Re: Lightweight distro (lk 2.6) for driver development

On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 02:57:49 -0800, googler wrote:

> I am planning to set up a system to learn and practise developing
> device drivers. For this, I am planning to buy a relatively low end
> used computer (something like a P2 400 MHz, but I'm not sure about the
> exact configuration yet), as it will be cheaper.

I'm doing the same thing at the moment, also with a P2 at around 400MHz.
Machines of that sort of spec are being thrown out all over the place - no
need to spend money on one!

> 1. The textbook recommends downloading the kernel from kernel.org, as it
> says the distros can be heavily patched and divergent from the mainline.
> Although this can be done, I would still prefer a distro, something
> which is the same as or very close to the mainline lk 2.6. Please
> recommend some.
>
> 2. The other requirement is that this distro should be light enough to
> run in an older computer.

I wouldn't call P2/400 *that* old, it's only a few years. Just make sure
you have a reasonable amount of RAM (128MB or more). If you don't need to
run X, you'll have no problem with 128MB - and even with it should be OK
still.

I run the little P2 here without X, or a keyboard and monitor. I just use
ssh for shell access to it from my main Linux system, and can do any
code writing on my main system then in a graphical environment; I just use
the P2 for builds and testing.

Slackware's probably a good lean distro to choose - just download 2.6
sources after install.

> What is the minimum configuration needed to run a lean distro with lk
> 2.6?

For running, I bet you could get away with 32MB if you didn't run X and
picked a lighter distro like Slackware or Debian. Kernel builds would be
rather painful in that much though. I expect any P2/400 class system's
going to have at least 128MB though which will be fine.

Have fun!

Jules

.

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