[SWLUG] Just a thought - [well.. two thoughts actually]

[Keith Edmunds]

On 08/12/2006 1:06:35 AM +0100
Ace Ironballs <ace_ironballs at yahoo.co.uk> said:

> I just wondered if any of
> you could recommend a not too demanding Linux OS that would breathe new
> life into my old 8 Gb computer.

Hi Mark

What do you mean by an "8 Gb computer"? If it's 8Gb of RAM (unlikely!)
then that's a very different proposition to an 8Gb disk. An 8Gb disk
would be enough to install Linux, but you won't have a great deal of
space left for user data (but maybe you don't need much, I don't know).

What is it that you want to do with this system once it's built? If the
answer is "install KDE and learn to use The Gimp" then you're not likely
to be happy with any Linux distribution on an old PC. If, on the other
hand, the answer is "learn to set up Postfix from the command line" then
almost any Linux distro will be fine. There isn't a huge difference in
terms of performance between one distro and another (despite what the
Gentoo advocates may try to tell you), but if you want to run X then the
window manager can make a significant difference. Gnome and KDE are
reasonably resource-hungry, with others such as blackbox/fluxbox, fvwm
and xfce being less demanding.

> Also i would be very grateful if any of you guys could recommend a modem
> router that is easy for using a Linux OS - [cheaper the better]

Any router (ie, a box with an RJ45 ("network cabel") connection) will
work with Linux: the modem/router doesn't know or care what operating
system is at the other end of the CAT-5 cable. If you buy from somewhere
like PC World then you can take it back for any reason at all within, I
think, 14 days, for a full refund, but you'll pay more than you would if
you bought it online. DABS have one for around £20, but I have no
experience with it.

Maybe some of that is helpful...

-- 
Keith Edmunds

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