Nowadays we are all very used to very good download speeds and also to having pendrives that offer us 8 or 16 GB to copy all kinds of files onto them. Thus, it is understandable that Linux ISO have been increasing in size, but we must not forget that if our operating system has something, it is that universal spirit and it is precisely in the search to remain as an option for everyone that some time ago it began to talk about maintaining the size of the ISO in an acceptable level.
In that train is that from Xubuntu they announce the launch of Xubuntu Core project. It is a shortened version of Xubuntu in which logically the XFCE desktop is maintained along with some main components to give it that touch that Canonical knows how to give it, but removing everything else to keep the ISO size close to 600MB, for example multimedia packages or applications of those that occupy a lot.
Thus it is achieved not only to remain what small enough to fit on a CD but also within acceptable limits for downloading at not-so-high speeds such as those that are usually available in many countries where the possibilities of access to the newest technologies are something for few (mainly due to the high prices that are handled there). That if, despite what its name might suggest, Xubuntu Core is not related in any way to Ubuntu Snappy CoreThe name 'core' has been used for many years in Linux (in fact the gnome-core package exists precisely to identify essential components for the GNOME desktop).
Xubuntu Core will be a reality when it arrives Wily Werewolf, but you can already try Xubuntu Core on Vivid Verbet. For this you have to download the Ubuntu Minimal ISO, a network installer that downloads only the essentials, and select the option 'Xubuntu Minimal Installation' or 'Minimal installation of Xubuntu' if we have the installer in Spanish. Of course, there are also some compilations created by the community, like the one we left in this link.