[TriLUG] Small Linux distro for a USB stick

Tom Barron tpb at dyncloud.net
Fri Oct 9 20:07:57 EDT 2009


I rather like grml for this.  It's got great h/w detection, is vanilla
Debian based, and comes in small, medium, and large sizes.  The small
size, which skips GUI, etc. is ~100MB.  Medium is I think ~200MB and
supports X and fluxbox WM - quite nice for running on otherwise
obsolete h/w.

See:

 http://grml.org/faq/#whatissmall
 http://grml.org/faq/#usbboot
 
- Tom
  tpb at dyncloud.net

On Fri, Oct 09, 2009 at 04:45:16PM -0400, Rodney Radford wrote:
> 
> I need a small bootable Linux distro I can install on a USB stick.  The main criteria is that it can handle a wide variety of client PCs as I will be using it as a maintenance system to allow access to a possibly dead/locked out PC.
> 
> I am aware of DSL and have considered it, but it is actually much more than I need, including word processors, image paint programs, file servers, etc.  Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a way to easily configure it - short of installing it and then start whacking to remove what I don't need.  I may fall back on it, but I was wondering if anyone has any experience or knowledge of any other distros.
> 
> The main goals are:
>     * support a wide range of hardware (I just need to be able to get to the PC's disks)
>     * small
>     * simple command line (server) system - no GUI required
>     * small
>     * installable on a USB stick
> 
> I have spent a little bit of time with google, but not finding what I want - and I am really hoping someone here has actual experience using a distro they can recommend. 
> 
> One option is to roll my own, but I am hoping I don't have to go that route (read that as I am too lazy, and on a time crunch).
> 
> Thanx,
> Rodney
> 
> 
> 
> --
> TriLUG mailing list        : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
> TriLUG FAQ  : http://www.trilug.org/wiki/Frequently_Asked_Questions



More information about the TriLUG mailing list