# Tiny Core Linux 30 Hacker News commenters recommended Tiny Core Linux and 13 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 13 years (3 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Runs fast on old, low-powered PCs by loading into RAM; critics say the interface looks unpolished and downloads lack proper hash security. ## Why people recommend it - Fast on old, low-powered hardware (6 comments): "they unpack the rootfs to ram so overall interaction with the system feels insanely quick on very underpowered systems with HDDs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48458090)) "I love Tiny Core Linux for use cases where I need fast boot times or have few resources." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46175099)) "RAM-booting makes the system fast and quiet on that 15+ years old iron" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46176540)) - Minimalist design with small footprint (6 comments): "I feel as if people can really appreciate the intentional minimalism within the project" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50040297)) "The amount of functionality they fit into such a small footprint" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46179983)) "It's truly the most minimalist gui option just out there." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46702434)) - Runs full apps in tiny memory (3 comments): "Tiny Core ran surprisingly well and I could actually use it to browse the web and use IRC." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46183829)) "All of the minilaguages exposed there will run on TC even with 32MB of RAM." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46175190)) "Yes. 486 with 26MB for MicroCore (cli) or 46MB for TinyCore (gui)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46182864)) - Easy package system, many packages (4 comments): "TinyCoreLinux runs well on it. It has its own package manager that was easy to learn." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46174014)) "how tinycore packages work are really fascinating as well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46489516)) "With tinycore, you can install many packages." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46176173)) ## What people warn about - Interface needs design polish (5 comments): "But can they please empower a user interface designer to simply improve the margins and paddings of their interface?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46173847)) "The spacing between elements is all over the place and it simply looks like shit" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46174062)) "If you look at the screenshots it immediately jumps out that it is unpolished" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46174116)) - Download hash delivered insecurely (3 comments): "No, sending the hash on a mailing list and delivering downloads over https is the bare minimum of security in this day and age." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46175398)) "the hash should be delivered OOB like on a mailing list but it isn't" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46174206)) "it makes MITM attacks trivial for anyone on the network path" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46183700)) - Limited software, steep learning curve (3 comments): "If you don't mind a very limited set of software, the way tinycorelinux is setup can also allow multiple different tcz installed" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47480151)) "It worked ok, but had a bit of a learning curve." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46705230)) "I gained nothing from using smaller distros but lost a lot of time dealing with little issues and incompatibilities." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46176058)) - Project seems ad-hoc or abandoned (2 comments): "TC seems much more ad-hoc, but I assume this, too, is intentional, by design." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46179514)) "This speaks to me of a project that's 'good enough', or abandoned, for/by those who made it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46174560)) ## 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, "Tiny Core Linux", https://hackerapproved.com/p/tiny-core-linux/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).