Unfortunately, even most Linux users aren’t as familiar with Slackware distributions, so the minimal Debian distribution is likely to work for the majority of users with some Linux experience. ![]() This contrasts with other popular portable distros such as Puppy Linux, which is an older portable distro and comes pre-loaded with more niche apps, or Porteus, which is based on the older Slackware distribution of Slax. Why Slax? Slax is minimal and Debian-based, which means it uses familiar tools and comes with only very basic apps by default. The USB stick I’m using for this is only 16GB, so any setup had to also be fairly lightweight. My goals with this install were to make a USB stick I could plug into most computers and do productive work with minimal downtime. I also have an old ASUS laptop without a storage drive which is a prime candidate to run a portable OS from a drive. In my case, it’s a combination of these: my daily driver Pop! OS install offers a lot of opportunities to get distracted by messaging and I travel around quite a lot, so having to carry the daily driver whenever I go out can be annoying. You have old hardware and want to revive it without committing to using it permanently.You want to have an OS that you can use for debugging other devices or Linux installs.You’re interested in being able to use any hardware and still have a reliable, known environment.You don’t own or don’t want to carry around a laptop – maybe you’re a backpacker, maybe you live out of internet cafes, maybe you just travel a bunch.As a daily driver of Pop! OS and a huge advocate of using the technology that works for your use case, I think there’s a few reasons you might be interested in portable Linux distributions: These are a bit different to the typical Linux LiveCDs used to install / preview Linux distributions. ![]() Portable Linux distros are any distro that’s designed to run from a USB stick or external drive, without being installed. But most articles just give a list of what’s out there and popular without taking the time to explain how to set them up – and believe me, the set up process for some of these distros can be far from simple. If you search the internet, you’ll find a ton of information about portable Linux distros such as Slax.
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