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If we had 30 seconds to describe Puppy Linux bluntly, we would classify it as an OS under
the light-weight Linux distro family with a functional objective of creating a smooth
and easy user experience while simultaneously minimizing the memory footprint usage as much
as possible. In this context, the memory footprint refers to the RAM, or Main Memory is used
while software like an Operating System is active or operational.
This 30-second assumptive description on Puppy Linux characterizes it as a Linux distro suitable
for personal or home-user computers. If we are to assign it a birth year, then it would
be 2003, and its creator being Barry Kauler.
Puppy Linux stands out in the Linux community despite its name not being hailed on regular
occasions as other Linux distros like Ubuntu, Fedora, Centos, and Kali Linux. The respect
it has in these user communities is due to its outstanding positive attributes on display.
We can list them as follows:
It is always ready to go due to its pre-packaged default tools and features that meet a Linux
user’s daily computing objective. It is flexibly adaptable to understand and
certify it as grand-pa friendly with an emoji smile confidently.
Puppy Linux has a relatively small and portable size such that you only need a 300MB storage
space to carry it around comfortably. The distro’s ease of use and small size
make it fast and versatile. Because you can understand its system’s
layout in minutes, it takes the same amount of duration to customize it to your satisfaction
comfortably. Puppy Linux is machine-adaptable in line with
its different flavors that comfortably function or operate on new computers and old computers.
This distro has a wide variety of puplets, which are derivatives created from it. The
Linux users that seek a specific OS need can comfortably work with a puplet that serves
this objective. These positive attributes are what Puppy Linux
offers on the table for the current and aspiring users that want to be a part of its Linux
community.
If you want first to digest the Puppy Linux desktop environment’s first eye view, look
no further than this screenshot of Slacko64 6.3.0 Puppy Linux Desktop Environment.
Other official puppies exist beside Slacko64 and include Bionicpup64, Tahrpup, Slacko,
and Tahrpup64. They are pre-packaged with awesome default apps like web browsers, audio,
video players, feature-rich command-line utilities, share browsers, and networking tools. These
official puppies are compatible with puplets that help combine and explore their desktop
environments to improve user experience and preference. We can identify some of these
puplets like Librepup, Lxpup, and X-Slacko. The puplets also prepackage their own browsers,
audio and video players, word processors, file managers, and other desktop environment
varieties.
Conceptualizing Puppy Linux We are all familiar with Linux distros like
Debian and Ubuntu. Puppy Linux is so uniquely different that we cannot categorically group
it with these mentioned reputable Linux distros. Debian can stand alone as a single Linux distro,
and Ubuntu can also stand alone as a single Linux distro but with multiple flavors like
Xubuntu, Kubuntu, and Ubuntu Studio. When we use the Linux distro concept to define
and categorize Puppy Linux, we arrive at an interesting statement. We can confidently
state that Puppy Linux exists as a compounded Linux distro. It borrows specific applications
and configurations, OS building toolsets, and shared development principals from multiple
Linux distros to collectively compile and create its unique identity.
We can look at Puppy Linux as a hybrid Linux distro with multiple Linux distro DNA footprints
collected from various Linux families. Despite this conceptualized definition, Puppy Linux
managed to branch out and create three other recognized Linux distros. We can identify
them with a few honorable statements.
Official Puppy Linux Distros: The Puppy Linux team is responsible for its
continuous development and maintenance. The Woof-CE Puppy Linux system builder contributed
to the general build-up that defined and categorized it as a general-purpose Linux distribution.
Woof-Built Puppy Linux Distros This category of Puppy Linux distros also
serves the functionality of a general-purpose Linux system despite its developmental criterion
or objective targeting specific user needs and user interface (UI) appearance and layout.
The Woof-CE Puppy Linux builder is also responsible for its contributive build-up or development
but employs additional modified packages to make it stand out distinctively.
Unofficial Derivatives or Puplets These Puppy Linux distros are purpose-built
hence their identity as remasters. The Puppy Linux enthusiasts community is responsible
for its continuous development upgrades and maintenance. The distros listed under this
category seek to serve a specific function like fusing the desktop environment of two
puppies to form a puplet or creating Puppy Linux distro that is feature-reach in word
processing, networking, or even network file sharing.
Puppy Linux Installation You can engage with the officially available
Puppy Linux Distros through the following download link. Once you have access to your
preferred .iso file from the download link provided, you should proceed and make it bootable
via your preferred installation media like a USB drive or CD-ROM. It is installable through
an effortless and straightforward procedure. Once you can load its image at system boot
time, navigate to the file directories under the .iso file. Open and explore it from the
availed boot up system interface.
Access Application > Setup > Puppy Installer and execute or run it. You will notice that
this installation procedure is alien to the methodologies used to install Ubuntu and Fedora’s
likes. Once the Puppy installer launches, the expected installation interface should
be similar to the following screenshot.
Once the Puppy Installer launches, you will be comfortably guided step by step until your
OS setup completes successfully. The succeeding installation step is obvious and entails creating
and configuring a target installation partition for Puppy Linux. Make use of the Gparted partition
manager program, which comes preinstalled with this setup, to create or configure the
needed partition. The selected or created partition needs to have a root flag, an objective
you can achieve by right-clicking on the partition drive.
Afterward, confirm your options regarding the selected installation partition drive
before proceeding with the Frugal installation option. Under Frugal installation, an OS installation
co-exists with another presently active OS without the need for a dual boot drive partition.
A boot loader loads the Linux kernel first and then loads the initrd or initial ramdisk.
This installation approach creates a dedicated save file to store your personal settings,
which improves your dual-booting performance. It saves you from considering full installation
when the machine you are dealing with does not have performant CPUs.
Under this Frugal approach, each system shutdown requires the pre-existing system session to
be saved. Still, this feature is not a downside as the lightweight nature of Puppy Linux makes
it operationally acceptable without leading to any performance compromise. A saved session
is named and encrypted to a desired storage path or location. Even if you opt to launch
Puppy Linux under a live environment, it will still facilitate this functionality to save
your user sessions.
The final step to completing your Puppy Linux installation setup is installing the Grub4dos
tool, facilitating the installation of a boot menu. This boot menu is necessary to load
the Puppy OS whether Puppy Linux is the only OS being installed or installing it alongside
another Linux distro or flavor.
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