Small footprint OS needed for EEEPC 701 4GB

bainbridge · 19 Jan 2012 at 19:49

Hi

As per the title I'm after something smaller. Web browsing, streaming podcasts & watching iplayer is all it gets used it for.

I had EEEubuntu on there from Jan 2008 but soon reached the point where any more updates would have filled the little 4GB SSD completely. With only 35mb of space left I stopped bothering to update, this carried on for 3 years until I began getting problems.

So I formatted & installed Ubuntu 11.10, which already leaves me with only 95mb free space & I don't have space for any updates.

What I'm after is something with a very small footprint on the SSD but still contains all the drivers needed for this little antique to work with minimum messing around as I am not very good with Linux at all.

Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

PS I have a 8GB SD card for storage.

Huw · 19 Jan 2012 at 19:59

Try Damn Small Linux. Very small footprint as I recall, and it can even run entirely in 128 MB of RAM!

jellybeard999 · 19 Jan 2012 at 20:41

I got on quite well with Crunchbang on my Acer One, but am going to try a minimal Ubuntu install next; trying to find a distro I like, as at the moment, nlited XP seems the best option for my use, but I'm going to persevere.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/MinimalCD

BusError · 20 Jan 2012 at 11:40

"emdebian" can be quite nice too, it's debian without the doc and other bulky stuff... it installs easily the same way, for example using "debootstrap"

JonJ678 · 25 Jan 2012 at 23:45

Debian minimal install, then install X and the graphical interface of your choice. Fluxbox is a good choice.

Staffy · 26 Jan 2012 at 00:44

Maybe one of these http://puppylinux.org would suit.
I also have archbang on a old laptop which works pretty well.

CEUOTC · 26 Jan 2012 at 03:29

Macpup 5.2.8 fast and looks good, run it from a 4-16 GB micro flash drive

Edward78 · 27 Jan 2012 at 16:09

They have a *buntu for eeesystems, it used to be called eeebuntu, but it isn't any more.

phill1978 · 28 Jan 2012 at 11:57

i have an acer aspire one with mint lxde, seems to work well enough even though the machine only just manages to play 480p youtube videos (i have the worst gpu in it with 8mb of vram)

still the o.s is fully featured

PermaBanned · 28 Jan 2012 at 13:23

Don't use DSL, it might have been decent in it's day but it hasn't been updated for several years and isn't all that easy to get used to. Puppy is good, but it isn't that lightweight any more.

Arch would be perfect if you know how to set it up, or are willing to learn. Otherwise i'd suggest you look at Slitaz. Tiny, but it's amazing just how much they manage to fit into the space. Website seems a little broken at the minute but whatever

Huw · 28 Jan 2012 at 13:36

PermaBanned said:
Don't use DSL, it might have been decent in it's day but it hasn't been updated for several years and isn't all that easy to get used to.

Oh really? That's a shame. Six or so years ago it was the go-to mini distro.

PermaBanned · 28 Jan 2012 at 14:04

Huw said:
Oh really? That's a shame. Six or so years ago it was the go-to mini distro.

Not been touched since late '08 i think. According to Google the developer left to work on Tiny Core, which itself is impressive but not that practical as a usable OS. Slitaz, for me at least, is.