Tiny Core Linux pursues minimalism to its logical end: the graphical base image measures in the low tens of megabytes, and even that is larger than the console-only Core edition beneath it. The system boots into RAM and is assembled at each startup from extensions, small packages that mount rather than install, so by default the operating system is effectively new at every boot, with persistence something you configure deliberately. The desktop, when present, is a spartan environment built on FLTK and the FLWM window manager. The design descends from ideas its lead developer explored in the Damn Small Linux era, and it turns Tiny Core into a construction kit for appliances, kiosks, embedded projects, and truly ancient hardware, as well as a teaching tool for how little a Linux system actually needs. Starting it inside an OpenFactory browser VM makes that strange, stateless boot model easy to witness.
Select a version of Tiny Core Linux to try online:
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| 15.0: | |
| 15: | |
| 14.0: | |
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Need Tiny Core Linux for more than a quick browser preview?
The buttons above launch an ephemeral browser VM, perfect for kicking the tires. Paid plans unlock the things you'd actually use it for:
- ✓Persistent VMs you can SSH into and customize
- ✓Snapshots, your own packages, a downloadable ISO
- ✓Fleet deployment to your own machines (on-prem or cloud)