Damn Small Linux Rises From the Dead With a 4.11 RC1 Release

An anonymous reader writes "Damn Small Linux is back from the dead, with a version 4.11 RC1 release announcement at Distrowatch and another at the DSL Forums! Quoting: 'Here is the first release candidate for Damn Small Linux (DSL) 4.11. The changes in this release are a step toward making DSL a friendly alternative for older hardware. I've fixed some bugs, updated some applications, and replaced others. Applications: updated JWM to 2.1.0 (now supports rounding); updated Dillo to 3.0.2 (much improves CSS support); added XChat 1.8.9; added sic 1.1 IRC client; added XCalc-color. Modified desktop functionality: it is now possible to switch between JWM and Fluxbox without shutting down X; added menu items to switch between DFM and xtdesk icon engines or use none at all." Here's the download page."

Just in time!

[DeadlyBanana]

To get respun for the raspberry pi?

Acronyms overloading.

[Alex Belits]

So now again my example of why it should be allowed to repeat the last word of the acronym expanded, is relevant: "ATM machine is running DSL Linux, and is connected over ATM mode DSL line".

Re:What is the "best" small linux distro , and why

[couchslug]

Try both Puppy and Damn Small. I keep a copy of Damn Small in my CD wallet (not every PC boots reliably off USB) for troubleshooting since it's light and fast even on weak systems.

Xbox Version

[Monsuco]

I'm so happy to see this project's back from the dead. I'll once again be able to make use of super-old PC's. I hope somebody updates the Xbox release called X-DSL someday. It was made for modded Xboxes and it's the only distro that ever really worked well on them.

Soup

[jones_supa]

What is problematic with DSL and Puppy is that they are a mishmash of various programs with different toolkits. While somewhat heavier, I prefer XFCE or LXDE based distros as they bring a more consistent experience.

Re:What is the "best" small linux distro , and why

[bcrowell]

But that brings up something I've been wondering for awhile which is this....at what point would it be better to toss the hardware? I mean you can buy one of those E350 based kits for less than $150

It sounds like you have applications such as networked storage or firewall boxes in mind, but for desktop use, you can can actually get quite nice used desktop hardware for less than $150 -- often less than half that. For about 8 years now, I've been buying cheap machines, putting linux on them, and putting them in my physics lab for my students to use. For a while I was going to garage sales, Salvation Army, and shops that sold used boxes. But recently I've found that really nice hardware is becoming available on ebay at very reasonable prices. Here are some examples of some recent machines I've bought:

  HP Pavilion Desktop D4100Y Pentium D 2.80 GHz 1 GB Memory /PC2-3200, $40+$23 shipping

HP XW4400 Workstation Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 1.86GHz 250GB 1GB CD-RW/ DVD, $90+$24 shipping

HP Compaq D330 uT Intel Pentium 4 2.66GHZ 80GB HDD 1GB DDR Desktop PC, $30+$23 shipping

Gateway GT5637E AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 160GB HDD 2GB DDR2 CD-RW/ DVD-RW, $110+$20 shipping

Even with shipping, it's a lot less money than you'd pay locally for the same hardware. It's also much less work to find it, and it's not in need of as many upgrades as the kind of stuff you find at garage sales, etc., where many machines have no CD drive, no ethernet, or not enough memory.

I typically install ubuntu and set them up with xfce as the default wm. Performance is fine.