# Damn Small Linux

18 Hacker News commenters recommended Damn Small Linux and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended for reviving old, slow computers and recovering files from broken Windows machines, running well from CD. Critics fault the developer's conduct and question its size advantage over Ubuntu.

## Why people recommend it

- Runs well on old hardware (6 comments): "distros like these help troubleshoot boxes that are old/slow but also not used as computers in the traditional sense" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46189667)) "So you can use as little CPU and RAM as necessary to browse the page you want to read at any given moment." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46189718)) "I recently used it to boot a ~1996 Compaq Presario from CD-Rom to image the hard-drive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46189988))
- Recovers files and images drives (3 comments): "I recently used it to boot a ~1996 Compaq Presario from CD-Rom to image the hard-drive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46189988)) "I'd simply boot into my DSL environment and bypass the entire windows PC" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46195483)) "using Damn Small Linux to recover files off of cooked Windows Machines" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46173858))
- Fun nostalgic first distro (3 comments): "Reminds me of my first linux distro called damnsmall linux" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46871879)) "I liked it and it was fun to play with" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46179632)) "had some fun with it back in the day" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46193222))
- Handles everyday work tasks (2 comments): "I used to use this on a CD-ROM, for SSH-ing into my personal server to check email" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46194691)) "Was fine for a good chunk of my work day." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46175987))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Ubuntu](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ubuntu.md): 560 recommend
- [Debian](https://hackerapproved.com/p/debian.md): 552 recommend
- [Fedora Linux](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fedora.md): 437 recommend
- [Arch Linux](https://hackerapproved.com/p/arch-linux.md): 362 recommend
- [Linux Mint](https://hackerapproved.com/p/linux-mint.md): 277 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Damn Small Linux", https://hackerapproved.com/p/damn-small-linux/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).