what linux on old laptop?
 

Hi all, this is my first post and i hope someone can help me. I have a toshiba 4060xcdt currently running win98fe, I would like to breath new life into it by installing linux, but which one?. It is a p2,4g hdd & 192mb ram, I want to run a wireless network card. Any ideas guys? Many thanks netman

DSL (Damn Small Linux)? What do you actually want from the box?

Thanks for the reply,at the moment as i am new to linux i just want to surf until i get use to the system. Is it easy to connect the internet via wireless & wired. Sorry if i sound very green.

With 192megs of RAM, you have many choices. For minimum pain getting wireless working, I suggest a full featured "heavyweight" distribution like Ubuntu.

Be aware that Ubuntu's default GNOME desktop interface will be slow and sluggish with 192megs of RAM. However, since you're new I think it's better for you to start with something easy even if it's sluggish. After you get a little comfortable, then you can install a lightweight desktop like IceWM, which will be nice and fast on that hardware.

I have a old Compaq laptop with 192megs of RAM, and a 400mhz processor. Ubuntu simply worked, out of box, and when I plugged in a Belkin USB wireless adapter it just plain worked. The default GNOME desktop environment was sluggish, but I knew it would be. I then installed IceWM, and customized it to start the nm-applet icon in the taskbar (the thing you click on to connect to wireless networks). It was nice and zippy after that.

Thanks for your info, could you recommend a good download for Ubuntu & any problems i might encounter with the install