...
/*/Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
(Owl), a security-enhanced operating system designed for servers. Openwall patches
Patch (computing)
A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance...
and security extensions have been included into many major Linux distribution
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...
s.
As the name implies, Openwall GNU/*/Linux draws source code and design concepts from numerous sources, most importantly to the project is its usage of the Linux kernel
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
and parts of the GNU userland, others include the BSDs, such as OpenBSD
OpenBSD
OpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It was forked from NetBSD by project leader Theo de Raadt in late 1995...
for its OpenSSH
OpenSSH
OpenSSH is a set of computer programs providing encrypted communication sessions over a computer network using the SSH protocol...
suite and the inspiration behind its own blowfish
Blowfish (cipher)
Blowfish is a keyed, symmetric block cipher, designed in 1993 by Bruce Schneier and included in a large number of cipher suites and encryption products. Blowfish provides a good encryption rate in software and no effective cryptanalysis of it has been found to date...
-based crypt
Crypt (Unix)
In Unix computing, crypt is the name of both a utility program and a C programming function. Though both are used for encrypting data, they are otherwise essentially unrelated...
for password hashing, compatible with the OpenBSD implementation.
See also
- Executable space protectionExecutable space protectionIn computer security, executable space protection is the marking of memory regions as non-executable, such that an attempt to execute machine code in these regions will cause an exception...
- Comparison of Linux distributionsComparison of Linux distributionsTechnical variations of Linux distributions include support for different hardware devices and systems or software package configurations. Organizational differences may be motivated by historical reasons...
- Security-focused operating system
- John the RipperJohn the RipperJohn the Ripper is a free password cracking software tool. Initially developed for the UNIX operating system, it currently runs on fifteen different platforms...