[Phpwm] [OT]Which Linux?

[Simon Ferre]

> On 30/07/07, David Goodwin <david at codepoets.co.uk> wrote:
> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Slackware....

> Assuming it is command line only, I would go for the latter is
> Slackware is complied for i486 rather than i686.
>
> If you want a graphical system then you want a distro designed for old
> computers.  Fluxbuntu, Puppy Linux, Damn Small Linux, etc. I certainly
> would not bother with Ubuntu or Fedora.

I can vouch for Damn Small Linux (hereafter called DSL)- it runs well on my
ancient Toshiba Satellite 220CS with only P133 and 144 Mb ram.  With a
Xircom net/modem PC/MCIA card connected, it goes onto the web, and is great
fun.  Only disadvantage of these distributions that are for older / slower
systems is that many of the programs used are different to their bigger
counterparts.  One example is the dhcp client.  On DSL it is called pump (or
maybe push) so it's generally more awkward to find out which command you
need unless you ask lots of questions on their forums (which are very good).
Best of all, you can download the 50Mb iso file, burn it to a cd (if you
intend to use it in a machine that has only a slot cd drive don't burn it to
one of those business card ones or you won't get it to go in the slot!!) and
try it without even altering anything on the machine.

Many packages are available from within the MyDSL application and the
download speeds are very quick.

As it's based on Knoppix, you could always investigate that as a
possibility.

The installer for DSL was very good and it was far quicker to install than
slackware (which compiles binaries as it goes - zzzzz) or debian.

Best of all, it can be installed onto a USB pen drive and (where situations
allow) can be booted from in newer machines.

It also detected the Xircom card, sound hardware and display adaptor without
any prompting, and has very good USB support too.

Hope that helps.

Simon