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10+ free, fast-booting Linux distros that aren't Chrome OS
Linux enthusiasts have been working on projects like this for years - fast booting, stripped-down distributions which offer the core functionality most users are looking for in a pinch: web browsing, music and video playback, photo management, and some basic games.
Here are 11 options you can take for a spin right now...And since the Google Chrome beta version is available for Linux you can even run the browser that "is the OS" in most of these if you want!
Intel's backing gives Moblin a big boost publicity-wise, so it's quickly become a key player in the netbook/ultraportable Linux game. Moblin V2 and 2.1 were big improvements over the first release, and the Mozilla-based web browser keeps getting better. Moblin boots quickly, and you can run it from an optical drive, USB flash drive, or install it onto your HDD or SSD.
Jolicloud
Jolicloud is currently in open beta testing, and it's already built a large, supportive following. Its foundation is the Ubuntu Netbook Remix, but Jolicloud adds a social layer and a nice, easy-to-use repository of web-based apps (like Gmail, Facbook, and Twitter) and locally installed ones (like VLC and Skype).
It's also got a full terminal and supports apt-get, meaning you can install just about anything else that's in a Ubuntu repository - loads of excellent Linux games like Wormux and 0 A.D., for example.
xPud (also header image)
I mentioned xPud when I asked for your initial impressions of Chrome OS, and our search function went nuts - logging more than a thousand queries overnight. It's available as a LiveCD or USB image, and there's even a Windows-based installer (think Wubi) which will install xPud alongside your current Win environment and modify the boot.ini or BCD (I've had mixed results with this, but nothing fatal - xPud just doesn't boot if something goes wrong but Windows is always OK).
xPud is tiny - about 50/60MB - and it boots in about 10 seconds. In addition to Firefox, xPud also include MPlayer , and it has now added Chrome-style web app shortcuts as well. Using opt-get you can easily download a few other apps like Transmission, DropBox, Skype, and OpenOffice. More apps are on the way!
Slitaz
30Mb doesn't seem like a heck of a lot of room for anything these days. That's about one third the size of the iTunes download, for crying out loud! Still, in that amount room Slitaz crams in Firefox, Transmission, Alsaplayer, gFTP, OsmoOrganizer, and more.
WebConverger
If there was a Firefox OS to Google's Chrome OS, WebConverger would be it. This distro is designed for use in web kiosks, but it's a pretty similar experience to using Chrome OS. There's a stripped down Linux shell and a browser (Firefox), and that's about it.
Browser Linux
Based on Puppy Linux, Browser Linux cuts away the unneeded extras (who knew Puppy had 'em to cut?) and weighs in at just 78Mb. You wind up with fast access to Firefox (with Flash support), Alsaplayer, PDF Reader, and geeky essentials like Terminal and a text editor.
MacPup Foxy (pictured) and MacPup Opera
Both MacPup remixes are based upon Puppy Linux (see below) and utilize the Enlightenment e17 window manager. As you no doubt guessed, each one features a different default browser. MacPup is one of the very few distros you can find which offers Opera out-of-the-box.
Damn Small Linux and Puppy Linux
With all the other distros I mentioned here, I just didn't feel right about leaving out two of the most influential lightweight Linux distros around: Puppy Linux and Damn Small Linux (DSL). If you want a more complete desktop experience but don't want to give up fast boot times or throw away a boatload of disk space, DSL and Puppy are well worth a test drive. Both include a wide array of programs and plenty more can be installed with minimal fuss.
They're also ideally suited to aging hardware that you can't bring yourself to recycle.
Slax
A 200MB dynamo built on Slackware, Slax offers one seriously awesome feature you won't find with any of the other options mentioned here. You can customize you ISO before you download. It's as simple as choosing build Slax and then browsing through the massive inventory of packages available to plug in. Bonus points: you can even drop Google Chrome into your personal build.
Slax has long been a favorite of Linux users looking for a feature-packed but lightweight desktop OS, and it's been downloaded more than 2 million times.
"That's nice, but I want me some Google" you say?
Those of you who would still rather take Chrome OS for a spin, I'd recommend Hexxeh's build - you can download it from his web site a dozen ways (torrent recommended).
Have another distro that didn't make my list? Share it with us in the comments!
"That's nice, but I want me some Google" you say?
Have another distro that didn't make my list? Share it with us in the comments!
Comments
17
Subscribe to commentsblasztaDec 30th 2009 3:11PM
I think your article just killed xPud website
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:-)
GenericDec 30th 2009 3:51PM
LOL!
I won't be hitting the xPud website then. I have a somewhat old version that I don't use because I'm more inclined to use a full-blown computer but it sure is my favorite of the bunch.
Remember this: xPud's vision is Google's next big thing ;)
Lee MathewsDec 30th 2009 4:41PM
xPud torrent is available at TPB: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5225842/xpud-0.9.2
See? P2P IS good for legal stuff! :)
Tim WellsDec 30th 2009 3:53PM
Good OS is another "good" one. http://www.thinkgos.com/
mahDec 31st 2009 1:56AM
it has a much larger footprint than puppy or DSL and the latest version is long since deemed vaporware
chappell101Dec 30th 2009 4:30PM
I love lightweight OS's that help prove that efficient application and OS design can make even a 8 year old laptop functional to a user once again, let alone help develop applications that run quick enough to suppress our modern PC impatience even on a new multi-core PC's thanks to lazy bloated coding.
Slax was my first experience of Linux in its LiveCD days and its pleasing results helped move some of our household computers permanently to Ubuntu a few years back. Recently though I have been trying to push every last bit of juice out of our oldest surviving computer a 1GHZ VAIO laptop with 256MB of RAM. In my quest I have successfully tried out WattOS a Ubuntu derivative designed to save battery life by running lightweight but usable applications (New Release Soon), XPud which runs deceptively quick in VM but in real life has graphics issues/doesn't support its Ethernet and is much slower. I'm currently using the speedy SliTaz 2.0 on the laptop as the cooking versions flash/sound is broken.
I'm intending to try going smaller than SliTaz's 30MB though after getting the lightweight bug with TinyCore Linux which is 10MB and MenuetOS which is about 2MB thanks to being built in assembly code.
chappell101Dec 31st 2009 9:31AM
So today's post encouraged me to take the time to try out TinyCore Linux and MenuetOS before I try the new WattOS in the new year to see if it can replace SliTaz. TinyCore Linux 2.7 very fast if you manually install to the HDD, but the flash playback has a very crackly sound. Opera 10 is also much faster than Firefox 3.5.5 as my normal choice Chromium fails to load. MenuetOS is now 64bit so I had to find a forked 32bit build for such and old system as mine. KolibriOS is that respin but it doesn't have a browser/flash application unlike MenuetOS but I will keep playing as the system is almost instant loading.
OlaDec 30th 2009 7:21PM
So which one features the fastest booting time? Jolicloud does look very nice.
simonftDec 30th 2009 9:07PM
Google cache has mirrors:
Mirror Sites
* http://soldat.gr/xpud/
* http://ftp.ubuntu-tw.org/mirror/download.xpud.org/
* ftp://ftp.dorm.ccu.edu.tw/pub/Linux/xPUD/
* hxxp://mesrss.free.fr/ (replace cc with tt, comment only allows three urls...)
RyzvonusefDec 31st 2009 1:41AM
Actually, only two your four links are effective:
http://soldat.gr/xpud/
http://mesrss.free.fr/xpud/
The "ubuntu-tw" one didn't work for me, and the "dorm.ccu" doesn't seem to the latest "0.9.2" version of xpud. Thanks for the backup links anyways.
RyzvonusefDec 31st 2009 1:36AM
And since I am too lazy to download and check all, Lee, could you please recommend me one? please? pretty please? :)
kojo87Dec 31st 2009 3:18AM
maybe this is why i was never really that excited about Chrome OS. it has all been done before.
mmmnaDec 31st 2009 8:39PM
PCLinuxOS.... Full blown Linux, easy to administer, NEVER has the trendy stuff because PCLinuxOS waits for an amount of maturity before apps get included. Decent package list in the repositories.
laeroJan 1st 2010 12:32PM
A properly configured Arch Linux install usually boots very fast, it does however require some knowledge and a fearless attitude towards the command line and text file configuration.
martinJan 7th 2010 5:16PM
Good article. For those interested this spreadsheet has details of boot times on eeepcs.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Aib-MC2xtkLhcFRBaGJ1Q3o4WUJSSHNvUzdQNFM2T3c&hl=en_GB
The sub 20sec booters are: Arch, xpud, google, puppeee, moblin, xandros, jolicloud, & customised xp
Arch - is hard work to set up
Moblin, jolicloud, xpud and google are really restricted to cloud computing in that they dont have a lot of other software to add on.
xandros isnt free
puppeee has all the puppy software at its disposal but it is specially customised for the eee.
If you want fast but also flexible then there is a lot more choice in the 20-30s bracket but to be honest many of the distros listed here eg debian or ubuntu have to be customised to get there boot times below 30. the easiest way to do this is to swap gnome or kde for a much faster windows manager such as LXDE or JWM
Martin
PonTelonJan 13th 2010 12:12AM
I've installed Jolicloud on my Macbook(2006) and I have to say that I am loving it. It does pretty much everything I want to do. I never thought I'd make a switch to Linux, but I can see it as a main-OS with Mac OS or Win7 as backup OSs for the few things I can't do on Jolicloud. Most of my programs that I use either have a Linux version, are Adobe AIR, or work with WINE.
We'll see if the honeymoon wears off or not, but clean and fast interface are both aces in my book.
StephanJan 27th 2010 9:10AM
a little (50-70MB) OS to start XBMC Mediacenter very fast you can find at http://www.openelec.tv