What is the most minimalist Linux server distro?

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#5

Added :+1:

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#6

I should add that if you want performance, stability and security you could do a lot worse than CentOS - itā€™s so good that Red Hat are basically killing it off because many think they feel it poses a huge threat to the RHEL they sell.

Rocky Linux seems like itā€™s getting more support so Iā€™d keep an eye on that too :smiley:

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#7

I forgot what itā€™s called but if you really wanna torture yourself you could build your own linux :joy:

Jokes aside, arch should be pretty minimal

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#8

Not surprised to see Arch in the list. Last time I had Manjaro (derivative of Arch) on a laptop with XFCE installed, and after I installed a good amount of software on it, at startup that OS was taking 450MB of RAM with 30+ daemons running, and a fully functioning desktop environment. :heart:

@Exadra37 Maybe you should copy all the links from the ElixirForum thread here?

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#9

Itā€™s called Linux From Scratch:

linuxfromscratch.org

Welcome to Linux From Scratch!

Linux From Scratch (LFS) is a project that provides you with step-by-step instructions for building your own custom Linux system, entirely from source code.

Currently, the Linux From Scratch organization consists of the following subprojects:

  • LFS :: Linux From Scratch is the main book, the base from which all other projects are derived.
  • BLFS :: Beyond Linux From Scratch helps you extend your finished LFS installation into a more customized and usable system.
  • ALFS :: Automated Linux From Scratch provides tools for automating and managing LFS and BLFS builds.
  • CLFS :: Cross Linux From Scratch provides the means to cross-compile an LFS system on many types of systems.
  • Hints :: The Hints project is a collection of documents that explain how to enhance your LFS system in ways that are not included in the LFS or BLFS books.
  • Patches :: The Patches project serves as a central repository for all patches useful to an LFS user.

But I donā€™t have the skills for it or I donā€™t want to torture my self :wink:

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#10

Yess, thatā€™s the one

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#11

Letā€™s wait and see what people have to say here :slight_smile:

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#12

And you also have Lenix backed by 1 million dollars a year:

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#13

Are you thinking at Linux from Scratch ? It is a full guide to compile from scratch your own Linux distro.

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#14

There are a few projects starting up hoping to replace CentOS but I think Rocky Linux seems to have the most support at the moment as it is created by one of the original CentOS creators :smiley:

Alsoā€¦ I think people are preferring something more independent than backed by a big companyā€¦ at least thatā€™s the vibe Iā€™m getting :upside_down_face:

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#15

LFS is an excellent way to learn how Linux is made and what tools You need to make it work :slight_smile:

It was also the way Gentoo worked. You had to work a little to get the most optimized Linux for your usage.

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#16

Elementary OS is minimal and good looking.

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#17

Thanks for the suggestion, but thatā€™s a desktop OS, but I am looking for a server distro.

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#18

Alpine Linux is a security-oriented, lightweight Linux distribution based on musl libc and busybox.
Alpine standard 3.13.1 (Released Jan 28, 2021) is only ~133 MB.

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#19

Itā€™s a strong contender, but this muscl libc is what concerns me the most, because its known to cause issues with some applications.

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#20

Any insider info about CentOS Lucian? :see_no_evil:

CentOS 7 could still be a good choice for up to May 2029 which is when it reaches EOL, @Exadra37ā€¦ (edit: think it might actually be 2024!)

#21

Nah, no way I would waste my time with an EOL distro.

Hardening a distro takes weeks of work in my spare time. I donā€™t use any server as they release them, they are just too much open.

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#22

Fair enoughā€¦ and could you blog about that please? I am always interested in how to secure/harden servers :nerd_face:

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#23

I am documenting every step in a git repo, and making a bash script to run as user data in Digital Ocean or as part of a cloud init configuration.

This is part of my Phoenix360 project, and I will make it available in an Elixir website.

It will have guides for hardening Phoenix, servers and to build 360 web apps.

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#24

musl is widely known to work much slower in specific workflows. People have wrote blog articles demonstrating that going back to libc accelerated parts of their apps tenfold or more.

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