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DSL
- Damn Small Linux
Damn
Small Linux is a distribution built for small size (under
50 MB) but with powerful features. DSL is useful. What
I mean by that is, much of the fluff that actually wastes
CPU cycles and RAM is left out of this system so what
you get is a ground level, fast operating system that
can revitalize old hardware and perform almost every task
you throw at it.
A
Few Version 2 Features (New)
Kernel 2.4.31
Better wireless support
Better support for LT winmodems
System Stats form DSLPanel
SATA module support
Joe's Window Manager added
Enhanced Firefox mime types
First
Impressions
I loaded Damn Small Linux 2 on an HP laptop with Centrino
wireless. The laptop has 256 RAM and a 1.4 GHz processor.
The purpose for this was mainly to see how the distribution
performs with newer technology. I already know it is fabulous
with older computers as I have rebuilt many old computers
that people wanted to throw away and it works great with
those. But how does it work with newer technology. The
first impressions were of course speed. So many
Linux distributions are just as bloated as Windows and
they perform poorly for the hardware that they use. The
advantage of DSL is so much of the bloat has been removed.
The second impression that is important to every distribution
is visual impressions. Yea, I know I also run a lot of
servers that just do not have any visible impression because
it is command line but when you are playing with a desktop
it is nice that the first impression is pleasing. The
developers have put together a great looking desktop
collection. I was pleased that sound on this HP laptop
worked immediately, no effort at all. This has never
happened before in other versions, I had to tweak on the
sound system. The Menu, you see this with a right click
on the desktop, is full of options. Previous versions
required you to enter commands to complete some tasks
but now the developers have placed most of the tasks
in scripts that can be run from the Menu, this is
surely convenient. You may have watched a number of Linux
distributions over time and see gradual change. Damn Small
Linux has updates very often and there is continual
meaningful development. In fact, there is so much
devleopment it is hard to keep on top of it!
 The
unique DSL Slit provides information visually on network
use, CPU usage, memory, mounted drives, desktops and sound.
This feature provides a lot of information with a glance.
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DSL
Panel
The
DSL Panel is an important tool for Damn Small Linux in
that many of the common tasks that you may want to use
are incorporated into the DSL Panel. This panel features
a series of buttons that act as scripts to complete a
task or work as wizards to walk you through the tasks
that you would like to complete. Version 2 has added several
new ones.
Wireless
Wireless support continues to get better. If you use a
card from the verified list on the website, you should
have no problems. I tired several that were not on the
list with disappointing results (just wanted to test).
I was disappointed when I tried to set up my wireless
Broadcom with ndiswrapper. When I used rc2 I was able
to set it up and it ran, but once the version 2 was released
I could not get it to work...but still working on it.
emelFM
emelFM is a file manager that I have used for quite awhile
but like most things I never really dug into it until
version 2. emelFM is not only a graphical interface to
manage files and directories but it also has many configurable
features like adding command buttons into emelFM that
will complete commands that you use often. It also has
a terminal window built in so that you do not need to
open xterm and juggle windows all of the time.
Burn
a CD
The program that builds and burns CDs is basic but
functional. It takes a few minutes to get used to the
interface but once you burn a CD it is not much of a problem.
The ability to burn CDs is a must have on any Linux system
for backups or transferring data.
Switch
to JWM (New)
With a right click you can switch to Joe's Window
Manager in the new version. JWM is a window manager for
X11 that is written in C. The Menu is a little different
and the feel of JWM is more like IceWM in that it is both
fast and does not get in the way of the user. This is
a nice addition to the distribution. JWM in the picture
is using one of the desktops found with Damn Small Linux.
The JWM Window Manager actually uses about 3% less resources
in my testing than Fluxbox.
XMMS
XMMS will allow you to listen to those music tracks when
you need to get work done.
System
Stats (New)
One
nice new feature is a system interface that shows the
system stats including; cpu, memory,network, modules,pci,
processes, dmesg, mounts and hardware. This information
may then be used for troubleshooting or upgrading your
system.
Floppy
Tool GUI (New)
The new floppy tool provides a way to format and apply
an image to floppy disks. This is an important feature
as many people are using Damn Small Linux on older systems
that need to boot off a floppy.
Change
Backgrounds
(New)
The
DSL Control Panel now contains a button to change backgrounds.
PCMCIA
(New)
A new button has been added to the DSL Control Panel so
you may control the PCMCIA cards from a GUI.
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Programs
You May Want to Add
MyDSL
DSL is an operating system that is built to be small,
under 50 MB. As a result it may be missing progams that
you would really like to get installed and use. A uselfull
feature MyDSL provides a way that you can add addtional
programs to DSL. Some of the very useful programs
that I always add are Gimp, Audacity, rc.firewall, IPtables
and a few nice desktop backgrounds. This gives you an
excellent small system that can be used very successfully
on old hardware or new.
There
are a number of programs that will make Damn Small Linux
a very useful distribution.
Gimp
Edit your digital photos, create Logos, resize images,
etc. Gimp offers the complete package when it comes
to image editing.
Audacity
Create
your own sound tracks, add a voice over to a music selection
or edit voice tracks. All of this and much more is possible
with Audacity.
Dia
Dia provides you with a full featured diagramming
tool. Dia's object based tools allow users to diagram
anything from networks to electrical currents. This
graphical program also allows for fast and easy use
for the user because of the easy to understand tools
that Dia offers. In addition, many shapes and objects
can be used.
Issues
As with any distribution you will find a few bugs
or issues that arise that will need to be dealt with
at some time. One of those issues was that keventd
would peg at 99% of CPU. keventd is a kernel thread
related to scheduling. This has occurred to me several
times and looking at several other kernels (2.4.26,2.6.5
and 2.6.6) it seems that this happens once in a while.
I found that if I turned the machine off it was gone.
Summary
Version 2 adds new features and options that will surely
be welcomed. There is no doubt in my mind that Damn
Small Linux is the best lightweight desktop. It works
well with new hardware as well as old. The cutting edge
with hardware like wireless is a step behind for all
Linux systems. Great job to the developers and testers
at damnsmalllinux.org.
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