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Slax

Pocket operating system

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Slax is a compact Linux operating system designed to run directly from removable media such as a USB flash drive or CD without installation. It provides a graphical interface with pre-installed basics including a file manager, text editor, and terminal, addressing the need for a portable desktop environment that can be carried and booted on different machines.

Slax is available in two base variants: one built on Slackware, using slackpkg for package management, and one built on Debian, using apt. Both are offered in 32bit and 64bit architectures to suit older and newer hardware respectively. The system supports a modular approach to customization and can be downloaded for free to create a bootable CD or USB manually, or purchased pre-installed on physical media such as a rewritable mini DVD or USB flash drive.

12 alternatives to Slax

Ranked by how well each tool replaces Slax: shared features, audience, price and popularity.

  1. Solus

    The Personal OS for Personal Computers

    Covers 3 of 9 key features.

    Free planOpen source
    65 out of 100 matchFree

  2. Alpine Linux

    Small. Simple. Secure.

    Covers 5 of 9 key features.

    Free planOpen source
    65 out of 100 matchFree

  3. Gentoo Linux

    A flexible, source-based Linux distribution

    Covers 3 of 9 key features.

    Free planOpen source
    63 out of 100 matchContact sales

  4. Grml

    Debian based Linux Live system

    Covers 4 of 9 key features.

    Open source
    63 out of 100 match—

  5. Porteus

    Portable Linux operating system optimized to run from CD, USB flash drive, hard drive, or

    Covers 0 of 9 key features.

    Free planOpen source
    62 out of 100 matchContact sales

  6. openSUSE

    openSUSE.

    Covers 1 of 9 key features.

    Free planOpen source
    62 out of 100 matchFree

  7. LinuxLive USB Creator

    Free and open-source software for Windows to create portable, bootable and virtualized USB

    Covers 4 of 9 key features.

    Free planOpen source
    61 out of 100 matchFree

  8. Arch Linux

    A simple, lightweight distribution

    Covers 2 of 9 key features.

    Open source
    61 out of 100 match—

  9. Debian

    A free operating system built by a volunteer association of individuals, distributed as a

    Covers 3 of 9 key features.

    Free planOpen source
    61 out of 100 matchContact sales

  10. Linux Lite

    Simple, Fast, and User-Friendly Linux

    Covers 1 of 9 key features.

    Free plan
    60 out of 100 matchFree

  11. OSGeoLive

    A self-contained bootable DVD, USB thumb drive or Virtual Machine based on Lubuntu for ge

    Covers 6 of 9 key features.

    Free planOpen source
    60 out of 100 matchContact sales

  12. Rescatux (part of Super Grub2 Disk project)

    Rescue your Windows & GNU/Linux systems

    Covers 3 of 9 key features.

    Free planOpen source
    59 out of 100 matchFree