Installation of Linux in 300 MHz with 128 MB ram

sanjay1979 · 03-09-2008, 11:53 AM

Hi

I am very new to Linux, but very keen to learn it.

I am having a desktop of 300 MHz with 128 MB RAM and 30 GB hard drive with Windows XP.
My first question is - Is there any version/flavour of Linux available that can be installed on above system especially Fedora with less compromise in terms of speed?

I am also having a 6 GB extra hard drive.

Please give me the suggesion what should I do ?
- Should I Make a dual operating system
- or use separate hard drive for linux as I am afraid using dual opearing system as if it may disturb Windows XP also, thereby making other windows based application non functional.

Also if u could show me the way to install linux, I would be very grateful.

Please help me out.

Thanks in advance.

Samotnik · 03-09-2008, 12:39 PM

Any distro will work when properly tuned. You only can't use a modern desktop environments - KDE and Gnome. That's why Ubuntu and Kubuntu are unsuitable for you.
Any other distro allowing you to install lightweight window manager (xfce, fluxbox, windowmaker, icewm, etc.) during installation will fit perfectly. Fedora are able to be such a distro.
You are starting to learn linux - than you MUST make a dual-boot system.
You can use separate drive, or just rearrange partitioning of your hard drive to make room for linux. It doesn't matter.

H_TeXMeX_H · 03-09-2008, 01:01 PM

Indeed you cannot use extremely bloated window managers such as KDE and GNOME.

I think fluxbox or icewm are very good choices for you.

XFCE is a rather fat rat, it claims to be light, but it's not that light, not light enough.

For older computers good distros would be Slackware, Debian, DSL, etc. but none can be run with KDE or GNOME. These would be good choices because not only are they light by default as opposed to bloated by default like some / most other well-known distros. They are also easier to customize and keep light.

sanjay1979 · 03-09-2008, 02:09 PM

Thanks H_TeXMeX_H and Samotnik for ur useful tips.
Samotnik, Can making dual opeating system cause damage to my exisiting windows environment ?

alan_ri · 03-09-2008, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanjay1979

Can making dual opeating system cause damage to my exisiting windows environment ?

Yes it can if it's not done properly.I suggest that for start you try Puppy Linux.Installation is not a problem,you just have to be careful with partitionis you make and format.You must put GRUB or LILO on the MBR.This sign / means root file system,and that's the sign you choose for your newly made partition.You must also create SWAP partition(500 MB would be ok),and for filesystem choose EXT2 or EXT3 or RAISERFS.Don't forget,LQ is your friend!

sanjay1979 · 03-09-2008, 08:10 PM

Thanks alan_ri
definitely I will keep it in my mind.

onebuck · 03-09-2008, 09:00 PM

Hi,

You could roll back to earlier versions of Slackware. Maybe Slackware 10.2/11 for the legacy hardware. You can always use a light desktop. XFCE is not that light but it's not bloated either.
Fluxbox or Blackbox would be another good choice. Depending on how you want to use the system would really dictate the 'X' choice. You could alwys just use the apps within a 'X', run linksys or firefox launched from the cli.

My reason for the suggestion of not attempting a newer distro is that most of the earlier hardware won't be supported (legacy). You would have to tweak a lot for any of the modern distro to get it working. If at all.

sanjay1979 · 03-11-2008, 12:30 PM

Thanks onebuck
I would opt for Slackware and if I encounter any problem then I will let u know. Thanks once again.

crashmeister · 03-11-2008, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onebuck

Hi,

You could roll back to earlier versions of Slackware. Maybe Slackware 10.2/11 for the legacy hardware. You can always use a light desktop.

Are there security updates available for Slackware 10.2/11 or are you running an open box then?

pwc101 · 03-11-2008, 01:13 PM

There are still Slackware security updates back as far as version 8.1.

crashmeister · 03-11-2008, 01:25 PM

Wow - poor Patrick.Maintenance for all that stuff got to be a major headache.

ehawk · 03-11-2008, 09:18 PM

You can dual boot. It is normally not a problem to repartition and install on the same hard drive. Back up anything really important.

Consider PCLinuxOS mini-me:

http://www.pclinuxos.com/index.php?o...&topic=38535.0

or alternate CD install of xubuntu, then install fluxbox and use that instead of xfce

http://www.xubuntu.org/get

Those are both excellent choices for a newbie with older hardware. Quite user friendly, and it guides you through repartitioning the hard drive.

I know this forum has lots of slackware lovers, but I would stay away from it as a newbie.

revenge80200 · 03-11-2008, 09:24 PM

What sort of ram does that thing take? How much will it take?

Eric.

onebuck · 03-12-2008, 12:08 PM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehawk

You can dual boot. It is normally not a problem to repartition and install on the same hard drive. Back up anything really important.

Consider PCLinuxOS mini-me:

http://www.pclinuxos.com/index.php?o...&topic=38535.0

or alternate CD install of xubuntu, then install fluxbox and use that instead of xfce

http://www.xubuntu.org/get

Those are both excellent choices for a newbie with older hardware. Quite user friendly, and it guides you through repartitioning the hard drive.

I know this forum has lots of slackware lovers, but I would stay away from it as a newbie.

Why, afraid to learn something? Eat pablum and that is what you will taste. Get your feet wet with a real OS and learn something along the way. Not everyone needs a GUI to do something with a system.

There are ways too learn anything. When given the proper material or instructions then anything can be done without a lot of effort. Yes, I'm a lover that happens to use Slackware as my operating system. My wife is rather jealous so my love is for her. I like Slackware!