As a small (30 MB), quick-to-boot distro, SliTaz is entering a field well-served by the likes of DSL and Puppy Linux. When going up against such heavyweights, SliTaz must offer something truly remarkable to distinguish itself.

"The SliTaz contributors team are proud to announce the publication of SliTaz GNU/Linux 1.0. This is the first stable release after 2 years of hard work. The system is distributed as a bootable LiveCD of 24.8 MB providing a fully featured desktop environment and a generous selection of multi-use applications. SliTaz GNU/Linux 1.0 uses..."

When someone asks you to name a small Linux distro, under 100MB, names like Puppy and Damn Small Linux come to mind. Now, the featherweight category has another candidate, a 25MB fighter called Slitaz.

" «At 25 MB, it has to be the smallest desktop distro ever created». These were the words of Ladislav Bodnar in the most recent issue of Distrowatch Weekly when he announced this fresh and minuscule distribution as a new addition to the waiting list. Its name is SliTaz, and I was so intrigued about it that I tried it out..." -- See also: http://www.e-linux.it/news_detail.php?id=4767

SliTaz is a new micro GNU/Linux live distribution designed to run from RAM (a recommended minimum of 128MB) and installable to a hard drive or USB device. The current version, SliTaz 1.0, weighs in at a light 24.8MB and provides a nice selection of applications that run on a lightweight desktop.

For the past year, at least, I’ve been chiseling away at Crux systems, compiling sometimes for days straight in order to get clean, sharp, fast systems. And then along comes Slitaz.

It’s been a year since the last “stable” release of Slitaz, and whether or not the yearlong break is part of the development plan, I have been chomping at the bit, waiting for this new version.

When I came across the oddly named SliTaz I really didn’t know what to expect. Yet another predictable fork of some better known distro which would blaze briefly in the free software firmament, burn out and fall to Earth, spent? Boy, was I ever wrong.

If you are looking for something small to run on an older computer, SliTaz is definitely a worthy contender to look into. Do not let the small size of the ISO fool you. It contains more than enough software to get you going.