A small live-boot Linux installation is back from the dead: the sleeping giant awakens to a new life
Damn Small Linux (DSL) has officially received an alpha test 2024 release after a presumed final release in 2007.
Yes, it’s older and fatter now (grown in file size from 50 MB to about 700 MB live, and 3.3 GB when fully installed), but even if it doesn’t fit on an (extremely cool) bootable business card more, just a regular large full size CD-ROM, it can still run as a live: meaning you don’t need to install it to try it out or use it full time as a regular CD operating system or part of one data recovery work flow.
Moreover, Linux has always been about choice, so variation in your choice lightweight Linux distributions is always fun. The only problem is, if you’re a WSL evangelist who thinks Judgment Day is here, you might just want to hold your bootable business horses.
Damn little Linux alpha
Look, it’s an alpha build. It’s not ready. Unless you’re a total Linux anorak who lives for this stuff, it’s really just a curiosity. If you’re a regular old Windows user who’s only just opened your mind, think of the alpha release as Damn Small Linux showing signs of life as a project.
And even if you think you’re tough enough, be aware that while DSL reduces the rather bloated antiX distribution it’s based on (itself a lightweight, live-bootable Debian variant) this may not go far at this point enough goes.
The register notes that there are still choices to be made between window managers and web browsers, and you still need some aptitude for technology, if not Linux itself, before diving in.
It may be smaller in size than the Raspberry Pi Desktop (certainly the best access point for Linux beginners who are looking for lightweight hardware as well as software), but at this point it’s probably not ready for prime time.
I can’t even end this with a tear of nostalgia for WSL, because I don’t have any. However, it’s always nice to see more Linux distributions designed to run on just about anything that can use bootable media. Am I as excited as you? Almost certainly not. Am I intrigued? Certainly.