Tiny Core Linux
Extremely small, modular Linux distribution that loads into RAM and boots quickly.
Loved for its tiny footprint and for making old, low-RAM machines usable again,1234 with fast RAM-based booting and an OS that is easy to hand-tailor.56 The main caveat is that it takes more do-it-yourself assembly than a typical distro.7
Why people recommend it
Old hardware · 3
Commenters use it to bring very old laptops and PCs back into everyday use.
“Made it actually usable!”
“Tiny Core was my daily driver for 5+ years”
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“I really really love TCL so much, the smallest version is 17mb, I highly recommend giving it a try”
Tiny footprint · 3
The ISO and RAM use are measured in tens of megabytes, with the smallest version at 17 MB.
“I really really love TCL so much, the smallest version is 17mb, I highly recommend giving it a try”
“If you have a use case for an extremely light Linux system I recommend it.”
Show 1 more
“Everyone should try out tinycore just once imo.”
Fast boot · 2
Booting into RAM makes it quick to start and fast and quiet on old machines.
“I love Tiny Core Linux for use cases where I need fast boot times or have few resources.”
“Tiny Core was my daily driver for 5+ years”
Easy customization · 2
It is simple to hand-tailor; boot packages are listed in one flat file.
“Tiny Core was my daily driver for 5+ years”
“Everyone should try out tinycore just once imo.”
Lightweight VMs · 2
Some commenters run it in VMs, including single-app GUI VMs.
“If you have a use case for an extremely light Linux system I recommend it.”
“I used to have Tiny Core in a VM for different things.”
Caveats and dissent
Assembly required · 1
It needs more manual setup and assembly than other options.
“I'll recommend two distros(one isn't really a distro, but a toolkit) for your cr-48 : Tiny Core Linux, and NanoLinux.”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Tiny Core Linux: a 23 MB Linux distro with graphical desktop 4 mentions
- 50MB operating system can resurrect your old PC 2 mentions
- Linux on Older Hardware: The Complete Revival Guide 1 mention
- FediMeteo: A €4 FreeBSD VPS Became a Global Weather Service 1 mention
- Some surprising things about DuckDuckGo 1 mention
- item 45794280 1 mention
Data: tiny-core-linux.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 10
“I really really love TCL so much, the smallest version is 17mb, I highly recommend giving it a try”
“If you have a use case for an extremely light Linux system I recommend it.”
“I'll recommend two distros(one isn't really a distro, but a toolkit) for your cr-48 : Tiny Core Linux, and NanoLinux.”
“Everyone should try out tinycore just once imo.”
“I used it on my really old dell laptop with tinycore 32 bit and dillo”
“Made it actually usable!”
“Tiny Core was my daily driver for 5+ years”
“I love Tiny Core Linux for use cases where I need fast boot times or have few resources.”
“I used to have Tiny Core in a VM for different things.”
“tiny core linux which is an absolute pleasure”