| Damn Small Linux sneaks up on v3.0 |
May 31, 2006
The Damn Small Linux (DSL) project shipped the first release candidate of version 3.0 of its 49.5 MB bootable live CD distribution May 29. The changelog notes nine key feature updates in the new edition, including new sample unc extensions, abiword, cups, and opera852.
DSL, a live CD that is also installable onto a hard drive or a USB pen drive, uses the Fluxbox desktop environment and a 2.4.26 Linux kernel. Even though it is one of the smallest-footprint Linux OSes available, it is a fully functional system with a graphical interface featuring the Fluxbox window manager, along with many useful applications, utilities, and tools, the project said.
Caveat emptor
"Note this is a 'dot oh' release and an 'RC1' as well, so test carefully," the team said in the product announcement. "Most of the changes are for the deployment of Unionfs (a stackable unification file system), which only occurs upon issuance of the boot code 'unionfs.' "
Other key new features or changes in DSL 3.0 RC1, as listed by the project team, include:- New unionfs as a boot option
- new mountable MyDSL extension type unc with automatic branch management.
- added ACPI modules for newer power managment support
- new FUSE support
- new sshfs support
- new theme: "A Penguin with a Hat"
Standard features in DSL include:- XMMS 1.2.8 (MP3 and MPEG)
- Firefox 1.0.6
- Spreadsheet
- Email client
- Spellchecker (US English)
- Word processor
- Three text editors (Nedit, nVi, Zile [emacs clone])
The distro also includes Xpdf, Worker (file manager), Naim (AIM, ICQ, IRC), VNCviwer, SSH/SCP server and client, DHCP client, PPP, PPPoE, a web server, calculator, system monitoring apps, and USB support, according to the project's web site.
A project spokesman said the distro is small enough and smart enough to do the following things:- Boot from a business card CD as a live CD
- Boot from a USB pen drive
- Boot from within a host operating system (it can run "inside" Windows)
- Run nicely from an IDE Compact Flash drive via a method, we call "frugal install"
- Transform into a Debian OS with a traditional hard drive install
- Run light enough to power a 486DX with 16MB of RAM
- Run fully in RAM with as little as 128MB ("you will be amazed at how fast your computer can be!")
- Modularly grow -- DSL is highly extendable without the need to customize
DSL was originally developed as an experiment to see how many usable desktop applications can fit inside a 50 MB live CD, the project's website explains. It was at first just a personal tool/toy. But over time, Damn Small Linux grew into a community project with hundreds of development hours put into refinements -- including a fully automated remote and local application installation system and a versatile backup and restore system which may be used with any writable media including a hard drive, a floppy drive, or a USB device.
Interestingly, the distribution also has the ability to act as an SSH/FTP/HTTPD server right off a live CD, according to the project.
Availability
The Damn Small Linux 3.0 RC1 iso image is available for free download here.
A screenshot is available here.
Read what DesktopLinux.com editor Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has to say about Damn Small Linux here:
Damn, I like Damn Small Linux
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