It all started when a user contacted me about ArchBang and asked if it would run on an old laptop with 1Gb of ram. At that low ram level things are going to go south very quickly, let alone try and run a full desktop and firefox.
So I decided to come up with a plan, a bare bones [and it is bare!] iso image. Running i3 xorg and urxvt terminal and not much else. To get image size down I reduced number of firmware packages too. Linux firmware currently tops 400Mbs!!!
Next challenge was to get abinstall working as there is little point of running live if you cannot install. Not a big leap but one that needed some work to get the job done.
Currently looking at adding zram to try to ease the low ram pain, first tests are looking good so an image update might happen soon.
Archlinux is its current form will struggle under 2Gbs of ram, firefox takes the limit over 4gb plus. To get am iso image under 1Gbs is no mean feat. To go less we would be looking at a console only image.
Do not expect any feedback or comments on this but I enjoy a challenge now and again.
Stay safe….