Damn Small Linux or
DSL is a computer
operating systemAn operating system is an interface between hardware and user which is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of the computer that acts as a host for computing applications run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating...
for the
x86The term x86 refers to a family of instruction set architectures based on the Intel 8086. The term derived from the fact that many early processors backward compatible with the 8086 also had names ending in "86". Many additions and extensions have been added to the x86 instruction set over the...
family of
personal computerA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator...
s. It is
free and open source softwareFree and open-source software, also F/OSS, FOSS, or FLOSS is software that is liberally licensed to grant the right of users to study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code...
under the terms of GNU GPL and other free and open source licenses. It was designed to run
graphical applicationsA graphical user interface is a type of user interface item that allows people to interact with programs in more ways than typing such as computers; hand-held devices such as MP3 Players, Portable Media Players or Gaming devices; household appliances and office equipment with images rather than...
on older PC
hardwareA personal computer is made up of multiple physical components of computer hardware, upon which can be installed an operating system and a multitude of software to perform the operator's desired functions.-Typical PC hardware:...
—for example, machines with
486The Intel i486 was the first tightly pipelined x86 design. Introduced in 1989, it was also the first x86 chip to use more than a million transistors, due to a large on-chip cache and an integrated floating point unit...
/early
PentiumThe original Pentium processor was a 32-bit microprocessor produced by Intel. The first superscalar x86 architecture processor, it was introduced on March 22, 1993. Its microarchitecture was a direct extension of the 80486 architecture with dual integer pipelines, a faster FPU, wider data bus, and...
processorsA microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a central processing unit on a single integrated circuit . The first microprocessors emerged in the early 1970s and were used for electronic calculators, using binary-coded decimal arithmetic on 4-bit words...
and very little memory. DSL is a
Live CDA live CD or live DVD is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive...
with a size of 50
MBThe megabyte is an SI-multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission and is equal to 10
6 bytes. However, due to historical usage in computer-related fields it is still often used to represent 2
20 bytes. In rare cases, it is used to mean...
. What originally started as an experiment to see how much software could fit in 50 MB eventually became a full-fledged
LinuxLinux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed,...
distribution.
Damn Small Linux or
DSL is a computer
operating systemAn operating system is an interface between hardware and user which is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of the computer that acts as a host for computing applications run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating...
for the
x86The term x86 refers to a family of instruction set architectures based on the Intel 8086. The term derived from the fact that many early processors backward compatible with the 8086 also had names ending in "86". Many additions and extensions have been added to the x86 instruction set over the...
family of
personal computerA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator...
s. It is
free and open source softwareFree and open-source software, also F/OSS, FOSS, or FLOSS is software that is liberally licensed to grant the right of users to study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code...
under the terms of GNU GPL and other free and open source licenses. It was designed to run
graphical applicationsA graphical user interface is a type of user interface item that allows people to interact with programs in more ways than typing such as computers; hand-held devices such as MP3 Players, Portable Media Players or Gaming devices; household appliances and office equipment with images rather than...
on older PC
hardwareA personal computer is made up of multiple physical components of computer hardware, upon which can be installed an operating system and a multitude of software to perform the operator's desired functions.-Typical PC hardware:...
—for example, machines with
486The Intel i486 was the first tightly pipelined x86 design. Introduced in 1989, it was also the first x86 chip to use more than a million transistors, due to a large on-chip cache and an integrated floating point unit...
/early
PentiumThe original Pentium processor was a 32-bit microprocessor produced by Intel. The first superscalar x86 architecture processor, it was introduced on March 22, 1993. Its microarchitecture was a direct extension of the 80486 architecture with dual integer pipelines, a faster FPU, wider data bus, and...
processorsA microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a central processing unit on a single integrated circuit . The first microprocessors emerged in the early 1970s and were used for electronic calculators, using binary-coded decimal arithmetic on 4-bit words...
and very little memory. DSL is a
Live CDA live CD or live DVD is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive...
with a size of 50
MBThe megabyte is an SI-multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission and is equal to 10
6 bytes. However, due to historical usage in computer-related fields it is still often used to represent 2
20 bytes. In rare cases, it is used to mean...
. What originally started as an experiment to see how much software could fit in 50 MB eventually became a full-fledged
LinuxLinux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed,...
distribution. It can be installed on storage media with small capacities, like
bootable business cardA bootable business card is a CD-ROM that has been cut, pressed, or molded to the size and shape of a business card . Alternative names for this form factor include "credit card", "hockey rink" and "wallet-size". The cards are designed to hold about 50 MB...
s,
USB flash driveA USB flash drive consists of flash memory data storage device integrated with a USB 1.1 or 2.0 interface. USB flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, much smaller than a floppy disk, and most weigh less than 1 ounce...
s, various
memory cardA memory card or flash memory card is solid-state electronic flash memory data storage device capable of storing digital contents. These are mainly used with digital cameras, handheld and Mobile computers, mobile phones, music players, digital cinematography cameras, video game consoles, and other...
s, and
Zip driveThe Zip drive is a medium-capacity removable disk storage system, introduced by Iomega in late 1994. Originally, Zip disks launched with capacities of only 100 MB, but later versions increased this to first 250 MB and then 750 MB....
s.
History
DSL was originally conceived and maintained by John Andrews. The community at one time included Robert Shingledecker, who created the MyDSL system, DSL Control Panel, and other features.
DSL was originally based on Model-K, a 22 MB stripped-down version of
KnoppixKnoppix, or KNOPPIX , is an operating system based on Debian designed to be run directly from a CD / DVD, one of the first of its kind for any operating system. Knoppix was developed by Linux consultant Klaus Knopper. When starting a program it is loaded from the optical disc and decompressed into...
, but soon after was based on Knoppix proper, allowing much easier remastering and improvements.
System requirements
DSL supports only
x86The term x86 refers to a family of instruction set architectures based on the Intel 8086. The term derived from the fact that many early processors backward compatible with the 8086 also had names ending in "86". Many additions and extensions have been added to the x86 instruction set over the...
PCs. The minimum system requirements are a
486The Intel i486 was the first tightly pipelined x86 design. Introduced in 1989, it was also the first x86 chip to use more than a million transistors, due to a large on-chip cache and an integrated floating point unit...
processor and 8 MB of RAM. DSL has been demonstrated browsing the web with
DilloDillo is a minimalistic web browser particularly intended for older or slower computers and embedded systems. It supports only plain HTML/XHTML and images over HTTP; scripting is ignored entirely. Dillo is available for Linux, BSD, Solaris and Mac OS X. Due to its small size, it is the browser of...
, running simple games and playing music on systems with a
486The Intel i486 was the first tightly pipelined x86 design. Introduced in 1989, it was also the first x86 chip to use more than a million transistors, due to a large on-chip cache and an integrated floating point unit...
processor and 16 MB of RAM. The system requirements are higher for running
Mozilla FirefoxMozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. Firefox has 23.75% of the recorded usage share of web browsers , making it the second most popular browser in terms of current use worldwide after Microsoft's...
and optional add-ons such as the
OpenOffice.orgOpenOffice.org , commonly known as OpenOffice, is an office application suite available for a number of different computer operating systems. It is distributed as free software and written using its own GUI toolkit...
office suite. It is often used in
virtual machineA virtual machine is a software implementation of a machine that executes programs like a physical machine.-Definitions:...
s due to its small size and modest requirement of RAM.
Features
The current version of DSL is 4.4.10, released November 18, 2008. DSL currently includes the following software:
- Text editor
A text editor is a type of program used for editing plain text files.Text editors are often provided with operating systems or software development packages, and can be used to change configuration files and programming language source code....
s: Beaver, NanoIn computing, nano is a curses-based text editor for Unix and Unix-like systems. It is a clone of Pico, the editor of the Pine email client. nano aims to emulate the functionality and easy-to-use interface of Pico, but without the tight mailer integration of the Pine/Pico package.Released under the...
, VimVim is a text editor released by Bram Moolenaar in 1991 for the Amiga computer. The name "Vim" is an acronym for "Vi IMproved" because Vim was created as an extended version of the vi editor, with many additional features designed to be helpful in editing program source code.Vim is cross-platform...
- File manager
A file manager or file browser is a computer program that provides a user interface to work with file systems. The most common operations used are create, open, edit, view, print, play, rename, move, copy, delete, attributes, properties, search/find, and permissions. Files are typically displayed...
s: DFM, emelFM
- Graphics: mtPaint (raster graphics editor), xzgv
xzgv is a simple, small software utility that can be used for viewing digital images or pictures of several formats, e.g., jpeg, gif, PNG, etc. xzgv is used on computers using a unix-like operating system and the X Window System...
(image viewer)
- Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which only use traditional forms of printed or hand-produced material...
: gphone, XMMSThe X Multimedia System is a free software audio player very similar to Winamp, that runs on many Unix-like operating systems.- History :...
with MPEG-1MPEG-1 is a standard for lossy compression of video and audio. It is designed to compress VHS-quality raw digital video and CD audio down to 1.5 Mbit/s without excessive quality loss, making Video CDs, digital cable/satellite TV and digital audio broadcasting possible.Today, MPEG-1 has become...
and VCDVideo CD is a standard digital format for storing video on a Compact Disc...
support
- Office: SIAG
For the office suite, which Siag belongs to, see Siag Office.SIAG is a spreadsheet using a SIOD engine or base. The grid, siag is fast and very configurable.
Suitable for small unix distributions, it was selected by DSL to provide a spreadsheet inside their fifty megabyte system footprint...
(spreadsheetA spreadsheet is a computer application that simulates a paper worksheet. It displays multiple cells that together make up a grid consisting of rows and columns, each cell containing either alphanumeric text or numeric values...
program), Ted (word processor)Ted is a word processor for the X Window System environment, which runs on Linux and other Unix-like systems. Developed primarily by Mark de Does, Ted is a lightweight yet full-featured word processor....
with spell checkerIn computing, a spell checker is an application program that flags words in a document that may not be spelled correctly...
, XpdfXpdf is an open source PDF viewer for the X Window System and Motif. Xpdf runs on practically any Unix-like operating system. Xpdf can decode LZW and read encrypted PDFs. The official version obeys the DRM restrictions of PDF files, which may prevent copying, printing, or converting some PDF files...
(viewer for PDFPortable Document Format is a file format created by Adobe Systems in 1993 for document exchange. PDF is used for representing two-dimensional documents in a manner independent of the application software, hardware, and operating system....
documents)
- Internet:
- Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
s: DilloDillo is a minimalistic web browser particularly intended for older or slower computers and embedded systems. It supports only plain HTML/XHTML and images over HTTP; scripting is ignored entirely. Dillo is available for Linux, BSD, Solaris and Mac OS X. Due to its small size, it is the browser of...
, FirefoxMozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. Firefox has 23.75% of the recorded usage share of web browsers , making it the second most popular browser in terms of current use worldwide after Microsoft's...
, Netrik
- Sylpheed
Sylpheed is an open source e-mail and news client licensed under the GPL. It offers easy configuration and an abundance of features. It stores mail in the MH Message Handling System. Sylpheed runs on Unix-like systems such as Linux or BSD as well as on Mac OS X and Windows. It uses...
(E-mail clientAn email client, email reader, or more formally mail user agent , is a computer program used to manage email .Specifically, the term email client may refer to any agent acting as a client toward an email server, regardless of it being a mail user agent, a relaying server, or a human typing on a...
)
- naim (AIM
AOL Instant Messenger is an instant messaging and presence computer program which uses the proprietary OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol to allow registered users to communicate in real time. It was released by AOL in May 1997...
, ICQICQ is a popular instant messaging computer program, which was first developed by the Israeli company Mirabilis, now owned by Time Warner's AOL subsidiary. The first version of the program was released in November 1996 and ICQ became one of the first Internet-wide instant messaging services. The...
, and IRC client)
- AxyFTP (FTP
File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to exchange and manipulate files over a TCP/IP based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server applications...
client,, BetaFTPD (FTP server)
- Monkey (web server)
Monkey HTTP Daemon is a very fast and lightweight Web server just for Linux written in the C programming language,and is licensed as free software under the GNU General Public License....
- SMB
In computer networking, Server Message Block operates as an application-layer network protocol mainly used to provide shared access to files, printers, serial ports, and miscellaneous communications between nodes on a network. It also provides an authenticated Inter-process communication mechanism...
client
- Rdesktop
rdesktop is a free, open source client for Microsoft's proprietary RDP protocol. It is released under the GNU General Public License and is available on Unix-like systems such as BSD and Linux....
(RDPRemote Desktop Protocol is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft, which concerns providing a user with a graphical interface to another computer. The protocol is an extension of the ITU-T T.128 application sharing protocol. Clients exist for most versions of Microsoft Windows , Linux,...
client), VNCIn computing, Virtual Network Computing is a graphical desktop sharing system that uses the RFB protocol to remotely control another computer...
viewer
- Others: DHCP
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a computer networking protocol used by devices to obtain configuration information for operation in an Internet Protocol network...
client, SSHSecure Shell or SSH is a network protocol that allows data to be exchanged using a secure channel between two networked devices. Used primarily on Linux and Unix based systems to access shell accounts, SSH was designed as a replacement for Telnet and other insecure remote shells, which send...
/SCPSecure Copy or SCP is a means of securely transferring computer files between a local and a remote host or between two remote hosts, using the Secure Shell protocol....
client and server; PPPIn networking, the Point-to-Point Protocol, or PPP, is a data link protocol commonly used to establish a direct connection between two networking nodes...
, PPPoEThe Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet is a network protocol for encapsulating Point-to-Point Protocol frames inside Ethernet frames. It is used mainly with DSL services where individual users connect to the DSL modem over Ethernet and in plain Metro Ethernet networks...
, ADSLAsymmetric digital subscriber line is a form of DSL, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. It does this by utilizing frequencies that are not used by a voice telephone call...
support; FUSE, NFS, SSHFSSSHFS is a file system client that may be used on operating systems for which an implementation of FUSE is available....
support; UnionFSUnionFS is a filesystem service for Linux, FreeBSD and NetBSD which implements a union mount for other file systems. It allows files and directories of separate file systems, known as branches, to be transparently overlaid, forming a single coherent file system...
; generic/GhostscriptGhostscript is a suite of software based on an interpreter for Adobe Systems' PostScript and Portable Document Format page description languages.- Features :...
printing support; PC cardIn computing, PC Card is the form factor of a peripheral interface designed for laptop computers. The PC Card standard was defined and developed by a group of industry-leading companies called the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association...
, USBUSB is a way of setting up communication between a computer and peripheral devices. USB is intended to replace many varieties of serial and parallel ports. USB can connect computer peripherals such as mice, keyboards, PDAs, gamepads and joysticks, scanners, digital cameras, printers, personal...
, Wi-FiWi-Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance for certified products based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. This certification warrants interoperability between different wireless devices....
support; calculator, games, system monitorA system monitor is a hardware- or software- based system used to monitor resources and performance in a computer system.Software monitors are more commonly seen, sometimes as a part of a widget engine. These monitoring systems are often used to keep track of system resources, such as CPU usage...
; many command-lineA command-line interface is a mechanism for interacting with a computer operating system or software by typing commands to perform specific tasks...
tools
DSL has built-in scripts to download and install
Advanced Packaging ToolThe Advanced Packaging Tool, or APT, is a free user interface that works with core libraries to handle the installation and removal of software on the Debian GNU/Linux distribution and its variants...
(APT). Once APT is enabled, the user can install packages from
DebianDebian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software especially under the GNU General Public License and other open source licenses. The primary form, Debian GNU/Linux, which uses the Linux kernel and GNU OS tools, is a popular and...
's
repositoriesA software repository is a storage location from which software packages may be retrieved and installed on a computer. Many software publishers and other organisations maintain servers on the Internet for this purpose, either free of charge or for a subscription fee...
. Additionally, DSL hosts software ranging from large applications like
OpenOffice.orgOpenOffice.org , commonly known as OpenOffice, is an office application suite available for a number of different computer operating systems. It is distributed as free software and written using its own GUI toolkit...
and
GCCThe GNU Compiler Collection is a compiler system produced by the GNU Project supporting various programming languages. GCC is a key component of the GNU toolchain...
, to smaller ones such as
aMSNaMSN is a free Windows Live Messenger clone. aMSN attempts to emulate the look and feel of Windows Live Messenger, and supports many of its features....
, by means of the "MyDSL" system, which allows convenient one-click download and installation of software. Files hosted on MyDSL are called "extensions". As of June 2008, the MyDSL servers were hosting over 900 applications, plugins, and other extensions.
Boot options
Boot options are also called "cheat codes" in DSL,
KnoppixKnoppix, or KNOPPIX , is an operating system based on Debian designed to be run directly from a CD / DVD, one of the first of its kind for any operating system. Knoppix was developed by Linux consultant Klaus Knopper. When starting a program it is loaded from the optical disc and decompressed into...
and
MorphixMorphix is a modular operating system, based on Knoppix . Morphix uses the Live CD features of Knoppix, but it is more modular. Different modules can be combined on a CD for varying purposes, making Morphix sort of a Live CD construction kit. For example, a Morphix CD can contain a normal base...
. Automatic hardware detection may fail, or the user may want to use something other than the default settings (language, keyboard, VGA, fail safe graphics, text mode...). DSL allows the user to enter one or more cheat codes at the boot prompt. If nothing is entered, DSL will boot with the default options. Cheat codes affect many auto-detection and hardware options. Many cheat codes also affect the GUI. The list of cheat codes can be seen at boot time and also at the DSL Wiki.
The MyDSL system
MyDSL is handled and maintained mostly by Robert Shingledecker and hosted by many organizations, such as
ibiblioibiblio is a "collection of collections," and hosts a diverse range of publicly available information and open source software, including software, music, literature, art, history, science, politics, and cultural studies. As an "Internet librarianship," ibiblio is a digital library and archive...
and Belgium's BELNET. There are 2 areas of MyDSL - regular and "testing". The regular area contains extensions that have been proven stable enough for everyday use and is broken down into different areas such as "apps", "net", "system", and "uci" ("Universal Compressed ISO" - Extensions in .uci format are
mountedMounting, in computer science, is the process of making a file system ready for use by the operating system, typically by reading certain index data structures from storage into memory ahead of time...
as a separate
filesystemIn computing, a file system is a method for storing and organizing computer files and the data they contain to make it easy to find and access them...
to minimize RAM usage). The "testing" area is for newly submitted extensions that theoretically work 'as advertised', but may have any number of
bugsA software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
.
Versions and ports
Release history
| Version |
Date |
| 1.0 |
2005-04-13 |
| 1.1 |
2005-05-05 |
| 1.2 |
2005-06-07 |
| 1.3 |
2005-07-14 |
| 1.4 |
2005-08-02 |
| 1.5 |
2005-09-06 |
| 2.0 |
2005-11-22 |
| 2.4 |
2006-05-16 |
| 3.0 |
2006-06-20 |
| 3.1 |
2006-11-29 |
| 3.2 |
2007-01-18 |
| 3.3 |
2007-04-03 |
| 3.4 |
2007-07-03 |
| 4.0 |
2007-10-23 |
| 4.1 |
2007-12-02 |
| 4.2 |
2007-12-18 |
| 4.3 |
2008-04-22 |
| 4.4 |
2008-06-09 |
The standard flavour of DSL is the
Live CDA live CD or live DVD is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive...
. There are also other versions available:
- 'Frugal' installation: DSL's 'cloop' image
The compressed loopback device or cloop is a module for the Linux kernel. It adds support for transparently decompressed, read-only block devices. It is not a compressed file system in itself....
is installed, as a single file, to a hard disk partitionDisk partitioning is the act or practice of dividing the storage space of a hard disk drive into separate data areas known as partitions. A partition editor program can be used to create, delete or modify these partitions. Once a disk is divided into several partitions, directories and files of...
. This is likely more reliable and secure than a traditional hard drive installation, since the cloop image cannot be directly modified; any changes made are only stored in memory and discarded upon rebooting.
- 'dsl-version-embedded.zip': Includes QEMU
QEMU is a processor emulator that relies on dynamic binary translation to achieve a reasonable speed while being easy to port on new host CPU architectures....
for running DSL inside Windows or Linux.
- 'dsl-version-initrd.iso': Integrates the normally-separate cloop image into the initrd
The initial ramdisk, or initrd is a temporary file system commonly used in the boot process of the Linux kernel. It is typically used for making preparations before the real root file system can be mounted.- Rationale :...
image; this allows network bootingNetwork booting is the process of booting a computer from a network rather than a local drive. This method of booting can be used by routers, diskless workstations and centrally managed computers such as public computers at libraries and schools. Network booting can be used to centralise management...
, using PXEThe Preboot eXecution Environment is an environment to boot computers using a network interface independently of available data storage devices or installed operating systems....
. As a regular toram boot, requires at least 128mb ram.
- 'dsl-version-syslinux.iso': Boots using syslinux
The SYSLINUX Project is a suite of lightweight bootloaders, for starting up computers with the Linux kernel. It is the work of H. Peter Anvin, and consists of several separate systems, the best-known of which is ISOLINUX.-List:...
floppy image emulation instead of isolinuxThe SYSLINUX Project is a suite of lightweight bootloaders, for starting up computers with the Linux kernel. It is the work of H. Peter Anvin, and consists of several separate systems, the best-known of which is ISOLINUX.-List:...
; for very old PCs that cannot boot with isolinux.
- 'dsl-version-vmx.zip': A virtual machine
A virtual machine is a software implementation of a machine that executes programs like a physical machine.-Definitions:...
hard drive image that can be run in VirtualBoxVirtualBox is an x86 virtualization software package, originally created by German software company Innotek, now developed by Sun Microsystems as part of its Sun xVM virtualization platform...
, VMware WorkstationVMware Workstation is a virtual machine software suite for x86 and x86-64 computers from VMware, a division of EMC Corporation. This software suite allows users to set up multiple x86 and x86-64 virtual computers and to use one or more of these virtual machines simultaneously with the hosting...
or VMware PlayerVMware Player is a freeware virtualization software product from VMware, Inc. . Player can run guest virtual appliances or other virtual machines produced by other VMware products but cannot itself create new virtual machines...
.
- DSL-N: A larger version of DSL that exceeds the 50 MB limit of business-card CDs
A bootable business card is a CD-ROM that has been cut, pressed, or molded to the size and shape of a business card . Alternative names for this form factor include "credit card", "hockey rink" and "wallet-size". The cards are designed to hold about 50 MB...
. DSL-N uses version 2 of the GTK+ widget toolkitGTK+ is a cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. It is one of the most popular toolkits for the X Window System, along with Qt....
and version 2.6 of the Linux kernelThe Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
. The latest release of DSL-N, 0.1RC4, is 95 MB in size. It is not actively maintained.
One can also boot DSL using a boot-floppy created from one of the available floppy images ('bootfloppy.img'; 'bootfloppy-grub.img'; 'bootfloppy-usb.img'; or 'pcmciabootfloppy.img') on very old computers, where the
BIOSIn IBM PC Compatible computers, the basic input/output system , also known as the System BIOS, is a de facto standard defining a firmware interface. The BIOS is boot firmware, designed to be the first code run by a PC when powered on...
does not support the
El Torito Bootable CD SpecificationThe El Torito Bootable CD Specification is an extension to the ISO 9660 CD-ROM specification. It is designed to allow a computer to boot from a CD-ROM...
. The DSL
kernelThe Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
is loaded from the floppy disk into RAM, after which the kernel runs DSL from the CD or USB drive.
DSL was
portedIn computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to the
XboxThe Xbox is a video game console produced by Microsoft. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console market, and competed with Sony's PlayStation 2, Sega's Dreamcast, and Nintendo's GameCube...
video game consoleA video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or electronic device that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
as
X-DSL. X-DSL requires a modified Xbox. It can run as a Live CD or be installed to the Xbox hard drive. Users have also run X-DSL from a USB flash drive, using the USB adaptor included with
Phantasy Star OnlinePhantasy Star Online is an online RPG title, originally released for Dreamcast in 2000, bundled with a demo of Sonic Adventure 2. Another edition, entitled Phantasy Star Online ver.2, was released for the Dreamcast the following year...
, which plugs into the memory card slot and includes one USB 1.1 port. X-DSL boots into a
X11The X Window System is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a graphical user interface for networked computers, and was initially developed as part of Project Athena...
-based GUI; the Xbox
controllerA game controller is an input device used to control a video game. A controller is typically connected to a video game console or a personal computer. A game controller can be a keyboard, mouse, gamepad, joystick, paddle, or any other device designed for gaming that can receive input...
can be used to control the mouse pointer and enter text using a
virtual keyboardA virtual keyboard is a software and/or hardware component that allows a user to enter characters. A virtual keyboard can usually be operated with multiple input devices, which may include an actual keyboard, a computer mouse, a headmouse, and an eyemouse....
. X-DSL has a
FluxboxFluxbox is a stacking window manager for the X Window System, which started as a fork of Blackbox 0.61.1, with the same aim to be lightweight. Its user interface has only a taskbar, a pop-up menu accessible by right-clicking on the desktop, and minimal support for graphical icons...
desktop, with programs for E-mail, web browsing, word processing and playing music. X-DSL can be customized by downloading extensions from the same MyDSL servers as DSL.
Current status of the project
Due to infighting among the project's originators and main developers, DSL development seems to be at a standstill. Many longtime followers and users are unsure of the project's future. See this post to the DSL forums from December 2008 for further details.
See also
- Mini Linux
- Feather Linux
Feather Linux, created by Robert Sullivan, is a Knoppix-based operating system which fits in under 128 MB . It boots from either a CD or a USB Flash Drive, into a Fluxbox desktop environment. It has a wide range of desktop and rescue software, and can load entirely into RAM or be installed to a...
- Puppy Linux
Puppy Linux is a Live CD Linux distribution that is very small and focuses on ease of use. If the computer has at least 64 MB of RAM , the entire operating system and all the applications will run from RAM, allowing the boot medium to be removed after the operating system starts...
- Tiny Core Linux
Tiny Core Linux is a minimalist Linux system focusing on providing a base system with BusyBox, FLTK and other minimalist software. TCL's lead developer, Robert Shingledecker converses through an open development model in forums such as freenode channel - [irc://irc.freenode.net/tinycorelinux...
- SliTaz GNU/Linux
SliTaz GNU/Linux is a community-based software project started in 2006 by Christophe Lincoln. It is a Linux distribution with a root filesystem that takes up approximately 100 MB and install media of around 20 MB...
- Comparison of Linux Live Distros
External links