Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
In the Linux world, you might be forgiven for being convinced that the dead can rise and walk again. In early 2024, an old Linux distribution, thought to have been dead and buried for 16 years, was resurrected!
With its last stable release in 2008, Damn Small Linux (DSL) is back, but with much that is new.
Background
DSL was started by American developer, John Andrews, and had its first stable release in 2005. His initial aim was experimental in nature: to see if he could create a distribution that would fit on a bootable business card, a once popular cut-down CD, the size of an actual business card and which held 50 MB of data. Yes, that resulted in a Linux distribution with a maximum size of 50 MB, and that was actually possible twenty years ago. DSL was designed to be booted up and run from a variety of small media and was based on Knoppix, another distribution designed for “live CD” use. Knoppix was in turn based on Debian.
The DSL project gained a following and continued until its last stable release in 2008, when it disappeared into the annals of Linux history, or so we all thought.
And then, on 1 February, 2024, Andrews released a new DSL version called DSL 2024 alpha with the intention of creating a new stable version this year.
This DSL 2024 is not your grandfather’s DSL, however. Much has changed, in fact, and it may not have a lot in common with the original beyond its name.
Recognizing that it is pretty much impossible to create a useful distribution under 50 MB today, at least with any sort of graphical interface, the new size limit is 700 MB, which is 14 times bigger than the last version of DSL. This new 700 MB limit is intended to allow it to fit on a standard compact disc (CD). Remember those?
Is 700 MB a “Damn Small Linux”? Perhaps it is more like a “Somewhat Small Linux”. Well, at least we can note that it is less than 1/7 the size of Ubuntu 23.10, which weighed in at a hefty 5.2 GB at release time.
This new DSL version is no longer Knoppix-based but, instead, is now a derivative of antiX, which is a lightweight Debian-based Linux distribution.
DSL has also only been released in a 32-bit build, although it is worth noting that 32-bit software can be run on 64-bit hardware (but not the other way around).
The other thing that has changed is the aim, as DSL is now intended to be a distribution run on hardware as old as that built for Windows XP, from about 2001-2008. Those boxes often came with 256 or 512 MB of RAM, which seems a bit quaint today when 8 GB is a normal bare minimum. Many of these computers also came with CD-only drives, but not DVD drives or the capability to boot from a USB stick (well, without using Plop that is), hence the 700 MB CD maximum size. But, do people still have blank CDs lying around? I know that I don’t.
To get this new DSL down below 700 MB, Andrews limited the installed default languages to a few varieties of English, stripped out user manual pages, source code, and used lightweight applications that have a minimum of dependencies. DSL 2024 employs Debian’s Advanced Package Tool (APT) to manage packages from the command line and that means that it is easy to run updates, install additional languages and applications as needed.
Getting DSL
I downloaded DSL 2024 alpha from the official website via HTTPS, since there is no BitTorrent available. As advertised, the file is under 700 MB, but not by much, as the version I got was 698.1 MB.
An MD5 sum is provided. While not as secure as an SHA256 sum, it did indicate that the download was good.
Installing
I ran DSL from a USB stick equipped with Ventoy 1.0.97. It is not officially listed as being supported, but antiX is supported and DSL 2024 booted up just fine.
System requirements
DSL 2024 does not list any specific minimum system requirements, but I found it idled at 182 MB of RAM and with some applications open, including the file manager, text editor, word processor, spreadsheet, and terminal window, it never got above 325 MB so it should do fine with 512 MB of RAM, unless you are doing multiple-tab web browsing. Modern web pages tend to be big, so the sky's the limit there.
Trying out DSL
I generally avoid reviewing Linux distributions that are not out as stable releases, as there tends to be a lot broken, and that is indeed the case with this first alpha of DSL 2024. I made an exception for DSL 2024 alpha, just because this project to create a new version after so many years was intriguing and I thought it deserved a review.
Normally in a development process you can expect a couple of alpha releases, then a beta, and finally the stable version, and, over that time, problems get identified and fixed, ideally resulting in a flawless stable version.
So with those low expectations, I had a look at DSL 2024 alpha. It boots up with the Fluxbox window manager, which forms the underlying basis for the desktop. The first impression DSL 2024 gives is that it is quite functional and comes with a collection of applications that will fit most basic desktop users’ needs. Everything supplied is lightweight, which generally means minimally featured, though.
The quite-conventional menu system can be accessed via the taskbar button or by right clicking anywhere on the desktop, a nice feature that saves time.
Systemd haters will be pleased to know that DSL uses runit as its initialization system.
Once booted up, I used APT from the command line to update DSL 2024 and had a look at the repositories, which are from antiX. If doing command line package management is not your thing, then it is easy to install Synaptic or another graphical package manager, although you will have to use the command line to install it! The lack of a graphical package manager does mean that this is not really a distribution for Linux beginners, as at least some command line APT skills are required.
In my initial checks, I found a number of elements that were broken, which is not surprising in a first alpha release. On that list was my WiFi card, which was not found, necessitating the use of an Ethernet connection instead. Also, many menu items did not work, or at least would not launch.
Settings
DSL 2024 uses Fluxbox as its default window manager, although JWM is also installed. Fluxbox actually does provide a nice selection of 22 different window and menu color themes and font sizes. That is a good thing, as the default Radiant-small theme is a bit garish. Some toned-down themes and bigger font sizes are available.
The desktop wallpaper could not be changed, which is too bad, as it needs changing. The default wallpaper is a picture of two mice working on the inside of a clock. It is cute and whimsical, but also busy and cluttered. Personally, I like cleaner wallpapers for my desktop. There is no settings box to change the wallpaper. The zzzFM file manager has a right-click option to set any image as the wallpaper, but it was broken. The alternate Ranger file manager would not launch.
Applications
Some of the applications included are: Abiword 3.0.5 word processor AlsaMixer 1.2.8 sound controller Archive Manager (File Roller) 43.0 file archiver Badwolf 1.0.3 web browser Dillo 3.0.5 web browser Feh 3.10 image viewer gFTP 2.9.1b FTP client Gnumeric 1.12.55 spreadsheet Leafpad 0.8.18.1 text editor MPV 0.35.1 video player mtPaint 3.50.09 image editor scrot 1.8.1 command line screenshot tool Sylpheed 3.8.0 beta 1 email client XMMS 1.2.11 audio player Zathura 0.5.2 PDF reader zzzFM 1.0.7 file manager
As noted, this mix of applications consists of lightweight applications. More capable applications can be easily installed using APT from the repositories, although more RAM will be required to run them.
As a reviewer, one of the first things I looked for was to see if DSL had a screenshot tool installed. I didn’t see one in the menus, but a check of APT showed that the command line scrot tool was installed. Scrot works well but it would have been nice if it had been provided with a key binding to the “PrtScr” key, as is normal. I was able to run it from the command line with a delay command to complete the screenshots for this review.
For a distribution that is trying to stay small, DSL has a curious number of duplicate default applications, including file managers, window managers and web browsers. That said, the BadWolf browser is slow to load pages and frequently crashes , while the Dillo web browser won’t display many web pages, probably due to the lack of JavaScript support. Just a few more things that will need addressing before the stable release.
User base
One question that always comes up with niche distributions like this one is “who is this for?” The official website states that it is for “low-spec x86 computers … to run on computers old enough to not have a DVD and cannot boot off of a USB drive.” So this is really aimed at people with old XP computers that they want to use as a main or secondary computer.
If you have more capable hardware you could still install DSL and then “fatten” it up with more fully-featured applications like Firefox and LibreOffice, but wouldn’t you just install a more complete distribution instead?
Conclusions
DSL 2024 alpha is truly an alpha release, as it has a number of things that don’t work, at least so far, although it does show good potential.
While I was working on this review, a second alpha version came out on 20 February, 2024, so that at least shows development is moving along quickly. We can expect perhaps another alpha or two and then a beta before the final stable release comes out later this year. (Editor's note: it’s now up to rc3 as of April 2024).
One question remains: Is there enough pent-up demand by owners of old hardware that this will take off? While Damn Small Linux has some “brand recognition” at least among older Linux users, today the lightweight end of the Linux market already has a lot of players including Puppy Linux, SliTaz, Tiny Core Linux, and, of course, antiX. This newly reinvented DSL will have to offer something those others don’t to scratch out a dedicated user base.
It is probably worth noting that one of the strengths of the Linux world is that definitions of “success” encompass a wide range of outcomes. If someone is building a distribution as a hobby, and not as a for-profit venture, then success might just mean having a distribution to tinker with and a few dedicated fans finding it useful enough to use.
If you have an old computer in the basement that isn’t getting any use, then when DSL 2024 comes out in stable, it may just be the ticket to getting it working again.
External links
Official website: https://www.damnsmalllinux.org/