[Preston] Linux on a 486

[Martyn Welch]

Hi Phil,

I have an old copy's of redhat 5.1/5.2 which I have found in the past to=20
install reliably on old 486's - If I remember rightly I have also done a=20
network install of them and they worked better than the last copy of mand=
rake=20
I tried to use (8.2 was playing silly buggers when I tried to do a networ=
k=20
install on my laptop!!).

If you have a permanent net connection May I suggest trying the Debian Di=
stro,=20
I have just been installing the sparc edition (potato release if I rememb=
er=20
right) on a similar speed machine (IPC). Its installation starts by using=
 a=20
number of floppies, then will install the rest of the packages off the we=
b -=20
the dselect interface that they have to cover apt/dpkg allowed my to cut =
the=20
number of packages right down and seems good with dependancies.

I wouldn't suggest X on these things, even twm gets a little of a yawn,=20
although I'm not sure how well they would cope as X terms (where a server=
=20
does most of the work AFAIK) this may allow for the terminal/server model=
 you=20
described.

As for learning the command prompt & a whole lot more you may concider=20
"LinuxfromScratch.org", I was trying to do this with an old 386!! It was=20
taking a day to compile each package, but if you can leave it on and go t=
o=20
work its fine - just a pain when the hardware packs in half way through!!

Hope this is of some use.

Martyn

On Sunday 15 September 2002 12:20, Phil Edwards wrote:
> I've just inherited a small number of 486 machines and want to play aro=
und
> with networking them. I plan to set up a server using a PII 233 and Red=
 Hat
> 7.3 and want initially to play around with the 486's as work stations, =
but
> maybe later use one as a firewall / router and one as a mail server.
>
> Can anyone advise on the best version of Linux to use on these machines=
,
> bearing in mind they are quite low spec: a.. 486 DX2 66 / DX2 50
>   b.. 340 / 540Mb HDD
>   c.. 8 / 16 MB RAM
>   d.. Thin net ethernet cards (although I do have some 10 base T cards =
so I
> may change them later) e.. No CD Drive (so I'll have to do a network
> install, but I think I'm OK with this)
>
> Ideally, I would like to use an earlier version of KDE / Gnome or some
> other x-windows system (even though I do need to get to grips with the
> command prompt). I am thinking about an earlier version of Red Hat, but
> having checked their site, the earliest version available for download =
is
> 6.2 and this appears to need more hard drive space than I have availabl=
e.
> What about earlier versions of Red Hat than this? Where can I download =
them
> from? Alternatively, if anyone has a suitable version that they don't w=
ant,
> or will let me copy it, that would be even better.
>
> As far as firewalls go, the top two would appear to be Smoothwall and
> IPCop, anyone got experience with either and / or have any particular
> preferences? Also, will they support the hardware I describe above or d=
o I
> need something higher spec?
>
> On a separate point, I haven't been to any meeting for the past 3 month=
s or
> so due to a number of work and personal commitments, but it sounds like=
 I'm
> not the only one. What is currently happening, is the group dying a slo=
w
> death?
>
> Phil Edwards