Thread: Tech Advice Needed: Small (free) OS recommendation

Hi Gents.
I have an old laptop from back when I was doing my undergrad - it's an IBM thinkpad with and Intel Celeron 500 Mhz with 160 megs of ram and a 6G hard drive

Now that I have my workshop almost up and running, I'd like to surf the web (nothing more) and check out SRP from my Restoration Den. I've currently got Win XP SP2 on there, but it's such a slog that it's not worthwhile (and unstable to boot).

Can you guys recommend a free OS that won't blow my system specs to bits? Nothing fnacy,and preferably something fairly easy to use (since I'm relatively tech savy [I think], but can't get into any of the complex stuff).

I'm assuming Linux has something along the lines of what I'm looking for, but know nothing of Linux...though I'm willing to learn (mostly because Firefox can run Linux)!

Please help!

Mark

You might check this out: Tiny Linux

Tiny Linux is a small Linux distribution designed especially for old recycled computers.

I'd throw Damn Small Linux on there, personally.

Damn Small is small enough and smart enough to do the following things:

* Boot from a business card CD as a live linux distribution (LiveCD)
* Boot from a USB pen drive
* Boot from within a host operating system (that's right, it can run *inside* Windows)
* Run very nicely from an IDE Compact Flash drive via a method we call "frugal install"
* Transform into a Debian OS with a traditional hard drive install
* Run light enough to power a 486DX with 16MB of Ram
* Run fully in RAM with as little as 128MB (you will be amazed at how fast your computer can be!)
* Modularly grow -- DSL is highly extendable without the need to customize


Find out more info here: DSL information


Download Here: Damn Small Linux, Download the ISO


It's much more up to date than Tiny (not to knock your suggestion, Hogaloo! It is impressive that it can be installed from 12 3.5" floppies, however...), and it's very popular. Distrowatch.com, a site that tracks the popularity of linux distributions, has DSL marked at #10.

I'd also check out Puppy linux (#12) and TinyMe (#25). All of these distributions are designed to be pretty small. Damn Small Linux has what seems to be the biggest following, and usually what has the biggest following has the most resources available.

If you want info on other Linux variants, go to Distrowatch.com. The popularity tracker is on the right hand side in a narrow column a bit down the page.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Ben325e

I'd throw Damn Small Linux on there, personally.

+1

I've been using it off and on for years now. A very reliable little OS.

Considering the OP is a newbie when it comes to linux, I'd recommend ubuntu - easy to use, easy to install, does everything he wants..
AND has a good support network for if/when he runs into trouble

As keljian said Ubuntu is nice and easy..

You might want to look into Tiny XP to,have'nt used it myself but a friend likes it.It is a stripped down WinXP.

Well, I'm throwing in a little late here I guess, but yes, Linux is most likely the way to go.

I'm actually running Debian, Etch I believe, on a Pentium 2 300MHZ with no problems at all.

I can recall the first couple of times I ever installed Linux, I was so confused... Configuring x11 and so on. I was shocked when I installed Etch, the installation took care of everything for me. The standard GUI set up seems to include GUI tools for doing the vast majority of your configurations, set up and admin type tasks. It's great, GNU/Linux has really come a long, long way.

the kernels should be very generic i.e. i386, which is a subset of i586, so it should work.
unless somebody messed up, and optimized for i686 or later. i think at one point debian/ububtu? was doing that.
double check your cd.

No problem, Old_School, hi-jack away! This is all good stuff!

I've yet to figure out how to properly make a boot CD, so until I figure that out, I'm stuck with a boat anchor of a laptop. But that's just a function of time and reading on my part, and I hope to get to it soon enough.

Here's hoping you've solved your tech problems too!

Mark

OK guys one good way to help with the problem is go to google and type the name of your laptop or computer + linux and do the search.

Generally you will find a few results that will tell you what people have had good luck with on that particular machine.

I think you can also go to

Linux on Laptops

and look up your make and model to see what people have had good luck with.

Milton Man,

You need to get with someone with your local Linux users group. They will give you more info than you need and probably can have you up and going in a heart beat. Heck you may even be able to convert the bunch of free thinkers into straight razor users also.

Here is there webpage

Ottawa Canada Linux Users Group

And if you need help I can burn a bottable DSL cd and pop it in the mail. send me a pm if interested. I am not an expert by any means but I have had soem success.

scrapcan