Damn Small Linux 4.2 Polishes its Visuals
Version 4.2 of the miniscule (50MB) DSL (Damn Small Linux) distribution has just been released.
The major changes include the replacment of Xpaint with Mtpaint, however, most changes relate to visual aspects of the slightly ancient looking system. Icons have been replaced; DSL now has generally improved support for backgrounds, and there are new thems for the JWM window manager which the lean distribution relies on. At the same time, the developers have tidied up and remove a couple of excess files, modules and directories.
The incredibly lean distribution is extremely well suited to older hardware that is low on RAM resources and processor power. According to the website the distribution will run on a 486 CPU with just 16MB RAM, and is quite happy on a USB stick. From a usability point of view, DSL targets experienced users, although it does include GUI-based tools to help set up the network configuration and other system components. DSL can act as an SSH/FTP and HTTP server, supports a number of WLAN adapters, and includes applications such as Firefox, XMMS and Naim by default.
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