DietPi lean server distribution
Going Lean

© Lead Photo by Patricia Serna on Unsplash
The DietPi minimalist distribution improves the performance of the Raspberry Pi and other single-board computers as servers and desktops and comes with more than 200 specially chosen applications and services.
Since the first appearance of the Raspberry Pi more than 10 years ago, many hardware vendors have followed the idea of an inexpensive computing powerhouse on a small board. Companies such as Asus, Odroid, and Pine64 all jumped on the single-board computer (SBC) bandwagon, naturally increasing the number of operating systems (OSs) for these boards. Most of the OSs are based on the ARM architecture and can now be found in various sectors of home computing and industrial applications.
The Debian-based Raspberry Pi OS is a very useful desktop replacement, and many Linux distributions offer their own offshoots for the Raspberry Pi. For example, LibreELEC is a media center, and gamers will enjoy RetroPie and Batocera. The lean, minimalistic DietPi is a great choice for small servers, older Raspberry Pis, and virtual machines. Thanks to carefully considered scripts, the set up is a convenient process.
From Debian
DietPi first entered the digital world in 2014. The purist operating system was initially built on Raspbian (today's Raspberry Pi OS). It now builds directly on Debian and supports numerous SBCs and architectures. In addition to x86_64, ARMv6, ARMv7, AArch64, and RISC-V, the project supports virtual machines such as VMware/ESXi, VirtualBox, Hyper-V, Parallels, UTM, and Proxmox. Besides images for virtual machines, you will find images for the Raspberry Pi, Odroid, Pine64, Radxa, Allo, Asus, NanoPi, Orange Pi, and the VisionFive RISC-V board [1].
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs Transitions to Linux
Another major organization has decided to kick Microsoft Windows and Office to the curb in favor of Linux.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.