Photon manages to stay slim by only installing what is absolutely necessary to run the Docker daemon. In the end, the distribution comes in around 300 MB. This is just enough Linux make it all work. The key features to Photon are:
Kernel tuned for performance.
Kernel is hardened according to the Kernel Self-Protection Project (KSPP).
All installed packages are built with hardened security flags.
Operating system boots with validated trust.
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