Everest is a community-driven Linux distribution powered by Red Flag Linux, based on the codebase of Red Flag Desktop 5.0. However, it incorporates the free and open spirit of the community as well as its development model. Currently, there aren't many participants involved; aside from Red Flag employees, only a few individuals like zltjiangshi, yunfan, and sjchenkan are contributing. Nevertheless, the recently released version 0.2 is already quite impressive, featuring commonly used tools for various applications under Linux on two CDs, along with its own experimental technologies, including an innovative service startup method that reduces boot time to around 30 seconds on mainstream platforms.
In order to enliven the community atmosphere, a Bug Hunter Contest has been launched. By encouraging users to submit bugs — an activity with a relatively low entry barrier — it aims to promote regular users in providing feedback about their usage issues to developers. This approach seeks to foster the development of free software in China.