iMac G3 - Linux Distro?
 

Hey guys,
I've got an iMac G3 450Mhz, 20gb hdd, 128mb of ram, that i've set up as the downstairs computer. It's only intended use is for internet browsing (it's using a G3 optimised Camino build as a broswer) for my dad. It is currently running 10.3.9, and even after toning down the settings and deleting unnecessary apps and files, the machine still really stuggles, and YouTube practically locks the machine up.

My question is, is there a perfect Linux distro out there for this computer. All I want it to do is browse the net smoothly, I require nothing else of it. OS/internet speed, responsiveness and modern web compatibility are first and foremost. Aesthetics, bonuses, and other features don't matter at all. I'm also not experienced with Linux, so if a more technically oriented set-up was best, i'd need (a lot of) help. I've read some good appraisals about Xubuntu in regards to iMac G3, do you think this would really help quite a bit? Are newer verions more resource hungry? If so, which build release of Xubuntu would run fastest on this computer? I'm willing to use an ancient build if it means better performance, as long as it supports a modern web browser to surf the net.

It'd be ashame to have to throw it out, it looks really nice where it is =(

Thanks guys =)

1. Install the distro you like most.
2. Disable unnecessary services, including gdm, only network should be enough.
3. Run a bare X server with your browser.

Well you'll need a distro on the PPC architecture, Xubuntu is definitely doable I suppose, but I have a sneaking suspicion you can't get it on that architecture.

If you're looking for lightweight, then you're better off looking at different environments in Linux and then going from there; most of the Linux internals are of similar size and speed across the boards, its where the GUI stuff comes in that load becomes an issue.

Take a look at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari...p_environments (paying attention the light weight ones) and we'll see if theres a good distro based on the PPC which uses it (Or if not help you install it)

May I suggest, sir, that you go to the following and check out what it has:
http://ultilex.linux-bg.org/
If your machine possesses a USB port, the whole compilation can be made bootable very simply
and you may boot from the USB stick. If not, the option of copying directries within the ISO
to a dedicated partition on your hard drive, then using the script file to make it all bootable
is quite readily accomplished.
Or, one can download the latest Slax, burn to CD and use the LiveCD to access the web from your
cdrom drive -- no HD necessary!

See http://penguinppc.org/about/distributions.php