Hello,

Which distro would be suited for very old machines, Linux AntiX versus Puppy Linux versus Slackware for old PCs?


I would like to give a new life to my Toshiba Satellite 220CS.

My favorite is: Antix since it is based on Debian and runs on quite nothing.

I usually use syslinux rather than grub. Syslinux is more reliable, even on today's modern machines.


Web site: http://antix.mepis.com
Forums: http://antix.freeforums.org

antiX is pronounced like the word antics, which means amusing, frivolous, or eccentric behavior. It is distributed as CD or ISO images that contain many quality Linux applications.

antiX is compiled to work with Pentium-class Intel and AMD processors or better. antiX will not work with 386 and 486 class processors. To install antiX on a hard drive, at least 1.5 GB of free space is required and a minimum of 2.5 GB is recommended.

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The maximum amount of RAM that machine can handle is 144MB, which disqualifies Puppy right from the start, IMHO, since you don't want to waste that little amount of RAM you have with copying the filesystem into RAM. So it comes down to either Debian or Slackware, both suitable for older machines, so I would say: whichever you like more.

I started with vga=788 nomodeset xforcevesa and acpi=off, but still, Antix takes ages on this machine and hangs forever. pitty.

I will try to install with qemu debian on an image and put it on an usb stick. I boot usb with plop.

by the way, why not testing DSL?? there is a new release in 2012 (if no net).
md5sum: ca1b7a3199d6f143818aab1e73478cac dsl-4.11.rc1.iso
Download: http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/...l-4.11.rc1.iso

How much memory do you actually have installed on that machine? If it is less than 64 MB you will have problems running a GUI with pretty much all somewhat recent distros.

- 64mb

- for fun, I am installing CorelLinux on debian.dsk (make with bximage) under qemu. I will deploy it then on the usb-stick.

- I noticed that the lilo of some distros and syslinux of gparted are not launched by plop.

- I noticed that the gfx-cpio/syslinux boot of Antix is pretty reliable and works well on several old machines as well as on Qemu.

link: https://old-linux.com/1999/corel-linux-os-1.0-i386.iso

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The last time I looked at AntiX, you could just run the Ted word-processor or the Dillo web-browser in 64MB! Really, that sort of computer is only usable with the CLI these days.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in <Linux - Distributions> and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

With 64MB you won't have much luck with antiX, it recommends 256MB + swap as minimum. You might want to try using plain Debian, build up from a minimal installation, or Slackware, both with lightweight WMs and lightweight software installed, but with 64MB I would just go for a CLI only system. When using old software, like Corel Linux, keep in mind that you will have a whole bunch of unfixed security problems, so don't use that system for tasks like online banking.

I like Corellinux, however, I could not find the 1.2 release.
I got only my old CD of 1.0 release, and on the net, there arent much iso's of it.

I will try to install and run corel from an usb-stick for testing...

slacko puppy linux is what I use. if you have a old 486 machine then go with the older slacko.

Sorry, but I still don't get why people continue to recommend distros like Puppy or variants/derivatives for machines with such a low amount of RAM that any MB counts and copying the filesystem into RAM is anything but helping.

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Try antiX-core and build up by installing xorg, jwm and dillo or links2 for browsing. Older versions (antiX-13 is Debian wheezy based, antiX-12 is based on Debian squeeze) might be lighter, Still, don't expect miracles.

I under stand your point. But if you keep with the beginning of what Barry Kauler started and understand his philosophy. His project was toward
a lap top he wanted to use of low internet band width. If you go back to the beginning forums in 2002 before the
2003 release and took part you would understand the need for low ram lower cpu power.

We did that for our testing machines because they where old and we pushed most of the work towards a laptop.

In 2005 I got involved with one laptop per child here at our the university with a professor friend in music edu. and actually thought
puppy did the job better.

As you are correct puppy usually comes with two kernels of your choice just like slackware. Just like Slacko.
And is able to handle anything the Kernel can handle.

That still doesn't change the fact the Puppy and drivatives/variants are simply not suitable for this purpose. They might work well on low powered hardware, but they are simply counterproductive on machines with a very low amount of RAM. Even the Slacko site recommends to have at least 512MB of RAM and, FWIW, needs a Pentium 3 or AMD K7/Athlon CPU.

1 members found this post helpful.

There are now at least 2 current options for you.

Nanolinux
https://sourceforge.net/projects/nanolinux/
Supposed to give a very low quality desktop with minimal programs preinstalled including Dillo Browser.
Site says 64mb min.

Slax
https://www.slax.org/
Fairly modern looking.
Many apps on a repo system.
Site says 48mb min.

Oddly Slax is more useable and has lower requirements.

Good luck.

Adding a 3rd option
This one may not be being updated anymore, I am unsure...
Damn Small Linux
http://damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/minim...uirements.html
Requires only 8mb

Thats impressive.

Maybe consider trying SliTaz - http://www.slitaz.org/en/