Also the goal was to run LATEST kernel with no changes - just config. With other compression algorithms it was impossible to fit everything into a floppy. And I really wanted to have nano and some space to save few files. Without this it would be totally not usable OS.
Nice to read all of those comments. The project goal is more to learn how to make your own Linux distribution than to fit as much as possible on a floppy. It is fun to have a fully working OS at the end of this learning experience. Floppies are easy to use and just cool :)
There are a lot of better suited distributions for size and memory usage. What makes FLOPPINUX stand out is the complete tutorial to follow and then make your own changes on top of it. Learn and have fun!
Also the goal was to run LATEST kernel with no changes - just config. With other compression algorithms it was impossible to fit everything into a floppy. And I really wanted to have nano and some space to save few files. Without this it would be totally not usable OS.