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Damn Small Linux Not So Small

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the web-popularity-contest dept.

An anonymous reader writes "According to DistroWatch, Damn Small Linux (DSL) is currently the most popular microLinux distribution. Linux.com (Also owned by VA) takes a look at why this might be the case, and how you can best take advantage of it. From the article: 'What began as a toy project to stuff the maximum software inside a 50MB ISO file has matured into a refined community project known for its speed and versatility. DSL includes the ultra-lightweight FluxBox window manager, two Web browsers, Slypheed email client and news reader, xpdf PDF viewer, XMMS with MPEG media file support for playing audio and video, BashBurn CD burner, XPaint image editing, VNCViewer and rdesktop to control Windows and Linux desktops remotely, and more. If they could do all this in 50 megs, imagine what they could do in more space. Last month the DSL developers released DSL-Not, a.k.a. DSL-N 0.1 RC1. It's 83.5MB of DSL coated with GTK sugar. Yummy!'"

11 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Begun, by scenestar · · Score: 5, Funny

    You are going to die alone.

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  2. I use it all the time by mr_stinky_britches · · Score: 5, Insightful

    and I must say, for desktop use, when you need linux real quick or want to boot off a CF card or USB drive, this will do the job just about every time :)

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  3. Thumbdrive by daranz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Personally, I carry it around on a thumbdrive... with qemu-win. It serves no purpose besides lauching it on people's computers and telling them "Look, it's Linux under your Windows!" Best thing is, I still fit plenty of other crap on the same, 1GB drive.

    --
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    1. Re:Thumbdrive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Yeah, I really like the QEMU option. It is especially comforting to Windows users weary (for good reason, Sony...) about booting or running anything from CD they don't understand.

      Also, when booting from any device is impossible, and you just gotta have your Linux, this makes a great option.

      I've never tried the combo of QEMU and DSL, but I just did, and I'm making this post from within Linux running on top of WinXP. In fact, I'd never used QEMU before. It's the itch I didn't know I wanted to scratch until I tried it.

      It's a bit slow, obviously, but it definately gets the job done and done well. I can't count the number of times I wanted to use a Linux app or CLI while in Windows and didn't want to have to reboot.

      The FOSS community continues to amaze me at least once every month.

  4. DSL and DSL-N by aymanh · · Score: 5, Informative
    Last month the DSL developers released DSL-Not, a.k.a. DSL-N 0.1 RC1. It's 83.5MB of DSL coated with GTK sugar. Yummy!
    Actually, looks like DSL-N is more than just GTK sugar, from its web page, DSL-N features a modern kernel with more hardware support, in addition to more apps, like MPlayer, Gaim, and gFTP.

    It's also worth mentioning that the original DSL uses a lightweight GUI toolkit called FLTK and Lua for its tools, interesting!
    --
    python>>> q="'";s='q="%c";s=%c%s%c;print s%%(q,q,s,q)';print s%(q,q,s,q)
  5. missing the point? by thelost · · Score: 5, Funny

    "If they could do all this in 50 megs, imagine what they could do in more space."

    stop calling it Damn Small Linux for one.

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  6. Re:yuk! gtk! Fluxbox is much nicer anyway. by damiam · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Fluxbox is a window manager. GTK is a UI toolkit. They don't even compete; you're comparing apples and oranges.

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    It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
  7. Re:Not that big Linux by theshowmecanuck · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The OP seems to have missed the whole point of DSL. There are plenty of other choices of distro if you take away the size limit.

    I think what they meant was, "imagine what it would be like to have a distro that wasn't full of bloat."

    You may now begin telling us how #insert_your_favourite_distro_here# is bloat free. :-)

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    -- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
  8. Re:No Firefox ? by stjobe · · Score: 5, Funny
    Nah, just give me emacs.


    But then it wouldn't be Damn Small, now would it? ;)

    --
    "Total destruction the only solution" - Bob Marley
  9. Re:Good, but not perfect... Knoppix is a pain by grasshoppa · · Score: 5, Informative

    There is a very real need for a quick and dirty distro. What you are describing is a situation where another distro would fit better.

    The problem isn't the tool. The problem is you trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

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  10. Re:Not that big Linux by k33l0r · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Problem is that the more features (ie. bloat) you lose the smaller your potential userbase becomes. One man's feature is another man's bloat... You could have a distro with only the things one person wants but then someone else might see it as lacking in some essential area...

    That's one of the reasons why all modern OSes are so large, they all strive to attract as wide a userbase as possible. They want to appeal to EVERYONE.