Re: Recommendations
From: Robert Heller (heller_at_deepsoft.com)
Date: 03/24/05
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Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2005 19:32:29 +0100
Harold Stevens <wookie@aces.localdomain>,
In a message on Thu, 24 Mar 2005 14:52:08 -0000, wrote :
HS> In <5bd3d51b.0503240617.7f7f6530@posting.google.com> Roark:
HS>
HS> > I have an old system that I would like to use to tinker with Linux.
HS> > It's a PII 333 Mhz with (at present) 96 MB RAM, a 6 GB HDD and 8 MB
HS> > ATI Vid card. I am a Windows user, which means I know little or
HS> > nothing about using Linux, but am interested in playing around
HS>
HS> Most recent Linux distros (like most recent Doze) require at least 128
HS> MB RAM just to run the GUI installer tool. I know some (like SuSE) can
HS> install in 96 MB RAM using the textmode installer tool, but it isn't a
HS> cakewalk, especially for somebody used to Doze handholding.
I installed WBL 3.0 (RHEL 3.0) on a neighbor's Celeron box with 64meg
of RAM (text mode). Slow but worked. Once installed, Gnome worked fine
(slowly!) as well. We upgraded with a 128M DIMM (64M+128M = 192M) and
the machine runs great (dial-up E-Mail/Web + OpenOffice.org mostly).
HS>
HS> Even installed, 96 MB RAM Linux "standard" desktops (like KDE and also
HS> again like Doze) will feel very sluggish. I run as little as 32 MB RAM
HS> for SuSE 9.0, but it takes a KDE desktop 5 minutes just to load. Again
HS> this isn't going to meet typical Doze expectations. But on Linux I can
HS> choose a much lighter GUI desktop (like olwm), and it's OK (to me).
HS>
HS> I wouldn't use older EOL Linux distros *if* you plan on public network
HS> stuff. Unsupported very old Linux isn't too hard to crack when exposed
HS> willy-nilly for any length of time to the internet.
OTOH, for older hardware with limited disk and RAM which is *isolated*
from the internet, older distros are sometimes the way to go. I have a
P133 Laptop with 64Meg of RAM and a 6gig disk running RH 6.2. No live
Internet connection. It does have an old 3Com 3C589D PCMCIA card that is
connect to my (isolated) LAN for file transfer to/from my desktop machine.
HS>
HS> > The one thing I definitely do not want is something that boots solely
HS> > from the CD, as I want to be able to use that for other purposes while
HS> > running the machine.
HS>
HS> Don't be hasty; what if you cannot stand Linux after investing all the
HS> time in cluttering up your diskdrive with it? I'd suggest rethinking a
HS> CD-based distro like Knoppix for a testdrive first, without taking the
HS> Knoppix disk install *option*, unless you feel Linux is worthwhile.
HS>
HS> In addition to this disk install option, Knoppix gets (generally) good
HS> reviews about device/peripheral autodetection and setup. I'd really do
HS> myself a favor and see what Linux "feels" like on this first, before I
HS> decided I wanted to spend the rest of my life with it. :)
HS>
HS> --
HS> Regards, Weird (Harold Stevens) * IMPORTANT EMAIL INFO FOLLOWS *
HS> Pardon any bogus email addresses (wookie) in place for spambots.
HS> Really, it's (wyrd) at airmail, dotted with net. DO NOT SPAM IT.
HS> Kids jumping ship? Looking to hire an old-school type? Email me.
HS>
\/
Robert Heller ||InterNet: heller@cs.umass.edu
http://vis-www.cs.umass.edu/~heller || heller@deepsoft.com
http://www.deepsoft.com /\FidoNet: 1:321/153
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