Why Tiny Core????

[Henrryparth]

    [EDIT]: Deleted because it was stolen from  http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,21243.msg132789.html#msg132789.  Rich

[core-user]

It's in the name, tiny, in comparison to most other distros, only other one I know this small worth looking at is SliTaz, we're talking MB's not GB's. 

One of it's major advantages is the fact that it runs from ram, so can't be infected easily. It's 'fast' to use, very portable, & takes up so little space on disk.

There's a free book available to download which explains how it all goes together & works, really worth while grabbing a copy.
http://tinycorelinux.net/book.html

[neonix]

Here are TinyCore advantages:
1. It promote anti bloatware policy.
2. You don't need HDD. You can boot it from mp3player, XPE or iPXE.
3. It's very resistant for malfunction, you don't have to reinstall it from time to time.
4. It runs faster if you keep everything in RAM.
5. It's not Windows, means no viruses, no backdoors, no registry, not reinstallation problem.
6. It cost nothing.
7. You can ask for many things in this forum.
8. You don't need to buy a new computer. Old, used ones can still be useful, and it you destroy your computer there will be no big costs. People from the third world countries can have cheap access to information network.
9. It boots quite fast.
10. You are not distracted by desktop icons.
11. It use Xvesa or Xfbdev, that works with many graphic cards, even if they are not officially supported by Linux.
12. It use wbar that imitates Mac desktop.
13. It have very intuitive extensions manager.

For new users it may be a bit difficult. It would be cool to add help command in CLI mode, that display most popular commands, like: tce, tce-load, startx, xsetup, reboot, tcemirror.sh, version, uname -a, dhcpdown, dhcpup, staticip, fdisk -l, mount, free -m, top, ps, dmesg, logout, sudo su, ifconfig, lsmod, showbootcodes

[Ruslik]

Because its a good for very-very old PC that can't be worked with other lighweight distros, even the Puppy Linux.

I installed TC in my old PC from 1999 or 2000 with Intel i386, 512MB RAM and 40Gb of HDD. I have tried many "lightweight" distros like Puppy Linux, SlitaZ, AntiX, but most of them were lightweight and fast before I launched browser or some apps that were also light.

And only TCL is really lightweight and fast. But it took me a while to understand it and work with them without problems and nerves. Because it turned out to be a distro for experts and proffesionals in Linux, not for newbies and beginners like me.

But I won't give up. Maybe I'll learn to work with TCL.

[binarydemon]

I like that it's lightweight, simple, fast, and resistant to bloat because basically nothing is retained unless you want it to be.

I like that the default user operates with root access, and that no password is required. It reminds me of a simpler time, like running DOS / Win3.11

[Pats]

... like that the default user operates with root access, and that no password is required

... I was not aware, that default user *tc* has a root access - unless and untill *sudo* is used !

[Rich]

Hi Pats

... like that the default user operates with root access, and that no password is required

... I was not aware, that default user *tc* has a root access - unless and untill *sudo* is used !

Technically binarydemon is correct. The default is not running as root, but does have easy access to root privileges. Whether
it is through  sudo Some_Command  or  sudo su  doesn't matter. Not all systems are like that. Some require a password when
using sudo and some don't allow sudo at all. Sudo is not a right, it's a privilege you have if the  /etc/sudoers  file allows it.

[Pats]

Post from Rich:
.. Sudo is not a right, it's a privilege you have if the  /etc/sudoers  file allows it.

... Exactly , that underlined phrase is what I wanted to convey ! ... Because Puppy, Racy , Slax etc live distros are logged-in with root access only , which may be dangerous in the hands of new users for existing HDD partitions and processes .

... Using sudo in TCL means the user is aware abt the consiquences !
 ... Anyways, your explanation has served the intended purpose. Thanks !

[Leee]

For new users it may be a bit difficult.

One of the great things for me about Tiny Core was just the opposite.  I originally was attracted to "mini-linuxes" (starting with Damn Small") because I found it easier, as an inexperienced Linux user, to wrap my brain around a simpler system (and, of course, to run more readily on older hand-me-down hardware).  Even Damn Small had "stuff" installed that left me wanting to customize it (which I never developed the expertise to do, other than very simple changes).

With Tiny Core, one can explore the base system without having to wonder which parts of the bloat are necessary and which are really just bloat.  Even starting with just "Core", one can see the base system, then see what is added to make up the "Tiny Core" system.

I've expanded my knowledge of linux -greatly- since then (*) and even went so far as to remaster Tiny Core into a new just-my-own image (just for the satisfaction of knowing that I can do so)... and then I promptly carried on using the "official" Tiny Core images (**) because I couldn't think of any functionality that I wanted to add to the base image tat would make it worth while to maintain my own images.

I've recently started a new job where the default desktop is Ubuntu running the Unity desktop and the difference is striking... I would not want to be linux noob trying to use that pig!  Conversely, I suppose that if I were an Ubuntu/Unity aficionado I might have a bit of a learning curve using TC.

----

*  ... to the extent that I've actually landed a job because of it    thanks in part to the bits I've learned and the support I've got from the Tiny Core team and user community.  A huge "thank you" to all of you.

**  ...well, really just "Core", since I want to select my WM and such at install time and I don't even always want the GUI

[gadget42]

    [EDIT]: Deleted because it was stolen from  http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,21243.msg132789.html#msg132789.  Rich

was poking around and came across this thread(https://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,22632.0.html) and wondered how much trouble it would be to merge/tack it onto the 'original/other' thread(https://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,21243.0.html) ? what is involved to do this(inquiring minds and all that jazz) ?

[NewUser]

I came to build a small distro I could use to wipe disks at work. I stayed because I like everything about TinyCore.