virtualbox.org

I normally use WinXp machines for various purposes, but I do also have some Ubuntu guests to experiment and try out Linux software.
While I find Ubuntu to be very user friendly and a breeze to setup and maintain, its memory requirements seem to be about the same or even more than WinXP, at least out of the box without any tweaking.

I want to set up some machines mainly for browsing purposes that will take a minimum amount of RAM from the host.
Does anyone have experiences which small Linux distributions that work well with VirtualBox (i.e. easy to install, update, etc.) and are still active?
Ready images with latest version of the OS would be a bonus but not necessary if the installation and setup is easy.

Without having tried anything yet, I am considering:

1. Slitaz
2. Damn Small Linux
3. Ubuntu Server

I'll appreciate any experiences you would care to share.


Best regards,

Frank

If you're going to consider Ubuntu Server, you might as well get the alternative installer (or stick with the server installer, same deal) and use Expert Mode (select it with F6 on the boot menu of the disc). Then go through each step until you get to "Select and install software", this is the step right after "Install base system". Skip the step and finish the installation by going through the other options (configure package manager, install boot loader, etc.).
After that, you will have a very fast boot into CLI and all that's left to do, is copy /etc/apt/sources.list.apt-setup to sources.list (so you can install software from the repos) and use aptitude, set to NOT install recommended packages (ctrl+t, Options > Preferences). Update the package list and look for the packages you want. Xorg is a good idea, do you have at least a GUI. Just browse through all the packages and select those that you want and figure things out as you go. You might want to use LXDE as Desktop Manager, instead of the default Gnome, KDE or Xfce (though the latter is also for 'low memory' systems).

I install my Ubuntu that way now all the time and memory consumption is now 860 MB, while Opera browser is running (that can ask 400 MB easy), Xfce, a torrent client, music player and some other background services. When I check with a VM I installed the same way, I get about 200 MB of RAM in use on a fresh log in.

You're free to see if any other system appeals to you more. Arch Linux has some good things too, but may be a bit harder to install.

Thanks. From what you are saying I probably have to consider one of the very small distributions as I hope to get below 100 Mb.

I plan to install the VM on some older computers as well, so that I can have my family browse without any fear of infections. They have over time taken down several computers through malware infections from browsing or other sources and each time I have to use time to reformat and reinstall. Thus I am thinking that a VM that can be replaced regularly will be a perfect solution.

With WinXP I can get the Google Chrome browser to work with 256 Mb. Possibly even 192 Mb. But I am sure one of the small distros could run with a lot less.
Only the installation can be a hassle.

I can recommend the Chrome browser by the way. Simple and effective for both Windows and Linux.

If a webbrowser is all you need the best solution for you would be to run ChromiumOS with Chromium. It is ultra-light, very fast despite not having graphics acceleration under VB and there are ready-to-use VB images compiled daily available for download at http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/vanilla.php
The images even have Flash player preinstalled.

If you need to do some tinkering you press Ctrl-Alt-T and then type "shell" to get a bash shell. The root password for those images is "facepunch"