Originally Posted By: justanoldmuso
The problem I have with some linux distros is they are SO BIG.
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(if only bb and rb ran on it..sigh…lol.)
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Linux distributions do tend to bundle quite a bit of "stuff" that one doesn't necessarily need. Much of it can be uninstalled if that's your wish. What had you in mind as not big?

I have both BiaB and RealBand running on Linux, though there are a few issues, mostly around the lack of Windows Media Player and a few minor issues relating to dialog boxes.

The AVL:MXE distribution that I'm using for music is around a 4GB image, though again it does come bundled with quite a lot of toys. Glen makes no apology for the size as it includes much or even all of what one needs to produce music, including demos of some commercial packages.
In this day and age, frankly I don't really see 4GB as big ... quite a few sample libraries are bigger than that. The reason I like AVL:MXE is that it always seems to work as one would like. Most Linux distributions are not geared to music as most users don't do music production, so music critical stuff sometimes gets broken. Glen who produces AVL:MXE weorks very hard at avoiding those breaks, to the extent that only recently has he moved from customised real-time kernels to generic low-latency kernels. He's also careful to use lightweight windowing systems to keep the load off the CPU.

If I can remember the name, there was a music-oriented lightweight distribution some years back. It had mostly a number, not a name. Sub 1GB.

For non-music work there are quite a few small-footprint choices, e.g.': https://linuxhint.com/smallest-linux-distributions/

Puppy Linux has been around for years, so must have a decent following.

For most things I do, I simply don't worry about the size. 2TB of hard drive is < $100. Even 1TB of SSD isn't much different.

Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful.
Kawai MP6, Korg M50, Ui24R, Saffire Pro 40.
AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11; Win8.1: Scarletts
BIAB2022 UltraPAK, Reaper, a bunch of stuff.