HACKER Q&A
📣 para_parolu

What is a good small Linux for education


I'm seeking advice on which Linux distribution to choose for educational purposes. To provide some context: I have been programming for the last 12 years. I understand how transistors, processors, and microcontrollers work. I can write low-level firmware in C and also use Linux as a tool for my work. However, my knowledge gap lies in understanding how the Linux OS operates. At the same time, I'm not yet prepared to invest time in reading theoretical books on operating systems or delving into the Linux source code.

Instead, I desire the most minimal Linux setup that I can experiment with. My minimal goal: I aim to configure a Linux system with networking capabilities and run a service in such a manner that I have control and understanding of all the components involved and can ensure its security.

  👤 jslabovitz Accepted Answer ✓
I've been using Void for a couple of months now on a Raspberry Pi-based project. I'm impressed by its balance between simplicity and functionality. Namely, it doesn't have systemd (rather `runit`) so it's a lot easier to understand what's going on without a whole other level of complexity. (Caveat: I'm running a headless/server setup, so can't comment on anything related to GUIs using Void.)

Second up would be Arch, which encourages somewhat manual installation and configuration, yet does include systemd.

👤 klausnrooster
https://peropesis.org/
👤 LargoLasskhyfv
In descending order of 'hand-holding/spoonfeding' involved

1. https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

2. https://web.archive.org/web/20240224161022/https://kisslinux... & https://kisscommunity.org/ & https://github.com/kisslinux

3. https://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

4. https://puppylinux-woof-ce.github.io/

5. https://www.plop.at/en/ploplinux/index.html

.. many more, but those are all too distro-specific, meaning 'family' and associated administration and packaging tools, default choices for desktop-environment, and whatnot else. Which teaches you almost nothing about 'Linux', but the specific choices of that 'distribution', and all the baggage and 'politics' that come with these.

I'm eyeing https://chimera-linux.org/ but currently am very happy with 'respins'/dervivatives of https://antixlinux.com/ because of their flexibility, which fit my use-cases very well. But only after having cleaned them of much stuff which I don't need.