CRUX is a LinuxDistribution aimed at experienced users who know what they're doing. It features a TarBall based PackageManagement and a BSD-style Ports collection, BSD-style init scripts and a minimal base package set. The standard distribution is compiled for i686, though 3rd-party builds for i586 and PowerPC are available.

CRUX packages are built from source into TarBalls (no pre- or post-install scripts). CRUX has four official CVS Package repositories: base and opt are maintained by Per Lidén, the creator of CRUX, contrib is maintained by others, and unmaintained is, well, unmaintained. Unofficial repositories are registered with the CLC Repository Collection.