Tiny Core Linux vs Ubuntu

Ubuntu is the most popular Linux distribution, and is designed to be easy for everyone to use. Tiny Core Linux is a niche distribution, specifically for people who want to add software of their choice to one of the smallest possible functioning Linux systems.

Far more programs are available for Ubuntu than for Tiny Core Linux - Ubuntu repositories include about 30,000 packages. Tiny Core Linux repositories include about 500 packages. (These 500 include most popular apps, such as OpenOffice, several web browsers, etc).

When installing Ubuntu's packages to a hard drive, the packages are decompressed so that they take about three times as much hard drive space. By contrast, Tiny Core Linux installs to your hard drive in compressed form, so it doesn't require extra hard drive space relative to the compressed disk image (iso).