We all have our favourite distributions but we need to bear in mind the restrictions of the environment we're working in. Basically these are three fold:
Generally it helps if you can increase the amount of RAM in your system.
(By no means an exhaustive list!)
Not strictly a Linux distribution, but general information about getting Linux onto a pen drive.
Arch provides a minimal environment upon installation, (no GUI), compiled for i686/x86-64 architectures. Arch is lightweight, flexible and simple. Its design philosophy and implementation make it easy to extend and mold into whatever kind of system you're building- from a minimalist console machine to the most grandiose and feature rich desktop environments available. Rather than tearing out unneeded and unwanted packages, Arch offers the power user the ability to build up from a minimal foundation without any defaults chosen for them. It is the user who decides what Arch Linux will be.
Relevant excerpts from the DSL home page....
Damn Small Linux is a very versatile 50MB mini desktop oriented Linux distribution.
Damn Small is small enough and smart enough to do the following things:
DSL has a nearly complete desktop, and a tiny core of command line tools. All applications are chosen with the best balance of functionality, size and speed. ....In our quest to save space and have a fully functional desktop we've made many GUI administration tools which are fast yet still easy to use.
Excerpts from the Puppy website:
How is Puppy Different?
Tinycore Linux is a very small (10 MB) minimal Linux Desktop. It is based on Linux 2.6 kernel, Busybox, Tiny X, Fltk, and Jwm. The core runs entirely in ram and boots very quickly.
It is not a complete desktop nor is all hardware completely supported. It represents only the core needed to boot into a very minimal X desktop typically with wired internet access.
The user has complete control over which applications and/or additional hardware to have supported, be it for a desktop, a netbook, an appliance, or server, selectable by the user by installing additional applications from online repositories, or easily compiling most anything you desire using tools provided.
Linux From Scratch (LFS) is a project that provides you with step-by-step instructions for building your own customized Linux system entirely from source.
Well worth considering. You may learn a lot along the way and you'll end up with something specifically tailored for your hardware and applications.
Any comments? email me. Last update April 2009
