Alpine Linux
Linux distribution based on musl and BusyBox
Alpine Linux is a Linux distribution "designed for power users who appreciate security, simplicity and resource efficiency". It uses musl, BusyBox, and OpenRC instead of glibc, GNU Core Utilities, and systemd, respectively. This makes Alpine one of the few Linux distributions not to be based on systemd. For security, Alpine compiles all user-space binaries as position-independent executables with stack-smashing protection. Because of its small size and rapid startup, it is commonly used in containers providing quick boot-up times, on virtual machines (e.g., OS-level virtualization) as well as on real hardware in embedded devices, such as routers, servers and NAS.
01History
Originally, Alpine Linux began as an embedded-first distribution for devices such as wireless routers, based on Gentoo Linux, inspired by GNAP and the Bering-uClibc branch of the LEAF Project. Founder Natanael Copa has said that the name was chosen as a backronym for "A Linux-Powered Network Engine" or some such similar phrase, but that the exact phrase has since been forgotten.
Alpine's package management system, the Alpine Package Keeper (apk), was originally a collection of shell scripts but was later rewritten in C.. APKv3 began being shipped by default in Alpine Linux v3.23 in December 2025.
In 2014, Alpine Linux switched from uClibc to musl as its C standard library.
02Derivatives
postmarketOS, a Linux distribution for mobile devices, is based on Alpine Linux.
Although not based on Alpine Linux, OpenWrt, a Linux distribution for wireless routers and embedded systems, uses the Alpine Package Keeper (apk) as its package manager since its 25.12 release.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Alpine Linux”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
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