Puppy?
“Puppy Linux is a family of ultra-lightweight Linux distributions designed to run exceptionally fast on low-resource or older computer hardware”
According to DistroWatch, other Linux distros that are smaller then 250MB initial media size;
Talos, ReactOS, HAOS, T2, 4M, DietPi, Fuguita, Dragon Fly BSD, FLinux, Bedrock and many more.
What about distros without a DE . Can distrowatch list those?
I’ve experienced Void to be able to produce a really small install (96MB). However, that misses a lot of creature comforts, such as manual pages and networking. You’ll need to build your OS from the ground up. Is that what you’re looking for?
What’s the actual reason for looking for a minimal distribution? Do you need all the space for number crunching or are you running a server which receives a continuous hammering, or is the machine a dinosaur which becomes slooooow when it runs more than 5 services? If we know, we can better help you.
DistroWatch gave me a list of 28 distros w/o a desktop interface. Some of which have already been listed. Do you think @Manuel_Jordan would be interested in testing all of them?
I am not sure what @Manuel_Jordan is looking for. He first was looking for a distro that was “Lightweight” and now he is wondering about a distros that are “Minimal” and without “bloat”.
I do not know what is different between a distro that is lightweight and one that is without bloat. Maybe Manuel can explain what he meant between the two different types of distros he was interested in.
No. @Manuel_Jordan needs to clarify what he is seeking … you have asked … lets wait for a clarification.
Hello Friends
Sorry for the delay. Time very tight and I can’t answer each reply as I usually do.
A very simple web search as in “Linux distro with out bloat” gives this result;
I did do the research from the beginning even prior an admin change the former title but I create this post to get information by direct experience of you all. It is more valuable. For example in YouTube few times I found different opinions of Distro and even DE …
So because I don’t have neither communication nor interaction with trusted members (anyone can write a comment) of that network I know in this network the data is real and practically not biased.
I am not sure what @Manuel_Jordan is looking for. He first was looking for a distro that was “Lightweight” and now he is wondering about a distros that are “Minimal” and without “bloat”.
Really the former title was about “lightweight” and an admin change to “without bloat”. I am ok with the edition.
I do not know what is different between a distro that is lightweight and one that is without bloat
+1
Maybe Manuel can explain what he meant between the two different types of distros he was interested in.
Again about: the former title was about “lightweight” and an admin change to “without bloat”
What’s the actual reason for looking for a minimal distribution?
I need use Linux being lightweight as Peppermint OS (few requirements and consumption of hardware) as client through:
- VirtualBox
- For some machines with “few” hardware (64 bits)
To use:
- Terminal (SSH)
- Remina
- Web Browser (to configure and monitor apps as server - ActiveMQ)
- LibreOffice (as optional)
Therefore I don’t need a distro with a DE which consumes a lot of RAM due its own Look and Feel. To be honest it seems the DE is in some way the main app “eating” resources with just start up the OS.
So I took the opportunity to know other options according with your experience
DistroWatch gave me a list of 28 distros w/o a desktop interface. Some of which have already been listed. Do you think @Manuel_Jordan would be interested in testing all of them?
Lack of time is a pain. It is a reason to get info according with your information/experience
So far to accomplish the following goals:
- For 1,2,3 was installed Xubuntu (apart of PeppermintOS)
- For 1,2,3,4 was installed Linux Mint with xfce
The first time when was installed Linux Mint through VB it has problems about latency. It was deleted by complete (the VM), installed a new one from the scratch and it goes well. Something similar happened for Xubuntu: its first time the boot was very slow … since the 3rd all is ok.
Void Linux is in my todo list because right now I don’t have time to learn how to install it. I want learn how to install with and without the “image”. In other post was mentioned that exists an image “already installed”. Did I understand the idea correctly?
Best to all 
You dont need a DE at all. A WM will run all of those. Try IceWM … antiX has it by default or you can install it in any distro.
Thanks for the reply
You dont need a DE at all. A WM will run all of those. Try IceWM
Oh interesting. I am going to do a research of Window Manager and IceVM soon as I can
antiX has it by default
Thanks for that mention
or you can install it in any distro.
Because I don’t know what is the difference/relation between a DE and WM yet. And if a distro has already installed a DE why to install a WM?
Best!
You are missing the point.
Use a distro without a DE, and install a WM only … IceWM or Fluxbox
antiX has no DE, only a choice of ssveral WM’s
All DE’s have a WM underneath the bonnet , but they have a lot of fancy stuff that you dont need on top of the WM. You can run all those apps you want with a standaline WM, and avoid all the DE bloat. With only a WM it will boot
and run faster.
Also, if you want speed, you should ditch Vbox and use Virt-manager. It uses KVM which is more efficient in Linux.
You are missing the point.
Use a distro without a DE, and install a WM only … IceWM or Fluxbox
antiX has no DE, only a choice of ssveral WM’s
Now has more sense
All DE’s have a WM underneath the bonnet , but they have a lot of fancy stuff that you dont need on top of the WM. You can run all those apps you want with a standaline WM, and avoid all the DE bloat. With only a WM it will boot
and run faster.
Big thanks for that feedback …
Also, if you want speed, you should ditch Vbox and use Virt-manager. It uses KVM which is more efficient in Linux.
The family has a laptop shared by me. Therefore running VirtualBox is mandatory. For the other machines running Linux, VB is used too.
Your suggestion is absolutely correct but I couldn’t find a complete and detailed tutorial of Virt-manager and KVM. They are in my todo list but with a low priority.
BTW in other post where I had a problem with VB due a kernel upgrade where was not possible run any VM … well it was already solved some months ago thanks to other Kernel upgrade
Again huge thanks for your polite and valuable support. I really appreciate your time
I have something . I will search for it. It is a pdf document
Take your time and big thanks for that …
I have the time very tight, even with the pdf in hands time is limited 
If my memory does not fail me I created a post suggestion in this network to create an official tutorial about that… I think 2 or 3 years ago
It seems it is a big area to cover
Two useful pdf documents
They came from @Rosika originally.
By no means a complete tutorial and nothing about the virt-manager GUI interface. … it is almost self explanatory.
The original RedHat tutorial is probably the best
They developed virt-manager
Lightweight distro. Non-bloated distro. I saved my pennies and bought a refurbished office computer–under $100 US. Don’t have to share it. System:
Machine:
Type: Desktop System: Dell product: OptiPlex 7050 v: N/A serial: Chassis:
type: 3 serial:
Mobo: Dell model: 0D24M8 v: A00 serial: part-nu: 07A1
uuid: UEFI: Dell v: 1.27.0 date: 09/18/2023
CPU:
Info: quad core model: Intel Core i5-6500T bits: 64 type: MCP smt: arch: Skylake-S
rev: 3 cache: L1: 256 KiB L2: 1024 KiB L3: 6 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 900 min/max: 800/3100 cores: 1: 900 2: 900 3: 900 4: 900 bogomips: 19999
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 530 vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-9 ports:
active: HDMI-A-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2, DP-3, HDMI-A-2, HDMI-A-3 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:1912
class-ID: 0300
Memory: total: 16 GiB available: 15.51 GiB used: 3.55 GiB (22.9%)
Processes: 315 Power: uptime: 10m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep wakeups: 0
hibernate: platform Init: systemd v: 257 default: graphical
Compilers: gcc: 14.2.0 Client: Unknown python client inxi: 3.3.38
This will run any distro faster than I can follow. I can’t load anything that uses Calamares for some reason only known to Calamares ( known defect, no solution).
Stop complaining and buy a relatively modern computer, Manuel. Let your family have the laptop.
Will that cpu run a VM.?
There is some test you can do … I forget its name.
Hi Bill,
I have the same type of Dell PC, but mine is a OptiPlex 7040 with 8GB of RAM and an i5-6600 CPU. A very nice system.
I ran VM on mine and it worked fine with only the 8GB of RAM.
Neville
In my family there are HP pavilion with Intel i5 where is installed Linux (Debian, Ubuntu) and VirtualBox runs fine. The RAM was upgraded from 8GB to 16GB (DDR3)
Hello Bill
Stop complaining and buy a relatively modern computer, Manuel. Let your family have the laptop.
Since 2 years ago there is a new laptop with 12 cores, 32GB and 2TB (Dell) … the other laptop is in perfect state. So there is no reason for me to drop it. So Linux enters in the game