Minimal Distro

[thirdoculus]

I've been using Linux on and off for about 4 years. Now since I don't play PC games anymore I've decided to use Linux as my default OS. I've been using Ubuntu for about 3 months now and it's alright; it's just runs and feels bloated.

I'm looking for a light, minimal distro. I've already installed and configured Arch, and Arch is fine, but I'm looking for something minimal like it but with less self configuration.

Don't get me wrong, Arch is cool and all, but I would like an easier system to build up towards it in the long run. I'd consider myself a more experienced user, not an Advanced power user, but I do know my way around the system.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

P.S. By minimal, I don't mean a small distro thats built for older hardware, this computer is practically new.

[kerry_s]

you can do a ubuntu or debian base build up. once you get X and a window manager the rest is a snap.

ubuntu:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...tion/MinimalCD

debian stable:
http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/...sinesscard.iso
lenny beta:
http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/le...sinesscard.iso


in debian just uncheck everything at package selection.
in ubuntu it's command line install.

apt-get install xorg synaptic your-wm
in debian exit from root type> exit, log in as the user> startx

sudo apt-get install xorg synaptic your-wm
in ubuntu just type> startx

open synaptic and build away, add what ever you want to complete you.

there's only 1 way to get exactly what you want and that is to do it yourself.

[sethvath]

If you want a system that is custom suited to you and you alone, arch and gentoo is the way to go. Building a minimal debian system from scratch and adding in modules you need is still not as configurable compared to arch. One file to edit and modify all system fonts etc like in arch? Hard to beat that.

[notwen]

I'd personally recommend Debian of any sort. It's no where near as light as a base Gentoo/Arch install, but if you want minimum configurations for a fresh install I would say Debian or perhaps trying Xubuntu server and building up from there. You may also want to consider looking into some of the box/icewm distros that have surfaced in the past year or two.(ie. boxbuntu, crunchbang, K.Mandla's Ubuntu GTK1.2 Remix)

Good luck w/ the search, I use to hunt for a minimal distro w/ little to no configuration needed, but have always fallen back on Debian Stable. =]

---edit---
You could always try the latest releases of dsl/puppy/antix to see if they meet your needs/expectations as well.

[kerry_s]

Originally Posted by notwen I'd personally recommend Debian of any sort. It's no where near as light as a base Gentoo/Arch install, but if you want minimum configurations for a fresh install I would say Debian or perhaps trying Xubuntu server and building up from there. You may also want to consider looking into some of the box/icewm distros that have surfaced in the past year or two.(ie. boxbuntu, crunchbang, K.Mandla's Ubuntu GTK1.2 Remix) Good luck w/ the search, I use to hunt for a minimal distro w/ little to no configuration needed, but have always fallen back on Debian Stable. =] ---edit--- You could always try the latest releases of dsl/puppy/antix to see if they meet your needs/expectations as well.

i agree, i tried lenny, but it seemed slower, so what if the stuff in stable is older, it just works. i'm using a custom debian etch, built from the base install up, running on 450mhz 256mb ram and everything opens instantly, there's no wait(except firefox, takes 5sec's).
i installed all lite programs, no bloat.

[bttb]

Hi there,

I think you don't need to bother changing your distro. To keep it simple lets say there are only two kinds of distros: The sources based ones (e.g. Gentoo) and the binaries based ones (e.g. Ubuntu).

Pros and Cons sources based distros:
- you can get rid of a lot of stuff, really minimizing the amount of software that gets installed
- they take a lot of time to setup and maintain

Pros and Cons binaries based distros:
- every package comes with a fixed list of dependencies you can't remove/packages are built with all or most features enabled to satisfy all users
- they take less time to setup and maintain

One can still minimize the "bloat" of distros like Ubuntu, because a lot of packages that are installed by default can be removed (tracker and compiz for instance to name a few). I'm down to 1035 packages, all-in-all around 2.1 GByte. And lets be honest, space isn't really an issue nowadays. Also Ubuntu doesn't feel slower than any other distro either.

Even if it was a little slower the speed argument would be more than zeroed out taking into account the huge amount of time saved while installing and maintaining.

Bye bye

[sengines]

Originally Posted by kerry_s you can do a ubuntu or debian base build up. once you get X and a window manager the rest is a snap. ubuntu: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...tion/MinimalCD

Ok so where is the link for Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex" Minimal CD AMD64?

not beta

[Hallvor]

Originally Posted by thirdoculus I've been using Linux on and off for about 4 years. Now since I don't play PC games anymore I've decided to use Linux as my default OS. I've been using Ubuntu for about 3 months now and it's alright; it's just runs and feels bloated. I'm looking for a light, minimal distro. I've already installed and configured Arch, and Arch is fine, but I'm looking for something minimal like it but with less self configuration. Don't get me wrong, Arch is cool and all, but I would like an easier system to build up towards it in the long run. I'd consider myself a more experienced user, not an Advanced power user, but I do know my way around the system. Any suggestions? Thanks. P.S. By minimal, I don't mean a small distro thats built for older hardware, this computer is practically new.

You may want to look at TinyMe. It is very fast, looks very nice and is easy to configure. You won`t feel much bloat there, I can tell you.

[EV500B]

Or if you're searching for very minimal distros.
Go for SliTaz.

Even smaller than DamnSmallLinux(50Mb)

SliTaz(27Mb)

[chris4585]

I suggest my Plusone (+1) Light when it comes out of beta

The ISO is 317mbs as of now.