Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

DistroWatch VS TinyCore

Compare DistroWatch VS TinyCore and see what are their differences

DistroWatch logo DistroWatch

9 hours ago - It does include a proprietary software set optimized for business users, students, researchers and developers." A list of features and further details can be found in the company's release announcement.

TinyCore logo TinyCore

Simple operating system based on Linux that uses "modules", and loads everything into RAM. Can be persistent too.
  • DistroWatch Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-26
Not present

DistroWatch features and specs

  • Comprehensive Database
    DistroWatch provides a thorough list of active Linux distributions, which is helpful for users seeking to explore various options and find the right one for their needs.
  • Distribution Popularity Ranking
    The site features a page hit ranking system that gives an indication of the popularity of distributions, which can guide users toward more widely supported and updated options.
  • News and Updates
    Regularly updated news and release announcements keep users informed about the latest developments in the Linux and open-source software world.
  • Reviews and Summaries
    DistroWatch offers reviews and summaries for many distributions, providing insights into their strengths and weaknesses without needing to test each one individually.
  • User Resources
    The site includes links to official distribution sites, download mirrors, forums, and documentation, making it easier for users to find support and further information.

Possible disadvantages of DistroWatch

  • Popularity Metrics Limitations
    The page hit ranking may not accurately reflect a distribution's true popularity or quality, as it only counts page visits rather than usage metrics.
  • Overwhelming for Beginners
    Newcomers to Linux might find the vast array of distributions and information overwhelming and challenging to navigate without guidance.
  • Community-Driven Content
    Information and reviews on DistroWatch largely rely on community contributions, which can lead to variability in the quality and reliability of the content.
  • Niche Focus
    While DistroWatch is highly valuable for Linux enthusiasts, it has limited appeal to users not interested in open-source operating systems, narrowing its audience.
  • Outdated Information Risk
    Some distribution pages might not be frequently updated, leading to potential issues with outdated information or dead links.

TinyCore features and specs

  • Lightweight
    TinyCore is extremely lightweight, with the smallest version requiring only 11 MB of disk space, allowing it to run on older hardware with limited resources.
  • Fast Boot Time
    Due to its lightweight nature, TinyCore boots very quickly, often in just a few seconds, providing a snappy and efficient startup process.
  • Modularity
    TinyCore follows a modular approach, allowing users to add only the components they need, which keeps the system lean and efficient.
  • Minimalism
    The minimalistic design of TinyCore helps in focusing on essential applications and services, reducing bloatware commonly found in other distributions.
  • Customizability
    Users have the flexibility to customize their environment extensively, tailoring the operating system to their specific requirements.

Possible disadvantages of TinyCore

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Beginners might find TinyCore challenging to use initially due to its minimalistic approach and need for manual configuration.
  • Limited Applications
    The default base system doesn't include many applications, so users will need to manually download and install additional software.
  • Lack of Standard Features
    Features standard in other distributions, like a full desktop environment, are not present by default and require additional setup.
  • Dependency Management
    Due to its modular approach, managing software dependencies can be cumbersome and prone to errors without careful management.
  • Limited Support Community
    Compared to larger distributions, TinyCore has a smaller user community, which might make finding support and documentation more difficult.

DistroWatch videos

Measuring Distro Popularity And Why Distrowatch's Page Hit Rankings Suck.

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to Choose Your Linux Distribution - Distrowatch.com
  • Review - Let's talk Distrowatch!

TinyCore videos

No TinyCore videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to DistroWatch and TinyCore)
Linux
94 94%
6% 6
OS & Utilities
63 63%
37% 37
Operating Systems
100 100%
0% 0
System & Hardware
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using DistroWatch and TinyCore. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, DistroWatch seems to be a lot more popular than TinyCore. While we know about 284 links to DistroWatch, we've tracked only 1 mention of TinyCore. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

DistroWatch mentions (284)

  • Practical Guide to Switching to Linux
    This, but here are some things I've learned to do: * Use a .local directory under my home directory instead of ~/bin. That's a great prefix when installing from source or tarball at the user level, keeps the top-level of the home directory from getting cluttered with /share /lib /include /etc /lib etc. etc. * Reach for the package manager first when installing new software, unless there is a good reason not to. It... - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • Warm Welcome to Linux P2
    Picking a starting distro is like playing a game, it does not take long for us to stay in our starting town. With various informative sites like DistroWatch, and even a testing site like distro test, our options are endless. Beginners should not get too hung up on deciding which game they want to play as there are tons available. Sooner or later in life, some even leave their starting towns, and even their countries. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Warm Welcome to Linux
    The common sense I advocate mainly revolves around DistroWatch. High ranking distributions (indicated by the hits per day chart) are generally more favorable for many reasons; stability, support, user-friendliness, friendliness of other users and so on. Over the past few years, I have usually recommended the three major M named distros; Mint, Manjaro, and MX. They have had high favorability over the past decade. A... - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Linux Distros: Ubuntu and Manjaro Fall Further into Oblivion – February 2024
    The broken headline (should say Linux Gaming Distros) reminded me of DistroWatch's value to the community, aside from its unusual ranking system: https://distrowatch.com/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Ventoy, Live USB multitool for you ISOs Collector
    Ventoy is an open source tool to create bootable USB drive for ISO/WIM/IMG/VHD(x)/EFI files. With ventoy, you don't need to format the disk over and over, you just need to copy the image files to the USB drive and boot it You can copy many image files at a time and ventoy will give you a boot menu to select them. You can also browse ISO/WIM/IMG/VHD(x)/EFI files in local disk and boot them. x86 Legacy BIOS,... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

TinyCore mentions (1)

  • please help me how do i install sudo apt
    "core only" from https://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/downloads.html. Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing DistroWatch and TinyCore, you can also consider the following products

Linux Mint - Linux Mint is one of the most popular desktop Linux distributions and used by millions of people.

DietPi - Dietpi is a debian based operative system made to install new apps easyer.

SUSE Studio - Modernisieren Sie Ihre Infrastruktur mit SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, OpenStack Cloud-Technologie für IAAS und softwaredefiniertem Storage von SUSE.

CRUX Linux - CRUX is a lightweight Linux distribution for the x86-64 architecture targeted at experienced Linux...

Puppy Linux - Home, overview and getting started with Puppy Linux, amazingly fast, fascinatingly complete and delightfully small Linux.‎Wiki · ‎Download latest Puppy Linux .

Porteus - Learn how to install Porteus, about Porteus modules and getting porteus to work with wifi internet.