Lightweight Debian based distro?

Question

Can anyone recommend an lightweight debian based distribution working on an PC with 800 MHZ CPU and 64 MB RAM?

Also, would some old games like Worms Armageddon or Diablo 2 work on the lightweight distro with wine? (these two games, for example, work fine on the computer, running windows)

Are the minimum requirements different for games running over wine, than the ones for windows.

Solution 1

First, a link for Debian Based Distributions suitable for old computers.

Desktop: The GUI will take up quite some of your resources in RAM. The Window Managers I got lucky with while working on an old machine and a Netbook are XFCE, prefering LXDE and am currently very happy with Openbox.

Suggestions: I would suggest to get a live image of Crunchbang Linux and give it a try. If so, I would recommend using Crunchbang 10 [Statler], based upon Debian 6.0 Stable [instead of 11 – which is based upon the 'testing' branch of Debian].

As Debian runs like a charm on my old machine, it doesn't run as nicely on my Netbook. I was quite lucky with Linux Mint Debian Edition until I found Crunchbang, which is the closest to Debian that is currently possible for me here. When working on the command line, reading documents or comparable low-resource applications the CPU is up to about 5 to 10%.

Using a lightweight browser like Midori instead of Firefox saves also loads of resources.

Games: For games mainly known to run on Windows [Worms Armageddon, Diabolo 2] you'll need something like WINE, yes. And yes, you'll need Windows available somehwere on your machine [this is how far I understood it]. Recommending to use a Virtual Machine with just 64 MB RAM would be a bad joke, I guess.

Damn Small Linux: There was little to no progress for a very long time [years?] on DSL, but the project was resurrected at the end of 2012 by the main supporter! So as I didn't tried it out myself so far, this is one distribution worth a look for using with limited resources.

Solution 2

I have heard of DSL before but can't vouch for it as I haven't personally tried it. Take a look, it might be what you're looking for.

Solution 3

Try a minimal Debian installation, with LXDE or XFCE as desktop environment. Probably the oldest supported stable version will be the most frugal in resource usage. On that install just what you need, and check the configuration so that there isn't anything unneded running. If you have stock Debian elsewhere, having some derivative will be familiar enough to feel not quite at home and different enough to be infuriating.

Comments

[Jeff Hewitt]

What's wrong with running Debian itself?

[frostschutz]

Debian needs more than 64MB RAM (for example when it generates locales during an update). 64MB RAM is really, really tough. If the goal is playing Diablo 2, I'd say: stick with Windows.

[jordanm]

64MB is minimum for a non-destkop Debian system debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch03s04.html.en

[Waqas]

@jordanm i need to run a desktop environment, so debian is not an option.

[jasonwryan]

I think you need to spend a little time reading up on what Debian is before you rule it out based on a gross misconception...

[Waqas]

64 MB * . sorry for the mistake.

[Waqas]

i don't mind installing an ubuntu/debian derivate, if it runs well on my old computer, for what i need (the two games).

[Waqas]

crunchbag may be a good option. i will test it and reply back. thak you cellar.dweller