TinyCore Linux 3.0: Graphical Linux distribution under 11 Megabyte

A few months ago, I tried TinyCore, basically because I wanted USB-bootable Linux on my 64MB flash card.

DSL worked pretty well, except it came with the older 2.4 kernel which didn't recognize my network card, so no internet (showstopper).

For some time, I tried compiling and brewing my own uClibc / BusyBox Linux, but it's pretty hard to make it all work. There are several ways to accomplish that task, but none worked for me.

Then I found TinyCore, and I was delighted. OK, the screen looks pretty bad, I think it was VGA or something, but it worked out of the box while stuff like Fedora 12 didn't!

It doesn't come with enough tools to serve as a rescue-CD / USB-stick I believe, unless you add those in some way. But it would be interesting to have it as a second OS installed on the HD as a "quick boot environment".

The apps worked pretty well also, installation of new apps is really fast! And most apps are small.

When on modem-internet and you have to pay per minute, I think this is a great distro! Or, if you just like me, wonder how fast present-day computers (dual-core AMD) really is - given the right software, it's also interesting.

Or maybe just to show those ignorant people who believe "Ubuntu is Linux".

Interesting to note this "whole distribution" by default, is smaller than Firefox, smaller than Amarok and even smaller than nmap.

The only problem with TinyCore is limited hardware support. It is pretty well useless with legacy hardware. Really old legacy stuff was the target audience for DSL and Deli Linux, which also seems to be dead now. A Linux distro with software that is maintained and developed and which targets the oldest of the legacy stuff out there which can still run Linux would fill a niche that has sadly been abandoned. TinyCore is not a successor for DSL in that way.

Having said that, roberts has done an amazing job with TinyCore in creating something very small, quoite useful, and very much extensible. I have nothing but praise for what he has done but the comparison to DSL is not apt other than for the fact that he worked on both projects.

Maybe a stupid remark, but would it be possible to use Linux-2.4 in TinyCore? Then I think it could run on legacy hardware.

Also, I haven't figured out yet how TinyCore handles kernel modules. Have to find out I think...

> It is pretty well useless with legacy hardware.

It runs everything on my 1998 desktop quite well.

Try it on something like a Toshiba Libretto of the same era :(

Is the Tiny Core Linux kernel easily patched??? I see the packages have an extension, *.tcz. Is this some form of package manager, or is this more like a tarball for slackware-like packages that need to be compiled???

It is interesting because if easily patched, it might suit my needs on my Viliv S5,... I've had a hell of a time getting anything other than an Android port to work well on it...

JaseP:

You can build the kernel from another Linux distribution, that shouldn't be too hard. For example, if you're using Ubuntu as well on some other device, do $zcat /proc/config.gz > .config

while on tinycore, transfer .config to Ubuntu's (or whatever you're using) kernel directory and do "make menuconfig", configure it, compile it, and insert back into TinyCore and you should be done.

I had no trouble with Tiny Core on my 2002-era Toshiba Satellite 1100-S101. It also runs on my 1999 Compaq Armada 7770dmt.

I did have trouble with my USB Headphone Set sound module - i couldn't get it configured in OSS or ALSA. I did get test sounds in OSS, but I couldn't get "real" sound.

Other than that, everything worked fine in TC on my old junk.