[Novalug] Need embedded distro recommendation; also possibly free parts to be had

[Joshua Newton]

I need a recommendation for a solid distribution for use in embedded
systems from, say, PC Engines through Mini-ITX systems.  Something with
a pretty good package selection and decided attention to security, but
updated more recently and less heavily commercial than OpenWRT or
DD-WRT, for example.  Mostly, I need something that will run happily on
bitty ARM or x86 processors (I'm looking at PC Engines ALIX, Freescale,
Ubiquiti RouterStation, and maybe VIA boards in Mini-ITX or smaller) and
is already configured to boot off flash media of various forms and
execute without undue flash wear.  I'm thinking CompactFlash in >= CF3,
running in UDMA, if I can find the necessary parts.

Ideally, I'd use something like pfSense, but it's less than flexible and
the radio support is kind of... amusing.  I'm not just building a WAP,
but that's one of the goals.

If there's an Ubuntu respin for embedded that I've missed, that sort of
thing would probably be ideal.  I can always try to add a pretty web
management interface later, or do without.

Also: about to start throwing away a lot of gear from what I'll call The
PCI Era, including a couple of Intel 865 boards and associated Celerons,
(at least some) RAM, sound cards, some AGP video, at least some of my
Intel 82559 stash, and so on.  Just email me directly if you have some
great hunger for outdated junk. :D

I'm keeping my Matrox (Yes, Matrox-- I'm not confused.) QFE board and my
DB25-DIN RS-232C adapters, because you just never know.  (If anyone has
a DB9-DIN adapter, or knows where I can get some without paying
Cables-To-Go prices... ?)