If it will take more memory (and you can still get that type of memory) then fine - the more memory the better. From what I remember of my ancient machines, 128 was plenty and you can run pretty much any GUI (even the modern bloated ones). You *do* need swap space though and starting something like the GIMP is probably not a good idea.
With 32MB, some people here have reported that they do fine with a base install + X + ICEWM (the GUI).
I think even PuppyLinux recommends 64M.
With more memory you might try 'Xubuntu' which is Ubuntu with XFCE - the only thing is, some people will say that XFCE is now bloatware as well. If you're already familiar with Linux, you can try Debian; do a base install, edit (or create) the /etc/apt/apt.conf file and make sure there are lines like this:
Code:
APT::Install-Recommends 0
APT::Install-Suggests 0
That helps reduce the Debian bloat; it's bad enough that a current Debian base install is already bloated to close to 200M!
The next steps with Debian are to install X (bloat attacks yet again - *all* video drivers are typically loaded, not only the one you need). Then install a window manager (ICEWM - but you also have the choice of blackbox, fluxbox, twm, etc etc etc)
The Mozilla browsers should work fine on such a system. You do have to be careful about installing other software though - you don't want anything that will pull in bloatware from Gnome or KDE.
