Booting A Modern Linux Desktop In Just ~200MB

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Booting A Modern Linux Desktop In Just ~200MB

Unlike many of the Linux distributions out there today that are little more than minor user-facing changes to Ubuntu or another tier-one Linux operating system, Slax for the past many years has followed its own dance. Slax, a LiveCD Linux distribution built around Slackware, is very lightweight and calls itself a "pocket operating system" as with the most recent release it can fit a full Linux OS with the KDE4 desktop in about 200MB. Slax is also intended to be quite easy for others to modify and create custom images via Slackware packages and Slax modules. The recent Slax 7.0 release was the first update for the open-source operating system in several years. For those interested in knowing how this very lightweight and customizable operating system can work so efficiently, Tomáš Matejícek, the Slax creator, has written an exclusive Phoronix article about the process.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=18316

[Xilanaz]

a very nice and informative article, enjoyed reading it am impressed with how you got it all working including kde4 with such a little footprint !

[cician]

A bit short, but nice read.

[Loafers]

Somewhat unrelated, but does anybody know the technical differences between Slax and it's fork Porteus?

[dashcloud]

This is pretty interesting- any chance of more articles like this?

[sabriah]

Phoronix: Booting A Modern Linux Desktop In Just ~200MB
"some more steps need to be done before the real power off is issued, to ensure the boot device is cleanly unmounted"

What about power outages? What happens if power is lost in a critical moment? Would a journaling file system save your day?

[YAFU]

Oh yeah! KDE 4 can be a minimalist desktop too!

Thanks Tomas!

[duby229]

I'm sure it took an "ass load" of work to get it stripped down to that size. I don't even want to know about the dependancy hell he went through to get it that far.

[LinuxID10T]

Uses entirely too many resources, I prefer running NetBSD (with X11) on 8 megs of RAM. (not really, that sounds awful)

[squirrl]

Uses entirely too many resources, I prefer running NetBSD (with X11) on 8 megs of RAM. (not really, that sounds awful)

Or TinyCore

KDE did one thing right; they maintained a familar interface with the Start button.

Half the time with Window Managers I feel like a rat running a new maze because the scientists were bored with my test results.



But kudos to using Slackware as a base. It's better to have the Kitchen Sink instead of having to order it from the catelog.