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We've written about [portable][4] [apps][3] quite a number of times in the past, but why bother with just apps when there's a whole OS that'll fit on a 50MB USB stick? [Damn Small Linux][1], sometimes abbreviated DSL, is a 50MB mini desktop Linux distribution.
Originally created as an experiment Damn Small Linux gradually evolved to a genuine distribution while retaining the original goal of squeezing usable desktop apps on a tiny 50 MB live CD.
According to the website Damn Small Linux is, in spite of, and because of, its paltry size, able do the following things:
* Boot from a business card CD as a live linux distribution (LiveCD)
* Boot from a USB pen drive
* Boot from within a host operating system (that's right, it can run *inside* Windows)
* Run very nicely from an IDE Compact Flash drive via a method we call "frugal install"
* Transform into a Debian OS with a traditional hard drive install
* Run light enough to power a 486DX with 16MB of Ram
* Run fully in RAM with as little as 128MB (you will be amazed at how fast your computer can be!)
* Modularly grow -- DSL is highly extendable without the need to customize
Damn Small Linux sports a "nearly complete" desktop, and many command line tools. Notable [software includes][2] XMMS for music, and FTP client, Firefox, the Ted word processor, three text editors (Beaver, Vim, and Nano), graphics viewers, chat clients and quite a bit more.
Any readers out there ever tried Damn Small Linux? It seems like to could be a handy all in one replacement for all those portable app packages floating around.
[1]: http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/ "Damn Small Linux"
[2]: http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/applications.html "Damn Small Linux: Apps"
[3]: http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2006/11/portable_mac_ap.html "Portable Mac Apps"
[4]: http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2006/11/holiday_must_ha.html "Portable Apps for the Holidays"
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