[Nottingham] What small, lean, mean Linux distro do you run with?

[Andy Smith]

Hi Martin,

On Sat, Aug 08, 2015 at 03:21:58PM +0100, Martin wrote:
> A very apt fortune quote didst pop up this day:
> 
> #####
> SMALL Linux Distributions: Armed Linux, Coyote Linux, ChainSaw Linux,
> DLX Linux, DOS Linux, "File, Print & CD Server", hal91 Floppy Linux,
> Linux Embedded, Monkey Linux, muLinux, Peanut Linux, Phat Linux,
> ThinLinux, TINY Linux, tomsrtbt, Trustix Secure Linux, White Dwarf
> Linux, WinLinux 2000, WholeLinux, ZipHam.
> 
> -- Sven Guckes in at.linux 2002-08-07
> #####

This quote is now 13 years old, fair enough, but how many of the
above are still active Linux distributions?

I'd argue these days that it's rare to find hardware so puny that a
generalist yet configurable Linux distro won't work on it.

> I've run around for a long time with "Demo Linux", "Damned Small
> Linux" and "Puppy Linux" to fix various machines 'in the field'.

My viewpoint is perhaps not so relevant since I don't tend to run a
Linux desktop on anyone else's hardware, so I've always got access
to my desktop or laptop.

When I do go somewhere that I need to boot up a "live" distribution
on removable storage for diagnostic purposes then I tend to just use
knoppix or a debian-live image on USB:

    http://live.debian.net/

One place I do more often need "small" systems is for servers, think
appliances on constrained hardware. But even here Debian doesn't
require any cutting down. For example, I have a Soekris Net4801
which is a 233MHz CPU and 128M RAM:

    http://soekris.com/products/eol-products/net4801.html

I've had Debian on that since the sarge release (~2005),
continuously upgraded it in place and it's never been a problem.

So at this point in my life, I know how Debian works, I know how to
administer and troubleshoot it, and therefore if I want to use
something else I have to seriously question:

- is there room in my head for the information I'll need that is
  unique to this product?

- is this product still going to be around in 5 years?

Or it could just be that I'm getting old, and no longer find a
thrill in installing some obscure distribution just to see what it
is like. :)

Cheers,
Andy