Which distributions and control panels for 1GB, 2GB and 5GB disk space VPS?

Hi, There are several popular plans for $2 - $10 VPS from various providers in EU and US that give 1GB, 2GB and 5GB disk space.

I wonder which distributions and which control panels (if any) do users of such plans use?

Ubuntu and Debian have a minimal version to which one can add basic / required packages - which start from 15 / 20 / 30 MB iso's.
But for a practical system, for someone coming from the cPanel / WHM world, which distributions / Control panels would be good for these plans?

Does webmin / virtualmin work under 1GB?

Or is administration in these case best done by hand, as the RAM is typically 256MB or less? (Administration by hand is not easy, IMO )

Thanks in advance Cheers, cheapdave