void linux
I had no idea what I was in for when I first installed void linux. I expected a modern distro, but it can actually support the old stuff as well. There are two install versions available; one with glibc and xorg, and one with musl and wayland. Both come as base installs OR with xfce desktop manager, and they weigh in at around 1GB each for the installer.
Same installation basics as any other OS: write the ISO file to a thumb drive, then figure out how to boot into EFI or other mode on your hardware (F10? F12?) and run installer. First write the ISO file to a USB stick starting at sector zero:
lsblk
# substitute the real block device for this /dev/sdx
# usually it will be /dev/sdb or /dev/sdc
# also substitute the real filename instead of ISOfilen
dd if=theISOfile of=/dev/sdx bs=4M status=progress
Use lsblk to find which block device you're going to write to (the USB) This is important, do not fuck it up or you'll overwrite something you need. dd just writes without looking or warning. Also you'll probably need to be a privileged user, so use sudo or doas if you need to. The installer is great, no more complicated than needed. Lots of tutorials online for this.
Luckily it installed easily for me both times I tried, and rapidly, otherwise I might've given up on it since I already have distros I like. Something about it captivated me right away - the performance. On an old-ish laptop this linux is lightning quick. As you probably guessed, I did install the version with musl and wayland and it absolutely rocks.
For a long time I avoided void, pun intended, mainly due to fears about using a rolling release distro. Arch is just not my cup of tea, even without the security woes of AUR. But then I learned a little more about the package management system. They've really taken a smart approach to everything, but especially the package system.
void does not use the much hated systemd, it chooses instead the much simpler runit which just tries to do one thing and do it well. It doesn't keep fancy databases or try to run the world, everything is just there on the filesystem.
void linux does not care what windowing system you use - wayland is supported and I see no reason to use the old X11 that's been around since when, like 1991? it's big and bloated, has a client and server architecture and is just not useful. Use wayland. Same goes for their choice of using musl instead of glibc. You can use glibc if you want though. The g in glibc stands for GNU, it's the old GNU C library - emphasis on "old" use the modern lightweight musl instead.
Did I mention how fast it is? I was surprised to learn this is not a fork of another mainstay, this is a unique distro. I have yet to find any reason not to love void, it's been my daily driver lately and will probably remain so for some time. All around excellent as desktop OS - I recommend it highly! Read more on their excellent, no nonsense website @ https://voidlinux.org