[Wolves] Small Linuxes

[Steve Ruffles]

Good luck Adam,
I'm afraid I was ill qualified to help on this one, as a real Linux =
novice,
but the answers from other list members and your comments will prompt me =
to
learn more.

Can I digress?
It seems that Linux distros were great on old pc's, once upon a time, =
but
now seem to need, for best performance, the same highly specced stuff we =
(I)
run windows on - and it's all so cheap so why not?
I have detected a feeling on the list that some Linux distros are =
"bloated"
- certainly can be if you choose to install the lot from Redhat or Suse.

Having said that your question (paraphrase) "What could I run on =
pre-pentium
1 machine?" is fascinating, though my experience and knowledge at this =
stage
prevent me from understanding the answers! The question of "efficiency" =
in
terms of minimalist software run on no-cost low spec hardware is a great
conundrum. =20

What distros do other list members run and on what machinery?
I have redhat 9 on an old ECS motherboard/ 1 GHz P3 slot 1/ 512 sdram. =
Works
great!(Once tried Caldera 2.something on an old P166 - was crap - too =
much
graphics to render I guess). I suspect I'm like lot's of folks who came =
to
computer use via Windows - needing a complex GUI and little or no =
command
line stuff - but Linux is there and the mountain must be climbed.

My problem is time constraints for learning how to "handle" Linux, and =
have
had real problems trying to get to grips with a so called simple =
procedure
like installing stuff from tar files. I sense that I'm on a list with =
some
folks who have had a long habituation with Linux and are IT =
professionals? I
will though, overcome my reticence and ask for guidance if that's ok?

Should make some Wolves meetings but family life and longish hours =
preclude
this - with you in spirit though!

Did one list member say recently they were applying to Walsall PCT for =
job -
I work in this setup,and would be happy to discuss local setup if that =
would
be useful. I'm medical, not an IT bloke - but know the guys in the IT
agency.

I have found this list really helpful and fun to read - thanks to all.

 Steve Ruffles (Ruffs)



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-----Original Message-----
From: wolves-bounces at mailman.lug.org.uk
[mailto:wolves-bounces at mailman.lug.org.uk] On Behalf Of Adam Sweet
Sent: 19 January 2004 21:30
To: Wolverhampton Linux User Group
Subject: Re: [Wolves] Small Linuxes


Thanks everybody for your help. It's a 486SX33, you
can look at the processor simply by flipping 2
switches and pulling the keyboard up. There it was
proudly displaying Intel 486SX ;)

My plan is to try remote X, but it will probably most
likely be CLI, just text editting, some network
disgnostics and yes kismet.

As for distros, I have no optical drive, so Damn Small
Linux and Feather Linux are out. Smoothwall is also
out as I have a very satisfactory smoothwall setup
already, the lack of RAM would cause it to grind
uncontrollably and most importantly, Smoothwall
doesn't do laptops very well and certainly doesn't do
PCMCIA. I will be looking at the Debian floppies
install for starters. If that is a problem for any
reason, the 4MB Linux laptop Howto
http://website.lineone.net/~brichardson/linux/4mb_laptops/4mb_Laptops.htm=
l
recommends Small Linux
http://www.superant.com/smalllinux/ or muLinux =
http://mulinux.sunsite.dk/
and I might look at Tom's Root/Boot http://www.toms.net/rb/

Again, thanks David, Aq, Sparkes and Steve Ruffles. I
will report back if I get it working usefully. I might
even write it up for linux-laptop.net :)

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Use Linux. Because it's better.

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