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What are the best Linux distributions for use on a pen drive?

14

Options
Considered

229

User
Recs.

Jan 21, 2021

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

The Best 1 of 13 OptionsWhy?

Best Linux distributions for use on a pen drive	Price	OS Family	Based On
90 Puppy Linux	Free	GNU/Linux	N/A (however binaries are usually taken from Debian/Ubuntu or Slackware)
-- Knoppix	-	GNU/Linux	Debian
-- SliTaz	-	-	-
-- MXlinux	0	GNU/Linux	Debian Stable>antiX
-- Debian GNU/Linux	Free	GNU/Linux	-

Puppy Linux

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Top Pro

Designed to run as a live USB/CD

A portable version, that can be carried on a thumb drive without requiring installation, weighs less than 100MB; a Live CD - less than 150MB. You can even save your settings and files for Puppy on the external device/media. Running off a live CD also has security benefits, as your system will reset to the known config after each boot. See More

Top Con

Not as light as it used to be

It's light, but not as light as it was 1-2 years ago. See More

Specs

OS Family:GNU/Linux

Based On:N/A (however binaries are usually taken from Debian/Ubuntu or Slackware)

Default Desktop Environment:Usually JWM

Init-System:SysV

Top Pro

Extremely low minimum system requirements

Puppy Linux requires 128MB of RAM and 333Mhz of CPU, although 256MB of RAM is recommended. See More

Top Con

Ugly

Using puppy makes you feel like you just jumped 20 years into the past. Being that the purpose of Puppy Linux is to run or really low resource machines the software used is often on the older side, which is precisely why it has a 20 year old look. See More

Top Pro

The whole OS runs off of RAM

Since Puppy Linux is completely loaded and run off of RAM instead of HDD, it's read/write speed is not a factor. See More

Top Con

Smallest software library ever

You can barely find any precompiled packages for Puppy. See More

Top Pro

Linux distro designed for this exact purpose

Top Con

No built in compositing

Being a low resource distro there is zero built in compositing for the JWM window manager. Though one can be added through a bit of work. See More

Top Pro

JWM used as window manager

JWM is a low resource window manager that is used in most Puppy Linux installs. See More

Top Pro

Different distro based versions available

Puppy Linux offers a few different releases. The first is an Ubuntu based release called Tahrpup, by using this version the user is able to take advantage of all software and support from Ubuntu. The second version is called Slacko, which is built upon the Slackware binaries. The third is called Wary and it is built to support older hardware than the rest. And the fourth is called Quirky, which is used as a base to explore new ideas. See More

Top Pro

It can be the only distro that works

Sometimes, Puppy Linux is the only distro that works on an old machine: all other distros are more demanding. See More

Top Pro

Offers a long term support release

Puppy Linux offers an LTS release called Precise. See More

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12 Other Options Considered

Knoppix

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Top Pro

fast

Top Con

Slow and unresponsive

It takes Knoppix several minutes to bootstrap (most of it wasted on "zram" compressed drive whatever). After started, every single action takes from several seconds to minutes to start (even basic things, like calling the shut down menu, and it doesn't matter which WM is chosen, they are all unresponsive, even though it's fast to execute the actions after the interface gets out of the way). See More

ReflectiveYeongdeungHalmang's Experience

I have worked on Unix/Linux for almost a decade, until I was forced into the corporative Windows-based environment. Since then, I've seen Windows always taking a step back to try to walk two forward, that is, most versions of Windows were better than the previous, but every one always had something the previous was way much better. Linux, on the other hand, moved forward steadily, but always had the same thing dragging behind: hardware compatibility. Even today, I still find some Linux distros struggling to get some basic things right, like keyboard mapping. I'm still trying to find the perfect Linux experience! See More

Specs

OS Family:GNU/Linux

Based On:Debian

Default Desktop Environment:LXDE, KDE or GNOME

Init-System:SysV, knoppix-autoconfig

Top Pro

Powerful and lightweight

Top Con

Runs off of optical disk by default

You have to enter a special boot option to run Knoppix entirely in RAM. See More

Ajay Kumar Rawani's Experience

Awesome ! See More

Top Con

DVD version requires a lot of RAM

Many computers are incapable of loading the whole 4 gigabyte DVD into RAM. There is an older CD version, however. See More

SliTaz

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Top Pro

One of the smallest distributions with desktop GUI

The core liveCD is only 35 megabytes. The boot-from-internet option fits on a floppy. See More

Top Con

Install instructions are in French

When first booting SliTaz from a USB or from a Live CD, the installation instructions are in French. See More

PrincipledHunabKu's Experience

Was really hoping to use this... but for the life of me could not get it to boot. Would freeze on text when loading and never get to GUI. Just wanted something fast to boot and copy files to from NTFS and other thumb drives. See More

Top Pro

Very fast

Top Con

Not much variety as to available applications

SliTaz does not have as many applications in its repositories as the bigger distros such as Ubuntu. See More

Top Pro

Can add desktop effects

SliTaz has a feature called "Desktop Effects" which can add shadow or fade effects to windows. See More

Top Pro

Very customizable

SliTaz is very customizable. You can programatically edit and change anything you want on how the OS looks or behaves. See More

MXlinux

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Top Pro

Stable

Specs

OS Family:GNU/Linux

Based On:Debian Stable>antiX

Default Desktop Environment:Xfce

Init-System:SysV

Debian GNU/Linux

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Top Pro

Very stable

Debian has a Stable branch, where packages are thoroughly tested before release. Furthermore Debian is know to be the definition of stable when it comes to production systems. See More

Top Con

No default support for non-free hardware

Non-free hardware will not work upon install of Debian and the user will need to search out the correct non-free software to install in order to make them work. This can be difficult if one of the things not working is the WiFi connection. See More

Gabboxl's Experience

Very stable distro and open source. See More

Specs

OS Family:GNU/Linux

Package Manager:apt (Advanced Package Tool)

Official Supported Architectures:amd64 (x86_64), arm64 (aarch64), armel, armhf, i386, mipsel, mips64el, ppc64el, s390x

Release Type:Binary

Top Pro

Highly secure system

Known for being consistent in maintaining a highly secure system. Several other popular distros use Debian as a base or core for their own Linux OS, the security being one of the main factors why it's so commonly used. See More

Top Pro

Big open-source project

The Debian project is the biggest open source project with over 5000 active contributors. See More

Damn Small Linux

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Slax

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Top Pro

Persistent changes

Changes you make in the configuration persist if you run from USB. See More

Top Con

The latest build is very limited out of the box

Too limited. To the point it's nearly useless. It's far too difficult for the average person to figure out to add anything. See More

PrincipledHunabKu's Experience

Would not boot. Loads up text on screen and sits there. See More

Specs

OS Family:GNU+Linux

Based On:Debian Stable

Default Desktop Environment:Fluxbox

Init-System:Systemd

Top Pro

Small footprint

About 200mb, but with a full KDE4 environment and loads of useful apps. See More

Top Con

Works slowly on old computers

JovialAuseklis's Experience

Limited. Difficult for newbie. Also personally didn't like attitude shown in blogs and comments. See More

Top Con

There is no install manager

Fedora

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Specs

OS Family:GNU+Linux

Based On:Red Hat Linux 1

Default Desktop Environment:GNOME

Init-System:Systemd

Ubuntu

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Top Pro

Wide range of software out of the box

The default apps available in Ubuntu cover the gamut of most anyone's needs. From music, video or office applications Ubuntu has an app that will cover the users needs. See More

Top Con

Extremely un-customizable

JovialAuseklis's Experience

Works well, especially when one unused to a more Mac-type environment figures a few things out. See More

Specs

OS Family:GNU/Linux

Based On:Debian Stable(core) Testing/Unstable(universe/multiverse)

Default Desktop Environment:GNOME

Init-System:Systemd

Top Pro

Has a clean Gnome Interface

Gnome has lot of extensions available and can be custmoized rather easily. See More

Top Con

Binary incompatible to Debian

Ubuntu releases are based on Debian testing/unstable, however, unlike other Debian-based distributions they are not binary compatible due to different libc versions, so you can't install Debian packages in Ubuntu and vice versa. See More

HealthySwayxtix's Experience

Ubuntu 10 worked for about 6 years without a fail on my old 32-bit, dual-partitioned Windows XP ma See More

Top Pro

Lots of support

As the most popular Linux distribution, there's a wide range of sources for support online if you ever need help, including the Ubuntu Wiki, Ubuntu Forums and the Ask Ubuntu Stack Exchange site. See More

Top Pro

Dedicated software center

The Ubuntu Software Center offers a GUI interface for installing new apps which is extremely easy and welcoming for beginners to Linux. But it should not be used by more advanced users since the method of installing through the terminal is much faster and easier after one is used to it. See More

Top Pro

Simplicity

Ubuntu is designed to be used by everyday people. Because of that, Ubuntu has tried hard to make a user interface that's intuitive and looks pleasant and clean. See More

Top Pro

Backed by a company

Porteus

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PrincipledHunabKu's Experience

Booted up just fine from USB. Used Rufus 3.11 to create bootable USB from iso. Folder explorer is nice. Works well. See More

Arch

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Top Pro

Excellent documentation

Arch's goal of simplicity means there's usually one preferred way to get things done - through organized and well documented configuration files. This focus, combined with the community's recognition that configuration files can be intimidating, has resulted in excellent documentation that's accessible to newcomers, and very instructive about how Linux actually works. The documentation is often so thorough that, when searching for solutions to problems while using other distributions, such as with video card drivers, oftentimes you'll find the most effective solution in the Arch Linux wiki or on the forums. See More

Top Con

Manual install process

The installation process for Arch Linux is not as streamlined as it is in other distributions. You have to install the OS, Desktop Environment, Network software and configure everything by yourself. See More

Specs

OS Family:GNU+Linux

Default Desktop Environment:N/A

Init-System:Systemd

Top Pro

Simplicity is absolutely the principal objective behind Arch development

The design approach of the development team focuses on elegance, code correctness, minimalism, and simplicity, and expects the user to be willing to make some effort to understand the system's operation. See More

Top Con

Too many package upgrades that require manual intervention

Every year or so there is a update to ArchLinux that will break your system unless you first read the front page of archlinux.org. This happened with SystemD and with a few other updates that require you to do prior steps befor pacman -Syu. See More

Top Pro

Stripped down to the bone

Since its stripped down, it is fast and you don't have to deal with bloatware. See More

Top Con

Rolling release requires bandwidth

Arch uses a rolling release model for updates. Unlike, for example Ubuntu where a new version is released every six months, packages are updated when they are ready. The advantage is a very up to date system and that the work of upgrading can be spread over a longer span of time to a point where it is hardly noticeably effort. However it can be difficult for people without a high bandwidth connection, or with limits on how many GB can be downloaded imposed by their internet service providers. A GB a month of downloads is quite possible. This can be somewhat offset by Arch being lightweight, besides the relatively small core, the user selects what is installed (and has to be updated). See More

Top Pro

It is Linux at the core

This distro is barebones enough to make a new distro from. See More

Top Con

Problems with driver/kernel/gpu consistency

Arch has no proper desktop support, you must craft your system together. Things may work for the first but generally it takes days to configure a stable and working system. This is NOT ideal for a desktop user. See More

Top Pro

Helpful community

If searching through the wiki or the forums for any problems turns nothing, any question on the official forums, Arch subreddit or the IRC channel will be answered within minutes. There will probably be no hand-holding however, Arch users prefer to point anyone to a resource that may help them instead of trying to outright solve their problem in a forum thread. This is quite helpful for people who want to really learn how their system works but also for other people who may stumble in that thread considering how most problems don’t have a universal solution. See More

Top Con

Requires some background with Linux and the command-line to setup

Going in with zero Linux knowledge is not really recommended when wanting to install Arch, though it can be a good learning experience for those that are dedicated to trial and error as well as reading many faqs. See More

Top Pro

A package for almost everything

If you need to install something, chances are someone in the Arch community has already made a package for it. This makes it incredibly easy for you to install and maintain all of the non-media content on your computer. See More

Top Con

Fragile packages

Updating an Arch system is always a gamble. The problem could be as simple as a package having a bug causing a program to crash on start or it may be something bigger like the WiFi or Bluetooth no longer working. There is also the slight chance the system may not even boot at all after a large update. If the user does not plan to read the forums weekly/daily or update fairly often, things can go wrong very fast. See More

Top Pro

Fast and simple package management

pacman has performance advantages over apt-get and yum in both database operations (thanks to being written for speed) and download times (by virtue of using better mirrors than other distributions tend to select by default). There are also fewer default repositories to download from, and all package management is combined into one tool instead of being split into dpkg, apt-get, and apt-cache like on Debian distros. See More

Top Con

Instability can be an issue

Top Pro

Support for a large variety of hardware

From latest wacom pads to obscure wireless cards in laptops Arch's hw support has been and continues to be good. It has worked on laptops where other leading distro's like debian/ mint/ ubuntu failed to detect and work with all hardware. See More

Top Con

Documentation only makes sense if you know how to adjust it

While the documentation is a very valuable reference for experts, the recipes often don't actually work on your own computer. Some articles are outdated, incomplete, contradictory or duplicated. Only if you are expert enough to know which steps to skip, to adjust or which other documentation parts to plug in, you can make it work. See More

Top Pro

Excellent package managment with the AUR

The AUR is a repository with a very extensive catalogue of build/install scripts that are contributed by users. While these scripts are inherently less secure than conventional packages maintained by a distro's authors, it's still way easier to verify the security of install scripts than it would be to write them yourself. See More

Top Con

Multiple Aur helpers

Arch has strict reasoning behind what goes into the official repositories accessible by pacman. As a result, many other projects end up in the Arch User Repository (AUR). Effectively using Arch, and getting easy access to all of the available software, means either manually downloading and installing from the AUR, or installing an AUR helper - these work along side the main package manager (Pacman), but are a bit less standardized or heavily supported. See More

Top Pro

As slim or copious as you want it

Arch keeps its core repositories slim and free of unnecessary dependencies. At first installation only a bare system is set up. You can easily get the other applications through the package manager. The repositories are nearly as full as those of Ubuntu, while they are often more up to date. That way you don't have to waste time with software you don't need or want. See More

Top Con

Not for the faint of heart

Arch only holds your hand a little bit of the way. While documentation is great, you are expected to know what you're doing. The result is that when you find the solution for a problem on a forum or elsewhere, the response may be completely over your head. If you're not well-versed in Linux, what would be a minor issue on another distribution can become a drawn-out research project on Arch, as you learn all the inner workings of the operating system, until you understand it well enough to solve your problems yourself. See More

Top Pro

Cutting edge rolling release

Arch Linux follows a rolling release model which allows users to stay on the most up-to-date versions of the software they are using. See More

Top Pro

No restrictive handholding, pure control over everything

Arch is mainly aimed at experienced Linux users, there is no hand-holding and not much in a way of UI elements when trying to install or tweak settings. See More

Gentoo

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Great for anyone who is serious about learning the intricacies of Linux

It's useful for both beginners and professionals. For the installation, Gentoo offers various types, which are referred to as stages. Basically meaning how in depth you would want to go into the process of installation. For beginners it's useful to choose for a starting distro due to its various stages that can be very time consuming but beneficial as you learn the composition in general of Linux. See More

Top Con

Customized package installation can take a long time and cause installation failures

The Gentoo package management system allows you to configure what compilation flags packages should support - i.e. specific processor flag support (SSE, SSE2, etc.), -O1, -O2, -O3 optimization, etc. If you accept one of the default flags, Gentoo downloads binaries from the server. However, if you decide to optimise, it can and will download all source packages and start compiling ALL the programs and libraries on your system. If your chosen flags don't work with a particular library, installation will fail. See More

Top Pro

Live USB

Top Pro

A very large collection of software is available

Top Pro

Gentoo does not impose a standard look-and-feel

Top Pro

Documentation and community are second to none

Top Pro

Portability

Top Pro

Portage's emerge is powerful

Top Pro

Full control of the software

Top Pro

Can be officially systemd-free

Gentoo's default init system is OpenRC. Gentoo also officially supports systemd-free Gnome and udev. See More

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