SlugOS is the collective name for a group of firmware distributions which are derived from a common source base (and therefore share common documentation as a result of that). The latest version of SlugOS (March 2008) is 4.8-beta, and the latest stable version 3.10.

The distributions currently derived from SlugOS are:

• SlugOS/BE (formerly known as OpenSlug), which uses the OpenEmbedded package repository. It's designed for use with external disk (or perhaps NFS) storage, though a minimal installation can run from the internal flash. SlugOS/BE is big endian, uses the arm instruction set, and the glibc C library.
• SlugOS/LE (formerly know as DebianSlug), which is little endian but in other respects essentially the same as SlugOS/BE. (The old DebianSlug name is a consequence of the fact that it is possible to coerce Debian packages to run on it. But the default repository is an OpenEmbedded one, and the recommended way to run Debian on the NSLU2 is now Debian/NSLU2.)
• UcSlugC, which also uses the OpenEmbedded package repository, but is designed to be the basis of some other application-specific firmware distribution, rather than a firmware distribution in its own right. UcSlugC is big endian, uses the thumb instruction set, and the uclibc C library. UcSlugC is not very well supported, so don't use it unless *you* are going to support it for yourself. A good working alternative is OpenWrt.

The following documentation applies equally to all SlugOS derivatives:

• Compiling SlugOS with the MasterMakefile
• How to Upgrade SlugOS
• SlugOS TipsTricksOddsEnds
• SlugOS HowTo's
• Optware package feed for Slugosbe and Slugosle.