this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
39 points (97.6% liked)

Linux

48149 readers
740 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Yes, I know so much of Alpine's lightweightness comes from not using glibc.

But still, the other options I see are far from being slimmed down. Debian, Ubuntu server, CentOS... They all could use some cuts.

What's the most slimmed down non-desktop distro that still has a glibc base? I honestly don't care if it has its own package manager (build tool handles this for me). Just wanna use it in containers for running server apps.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Arch with 'minimal' install is pretty small. Would that work?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think Arch gets pretty close, but I am wondering if anything goes further. Given Arch is tailored for personal computing, I wonder if it adds anything to ease usability that they otherwise would not need to if it was server based. But I think Arch is what I need, you are right. Thanks!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I mean Arch is what you make of it. It can be as lightweight and minimal as you want it to be based on your installation decisions.

"Lightness" in what sense are you after?

Size of distribution? # of packages?

Otherwise you'll be using basically the same kernel images.

Maybe you should be custom compiling your own Linux Kernel to be even more "lightweight".