I like to have a few lightweight distros on hand because I enjoy restoring my old computers. I decided to seed these distros from the official torrents and became sort of addicted to doing it.

The most popular torrents seem to be MX Linux XFCE and Mint Ubuntu XFCE. MX Linux is at 20.2 in less than 10 days. I am wondering if there are any very small distros I haven’t heard of.

Please a comment and tell me your favorite distro under 4g. I will go and try to find the torrent on their website.

edit:

  • SayCyberOnceMore@feddit.ukEnglish
    4·
    5 hours ago

    Linux distro <4GB? Arch Linux… they’re about 1.4GB

    These come out every month and I seed these for a good few months.

    Should also work on older computers as you can pick and choose the components you want.

  • glimse@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    11 hours ago

    When I first switched, I downloaded a half dozen ISOs and stuck em on a Ventoy drive along with some Windows and OS X ISOs.

    Beats the hell out of the keychain I used to use

  • Auster@thebrainbin.org
    2·
    11 hours ago

    Not a specific distro per se, but something I’d suggest, having had to use them before, is installers for old systems.

  • palordrolap@fedia.io
    2·
    12 hours ago

    How small do you want? Floppinux fits on a floppy disk.

    Tiny Core’s largest image will almost certainly fit on the smallest capacity USB thumb drive you own*.

    Puppy Linux has a diverse ecosystem that pulls from other popular distros and their images generally run to around a gigabyte.

    * It’s less than 256MB. There are a few reasons you might have a smaller drive than this, but for most people this is true.

      • palordrolap@fedia.io
        4·
        9 hours ago

        Admittedly, it’s more of a proof of concept. I included it because it’s probably the most extreme example of how small Linux can get.

        It does have vi as an editor though and leaves a few kilobytes free on the same floppy, so whatever ancient hardware it runs on could be used as a very basic journaling device.

        Personally, I think I might opt for FreeDOS and EDIT.COM instead, but the Linux purist would almost certainly balk at that.

        • sureshot0@discuss.onlineOPEnglish
          1·
          8 hours ago

          I’ve never tried MX XFCE. It seems really popular.

          I’ve never heard of FreeDOS. EDIT.COM doesn’t link to anything, I’ve never heard of that.

          • palordrolap@fedia.io
            2·
            6 hours ago

            FreeDOS is a free MS-DOS compatible operating system. EDIT.COM was a commonly used editor on MS-DOS and can be run under FreeDOS. I was making a comparison with Floppinux being a bare bones OS with a basic editor (vi).

            Actually, the original incarnation of EDIT.COM was as the alter ego of QBasic, so that was literally a BASIC editor, but that’s more a fun fact than a selling point.

  • NathanDerWeise@feddit.orgEnglish
    10·
    18 hours ago

    Off of the top of my head: DSL (damn small Linux) recently made a comeback, last I checked. There’s also Tiny Core Linux, which I’ve seen working even on old pentiums on a YouTube video. Puppy Linux of course. There’s so many flavors of Puppy Linux.

    Now, actually referencing Distrowatch: Linux Lite, Peppermint OS

    I know there’s more, but I have direct or indirect experience with all of these.

  • DahGangalang@infosec.pubEnglish
    11·
    18 hours ago

    Haven’t checked in it in years, but I used to have a strange affection for Magiea OS. Quick peek makes it look like last major update was 2023, so maybe not maintained anymore.

    But also got really cozy with Parrot OS (home version).

    • sureshot0@discuss.onlineOPEnglish
      5·
      18 hours ago

      I haven’t heard of Magiea OS, I already have Parrot OS. Thank you for the recommendation, I will try this soon on a computer, and I will see what it’s like to use.