DSL Tips and Tricks :: DSL memory footprint?

Do the newer versions of DSL require more memory?

I installed version 4.4 on a very old laptop (Pentium 166, 32 MB). Would I get a better performance using an older version: 3.x, 2.x, 1.x ?

Assuming that hardware support is not a problem, which version is recommended in terms of performance, features, stability?

I think there is a slight difference due to the change in desktop applications over time, but I don't know if the difference is actually noticeable (maybe on your system it is). You can make a more immediate difference yourself simply by not using some of those applications. If you remove torsmo and dillo from .xinitrc (and dfm if you're okay with no desktop icons) it will save some memory. Also setting the desktop background to a solid color will help a little. Other changes that have been made to the DSL versions should have little or no impact on hardware requirements, as far as I can tell.

Thanks for the reply. I assume that the memory requirements don't vary as long as the same kernel version is used. Was 2.4 used since DSL 1.0 ?

I was looking for some release notes to check this, but could not find...

I use DSL on my old laptops. They are P200, 32MB RAM and P233, 32MB RAM. I have used a few 3.x versions and currently have DSL 4.3. From version to version (and depending on the settings) the memory usage can vary a little bit but I've had nothing but good experiences with 4.3 on these older computers. I'll be trying 4.4 next time I run them but I am pretty comfortable assuming it'll perform as fantastically on the old guys as all the other versions I've tried have.

As far as release notes, this page has some details: http://damnsmalllinux.org/notes.html

It doesn't show all the details of every release but it mentions 2.4 going back to DSL 2.0.

using dsl4.4.10 as a server im using alot of memory due to
toram boot option
running ssh, betaftp, edna, samba, No-IP, Dyndns, iptables, vncserver x 2, xampp (apache, MySQL not ftp) server, udhcpd, partimage, and fprotAV with a 35Mb def file.
My backup.tar.gz has slimmed down to 24Kb, and experience tells me i need a machine with at least 512Mb of ram (Via MII 1200)
the mydsl files make up a fair bit of ramspace ie 20Mb for Python to run Edna. i am eventually going to convert some to mountable files, uci etc.

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