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| Thread ID: 21639 | 2002-06-30 10:16:00 | Linux Distro | Rod ger (316) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 58630 | 2002-06-30 10:16:00 | Hi I have just aquired a freebee Pentium 100 with 32Mb RAM and 2*500Mb HDs . What I want to do is install a suitable Linux distro . I am reasonably computer literate( in Windows98 ) and have been doing a bit of research on Linux, but am a bit unsure on which distro to start with, given my aged P(entium) . Most searches result in info on installations for 386's from floppies(1 or 2), or the latest version with all the bells and whistles and massive disc space, with very little in between . What I would like is a not too challenging distro with preferably a GUI(KDE sounds good), Internet, and a few odds and sods . At this stage I don't want a purchase a retail version until I have sorted out if I am Linux compatible . I am more interested in newbie usability, than any "Best Version" . I really just want to play with it!! Any help gratefully accepted . |
Rod ger (316) | ||
| 58631 | 2002-06-30 10:48:00 | To be honest, you'd be lucky to get a GUI on that baby. If you have a decent video card in it, you may be able to get a lightweight window manager however (IceWM, Fluxbox, to name two) You may also be hard pressed to install a 'newbie' OS onto 1 gb of hard disk space. It will be able to use both disks for the system but for example, Mandrakes installer needs 1.2gb for the default. You can trim it down quite a bit but you need to know what you're doing. | segfault (655) | ||
| 58632 | 2002-06-30 11:30:00 | I set up a PC for my daughter using RedHat 7.0 - a P100 with 64MBytes of RAM and a 1.7G HDD. It works OK - but I think 32M is a bit light for the two main GUIs (GNOME and KDE). | JohnD (509) | ||
| 58633 | 2002-07-01 02:25:00 | Thanks for the replies, Unfortunatly its an old business machine(1meg videocard). Looks like I'm going to have to bite the bullet on the GUI front and get used to a command line! Any suggestions on a not too difficult Distro. |
Rod ger (316) | ||
| 58634 | 2002-07-01 04:39:00 | It's only the latest versions which are using ridiculous amounts of disk. RedHat 6.2 would easily fit in 500MB -- with a GUI interface to X Window ... though perhaps not KDE or Gnome. But you will get a choice of quite a few. And they are easy to change, until you find one you like. Even RH7.2 although it "wants" 1 or 1.5 GB, can be made to use less by saying "no" to some of the components. (Unfortunately it doesn't always take "no" for an answer). I gave up on trying to install it on a 300MB disk, when it insisted on loading a GUI and the scripting packages. :-( But it might fit in 500. 32 MB should be OK for reasonable things ... just don't do heavy graphics. It's only when I put RH7.2 on one machine that I found it worthwhile to add memory to any of my machines. Most of them have from 6MB to 24MB. The one with RH7.2 finally got 96MB. I then unplugged the SCSI drive I was using for /swap, and the system still worked. :D Check your Public Library for one of the Linux books --- many have a CD which has a complete RedHat package on it. Play with it. If you get a problem with an installation, just reinstall. It's quicker than finding *exact;y* what you did wrong and fixing it. Have fun with it. |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 58635 | 2002-07-01 05:16:00 | i'm not a pro at this or anything but i _think_ i would recommend slackware (www.slackware.com) which should fit on 500megs with zipslack or if u get the cd version u should be able to fit it on less. for a GUI i've heard XFce (www.xfce.org) is not bad, and doesn't look to bad from the snaps either. I wouldn't have a clue on how to install either but it seems the help files are very detailed :) James |
Name (757) | ||
| 58636 | 2002-07-01 08:59:00 | This is good info to get me pointed in the right direction Thanks guys. |
Rod ger (316) | ||
| 58637 | 2002-07-18 04:43:00 | A P100 with 32 megs ram will run a cut down distro just fine. I would recommend debian - as it can be installed from a small number of floppy disks or from an existing hard drive partition. as for gui - ROX (search sourceforge.net) is a quick little file manager and then something like fluxbox or blackbox as the window manager should make for a usable desktop machine. |
ctonks (746) | ||
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