It uses the Linux kernel and a set of command-line tools, including busybox. The first thing you need is a tool to create bootable USB flash drives. The small distro that comes to mind is "Damn Small Linux", with a size of 50 MB (link, wiki) But also there's even smaller distro "Tiny Core Linux" which is about 15 MB (link, wiki) Follow answered Jul 22 '11 at 5:04. nemik nemik. The operating system requires less than 1GB of space to install. You can run Porteus from USB flash drives, CD/DVD, hard disks, flashcards, etc. ArchBang is essentially Arch Linux made easier and reduced in size. Presenting a nice assortment of lightweight yet fully-functional Linux distros for all occasions. Porteus will also work on an SD card, CD, DVD, hard drive, or other bootable storage media. asked May 12 '15 at 11:49. Unlike Tiny Core Linux, this 14 MB OS works along with beginners. The above lightweight Linux distro is very easy to install, simple interface and runs smoothly on older … Windows users who find Rufus confusing can also use Etcher as the tool is also available for Windows. In a lighter vein, it provides Moksha to the old PCs and laptops by using its Moksha OS making old computers feel young and new again. Fedora offers the latest and greatest GNOME experience out of all other Linux distros. Improve this question. SliTaz loads entirely to RAM, which makes the operating system blazing fast, even on older hardware. Linux and macOS users should use Etcher, an open-source USB burning tool. Minimum system requirements for Nanolinux: With each new … Knoppix. Yet another light Linux distribution – Bodhi Linux, that gives life to older PCs & Laptops. Damn Small Linux is a business card size (50MB) live CD Linux distribution. These Linux distros require less space and RAM to run on a PC. Explained, eBay Closes Its Adult Only Section and Stops Selling Anything Sexual, 7 New Google Workspace Features Making It Easier to Work From Home, Ring Launches Three New Outdoor Home Security Devices. So, it runs even on low-end machines. Cite . Xubuntu offers lots of pre-installed software’s to deal with daily tasks. It comes with all the components you'll need to run a pleasant desktop Linux … Bodhi Linux is one such lightweight Linux distro that can run on older PCs & Laptops that are even more than 15 years old. The distro is minimalistic with very few installed software. (To be technical, only a few OSs can legally call themselves Unix, and I don't know that any of the free BSD distros can. Or boot from a 3.5in floppy, pack of gum, or whatever else. Bodhi Linux is quite known for its minimal approach and the support for low-end hardware. Being a little under 300MB, it is among the smallest and yet fastest distros on our planet as, among other features, it boots into the LXDE desktop in under 15 seconds! Absolute Linux is a 64-bit Linux distro based upon the Slackware project. 707 3 3 … The Top Reasons for Arch-Based Distros. MATE is hands down one of the best desktop environments for old hardware. It is fast, stable, and always up to date, making it a handy minimal Linux distro for anyone with an old computer. It’s a portable Linux distribution based on Slackware Linux. How to Be Less Stressful and More Productive With Noisli? The Linux distro is meant to run on low-end devices. It provides screenshots, package information, size and specs and project information on the distro… It stands at just 16 MB for the GUI version, and if you still want to save more space, then you can try out its 11 MB text console version. Instead, Absolute Linux uses the nimble IceWM window manager. The most widely used thing that's officially Unix is Mac OSX.) It's not as tough as you've heard, but there are some changes to get used to. 748 4 4 silver badges 14 14 bronze badges. To find out more and choose the right version for you, head over to the official Puppy Linux distribution download page. Smallest Linux Distros That Need Almost No Space 1. One cool feature of SliTaz is that it runs largely in your system memory. However, one thing that really surprised us about this distro … (Updated Feb 2016: Read the latest.) From Gavin Phillips, Here’s How You Can Host Your Own VPN for Less Than $1 a Month, Microsoft Releases a Fix for the YouTube Crash Issue in Edge, The 10 Best Tools for Ripping DVDs and Blu-rays to Your Computer, Apple Music Teases That "Music Is About to Change Forever", How to Access and Customize the Windows 10 News and Interests Feed, The Best Way to Clean Windows 10: A Step-by-Step Guide, Killer Office Keyboard and Mouse on a Budget: Cherry Stream Desktop Review, India Isn't Backing Down in Its Fight Against WhatsApp's New Privacy Policy, Mozilla Is Removing the Compact Density Option From Firefox, How to Install Arch Linux on VirtualBox Using the Guided Installer, How to Find Your iPhone Using Google Assistant. He has a BA (Hons) Contemporary Writing with Digital Art Practices pillaged from the hills of Devon, as well as over a decade of professional writing experience. I'm trying to run some experiments with Linux and look for the smallest distribution by installation size. Tiny Core is one of the smallest Linux distros. Furthermore, Rufus can detect the type of ISO you are attempting to burn and apply a common setup for any tiny Linux distro. The benefit of the modular distro concept is the user can add or subtract modules before downloading the OS. Known as one of the lightest Linux distros, TinyCore has a very small memory footprint of only 16 Mb !. Then there's the integrated antiX control panel, which allows you to customize a huge range of antiX features. Since it uses the minimal desktop LXDE/LXQT, it demands very low hardware requirements. Porteus runs on any Intel, AMD, or VIA x86/64 processor, requiring only 512MB of disk space and 256MB of memory. Nanolinux comes with several l ightweight applications for Linux including a bundle of some awesome games. As the name implies, the size of this tiny Linux distribution is less than 70 MB. You can bring your old PC or other hardware back to life with any of these super small Linux distros. Some of the popular tools include file manager, text editor, web browser, multimedia programs, etc. No hard disk is required, as it can run from removable storage media. 14 Best Portable Linux Distro to Boot and Run from USB Puppy Linux. Furthermore, these Linux distros will allow them to surf the web, watch and listen to media, check email, and create simple documents. We already mentioned a couple in this article but there are many others that are even smaller, including TinyCore, Bodhi … Using TheSSS, we can install and configure FTP, HTTP, SFTP, SSH, Proxy server and Telnet in no time. Despite its minuscule size it strives to have a functional and easy to use desktop. The distro uses the FLTK /FKWM and busy box desktops by default. He enjoys copious amounts of tea, board games, and football. In fact, the hardware requirements for Linux Lite are a bit lower than those of Lubuntu. The size of this portable Linux is dependent on the user, and this distro is modular. ArchBang works on i686 or x86_64 compatible machines, uses 700MB of disk space, and requires just 256MB of memory. The core runs entirely in memory and boots very quickly. People have gotten linux to run on toasters. Related: Should You Install Arch Linux? Trisquel Mini requires less than 512MB of RAM to run. It supports a unique ecosystem that provides users with new and updated software as soon as they are available. It’s one of the best and lightweight Linux distro available in 2020. Thinking about switching from Windows to Linux? It is available in both 32-bit (perfect for older PCs) and 64-bit. Your computer needs no more than 16 MB of RAM to run this Linux distro in terms of required memory. This is a very small list of the best lightweight Linux distros, but there are hundreds of tiny distros out there you can find on DistroWatch. Really, who thinks Linux isn't satisfactorily in the Unix tradition, and why not? It’s a rolling distro and it’s quite lightweight. But there isn't really a need if you have your bootable USB flash drive with you. All Logos & Trademark Belongs To Their Respective Owners, How to Make Sure Your Computer Can Run Windows 10, 10 Best Strategy Games Of All Time For PC in 2021, How to Generate Secure Password with Google Chrome, Download Zoom Meetings for Desktop Latest Version (Windows & macOS), How to Create a Resume From Your LinkedIn Profile. Tiny Core is a Linux distro developed by Robert Shingledecker, lead developer for former-distro, Damn Small Linux. All require 300MB or less hard drive space but do have varying CPU and RAM requirements. Ubuntu MATE. You can reuse your old computer and a USB flash drive by installing a super small Linux distribution on them. Included in the base installation package is the IceWM window manager, which offers a lot in terms of customization. Tiny Core Linux Tiny Core Linux is another exciting Linux distro. Strapped for hard disk space? The operating system has an old-school design, but it looks clean. This is the follow-up project of Robert Shingledecker, the developer who also brought us Damn Small Linux a while back. You can use ArchBang as a fully-featured desktop operating system or as a portable live OS. It includes the power and flexibility of Arch Linux without the complex setup and installation. The distro uses the FLTK /FKWM and busy box desktops by default. SliTaz also has a "persistent" feature that allows you to store your data and personal settings to the removable media, ready to use on your next boot. Tiny Core Linux is a 12 MB graphical Linux desktop. OpenWRT is one of the smallest and most embeddable Linux distro I know of for networking and it's hard to get that under 2MB, esp with Wifi. Would you like to make use of the old small-capacity USB flash drive sitting in your draw? There’s no doubt that Debian is one of the most popular distributions, especially among desktop enthusiasts and professionals alike.This guide features some of the most popular and widely used Debian-based Linux distributions. SliTaz is a fast, small Linux distribution with a centralized control panel that makes it easy to learn. Alpine Linux is the solution. As you can see from its name, this Linux distro is so small that it’s sure to make you say, “Damn!” There are very high chances of this operating system to run on your computer since it can even work with an ancient 486 CPU. Gavin is the Junior Editor for Windows and Technology Explained, a regular contributor to the Really Useful Podcast, and a regular product reviewer. Don't worry! Unless money was still backed by gold when you bought that machine, don't worry about it. MX Linux. They’ve evolved so much that they’re no longer a BunsenLabs clone now. Share. If you're looking for something that has slightly more features than Tiny Core Linux – at least, in its freshly booted state – then it's worth investigating Damn Small Linux. Puppy Linux can run from a USB drive, CD, or SD Card. Lunar Linux: A distribution in which all packages are built from source. The Top Reasons for Arch-Based Distros, The Top Reasons Why You Should Choose Debian Linux, More The best option for most people is the "CorePlus" installation, which comes in at 106MB. AntiX Linux is well known for being one of the friendliest Linux distros for old hardware, with many people turning to this Linux distribution to get an ancient laptop up and running once more. Like Rufus, Etcher is tiny, very fast, and comes with a great GUI that makes the tool incredibly simple to use. Benjamin B. Follow edited May 12 '15 at 19:14. This is an overview of small operating systems and Linux distributions, most of them work well on older hardware (pre-dual core era). Minimum Puppy Linuxhardware system requirements: 333MHz CPU Rufus is one of the fastest, smallest, and easiest USB burning tools available for Windows users. If you've been using Linux for a while, you've probably heard of this distro before, but it's worth noting that there's a slightly more recent version than the one offered on the website . Elive is not made for experienced … It is one of the best and good looking Linux distro that you can use on your old or low-end computer. It comes with all the components you'll need to run … It doesn’t feature a lot of things pre-installed – hence, you will notice that the ISO file size will be less than 1 GB. Improve this answer. There are numerous tools you can use to create a bootable USB flash drive. The lower demands on hardware ideally result in a more responsive machine, and/or allow devices with fewer system resources (e.g. The Tiny Core Project offers up the tiniest of Linux distros, shipping three variants on which you can build your own environments. Check out Elive, a very small Linux distribution with its own custom desktop environment. As the name implies, the size of this tiny Linux distribution is less than 70 MB. Keeping this in mind, we have put together a list of 10 best GNOME-based Linux distros on the market. Damn Small Linux. Standing true to its name, the lightest of the distros has a file size of 11.0 MB and embodies only the kernel and the root file system, the fundamental core of an OS. Known as one of the lightest Linux distros, TinyCore has a very small memory footprint of only 16 Mb !. Despite being small it has readily... Slax. Despite being lightweight, it offers many applications like ePDF View, gFTP FTP client, Text editor, Image Viewer, etc. Best Linux Distros For Raspberry Pi 1. Even though antiX Linux is tiny, it still looks good. It is, in a sense, a Linux from Scratch framework. Linux Lite isn't as small as some tiny distros, but it won't make you scream, either. 3. Damn Small is small enough and smart enough to do the following things: Boot from a business card CD as a live linux distribution (LiveCD) Boot from a USB pen drive; Boot from within a host operating system (that's right, it can run *inside* Windows) Run very nicely from an IDE …