| Damn Small Linux: Damn Fine Distro |
| Introduction |
Damn Small Linux (or DSL for short) is a Linux distribution with a difference. Although it is based on the Knoppix live CD, its size has been reduced drastically to fit on a 50MB business-card shape CD. Damn Small Linux is a general purpose distribution to carry around in one's wallet; it comes with XFree86 and the Fluxbox window manager, while other light-weight applications for email, web browsing, word processing, instant messaging and playing music are also included. James Zaldivar has been highly impressed with this light-weight distribution and, after sharing his experiences in a brief review, he went on to interview the author of Damn Small Linux - John Andrews.
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| Review and Interview |
| Damn Small Linux: Damn Fine Distro |
I came to Linux just a couple of months ago (as of the time of this review), and in that time, I have gone distro-crazy. I must have installed/run (or tried to, at least) 10 distros on my box by now; big and small. Damn Small Linux (or DSL for short) is a knoppix-based live CD distro. I know, I know; line starts to the left. But unlike most live CD distros, this one is made for those tiny business card CDs. Weighing in at a sporty 50MBs, DSL manages to squeeze in some handy - and fun - programs the other business card CD distros miss.
Like I said, I'm pretty new to the whole Linux scene, and I'm no expert. At this stage in the game, I generally give up if things get too tough when it comes to installation or configuration and look for other, more "newbie-friendly" distros. So when Morphix wouldn't boot properly, I set the CD aside for a future project. But DSL Linux succeeded where Morphix failed, thanks in no small part for DSL's less-lofty goals. DSL is simplicity itself, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a lot to offer.
I went ahead and ordered the CD from DSL creator John Andrews's site and (after establishing I'm too stupid to fill out an order form properly on the first try) received version 0.4.3 in the mail promptly. For those who care about these things, the CD itself came in a plastic baggie. No manual, no artwork on the disc itself - just the disc with "Damn Small Linux" written on it with a Sharpie. But then again, my copy of Red Hat 8 cost me $50 at CompUSA and the pretty box and manual didn't do a thing to help it get installed on my box right the first time, so I think we can agree that looks aren't everything.
I put the disc in my machine, rebooted, and in about 3 minutes, I was looking at this. DSL uses the small but nifty Fluxbox for its window manager. Perusing the menu for a minute will make it clear that this isn't a boring rescue CD. In fact, you can do a bunch of things with DSL, "out of the baggie." It has a mangles-web-page-formatting-but-it's-real-bloody-small web browser (Links Hacker), a surprisingly capable word processor complete with spell check, a picture viewer, a paint program - the list, as they say, goes on. Jon even managed to hook us up with XMMS. No kidding gang, this little distro gives you more than is natural in 50mbs. And to top it all off, DSL even let's you download some stuff that you'd probably want but John couldn't manage to fit on the disk (like Mozilla Firebird) with a couple of clicks (and an Internet connection, of course)!
Screenshot: Damn Small Linux
Recently, I had a chance to corner John and ask him a few questions about Damn Small Linux, and about Linux in general.
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| John, thanks for giving me a chance to interview you. You've been busy lately - according to DistroWatch, you have put out 3 versions of DSL in as many weeks. What's the deal with that? What has been changing with the project that has you cranking them out so fast? |
Thank you for the interview. It's really a surprise to me that DSL is getting as much attention as it is. I don't have a schedule for releases; I just float a new ISO when I think I've made enough improvements to make it worthy of burning to a CD again. My goal is to make DSL as desktop-oriented as possible in 50M of compressed space. What I want is to be able to plop a business card size CD into any computer and get a day's work done. Each release gets closer to that goal.
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| Any idea when/if you're going to release a 1.0 version of DSL? Is your reluctance to put out a 1.0 version a symptom of your perfectionism, or humility? |
I don't see it happening any time soon. I'm not a big company; this is just a hobby. There isn't any QA team--it's just me and some help I get from email correspondence. If possible, I'd like to thank Peter Sieg and Andreas Granig -- both have helped DSL progress. Re: humility. I'm not a Linux guru, just big fan of Linux and small, efficient applications. Making DSL has been a learning process and I am really building on the genius of others.
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| One of the slickest things that you did with DSL in my opinion was the ability to download Mozilla Firebird and support for Flash with an option from the menu. I think it added a lot of value to the distro overall, and was a welcome bonus. Have you put any thought into adding more programs to DSL with the same method? If so, what would you like to add? |
Hey, I'm glad you like that! It is possible to get Mozilla Firebird into a 50M iso, but it would take up a lot of room and squeeze out other applications. BTW, Sergey Karpov's Links-Hacked, is really a nice browser for its size (3M), though it is not quite a substitute for Mozilla yet. It's a balancing act to have an application live solely in memory. I fancy DSL being a distro that runs well on older hardware. It would be nice to do this with The GIMP or possibly MPlayer...
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| The venerable Mr. Knopper has said that he made Knoppix primarily for his own uses. Who or what is behind your releases and choices of included software? |
Just me and suggestions from folks via email. Actually, DSL looks a lot like my desktop. Like I said earlier, I am a big fan of small, efficient applications--I do not use KDE 3.x or GNOME 2.x; Fluxbox is near perfection for me. There is also the size restriction, of course.
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| What got you started with Linux and when did you start? |
The concept of OSS first attracted me. I love the idea of people collectively working for the greater good. Honestly, it was a gradual discovery. I got my first computer when I was 26(!) years old--that was five years ago. I first wanted to build a website, but didn't know how. Then I learned about Apache and how the average user could do so much more with it than IIS. Then I started experimenting with Perl. I noticed that these things were free and saving me a bundle, and I took note of their licenses--that got me going! Two years after I got my first computer, I was running Linux on my desktop full time :-).
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| In your opinion, should Windows go the way of the dinosaur, or is it a non-issue for you? |
IMO, it is not a question of should or shouldn't. MS has already lost the server market. In the long run, the closed source desktop is dead--I think MS knows it, too.
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| Linux or GNU/Linux? Does it matter? |
It depends on who you talk to :-). If I wanted to impress a geek, I'd say GNU/Linux. If I wanted to convert a non-Linux user into one, I would just say 'Linux'.
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| Many folks in the Linux community believe that including proprietary programs in a distro (or even using them in Linux) goes against the "philosophy" of OSS. Where do you stand on this issue? |
I don't have a 'stance'. In philosophy I agree, but sometimes there aren't OS alternatives--popular browser plug-ins are an example.
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| With all of these recent updates, you seem to be skilled at making room on that little disc. What else do you think you can squeeze in there and what's in store for DSL? |
I can only comment on what is around the corner. Coming up in 0.4.4, I am adding more command line tools (less, un/zip, telnet), autofs and mount.app (which will make mounting and unmounting much easier), and a new version of Links-Hacked. I am still thinking out 0.4.5, but one major change is that I am going to have all X apps run as 'user' instead of root. I have some other 'system' improvements that I need to work out as well. As for new programs, I haven't made up my mind. I may try to get some printer support, maybe a couple of games, maybe an avi player.
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Update. Well, John actually managed to release 0.4.4 out just before I managed to finish this interview! I told you the guy was cranking them out. Thanks a lot John; for your time, and for making such a Damn Fine Distro.
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| Copyright Notice |
Copyright (C) 2003 James Zaldivar
Verbatim copying and distribution of this article is permitted in any medium, provided this copyright notice is preserved.
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| Review/Interview Notes |
| Date |
| 19 August 2003 |
| Reviewed and Interviewed by |
James Zaldivar
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| DSL Specifications |
| Latest Version |
| 0.4.4 |
| Release Date |
| 19 August 2003 |
| Kernel |
| 2.4.20 |
| GUI |
| XFree86 4.2.1 |
| Requirements |
i386 processor
32MB RAM (text mode)
Bootable CD-ROM
Standard SVGA graphics card
PS2 or USB mouse |
| Platforms |
Intel: Pentium to Pentium 4
AMD: Duron, Athlon, Athlon XP
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| Features |
Small ISO (less than 50MB)
Hardware auto-detection
Runs from CD
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| Bundled Software |
Fluxbox 0.1.10
GCC 2.95.4
glibc 2.3.1
GTK+ 1.2.10
Perl 5.8.0
Xmms 1.2.7 |
| Price |
Free to download
US$5.50 for CD (physical delivery) |
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