[arch-general] Extreme Minimalist Challenge

[Eli Schwartz]

On 11/17/19 6:01 PM, Lonnie Cumberland wrote:
> The project is basically to have the absolutely smallest possible Linux
> distro (x86_64 based) that would be a type of LiveCD RAM-Based bootable
> system that has an Xserver and VirtualBox 6.0 but no real desktop running.
> I want it to boot directly into the VirtualBox 6.0 GUI.
> 
> The other catch is that I need a system that has an extremely small
> footprint image and am hoping that the ISO could be between 150 MB - 200 MB
> in size, but of course even smaller is better.
> 
> Its an ambitious project and I am seeking help on if Arch Linux may be a
> good starting point for the basic OS and Xorg server as well as any
> suggestions or advice that the mailing list might like to provide.

Arch Linux is intended to be simple and close to upstream, but it is not
fine-tuned to be "small". Among the issues you will run into when trying
to use Arch in this manner:

- we package headers and documentation by default
- we compile packages with as many optional features as we can

http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/ is specifically oriented at being the
smallest footprint possible. You could also experiment with Gentoo, by
configuring the necessary USE flags to disable any features you do not need.

I hope this helps. :)

-- 
Eli Schwartz
Bug Wrangler and Trusted User

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