When comparing Knoppix vs Archbang, the Slant community recommends Knoppix for most people. In the question“What are the best Linux distributions for an old machine?” Knoppix is ranked 11th while Archbang is ranked 46th.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Powerful and lightweight
Pro The best features of Arch without the hassle
ArchBang is minimal but completely functional out of the box. It's still up to you to set up to your liking. You still get Arch's unmatched documentation, insanely vast number of packages (in AUR) and extreme customizability. And a small but friendly and approachable community.
Pro Rolling release
Being based on Arch, Archbang follows a rolling release schedule, ensuring that the software will always be on the bleeding edge.
Pro Lightweight
Archbang is a pretty lightweight distro. It uses Openbox as a Window Manager by default, without having the need to use a desktop environment which would only bloat the OS further.
Cons
Con Runs off of optical disk by default
You have to enter a special boot option to run Knoppix entirely in RAM.
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.