CODEWITHSUNDEEP
linuxunix
user997112
user997112

Reputation: 30635

Minimal Linux distribution

I am just finishing reading the Tanenbaum operating systems book where he introduces the Minix OS. I would like to go the next step towards studying the inner parts of an OS....

What is the smallest linux/linux distribution I can strip down the most, whilst still having driver support for common Intel networking/ethernet drivers (for my desktop)?

Things like application manager, games, desktop themes etc etc (all the bloated code) I will not need because I would like to try and write my own barebone OS.

I would use Minix and build upwards (in contrast to stripping Linux down), but I'm worried its a little too basic and will be hard to get drivers as it is quite old now.....

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1772

Answers (3)

Mihai8
Mihai8

Reputation: 3147

You can try somethings from 8 of the best tiny Linux distros. Another suggestion is to look to FreeRTOS.

Upvotes: 0

ghosTM55
ghosTM55

Reputation: 71

And Linux From Scratch which mentioned here ain't a real distro but a way to tell you how to build a usable operating system based on a Linux kernel.

I highly recommend you to play with gentoo first and its official documentation will help you a lot to get to the bottom of how a Linux distro was made up and works.

Good luck.

Upvotes: 0

Dominik Honnef
Dominik Honnef

Reputation: 18430

You're quite confusing Linux, the kernel, with GNU/Linux distributions, that come with the kernel (which, besides some patches and the configuration, is always the same) and a lot of programs. So, there is no "stripping down" required when starting with the kernel itself.

You might be interested in http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/ – A guide to building your own Linux from scratch.

Upvotes: 4

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