Whax

Whax was a free, open-source Linux distribution designed for security testing and digital forensics. Released in the mid-2000s, it was distributed as a live CD/DVD that could be run without installation, making it portable for on-site assessments. Whax packaged a large collection of penetration testing and forensics tools, including network analyzers, vulnerability scanners, password crackers, wireless auditing utilities, and forensic tools. The project aimed to provide a unified, ready-to-use environment for security professionals and researchers.

Whax's development contributed to the landscape of open-source security distributions in the era before Kali Linux. It is commonly described as a predecessor or influence to later projects such as BackTrack, which borrowed ideas and tooling concepts from Whax and other distributions. As BackTrack matured, Whax's own development slowed, and the distribution was eventually superseded.

In terms of base and packaging, Whax was designed to be hardware-agnostic and usable on a range of machines; it typically ran from removable media and featured a lightweight desktop or window manager to maximize available tools on modest hardware.

Legacy: Whax is remembered for its role in popularizing security-focused live environments and as part of the lineage that led to BackTrack and later Kali Linux. The project has since been archived, with historical references and mirrors remaining in public archives.