Is there still a stripped down distribution, based on debian, which keeps
the kernel and security packages updated while remaining a version behind,
or while stripping the bells and whistles?

A few weeks back I tried upgrading an old Pentium-3 800 machine that I use
as a server from debian 9 to 10 "Buster." I had to downgrade it back due
to issues with it grinding the system to a halt, and that is without even installing an x-server. :)

I was hoping there might still be some debian-based "lighter weight"
distros out there. The ones I remember from a few years back have ceased
being maintained.

Thanks!

---
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on 17 Aug 2019, Dumas Walker said...

Is there still a stripped down distribution, based on debian, which keeps the kernel and security packages updated while remaining a version
behind, or while stripping the bells and whistles?

Depends on what you mean by 'stripping the bells and whistles'. If you mean "doesn't run Gnome 3 or anything Lennart Poettering has ever touched" then
you probably want Devuan running Cinnamon (a Gnome 2 derived desktop environment, in case you were unaware). Everyone else drank the Poetter-Aid
and AIDS'd up their system with PulseAudio and Systemd (the d stands for 'doesnt work', obviously).

I was hoping there might still be some debian-based "lighter weight" distros out there. The ones I remember from a few years back have ceased being maintained.

Well, if by "lighter weight" you mean "use fluxbox / jwm", then no, I don't think there's any of those left. DamnSmallLinux was indirectly debian-based
(I believe it was a fork off of Knoppix) but that stopped being maintained aeons ago.

I guess I really need clarification: Do you want a system that takes up
little disk space? Little RAM? Something that doesn't require a powerful CPU? Or just something that isn't an unstable piece of shit?

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I guess I really need clarification: Do you want a system that takes up >little disk space? Little RAM? Something that doesn't require a powerful CPU? >Or just something that isn't an unstable piece of shit?

Less RAM, will run on an 800MHz P3 without grinding it to a halt, and
something that is stable. Would prefer it to have an option to install
without an x-server as this is a server machine that I interact with exclusively via cli.

The machine in question only has 256MB physical RAM. I thought it had more.

I had not had any issues with systemd but maybe that is part of what
happened here. All the RAM got ate up by some process and I was not even
able to switch to another cli session to see what was wrong (like to run
top or even shutdown -r) because it was so maxed out. My impression of
Debian 10, even without an x-server, is that you need a multicore machine
to run it.

Thanks!

P.S. Odd that you mention pulseaudio. That must install by default, even
on the base or close-to-base system. I noticed it was running and this
machine does not even have sound.

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on 18 Aug 2019, Dumas Walker said...

I guess I really need clarification: Do you want a system that takes up >little disk space? Little RAM? Something that doesn't require a powerful >Or just something that isn't an unstable piece of shit?

Less RAM, will run on an 800MHz P3 without grinding it to a halt, and something that is stable. Would prefer it to have an option to install without an x-server as this is a server machine that I interact with exclusively via cli.

In that case... there's always Slackware. Last stable release was 3 years
ago, but -current is getting regular updates. That's as cli as it gets.

P.S. Odd that you mention pulseaudio. That must install by default,
even on the base or close-to-base system. I noticed it was running and this machine does not even have sound.

Oh yes, virtually every distro installs that monstrosity nowadays for no fucking reason.

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Oh yes, virtually every distro installs that monstrosity nowadays for no fucking reason.

I also wondered if it could be a difference between using systemd and init.
I have not run into any issues before but since systemd tries to do
multiple things (vs. one thing well) I wonder if it is too much. I may try migrating it to devuan and see what happens.

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Re: Stripped down Debian dist
By: Dumas Walker to ALL on Sat Aug 17 2019 07:42 pm

I have found that using a Raspberry Pi and Raspbian is a generally decent solution. I like the Raspberry Pi due to their low power consumption. However, if you are simply trying to make use of your available old hardware, I tend to use debian or Ubuntu server and then remove packages there after. Remove the x-server, LibreOffice and other desktop apps.

Also to note that if your boot times are slow, I read that CoreBoot can help there. I've not used it myself, just learned about it last night. CoreBoot is an open source BIOS. It was built to remove the backdoors of commercial BIOS firmwares. That's my 2 cents.
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Re: Stripped down Debian dist
By: Dumas Walker to ALL on Sat Aug 17 2019 07:42 pm

I was hoping there might still be some debian-based "lighter weight"

I don't think there is such a thing (debian-based)

anyway alpine linux is what everyone uses, especially for docker, but there's no reason you can't make a desktop out of it. linux is bloated and unorganized and generally confused. I would suggest learning OpenBSD or some other "pure unix", you really can't get a "small linux", when, linux is itself just a kernel with hodgepodge of mostly dead/inactive (and thanks to debian, "adopted") packages. What you're asking for is a *complete*, integrated unix system, the kernel, system services, userland, drivers, everything fully integrated into a single system. There is very little waste.
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A few weeks back I tried upgrading an old Pentium-3 800 machine that I use as a server from debian 9 to 10 "Buster." I had to downgrade it back due to issues with it grinding the system to a halt, and that is without even installing an x-server. :)

I recently found Antix and its more bloated version MX... very good both. You should give a try via a livecd or VM.

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I recently found Antix and its more bloated version MX... very good both. You >should give a try via a livecd or VM.

I actually went with Devuan. It works great!


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Dumas Walker wrote to XQTR <=-

I recently found Antix and its more bloated version MX... very good both. You
should give a try via a livecd or VM.

I actually went with Devuan. It works great!

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One option which is sort of based on Debian is Puppy Linux. It's a small distro that can run entirely in RAM, quite well put together and fast.
Its available at http://puppylinux.com, and I use the Tahrpup version, but Ubuntu Bionic may do as well.

It's not exactly Debian, but it is small and in my opinion quite user friendly with good configuration programs.


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