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Lightweight GNU/Linux distributions
Posted by Bob Jonkman on June 13th, 2011
This is a list of lightweight GNU/Linux (or other free/libre OS) distributions.
I’m specifically looking for a free/libre operating system that will run a Graphical User Interface on a 10-year-old laptop, 700 MHz Intel CPU, 256 MiBytes RAM (but 128 MiBytes would be better), an 8 GiByte hard drive and an 800×600 screen.
If you know of any other lightweight distributions please leave a comment. Also please leave a comment if you can help fill out the chart – the distributions’ documentation is pretty inadequate when it comes to listing minimium system requirements.
| Name | Minimum System Requirements | Windows Manager | |||
| CPU | RAM | Disk Space | Video | ||
| Mandriva XFCE 2010 Spring | Xfce | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xubuntu | Xfce | ||||
| Lubuntu 10.04 | Pentium II or Celeron | 128 MB | 1.5 GB | LXDE | |
| Linux Mint Xfce (201104) | 114 MB | Xfce | |||
| Linux Mint 10 “Julia” – LXDE | x86 processor | 256 MB | 3 GB | 800×600 | LXDE |
| Trisquel Mini | LXDE | ||||
| Crunchbang | Openbox | ||||
| SlimPup | 35-50 MB | 150 MB ISO | |||
| Debian | Fluxbox | ||||
| Arch Linux 2010.05 | i686 or x86_64 | 64 MB | 7.5 GB | xmonad | |
| Tiny Core Linux | i486DX | 48 MB | TinyX | ||
| WCLP | 25 MHz 486 | 16 MB | 400 MB | ||
| antiX | PII 266 MHz | 64 MB | 2.2 GB | VGA | |
| Dragora GNU/Linux-libre | Intel 486 | 64MB (1GB suggested) | 4 GB | VGA | |
| Bodhi Linux | 300+ MHz | 128 MB | 2.5 GB | Enlightenment | |
I expect this post to be a continuous work-in-progress.
–Bob.
Added 14 June 2011: Thanx for the suggestions from @dwa, @headphonica, @darkestkhan, @flying_squirrel and @circuidipity, all added above.
Added 17 June 2011: @schestowitz points me to a Linux Devices article on Tiny Core Linux.
Added 28 July 2011: @chaslinux reminded me of The Working Centre’s distribution, WCLP.
Added 4 August 2011:Just saw antiX mentioned on Identi.ca.
Added 12 October 2013: @tekk writes: @bobjonkman If driver support isn’t an issue, maybe look at http://dragora.org . I’d also put slackware on the list for that, maybe freebsd as well?
Added 23 November 2013: Bodhi Linux
June 14th, 2011 at 6:43 pm
I was playing with some old Thinkpads at work (forget the specs at the moment, sorry) and had the best luck with Debian plus Xfce, in terms getting to a usable desktop.
June 14th, 2011 at 10:19 pm
Thanx Todd. I’m surprised that the Debian distro would be lightweight, even with Xfce.
Is it just the choice of windows manager (& apps) that makes a distro lightweight? Or are there differences in what gets compiled into the kernel as well?
–Bob.
June 15th, 2011 at 4:49 am
Disk Space: Lubuntu 10.04 – 1.5 GB.
June 15th, 2011 at 5:59 am
It is also a matter of what is compiled into kernel, but Debian’s kernel doesn’t count as a lightweight one. It is as generic as it can get, so _kernel_ itself isn’t lightweight. But IMHO it is the choice of applications and windows manager that makes the biggest difference – it just doesn’t make sense to use KDE4 or GNOME3 on 256MB.
Though I’m not sure if you can run Debian on system with 128MB RAM (I will admit — I’m basing this on the amount of RAM used by my AMD64 installation, so it may be possible to do).
June 16th, 2011 at 12:10 am
Thanx Darkestkhan, I thought Debian might be a bit big. I’ll leave the entry in the table, though, and maybe someone can provide the minimum system requirements for comparison.
And thanx, Pavel: Lubuntu entry is updated.
Also thanx to @bnickle for the Arch Linux suggestion.
–Bob.