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Damn Small Linux


Last Update: 2024-02-02 02:44 UTC


Damn Small Linux was a business card size (50MB) live CD Linux distribution, based on Debian and Knoppix. After a 12 year break (from 2012 to 2024), the Damn Small Linux (DSL) project was relaunched. The distribution is now based on Debian and antiX with the goal of fitting on live media 700MB or smaller (in order to be usable in CD-ROM drives). Despite its minuscule size it strives to have a functional and easy to use desktop. Damn Small Linux has a nearly complete desktop suite, including web browsers, office software, an e-mail client, PDF viewer, media players, and FTP/SFTP client.



Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 271 (23), 6 months: 230 (30), 3 months: 154 (47), 4 weeks: 94 (116), 1 week: 23 (451)

Average visitor rating: 10/10 from 2 review(s).


Damn Small Linux Summary
Distribution Damn Small Linux
Home Page https://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
Mailing Lists --
User Forums https://damnsmalllinux.org/forums/
Alternative User Forums
Documentation --
Screenshots DistroWatch Gallery
Screencasts
Download Mirrors https://www.damnsmalllinux.org/download.htmlDistroWatch Torrent Archive
Bug Tracker --
Related Websites Wikipedia
Reviews 4.x: IT ReviewsBlogspotLinux.com
3.x: BlogspotLinuxForums
2.x: TuxmachinesIBM developerWorksTuxmachinesaboutLinuxBlogspotTuxmachines
1.x: TuxmachinesTuxmachines
0.x: OSNewsDistroWatch
DSL-N: Tuxmachines
Where To Donate, Buy, or Try

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 2012-08-04: Development Release: Damn Small Linux 4.11 RC1
 • 2008-06-09: Distribution Release: Damn Small Linux 4.4
 • 2008-06-01: Development Release: Damn Small Linux 4.4 RC2
 • 2008-05-19: Development Release: Damn Small Linux 4.4 RC1
 • 2008-04-22: Distribution Release: Damn Small Linux 4.3
 • 2008-03-26: Development Release: Damn Small Linux 4.3 RC1
 • 2007-12-18: Distribution Release: Damn Small Linux 4.2
 • 2007-12-11: Development Release: Damn Small Linux 4.2 RC1
 • 2007-12-03: Distribution Release: Damn Small Linux 4.1
 • 2007-11-26: Development Release: Damn Small Linux 4.1 RC3
 • 2007-11-13: Development Release: Damn Small Linux 4.1 RC1
 • 2007-10-24: Distribution Release: Damn Small Linux 4.0
 • More Damn Small releases...

  Headlines:
 • 2024-02-01 DSL returns with an antiX base
 • More Damn Small headlines...

Table Notes and Explanations
  • Select view:
  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
Feature 2024-alpha 4.11-rc2 4.4.10
Release Date 2024-02-01 2012-09-26 2008-11-17
End Of Life      
Price (US$) Free Free Free
Image Size (MB) 660-670 0-0  
Free Download ISO ISO ISO
Installation Graphical Graphical Graphical
Default Desktop Fluxbox, JWM JWM JWM
Package Management DEB DEB DEB
Release Model Fixed Fixed Fixed
Office Suite -- -- --
Processor Architecture i386 i386 i386
Init Software runit SysV SysV
Journaled File Systems ext4 ext3 ext3
Multilingual -- -- --
Asian Language Support -- -- --
Full Package List 2024-alpha    
abiword (3.0.5) 3.0.5 -- --
alsa-lib (1.2.11) 1.2.8 -- --
amdgpu (23.0.0) -- -- --
bash (5.2.21) 5.2 2.05b 2.05b
bind (9.18.21) -- -- --
chromium (121.0.6167.139) -- -- --
cups (2.4.7) 2.4.2 -- --
dhcp (4.4.3-P1) 4.4.3 3.0.1rc11 3.0.1rc11
e2fsprogs (1.47.0) 1.47.0 1.33 1.33
firefox (122.0) -- 2.0 2.0
freetype (2.13.2) 2.12.1 2.1.5 2.1.5
gcc (13.2.0) -- 3.3.1 3.3.1
gimp (2.10.36) -- -- --
glibc (2.39) 2.36 2.3.2 2.3.2
gnome-shell (45.3) -- -- --
gnucash (5.5) -- -- --
gnumeric (1.12.56) 1.12.55 -- --
grub (2.12) 2.06 0.91 0.91
gtk (4.12.5) -- 1.2.10 1.2.10
httpd (2.4.58) -- -- --
inkscape (1.3.1) -- -- --
k3b (23.08.4) -- -- --
kmod (31) 30 -- --
krita (5.2.2) --    
LibreOffice (24.2.0) -- -- --
linux (6.7.3) 5.10.188 2.4.31 2.4.31
lxpanel (0.10.1) -- -- --
mariadb (11.1.3) -- -- --
mate-desktop (1.26.2) -- -- --
mesa (24.0.0) 8.5.0 4.3.0 4.3.0
mysql (8.3.0) -- -- --
nautilus (45.2.1) -- -- --
NVIDIA (545.29.06) -- -- --
openbox (3.6.1) -- -- --
openjdk (21.0.2) -- -- --
openssh (9.6p1) 9.2p1 3.6.1p2 3.6.1p2
openssl (3.2.1) 3.0.9 0.9.7b 0.9.7b
perl (5.38.2) 5.36.0 5.8.0 5.8.0
php (8.3.2) -- -- --
plasma-desktop (5.27.10) --    
postfix (3.8.5) -- -- --
postgresql (16.1) -- -- --
Python (3.12.1) 3.11.2 -- --
qt (6.6.1) 5.15.8 -- --
samba (4.19.4) -- -- --
systemd (255.3) -- -- --
thunderbird (115.7.0) -- -- --
vim (9.1) 9.0 6.1 6.1
vlc (3.0.20) -- -- --
wayland (1.22.0) -- -- --
xfdesktop (4.18.1) -- -- --
xorg-server (21.1.11) 21.1.7 -- --


Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Damn Small Linux

Average rating
10
from 2 review(s)



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Past reviews - sort by:

Version: 2024-alpha
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-02-05
Votes: 0


Okaerinasai!!!

I loved this distro back in the day, and was disappointed when it became dormant (understandable too, ISOs which were around 1.5 gigs then are now ~4-ish and growing bigger and with good reason)... Glad to see it's back!!

Will try out the alpha spin as a live system, and if it works, will probably install the final release on one of Mum's computers - she's still using Windows 7 and has some lag issues.. I'm eager to see how DSL does on a brand new SSD!!!

The JWM interface might take her a little getting used to, but worth the trouble IMO, I may even put it on my second machine!

Thanks to the devs for bringing it back!!!




Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 1.3.1
Rating: 10
Date: 2021-06-27
Votes: 9


Works perfectly fine on an old Compaq Presario CDS 520 (DX 33Mhz, 36Mo RAM).
Firefox is OK with Android as user-agent.




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