# Puppy Linux 14 Hacker News commenters recommended Puppy Linux and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** A small, fast Linux distro that boots into RAM and runs from a USB stick or CD, which people remember fondly as a way to learn Linux on older hardware. ## Why people recommend it - Boots into RAM from USB (3 comments): "Puppy Linux does seem to boot to ram! Huzzah. I don't get the impression that many will let you remove the USB drive after boot." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46280256)) "Such a beautiful thing to boot into these pendrive distros and discover the world of Linux through them" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46254526)) "while I like booting from RAM" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48698349)) - Good for learning Linux (2 comments): "I'm very fond of Puppy Linux, it's how I learned a lot of Linux skills as a preteen!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46187864)) "Such a beautiful thing to boot into these pendrive distros and discover the world of Linux through them" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46254526)) - Small download, good for live CDs (2 comments): "since it was such a small download (250ish MB) and I had limited bandwidth. Good memories." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46174763)) "which I could never get into but was good for live CDs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46174339)) ## 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, "Puppy Linux", https://hackerapproved.com/p/puppy-linux/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).