What's the best lightweight Linux distro?

[swiftlinuxcreator]

My vote is for Swift Linux.

Swift Linux 0.1.0 is now available at http://www.swiftlinux.org and based on the new antiX Linux M11.  There are two plain vanilla editions (Diet Swift Linux and Regular Swift Linux) and four special editions (Taylor Swift Linux, iCarly Swift Linux, Magnum P.I. Swift Linux, and NASCAR Swift Linux).

Swift Linux is lightweight, fully compatible with the large Debian software repository, and user-friendly.  No other distro can compete with Swift Linux on all three of these criteria.  If you wish that Puppy Linux had a large software repository, or if you wish that Linux Mint could be as lightweight as Puppy Linux, then this is the distro for you.

Swift Linux gives that old computer a new lease on life!  Windows XP support ends on April 8, 2014. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on a new computer or slowing down your old computer with a costly and bloated "upgrade", make the REAL UPGRADE to Swift Linux.

P.S.  Swift Linux NEEDS more developers!  The version control system is GitHub (https://github.com/swiftlinux), and the bug/goal tracker is Launchpad.net (https://launchpad.net/swiftlinux).  Developers who have worked on any of the following distros are especially appreciated:
Linux Mint (very successful track record and user-friendly)
Puppy Linux (very lightweight and user-friendly)
antiX Linux (parent distro of Swift Linux)

[tinypoodle]

Have you considered a job in the advertisement business?

[hiro]

"Swift Linux requires just 128 MB of RAM (256 MB recommended), which is ridiculously low even by Linux standards."
O RLY?

"Of course, if you know how to configure Debian, you can create an even swifter distro than Swift Linux."
Hehe...

And contrary to what you guys say on your page Debian/Ubuntu and even tinycorelinux runs on hardware with less than 128MB Ram.

[tinypoodle]

I've run several linux systems on a 4MB RAM laptop.

My router which has 16MB of RAM allows me to run Linux plus store Micro Core in tmpfs.

[Lee]

The description of Swift Linux given above sounds very enticing and likely worth a look, but even the light version seems a bit hefty around here.

And why do they give the download size in bits anyhow?  Very unusual.

[floppy]

My vote is for Swift Linux.
Swift Linux 0.1.0 is now available at http://www.swiftlinux.org and based on the new antiX Linux M11. 

I have AntixM8.5 full on my old box (and TCL).
It tooks me 3hours for upgrading M8.5 to squeeze last week.. and it takes approx 2,5GB of my "big" 10 GB HDD.
I keep AntixM8.5 for showing friends that Linux is a bit like windows.
But..
I m having TCL as productive linux on my box.. the frugal type is still attractive for me.
(after trying Puppy, DSL, Ubuntu, Partedmagic, kNOPPIX).
swift? a bit late for me.. I have not so much time and efforts anymore to test this one. I will monitore the effect of the announcement in the net.

[danielibarnes]

Have you considered a job in the advertisement business?

No, marketing:

There are now four special editions of Swift Linux: Taylor Swift Linux, iCarly Swift Linux, Magnum P.I. Swift Linux, and NASCAR Swift Linux.  All special editions are regular Swift Linux with special wallpaper and a special audio clip that plays when you boot up.  There is NO official status whatsoever.  Thus, these special editions are just marketing gimmicks to promote Linux.

Kind of strange coming from a EE, though. It's worth noting that Tiny Core is the opposite of this. If something in Tiny Core isn't absolutely required, it is isn't there. Even dropbear is not included in the base distribution. No gimmicks here, just value.

I'd figure remastering Tiny Core with pre-packaged forensics tools would be far easier than building a new distro based on a bigger one. Debian packages work under Tiny Core, so just pulling in the binaries should be possible.

[newbody]

I tested Porteus the other day. Less than 200MB and it booted frugally on my NTFS hdd so easy to install.

title Porteus OS does allow me to change menu.lst as root = toor
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
kernel /porteusboot/vmlinuz rw changes=/porteus/slaxsave.dat
initrd /porteusboot/initrd.lz
boot

this part allow it to save changes and personal preferences like local time and keyboard and such.

changes=/porteus/slaxsave.dat

It is a modern Slax which is losely based on Slackware. They use the Sw repository for software.

I kind of like it. TCL is the most lightweight from scratch but grow fast when one add things, Puppy being some 128 to 220 or so is my fave but Porteus is not bad at all.

Slitaz is very small starting out as 30 MB or so but I fail to set it up like I want it to so too fancy high tech for me.

Knoppix "micro" version is way too big but I have it as a Debian version that I can find their software repo.

Antix is a good but it does not allow me to do things that Porteus allowed me to do and Knoppix and Puppy allow me to do.

Peppermint is rather small too. 400 MB? But it need grub2 to boot. And being a live system it is not easy to set up persistence on it.

Apart from these what else is small? CDLinux but then I rather use Porteus both being Slax varieties.

There are no more small ones are there? Oh maybe Archiso from Godane but he got into Slitaz so he took a big break away from Arch. godane.wordpress.com

I like things small so I find TCL rather cute. But one need to know the linux software to be able to use it. So it will take a long time me get confident enough to make use of it.

[alu]

one day or another, you have to get in touch with in depth linux knowledge, and that's where everything change, because you take hand of your technology and your ability. it tooks me years (and will take me years again) in order to be confident with linux, but even if the curve can be steady, what you'll get for it is worth the time spent. in the linux world, i think there is nothing challenging tc/mc know in every respect... even kolibrios (not linux though) or puppy (no offense, there are super distros, too, i have used them, but tc/mc is the path to follow).

[SunBurnt]

I guess the Q would be... Best for doing what? The best distros are made to do something well.
Trying to "do it all" is a sure sign that it doesn`t do much very well.
Ubuntu is a great example of trying to do it all. A legacy model OS ( old school ).
Puppy was made to be a simple OS for home use. It does it well with good built in apps. Legacyish OS too.
I think TC has the same type of user group as Puppy, but it`s package setup is vastly superior.