Alpine Linux still offers install ISOs as small as 64MB (for use in virtual machines) or 268MB for bare metal. Hint: the difference is made up of drivers. That’s what inflates a modern kernel to absurd sizes. Maybe one of these days we should admit that the unparalleled flexibility of the IBM PC architecture carries a stiff price, that keeps accruing interest with ever-increasing speed.
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We have. Competitive laptops are ARM now. If you’re buying an Intel machine, you have a specific reason why you need it to be hot, heavy, and/or have a short battery life.
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But does switching to an ARM CPU do anything to address the myriad of combinations for all the other parts of the system?
Of course, I’m willing to bet the answer to "Why aren’t major distros better about only installing the drivers that specific system needs is that modern SSDs have enough space that the disc savings from purging unused drivers aren’t worth it for most people.
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Indeed, @JoshGrams is quite right. A 20Meg DD was already a lot. Most were 10, if that.
Bigger drives at the time were all SCSI and working that with DOS wasn’t easy.
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