Tiny Core Linux
Encyclopedia
Tiny Core Linux is a minimal Linux
operating system
focusing on providing a base system using BusyBox
and FLTK
. The lead developer of the project is Robert Shingledecker. The distribution is notable for its size under 12MB, with additional functionality provided by extensions of which there are more than 3200. Tiny Core Linux is Free open source software
and is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2
.
Micro Core Linux is a smaller variant of Tiny Core without a graphical desktop.
but with 3 distinct modes of operation:
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
focusing on providing a base system using BusyBox
BusyBox
BusyBox provides several stripped-down Unix tools in a single executable. It runs in a variety of POSIX environments such as Linux, Android, FreeBSD and others, such as proprietary kernels, although many of the tools it provides are designed to work with interfaces provided by the Linux kernel. It...
and FLTK
FLTK
FLTK is a cross-platform GUI library developed by Bill Spitzak and others. Made with 3D graphics programming in mind, it has an interface to OpenGL, but it is also suitable for general GUI programming....
. The lead developer of the project is Robert Shingledecker. The distribution is notable for its size under 12MB, with additional functionality provided by extensions of which there are more than 3200. Tiny Core Linux is Free open source software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
and is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
.
Micro Core Linux is a smaller variant of Tiny Core without a graphical desktop.
Design philosophy
The developers describe TCL as "a nomadic ultra small desktop capable of booting from a cdrom, pendrive, or frugally from a hard drive. As of version 2.8.1, the core is designed to run primarily in RAMRandom-access memory
Random access memory is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order with a worst case performance of constant time. Strictly speaking, modern types of DRAM are therefore not random access, as data is read in...
but with 3 distinct modes of operation:
- "Cloud" or Internet mode - A "testdrive" mode using a built-in appbrowser GUI to explore extensions from an online application extension repository loaded into RAM only for the current session.
- TCE/Install - A mode for Tiny Core Extensions downloaded and run from a storage partition but kept as symbolic links in RAM.
- TCE/CopyFS - A mode which installs applications onto a Linux partition like a more typical Linux installation.
Release history
| Version | Stability | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| v1.0 | stable version | January 05, 2009 |
| v1.1 | stable version | February 09, 2009 |
| v1.2 | stable version | March 10, 2009 |
| v1.3 | stable version | April 12, 2009 |
| v1.4 | stable version | April 26, 2009 |
| v1.4.1 | stable version | May 03, 2009 |
| v1.4.2 | stable version | May 09, 2009 |
| v1.4.3 | stable version | May 24, 2009 |
| v2.0 | stable version | June 07, 2009 |
| v2.1 | stable version | June 28, 2009 |
| v2.2 | stable version | July 31, 2009 |
| v2.3 | stable version | September 07, 2009 |
| v2.3.1 | stable version | September 13, 2009 |
| v2.4.1 | stable version | October 10, 2009 |
| v2.5 | stable version | November 06, 2009 |
| v2.6 | stable version | November 26, 2009 |
| v2.6.1 | stable version | December 06, 2009 |
| v2.7 | stable version | December 19, 2009 |
| v2.8 | stable version | February 01, 2010 |
| v2.9 | stable version | March 06, 2010 |
| v2.10 | stable version | April 02, 2010 |
| v2.11 | stable version | May 02, 2010 |
| v2.11.1 | stable version | May 22, 2010 |
| v2.11.2 | stable version | May 29, 2010 |
| v2.11.3 | stable version | June 06, 2010 |
| v2.11.4 | stable version | June 15, 2010 |
| v2.11.5 | stable version | June 21, 2010 |
| v2.11.6 | stable version | July 03, 2010 |
| v3.0 | stable version | July 19, 2010 |
| v3.1 | stable version | September 11, 2010 |
| v3.2 | stable version | October 14, 2010 |
| v3.3 | stable version | November 22, 2010 |
| v3.4 | stable version | December 18, 2010 |
| v3.4.1 | stable version | December 30, 2010 |
| v3.5 | stable version | February 13, 2011 |
| v3.5.1 | stable version | March 09, 2011 |
| v3.6 | stable version | April 30, 2011 |
| v3.7 | stable version | June 15, 2011 |
| v3.7.1 | stable version | June 18, 2011 |
| v3.8 | stable version | August 6, 2011 |
| v3.8.1 | stable version | August 12, 2011 |
| v3.8.2 | stable version | August 16, 2011 |
| v3.8.3 | stable version | August 24, 2011 |
| v3.8.4 | stable version | September 1, 2011 |
| v4.0 | stable version | September 25, 2011 |
| v4.0.1 | stable version | October 5, 2011 |
| v4.0.2 | stable version | October 12, 2011 |
| v4.1 | current release | November 19, 2011 |
| release candidate |
See also
- Comparison of Linux Live Distros
- Lightweight Linux distribution
- List of Linux distributions that run from RAM