Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised May 27, 2026

Alpine Linux

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 as well as on real hardware in embedded devices, such as routers, servers and NAS.

Last revised
May 27, 2026
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Alpine Linux
DeveloperAlpine Linux Development Team
OS familyLinux (Unix-like)
Working stateActive
Source modelOpen source
Initial releaseAugust 2005 (2005-08)1
Latest release3.23.42 Edit this on Wikidata / 15 April 2026 (15 April 2026)
Repository
Marketing targetGeneral-purpose. Security, embedded systems and other resource-constrained systems, such as containers.3
Available inMultilingual
Package managerAPK (Alpine Package Keeper)
Supported platforms
Kernel typeMonolithic (Linux)
UserlandBusyBox
InfluencedpostmarketOS
Default
user interface		Ash
Official websitewww.alpinelinux.org Edit this at Wikidata

Alpine Linux is a Linux distribution "designed for power users who appreciate security, simplicity and resource efficiency".4 It uses musl, BusyBox, and OpenRC instead of glibc, GNU Core Utilities, and systemd, respectively.56789 This makes Alpine one of the few Linux distributions not to be based on systemd.10 For security, Alpine compiles all user-space binaries as position-independent executables with stack-smashing protection.3 Because of its small size and rapid startup, it is commonly used in containers providing quick boot-up times,1112 on virtual machines (e.g., OS-level virtualization) as well as on real hardware in embedded devices, such as routers, servers and NAS.

History

Originally, Alpine Linux began as an embedded-first distribution for devices such as wireless routers, based on Gentoo Linux,13 inspired by GNAP and the Bering-uClibc branch of the LEAF Project.1 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.14

Alpine's package management system, the Alpine Package Keeper (apk),a15 was originally a collection of shell scripts16 but was later rewritten in C.17

In 2014, Alpine Linux switched from uClibc to musl as its C standard library.18

Derivatives

postmarketOS, a Linux distribution for mobile devices, is based on Alpine Linux.19

Notes

Notes

  1. Not to be confused with the apk file format used by Android
References

References

  1. "Re: [leaf-devel] 2.6.x kernel support?". SourceForge. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  2. . 15 April 2026 https://alpinelinux.org/posts/Alpine-3.20.10-3.21.7-3.22.4-3.23.4-released.html. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. "about". Alpine Linux. Archived from the original on 8 May 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  4. "About". Alpine Linux.
  5. "Alpine Linux 2 review". LinuxBSDos.com. 24 August 2010. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  6. Nestor, Marius (4 December 2017). "Security-Oriented Alpine Linux 3.7 Has UEFI Support, GRUB Support in Installer". Softpedia News. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  7. Verma, Adarsh (8 November 2017). "10 Most Secure Linux Distros For Complete Privacy & Anonymity | 2017 Edition". Fossbytes. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  8. Noyes, Katherine (9 February 2016). "Is Docker ditching Ubuntu Linux? Confusion reigns". Network World. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  9. "OpenRC". wiki.alpinelinux.org. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  10. Wallen, Jack (30 June 2023). "What is Alpine Linux?". Tech Target. Archived from the original on 22 November 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  11. Bhartiya, Swapnil (28 March 2017). "Meet Alpine Linux, Docker's Distribution of Choice for Containers". The New Stack. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  12. Steven Nuu00f1ez (10 July 2017). "Review: Alpine Linux is made for Docker". InfoWorld. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  13. Copa, Natanael (22 August 2005). "Re: [leaf-devel] 2.6.x kernel support?". SourceForge. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  14. Copa, Natanael (3 November 2017). "Small, Simple, and Secure: Alpine Linux under the Microscope" (video). youtube.com. Docker. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  15. "Alpine Package Keeper". wiki.alpinelinux.org. Archived from the original on 30 September 2025. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  16. "apk-tools". SourceForge. Archived from the original on 17 December 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  17. "apk-tools – Alpine package manager". git.alpinelinux.org. Archived from the original on 7 March 2025. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  18. "Alpine 3.0.0 released". Alpine Linux. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  19. "postmarketOS // real Linux distribution for phones". postmarketOS. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
External links