Hi,

I have an old laptop with ~180MB of ram. When I start using DSL and install packages on it I can save these with "MyDSL > Backup/Restore" and save this backup.tar.gz on my usb stick for example.

Question now is how much programs can I install (because of the size)? Can I only install packages in the size to the rest free space of the ram? Or can I have more MB backuped on the (bigger) usb stick so that I have these programs present after the next boot?

I never was able to get programs to stay between boots. only settings. I just use the hard drive install if im using DSL...and DSL-N I use the Frugal HD Install.

The packages themselfs for programs are not that big. Typical programs are usually only a few mb.

You can always just enable apt-get and apt the packages if you need to. apt is probally one of the quickest and easiest ways to get programs

As for the backup file, it shouldnt be that big. I couldnt imagine it being more then 100MB if you have a bunch of stuff in it. But I do think that the backup file has to be on a different medium then what you boot DSL off of. With the hard drive install, there is no need for a backup file, so look at doing the HD install.

You can add folders to the /home/dsl/.filetool.lst file which should be backuped too (so you can backup your installed program(s))... for example!

But question in general.... this backup/restore process is not an "embedded (squash)filesystem" (?) so all installed programs can only be up to the rest free ram and not more?!?

(I have only 180 MB ram and I need more MB for all installed software I daily use so I need a way to generally have my applications running after boot... Is there some way in DSL like in puppylinux where you can have a "personal pup-file" saved on the hd/usb stick which is used like a home partition -regardless how much ram you have-.)