SliTaz explained

SliTaz GNU/Linux
Developer:The SliTaz GNU/Linux Association
Christophe Lincoln
Family:Linux (Unix-like)
Working State:Current
Source Model:Open source
Released:22 March 2008[1]
Latest Release Version:5.0 (Rolling Release)
Latest Release Date:[2]
Package Manager:Tazpkg
Supported Platforms:x86 x64
Kernel Type:Monolithic (Linux kernel)
Ui:Openbox[3]
License:GNU GPL and various others

SliTaz GNU/Linux is a lightweight Linux distribution, community-based, suitable for use on older hardware and as a Live CD or Live USB.[4] [5] [6] [7] SliTaz stands for "Simple, Light, Incredible, Temporary Autonomous Zone" according to the boot screen.[8]

Features

SliTaz uses the Openbox window manager.

Additional packages are added using a program called "TazPanel". This is due to the specific package format that SliTaz uses (tazpkg). It can still use packages from the more popular distribution though, as Debian, by means of first carrying out a conversion of these different packages.[9]

By default, SliTaz offers no persistence, however it can still be added if the user wishes. The choice of the filesystem/bootloader used with slitaz is then of importance however; persistence being only available with ext2 and ext3 filesystems and the syslinux or extlinux boot loader.[10] [11]

Another useful tool is TazLiTo, with which users can create their own LiveCD based on selected packages or even based upon the current system state.

System requirements

SliTaz GNU/Linux is supported on all machines based on the i486 or x86 Intel compatible processors.[12] The Live CD has four variants of SliTaz, requiring from 192 MB of RAM for the Core system to 48 MB for a text mode and X Window System.[12]

SliTaz can even run in 24 MB of RAM and a little swap memory.[13] SliTaz can be booted from a Live CD, Live USB, floppy disk, or a local area network (PXE[14]),[15] or can be installed, requiring approximately 80 MB of hard disk space.[16]

TazLiTo

TazLito is the LiveCD creation utility in SliTaz GNU/Linux.

Common Operations

Check Root

Check to ensure UID is zero (i.e., TazLito was run by root or root sudoer).

Check Root File System

Looks for the existence of an etc. directory in the root file system directory. N.B., this does not do any further checking to ensure anything is actually in the directory. However, if TazLito is used for all LiveCD creation operations (that is, one does not create/modify the directories used by TazLito) the directories existence implies it is populated properly.

Verify Root CD

Looks for the existence of a boot directory in the root CD directory. N.B., this does not do any further checking to ensure anything is actually in the directory. However, if TazLito is used for all LiveCD creation operations (that is, one does not create/modify the directories used by TazLito) the directories existence implies it is populated properly.

Generate initramfs

  1. Executes scripts for packages altering the root file system
  2. Hard links redundant files in the root filesystem to save space
  3. Runs cpio to create the initramfs, compressing with lzma or gzip (or no compression)

Release history

VersionRelease dateStability
1.023 March 2008Stable version
2.016 April 2009
3.028 March 2010
4.010 April 2012Current stable version
5.0 RC12 May 2014Preview version
5.0 RC219 May 2014
5.0 RC320 May 2015
5.05 November 2017Rolling release

As with any Linux distribution, the route of development of SliTaz is mainly determined by the coders themselves. For SliTaz 5, some major changes seem to be the swapping of systemd by BusyBox's init and udev, hence avoiding safety risks, and more implementation of Qt.[17] An implementation of x64 and ARM architectures are currently under development.

Reception

Dedoimedo reviewed SliTaz GNU/Linux 1.0. and commented:[18] Dedoimedo also reviewed version 2.0.[19]

DistroWatch published a review of SliTaz GNU/Linux 1.0:[20]

A 2022 review of SliTaz 5.0 in Full Circle magazine concluded:[21]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: SliTaz 1.0 Release Notes. SliTaz. 5 August 2012.
  2. Web site: Index of /Iso/Rolling/.
  3. https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=slitaz DistroWatch.com: SliTaz GNU/Linux
  4. Web site: SliTaz. Linux Magazine. 5 August 2012.
  5. Web site: Linux.com :: SliTaz, a mighty micro Linux distro . Archive09.linux.com . 2013-07-06.
  6. Web site: Nick Veitch . 8 of the best tiny Linux distros: Slitaz and Tiny Core Linux | News . TechRadar . 2013-07-06.
  7. Web site: Spotlight on Linux: SliTaz GNU/Linux 3.0 . Linux Journal . 2013-07-06.
  8. News: A second look at Slitaz 1.0: turns out it has a lot of potential. 2008-06-26. Click. 2017-10-15. en-US.
  9. http://hg.slitaz.org/tazpkg/raw-file/tip/doc/tazpkg.en.html Converting debian packages to tazpkg using convert command
  10. http://doc.slitaz.org/en:guides:liveusb Filesystem warning
  11. Web site: A couple of newbie questions « SliTaz Forum.
  12. Web site: SliTaz 4.0 Release Notes. SliTaz. 5 August 2012.
  13. Web site: Loram-CDrom. Slitaz.
  14. http://doc.slitaz.org/en:guides:pxe PXE with SliTaz
  15. Web site: From BIOS to /etc/init.d/rcS . SliTaz Doc . 5 August 2012.
  16. Web site: Introduction to the project . SliTaz . 5 August 2012.
  17. http://forum.slitaz.org/topic/buildroot-slitaz Buildroot Slitaz post by coder
  18. http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/slitaz.html Slitaz Linux - Tiny but fierce
  19. https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/slitaz-2.html Slitaz 2 - 30MB of joy
  20. https://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20080331#feature First look at SliTaz GNU/Linux 1.0, the smallest desktop distro on earth
  21. Web site: Review - SliTaz 5.0. 29 July 2022. Hunt. Adam. Full Circle magazine. 29 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220729152117/https://dl.fullcirclemagazine.org/issue183_en.pdf. 29 July 2022. live.