Review: CROWZ 5.0
Is CROWZ, a distro with a 1.0GB ISO and based on Devuan, one of the best minimal distros available today?
It sure seems that way, and running it for a week didn't change my mind in the least. CROWZ isn't perfect, but it leverages a selection of light-weight window managers and the PCManFM file manager to produce a user experience that isn't overly intimidating for first-timers nor too dumbed down for those who think GUIs are a waste of coding.
CROWZ isn't quite as polished as MX Linux, but it's more useful than Puppy Linux or EasyOS, two quality minimal distros with their share of eccentricities. CROWZ has those certainly, starting with a surprising lack of documentation, a sometimes troublesome installation process, and what is either a bug or design flaw surrounding Network Manager.
But none of that really gets in the way - which may be the most surprising thing about CROWZ. Most of these kinds of distros, which are put together by small groups of volunteers, seem to have difficulty getting past the hobbyist stage. But CROWZ can function as a daily driver, especially for older hardware. Believe it not, there's even a word processor (sort of) in the installation ISO.