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Thread: Linux Distro for my old laptop!
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10-11-2004, 06:56 PM #1Web Hosting Master
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Linux Distro for my old laptop!
Here's the kicker, the laptop is a Pentium 166, with 64MB Memory, 2 GB harddrive.
I'm currently running some old slackware derivative, and it's really not suiting my purposes as its not being updated anymore, theres hardly any support for it, and it doesnt work with anything.
I need a good linux distro that I can put on my laptop, and it needs to be able to (hopefully natively, but if not, than without crazy modding)
- run fluxbox
- play MP3s (maybe) (it'll be tough to get it to work with my soundcard, but I can tinker around with it in the command line, I've done it before)
- wirelessly connect using a PCMCIA card (if possible)
- run gAIM
- run an email client, lynx (the basics)
- not kill my laptop (super important)
I'm currently leaning heavily towards debian, being that it seems very configurable, and I can probably get it to work well on my laptop.
If anyone has better ideas, please let me know.
DISTROS NOT TO SUGGEST (for various reasons)
- Knoppix
- DSL(DamnSmallLinux)
- Mandrake
- Mandrake(obviously)
- Vector Linux
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10-11-2004, 07:03 PM #2Web Developer
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Debian is nice but you'll need to find the drivers yourself. RedHat installed by default on my box, while Debian needed this-and-that-driver.
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10-11-2004, 07:04 PM #3Web Hosting Master
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Originally posted by DanX
Debian is nice but you'll need to find the drivers yourself. RedHat installed by default on my box, while Debian needed this-and-that-driver.Ask about custom logo design! :: TalkSka.com - Your source for Ska News and Forums. Join today!
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10-11-2004, 07:06 PM #4Web Hosting Master
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I like debian. It can be as big or small as yout want.
never had any driver problems either
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10-11-2004, 07:14 PM #5Web Hosting Master
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Originally posted by westcan
I like debian. It can be as big or small as yout want.
never had any driver problems eitherAsk about custom logo design! :: TalkSka.com - Your source for Ska News and Forums. Join today!
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10-11-2004, 07:17 PM #6Web Hosting Master
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Originally posted by Xshare
Alright, so do you think the best course for installation is to download the minimal CD and do the network download? Or should I get the full thing on an ISO and install? I'm leaning towards minimal CD.
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10-11-2004, 07:18 PM #7Web Hosting Master
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Debian Sarge.
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10-11-2004, 07:21 PM #8Hail Eris !
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I always recommand slackware for older systems. Install is simple and customizable and it is compiled for i386.
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10-11-2004, 07:27 PM #9Web Hosting Master
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Originally posted by sasha
I always recommand slackware for older systems. Install is simple and customizable and it is compiled for i386.
also: for debian, sarge or woody? I'm going with sarge currently (14% downloaded for the netinst.iso), but is there a reason to stick with woody?Last edited by Xshare; 10-11-2004 at 07:31 PM.
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10-11-2004, 08:38 PM #10Junior Guru Wannabe
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I'm big on the Redhat "Fedora" distros... 7.3, 8, 9, and Core 1/2.
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10-11-2004, 08:54 PM #11Web Hosting Master
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I've heard good things about gentoo..
- Matt
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10-12-2004, 03:16 AM #12Web Hosting Master
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Gentoo is great for this sort of stuff. I set it up on this old 160 Mhz, 96 Meg RAM, 20 gig HDD Dell box to play around with Apache/PHP. I even had Fluxbox and Mozilla going on it!
Gentoo is extermely configurable (since its a source based distro) and is very easy to maintain. Plus, like with other source based distros, you won't get all the extra cruft like you would with say RH. Give it a try.
I can recommend some applications for you :
mp3blaster (command line mp3 player)
links2 (has javascript and primitive table support, and can be compiled to have image support (with framebuffer))
mutt (probably one of the top 5 command line email clients. With procmail+fetchmail can be a very powerful tool)
centericq (ICQ/Yahoo!/AIM/IRC/MSN/Jabber ncurses based client)
Good luck with your distro hunt Good place to search for isos is linuxiso.org
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10-12-2004, 03:35 AM #13Junior Guru Wannabe
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I love Gentoo and I'd recommend it too, although you may have some difficulty with the 2G hard drive. Portage is a little on the chunky side.
Make sure to compile your own kernel to get all the drivers you need.
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10-12-2004, 03:35 AM #14Web Hosting Master
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Originally posted by fyrestrtr
Gentoo is great for this sort of stuff. I set it up on this old 160 Mhz, 96 Meg RAM, 20 gig HDD Dell box to play around with Apache/PHP. I even had Fluxbox and Mozilla going on it!
RusRuss Foster - Industry Curmudgeon
Freelance Sysadmin for Hire - email vaserv@gmail.com
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10-12-2004, 03:37 AM #15Junior Guru Wannabe
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That's another good point. I wouldn't particularly recommend a stage 1 if you do choose Gentoo. Stage 3 would be best to start, since it'd put you instantly online. You can always recompile everything later if you don't need to use it for a few days.
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10-12-2004, 12:34 PM #16Web Hosting Master
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You could install debian woody, then you can do apt pinning or use back ports if you wanted to., unless you really want or need to use sarge. I haven't had any driver problems with woody by the way, and I have some old NICs/sound cards.
With that laptop, I'd start with a vanilla install, then add what you need as you go, no sense in putting a bunch of crap on there that you may not need.
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10-12-2004, 12:52 PM #17Web Hosting Master
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Originally posted by jvds
How long did it take to compile? 2 weeks?
Rus
Mozilla took a day (distcc rocks)
Which I forgot to mention in my earlier post. If you have another computer laying around Xshare, you can use distcc to greatly speed up compiles on your old laptop. You can even use distcc to build your system, so you aren't sitting there staring at scrolling output of gcc and buildscripts for a week or so.