Need help finding small distro.

jinksys · 03-09-2007, 08:12 PM

I have a old laptop:
CPU: 486
MEM: 20M
HDD: 120MB

I just need a text only environment that has GCC. I tried a server only install of ubuntu, but it ran out of space. I tried damnsmalllinux but it needs 200megs.

I have the hard drive hooked up to a modern system so the installer can be a gui, it just needs to install a system that is less than 120 megs.

Any help?

phantom_cyph · 03-09-2007, 08:39 PM

Check out Puppy, DSL (Damn Small Linux) and Austrumi. Look at distrowatch.com for more info on the last...

fotoguy · 03-09-2007, 08:43 PM

For a really small distro, slackware 11 has zipslack which is a collection of slackware packages made for a minimal install. I think it's around 60-80 mb plus whatever kernel and modules you install (2.4 or 2.6).

Don't know how comfortable you are with slackware, but it may require a little bit of tinkering with to get it to what you want, but it should be able to get under 120 mb.

jacook · 03-09-2007, 11:05 PM

Vector Linux
http://www.vectorlinux.com/

DSL
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

Puppy Linux
http://www.puppylinux.org/user/viewpage.php?page_id=3

Slackware
http://www.slackware.com/

SLAX Live CD
http://www.slax.org/

BeaFanatIX
http://bea.cabarel.com/

Elive:
http://www.elivecd.org/

Luit Linux
http://luitlinux.sarovar.org/

truthfatal · 03-10-2007, 12:57 PM

Maybe try polux (P!tux)

http://217.109.169.18/polux/
the site is in french, but Babelfish can give a rough translation.

the requirements from the website:

Quote:

The basic installation requires one at least 386 with 4Mb of RAM and 80 MB of minimum disk space (100 Mb during the installation)

BlahBlah_X · 03-10-2007, 01:56 PM

Do you have lots of linux experience?

If so, I would try using Linux from Scratch (LFS). This wil let you create a distro that fits your exact needs.

Some systems made with it have a size of 8mb!

jinksys · 03-10-2007, 04:27 PM

Thanks for the help, I'll give LSF a try!

nathan3 · 03-11-2007, 08:43 AM

Puppy and Damn Small Linux should work fine. Also, look at Zenwalk, a small Slackware based distro. Austrumi is a great little distro but it wants 128M RAM or enough hard drive space for 128Meg of swap space. Your memory and small hard drive might be an issue
good luck