On 6/27/2010 9:23 PM, Jason Hsu, embedded engineer, Linux user wrote:
> Why do these distros need so much more RAM and processor speed?  What's driving the escalating hardware requirements?
They add more software that needs more power to do more things to the 
default installation because people who aren't "hardcore" expect this 
and are not in the habit of starting with the bare minimum and adding 
the software they need from there. IMO, this is a good thing for the 
major distros to do since it helps Linux adoption. If you're not good 
with computers and you are migrating from Windows, it's a small price to 
pay when you don't have the knowledge or the patience to figure out 
everything you need and don't need. There are plenty of distros out 
there for who care about bloat, so I don't see how it's a problem. 
There's no "one size fits all" solution and in general, it's not that 
some distros are good and some bad, but rather that every distro has a 
goal and each intends to meet certain needs for certain people.