Tiny Core Linux 2.1
They say that good things come in small packages and so it is with Tiny Core Linux, a diminutive but powerful distribution. TCL weighs in at an incredibly petite 11MB when you download it. Yes, it really is that tiny. Tiny Core Linux is based on Busybox, the Linux 2.6 kernel, JWM, Fltk and Tiny X.
Before I get into this review, it’s necessary to explain a little bit about how Tiny Core Linux works. Here’s some background from the TCL site about the four different modes it operates in:
The First Mode: Cloud/Internet
The first mode of operation is the default boot mode of Tiny Core Linux. It is what I call the Cloud Mode, or the Internet Mode. Tiny Core boots entirely into RAM. Then using the internet and the Apps icon, a shortcut to our appbrowser GUI, one can begin to explore our application extension repository.
The Second Mode of Operation: PPR/TCE
The second mode of operation is the use of the boot option tce=hdXY, i.e., specifying a writable persistent storage partition and using our TCE repository of applications. This will become your Persistent Personal Repository (PPR). Upon further booting all TCE extensions will automatically be loaded into RAM. Any further downloading of TCE type extensions from the appbrowser (Apps) will persist in this specified location.
The Third Mode of Operation: PPR/TCZ
When using a PPR one has the choice of TCE or TCZ extension types. To maximize memory usage Tiny Core offers the TCZ extension type. These extensions are mounted from your PPR and therefore use significantly less RAM. TCZ extensions are cramfs or ziofs compressed mountable images of an application directory, which become symlinked into the root filesystem.
The Forth Mode of Operation: PPI/TCE
The fourth mode of operation literally installs extensions into a Linux partition or a loop back file. This provides a hybrid type of installation, where core is in RAM and the extensions are installed onto a persistent storage device. I call this mode of operation of Persistent Personal Installation or PPI.
For the purposes of this review I went with the first mode as that worked well for downloading apps and seeing how they worked in Tiny Core Linux.
(5 votes, average: 3.60 out of 5)
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“Let’s face it, Mac OS X is not really known for being…er…lightweight at all.”
Surely you know that now that Steve Jobs is back, he will send the Goon Squad over to properly flog you.
But seriously, you did see the “search” box in the apps list. I found that it works much the same as the search box in Synaptic.
I too have only tried TCL in a VM, but have it in the to do pile for further study.
Hi tlmck,
Perhaps it’s just that I am a browser more than a searcher? I like to poke around and see what’s in there without necessarily having a particularly definitive idea in mind of what I’m looking for.
I think it might have to do with being a reviewer as I’m checking to see what my readers are going to find so categorized apps are very helpful so I can pull out this one or that one and include them in the list so people know what’s available.
This distro could be interesting given further development. I am not sure how it would work out in a server or netbook environment given your review. While it ~sounds like~ its intended to fit that mold, what are the current state of the repo’s, and what repo’s does it use for that matter? Can you use the regular Debian repo’s?.. If thats the case, then this distro is indeed ready for the prime time.
Jim, clearly the idea with a Tiny Core is to provide just that – the Tiny Core, and then allow each individual to tailor it to their specific needs. I think you did a good job of explaining the various ways you can set up the system initially. Either I did not see that the first time I gave this a look or they’ve added quite a few features since the initial version.
I’d like to see how you believe that Tiny Core stacks up against SliTAZ – which was previously the smallest Live CD out there, and DSL, the classic one that people go for.
Based on my earlier criteria, I considered SliTAZ to be about as small as I wanted to go; neither Tiny Core, SliTAZ, nor DSL, seem to have much to offer in the way of wireless support (though DSL may have some minimal support. IF you need that, Puppy seems to be about the smallest Live implementation that has a pretty powerful Live setup, and in release 4.2.1, they FINALLY got it right, fixing some of the bad drivers that they included in 4.2.
Moving up the chain, I am actually not that big a fan of SLAX, though others are. The modules I see don’t tend to do what I am interested in doing – which is typically to browse the Web remotely and with Wireless – SLAX does a lousy job, in my opinion, with wireless.
Further up the chain, TinyMe and antiX both do an excellent job of providing really solid hardware support — and — they get wireless right, especially antiX.
I’m going to give Tiny Core a shot in my Virtualbox and see how it goes. Meanwhile, something you may consider as you build up your repertoire of distros is to categorize them, contrast them with others in a general category, and list where each one is strong and weak. I’ve just given you a light taste of some quick impressions on some of the Live distros I’ve used, going from the tiniest, Tiny Core, up to the midrange TinyMe and antiX, ignoring the really big ones like PCLinuxOS, SimplyMEPIS, or the classic, KNOPPIX.
To the reviewer,
If you had’ve waited about another 5 minutes before downloading firefox, you woulda seen 3.5 is in the tce repositories :)
I actually installed 3.0.11 the other day and then a few minutes later, 3.5 was there. Bad timing.
Brian,
TCL has perfectly good wireless support, it’s just in an extension, that’s all, you need to load it up.
Hey, thanks Subline Porte! I did not grab the software yesterday, so maybe my delayed timing worked to my benefit; I got to read your feedback. I’ll have to take a look, thanks!
[...] Tiny Core Linux 2.1 [...]
I am getting TC 2.2 RC 1 and will try it out in a Virtualbox. Looks pretty cool to me, so it is about time to try the new RC – which is dated July 8.
I spent some time with Tiny Core RC 1 in a Virtualbox. My comments are that the packaging tool is a bit erratic – maybe the download mirror was not performing consistently, maybe it was because I was in a Virtualbox, but I doubt it. Response was good once I did get packages going.
I found Firefox to be broken in RC 1, but Seamonkey works well, so I used it, since I generally prefer it anyway. I used Geany to do a bit of small editing, and fooled around a bit.
Tiny Core is just right for just that – a tiny core of stuff. I would not use it for more than browsing and basic stuff since I can do what it does and more with lots of other distros, but it was just right for simple browsing. I agree with Jim, the packaging arrangement is pretty basic; it would be nice to have some categories or something to break it down at least a little bit. Synaptic and the way it works would be a good model, but hey, what is there is simple, fast, and it gets the job done.
I am inclined to give this a 3 – OK, but not great. On the other hand, as a really tiny, basic core, it hits the mark pretty well, so I may give it a near perfect score on reaching its target objective. That it does quite well, and it is pretty fast, too.
I use a tweaked version of Tiny Core as my primary operating system since three months now and generally I’m very satisfied
Pros
- extremely customizable. I gave it a XP-like look with desktop icons, background picture, fast launch buttons, start menu… Even my wife can use it.
- runs at the speed of light. On my four year old system it boots to the desktop in ten seconds. Firefox (with Flash plugin) starts in less than three seconds and is extremely responsive, most smaller apps like media player, picture viewer etc. start instantaneously.
Cons
- newbies will not get the max out of this distro
- hardware support somewhat erratic – seems more oriented to desktops than to laptops