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The Linux world is home to several lean distros that are intentionally designed to be lightweight and easy on system resources. Most of these systems avoid the bloat of KDE or Gnome, opting for a lighter and simpler desktop. They typically offer a scaled-down lineup of user applications, with the philosophy that, if you really want something else, you can always install it.

The primary use case for these lean distros is to run on old hardware, fulfilling Linux's role as the system that still runs on legacy computers. On the other hand, some users on conventional systems simply prefer a lean distro, because they don't like bloat. They find that a smaller footprint makes the system more responsive and easier to use.

Many lean systems are based on the universal Linux uber-distro known as Debian. The stable and well-tested Debian Linux is also the foundation for other Linux systems, including Ubuntu and Knoppix.

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