External links
- Runt Linux Homepage of the distribution
- Linux on a Stick! Screenshot walkthrough showing how to put Runt on a pendrive
- RUNT Linux at DistroWatch
 | This Linux-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
RUNT Linux is an acronym for ResNet USB Network Tester. It is one of many Linux distros designed to run from a USB flash drive. RUNT is based on Slackware's bare kernel. It was originally designed as a network tool for students at North Carolina State University. It consists of a boot floppy image and a zip file, similar to zipslack. It is intended to be a fairly complete Linux installation for use as a testing tool capable of booting on any x86 computer with a USB port and a bootable floppy.
| | This Linux-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
A Linux distribution is an operating system made from a software collection that is based upon the Linux kernel and, often, a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one of the Linux distributions, which are available for a wide variety of systems ranging from embedded devices and personal computers to powerful supercomputers.
KNOPPIX is an operating system based on Debian designed to be run directly from a CD / DVD or a USB flash drive, one of the first of its kind for any operating system. Knoppix was developed by, and named after, Linux consultant Klaus Knopper. When starting a program, it is loaded from the removable medium and decompressed into a RAM drive. The decompression is transparent and on-the-fly.
A boot disk is a removable digital data storage medium from which a computer can load and run (boot) an operating system or utility program. The computer must have a built-in program which will load and execute a program from a boot disk meeting certain standards.
A live CD is a complete bootable computer installation including operating system which runs directly from a CD-ROM or similar storage device into a computer's memory, rather than loading from a hard disk drive. A Live CD allows users to run an operating system for any purpose without installing it or making any changes to the computer's configuration. Live CDs can run on a computer without secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive, or with a corrupted hard disk drive or file system, allowing data recovery.
The SYSLINUX Project is a suite of lightweight master boot record (MBR) boot loaders for starting up IBM PC compatible computers with the Linux kernel. Primarily developed by H. Peter Anvin, the SYSLINUX bundle consists of several separate systems used for different purposes, including ISOLINUX, PXELINUX and EXTLINUX.
Damn Small Linux is a computer operating system for the x86 family of personal computers. It is free and open source software under the terms of the GNU GPL and other free and open source licenses. It was designed to run graphical applications on older PC hardware—for example, machines with 486/early Pentium processors and very little memory. DSL is a Live CD with a size of 50 MB. What originally started as an experiment to see how much software could fit in 50 MB eventually became a full-fledged Linux distribution. It can be installed on storage media with small capacities, like bootable business cards, USB flash drives, various memory cards, and Zip drives.
dyne:bolic GNU/Linux is a Live CD/DVD distribution based on the Linux kernel. It is shaped by the needs of media activists, artists and creators to be a practical tool with a focus on multimedia production, that delivers a large assortment of applications. It allows manipulation and broadcast of both sound and video with tools to record, edit, encode, and stream. In addition to multimedia specific programs, dyne:bolic also provides word processors and common desktop computing tools.
PCLinuxOS, often shortened to PCLOS, is an x86-64 Linux distribution, with KDE Plasma Desktop, MATE and XFCE as its default user interfaces. It is a primarily free software operating system for personal computers aimed at ease of use. It is considered a rolling release.
Puppy Linux is an operating system and family of light-weight Linux distributions that focus on ease of use and minimal memory footprint. The entire system can be run from random-access memory with current versions generally taking up about 600 MB (64-bit), 300 MB (32-bit), allowing the boot medium to be removed after the operating system has started. Applications such as AbiWord, Gnumeric and MPlayer are included, along with a choice of lightweight web browsers and a utility for downloading other packages. The distribution was originally developed by Barry Kauler and other members of the community, until Kauler retired in 2013. The tool Woof can build a Puppy Linux distribution from the binary packages of other Linux distributions.
A live USB is a USB flash drive or external hard disk drive containing a full operating system that can be booted. They are the evolutionary next step after live CDs, but with the added benefit of writable storage, allowing customizations to the booted operating system. Live USB’s can be used in embedded systems for system administration, data recovery, or test driving, and can persistently save settings and install software packages on the USB device.
Tinfoil Hat Linux (THL) is a compact security-focused Linux distribution designed for high security developed by The Shmoo Group. The first version (1.000) was released in February 2002. It appears to be a low priority project as of 2013. Its image files and source are available in gzip format. THL can be used on almost any modern PC, as it requires a Intel 80386 or better computer, with at least 8 MB of RAM. The distribution fits on a single HD floppy. The small footprint provides additional benefits beyond making the system easy to understand and verify- the computer need not even have a hard drive, making it easier to "sanitize" the computer after use.
UNetbootin is a cross-platform utility that can create live USB systems and can load a variety of system utilities or install various Linux distributions and other operating systems without a CD.
SliTaz GNU/Linux is a lightweight Linux distribution, community-based, suitable for use on older hardware and as a Live CD or Live USB. SliTaz stands for "Simple, Light, Incredible, Temporary Autonomous Zone" according to the boot screen.
Grml is a Linux distribution based on Debian. It is designed to run mainly from a live CD, but can be made to run from a USB flash drive. Grml aims to be well-suited to system administrators (sysadmin) and other users of text tools. It includes an X Window System server and a few minimalist window managers such as wmii, Fluxbox, and openbox to use the graphical programs like Mozilla Firefox which are included in the distribution.
Calculate Linux is a Linux distribution optimized for rapid deployment in a corporate environment. It is based on the Gentoo project and includes numerous pre-configured functions.
Alpine Linux is a Linux distribution based on musl and BusyBox, designed for security, simplicity, and resource efficiency. It used a hardened kernel until release 3.8 and compiles all user-space binaries as position-independent executables with stack-smashing protection.
Kali Linux is a Debian-derived Linux distribution designed for digital forensics and penetration testing. It is maintained and funded by Offensive Security.
MX Linux is a midweight Linux operating system based on Debian stable and using core antiX components, with additional software created or packaged by the MX community. It is developed as a cooperative venture between the antiX and former MEPIS communities, aiming to use the best tools and talents from each of these distributions. The community's stated goal is to "combine an elegant and efficient desktop with simple configuration, high stability, solid performance and medium-sized footprint". MX Linux uses the Xfce desktop environment, while KDE Plasma and other environments can be added or are available as "spin-off" ISO images.