Damn Small Linux
Hacker ApprovedRanked 32 of 63 Linux distributions by recommenders
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.
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.
21 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 18
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 86%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 18 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Runs well on old hardware
“distros like these help troubleshoot boxes that are old/slow but also not used as computers in the traditional sense”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Damn Small Linux” “So you can use as little CPU and RAM as necessary to browse the page you want to read at any given moment.”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Damn Small Linux” “I recently used it to boot a ~1996 Compaq Presario from CD-Rom to image the hard-drive”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Damn Small Linux” - Comment from 18 Jul 2026 in “Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux”
- Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Damn Small Linux”
- Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “Damn Small Linux”
Recovers files and images drives
“I recently used it to boot a ~1996 Compaq Presario from CD-Rom to image the hard-drive”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Damn Small Linux” “I'd simply boot into my DSL environment and bypass the entire windows PC”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Damn Small Linux” “using Damn Small Linux to recover files off of cooked Windows Machines”
Comment from 6 Dec 2025 in “Tiny Core Linux: a 23 MB Linux distro with graphical desktop” Fun nostalgic first distro
“Reminds me of my first linux distro called damnsmall linux”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Floppinux – An Embedded Linux on a Single Floppy, 2025 Edition” “I liked it and it was fun to play with”
Comment from 7 Dec 2025 in “Tiny Core Linux: a 23 MB Linux distro with graphical desktop” “had some fun with it back in the day”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Damn Small Linux” Handles everyday work tasks
“I used to use this on a CD-ROM, for SSH-ing into my personal server to check email”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Damn Small Linux” “Was fine for a good chunk of my work day.”
Comment from 6 Dec 2025 in “Tiny Core Linux: a 23 MB Linux distro with graphical desktop”
Other Linux distributions people recommend
The four most recommended other Linux distributions, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu | 560 | 493 | 53% | 12 | 10 yrs116 owners | — |
| Debian | 552 | 191 | 74% | 13 | 10 yrs62 owners | Approved |
| NixOS | 454 | 112 | 80% | 13 | 2 yrs69 owners | Approved |
| Fedora Linux | 437 | 131 | 77% | 12 | 2 yrs72 owners | Approved |
| Damn Small LinuxThis page | 18 | 3 | 86% | 5 | — | Approved |
What people said
19 of the 23 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I've put DSL on much older machines with a full snappy GUI experience.”
“Reminds me of my first linux distro called damnsmall linux”
“It fits into under 700 MB and runs in well under 100 MB of RAM.”
“DSL uses the latest Debian kernel. It is not any smaller than Ubuntu.”
“I'd simply boot into my DSL environment and bypass the entire windows PC”
“I used to use this on a CD-ROM, for SSH-ing into my personal server to check email”
“had some fun with it back in the day”
“I salvaged many an aging computer with DSL back in the early 2000s.”
“his lead being rather an asshole with his contributors and overall incompetent”
“as it has an x86 emulator included”
“DSL takes a more extreme approach to slimming down i3/XFCE route”
“I recently used it to boot a ~1996 Compaq Presario from CD-Rom to image the hard-drive”
“So you can use as little CPU and RAM as necessary to browse the page you want to read at any given moment.”
“distros like these help troubleshoot boxes that are old/slow but also not used as computers in the traditional sense”
“never understood the need to include 4 Web Browsers in a distro that supposedly prides itself on size”
“the webpage is full of popup ads that are really annoying”
“I liked it and it was fun to play with”
“Was fine for a good chunk of my work day.”
“using Damn Small Linux to recover files off of cooked Windows Machines”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.