| Damn Small Linux v2.1 ready for download |
Jan. 11, 2006
The Damn Small Linux project released version 2.1 of its 50 megabyte LiveCD Linux distribution Tuesday. The changelog notes 31 key feature updates in v2.1, including new SATA boot-time support, new GUI controls, and much more.
Version 2.1 marks the first stable DSL release since v2.0 last Nov. 22. The project has made available three release candidate versions in the interim.
DSL is a LiveCD that is also installable onto a hard drive or a USB key. It's a fully functional system consisting of an graphical interface featuring the fluxbox window manager and many useful applications and utilities/tools, the project said.
Damn Small Linux boasts a long list of standard goodies, including:- XMMS (MP3 and MPEG)
- FTP client
- Links-hacked web browser
- 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 and a DHCP client. DSL also includes PPP, PPPoE, a web server, calculator, system monitoring apps, and USB support, according to the project's web site.
A Damn Small Linux project spokesman said the distro is small enough and smart enough to do the following things:- Boot from a business card CD as a LiveCD
- 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 50MB 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.
Damn Small also has the ability to act as an SSH/FTP/HTTPD server right off a live CD. In our quest to save space and have a fully functional desktop we've made many GUI administration tools which are fast yet still easy to use.
Availability
Damn Small Linux 2.1, in several other versions (e.g. dsl-2.1.iso; 49.8MB), is available for free download, 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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