Best Linux for my crappy system??

dice · 11-03-2003, 01:45 PM

Hi

I am new to Linux though I have used some Unixy stuff cos of my Mac. I was wondering what would be the best Linux to install on my system.

300MHz celeron
128 Mb RAM
16mb Banshee graphics card
sound card
network card
6 gig drive (will be getting a better hd before install, maybe 60gb)
floppy drive
cd drive

I have a copy of Mandrake 9.2 that came with some magazine but I am also sitting on the college high speed network so can download anything....

It would prolly be installed alongside Win 2000... with a view to chucking 2000 if I like Linux

Thanks for you help

trickykid · 11-03-2003, 02:05 PM

With that system, any of them will work. Might be a little slower while in X but you can always opt for a smaller less resourceful Window Manager or Desktop from the likes of KDE or Gnome, like with XFce or WindowMaker, Fluxbox is another good one.. and so on...

But really, any distro will work, just install what you will use, disable any services you won't use and it will all be ok.

case1984 · 11-03-2003, 02:13 PM

You'll have no problem installing or running on that system. It will not be the fastest, but it will be fine.

the first comp I installed linux on was:
intel 200 MMX
2mb graphics card
64 mb ram

Linux is much more forgiving on old hardware than MS or OSX.

Michael

slightcrazed · 11-03-2003, 02:35 PM

If you are willing to learn, I would point you to slackware. Slackware can be one of the least newbie friendly distros (at least, IMHO), but I think it is the best to learn with. It is also one of the better distro's when it comes to less than new hardware. I have successfully run slackware with X on a 486 w 16 MB RAM.

RedHat is probably one of the easiest distros to install and start with, but it can take some doing to get it optimized for systems that lack a bit of horsepower. Same goes for Mandrake (which is RedHat based).

slight

Mikhail_16 · 11-03-2003, 02:46 PM

similarly i will point you to Gentoo, which is imho one of the best distros you can find. Also considering that almost entire installation is possible via network and all the programs from then on is downloadable via simple command 'emerge', this one can be the one for you. It combines flexibility of slackware and ease of hardware detection and other neat things.

dice · 11-04-2003, 03:40 AM

cool thanks for the replies, I will probably start with Mandrake 9.2 cos I have it on CD and then try something else....