[Nottingham] Small, old laptop - any options?

[David Aldred]

Just back from  a week away: bit of a disaster on my laptop, for which a new 
HDD is now on the way (the old one is making nasty noises), but as a side 
effect I've 'inherited' a very old laptop.

Spec: P100, 512Mb HDD, 16Mb RAM.  Floppy drive, no CD, no network port.  Win95 
and Office 95.  

If this machine is going to be any use, it has to be networkable - but Win95 
and wireless networking don't seem to go together.  If it can network, it can 
replace the heap of junk which is upstairs in a son's room and on which the 
monitor's failed...)  All he wants is WP, spreadsheet and Internet use.

So, will Linux work on that low a spec (specifically the RAM - 512Mb HDD is 
pretty tiny, but it looks as though Damn Small Linux for one would be happy 
in it, and there are probably others...)?  And how, with no CD and no network 
capability until somthing's installed, would I install it anyway?

-- 
David Aldred