Hi , i am about to get a Compaq presario for free( one of the first to be made i guess , really old stuff (4MB RAM)) and i want to install just linux on it . My primary goal is to be abble to connect it to my computer and try to work out a small network at my place . I want to know your opinion on two things :


1-What would you do with such a computer ?
2- Can you specify what kind of hardware is usually needed to connect one computer to another ?


thanks for any reply

1. You can turn it into a full blown hardware firewall/router ( http://smoothwall.org )
2.
a) no additional hardware needed - connect via serial port:
applications - transfer files, etc
cons: slow as hell
b) If you opt for the firewall/router solution - you might need some NIC's - see if you have any ISA/PCI slots available. ISA NIC's are obsolete - can be found at local computer junky for insignificant amount of cash (is it cruzeiros?)

Thanks , I guess i have plenty slots available , gonna look for ISA NIC's as soon as i can , is there any chance for the modem to work with linux at all ? i mean by the time they made the stuff , winmodems weren't even invented , so i might be blessed with a real modem for a change , and no the currency for the last eight years (i guess) is called real .

Ah, I see, so for cruseiros you can only get CD coasters now, ok as for modems your best bet on ISA modem with jumpers (not a 100% guraneed to work though, I had some woes with US Robatics 56K fax/voice ISA with no visible jumpers on board though - it was dead since RH6.2, untill in RH7.2 I tried ISDN setup and it worked - go figure), external serial modem (non-USB, or I am talking complete absurd - there is no USB on this baby) is guaranteed to work 99.9% (there are some issues with some no-name modems) the only drawback is price, external serial modems are more expensive than their internal brothers (I am not talking about winmodems, b/c I don't consider a winmodem to be a modem at all). So get your reals and head to the local computer junkie and you'll get treasure for your compy.
Good luck

thanks man , and (i say this everytime) sorry for not posting before . your advise was priceless , i hope i can do something about it , cause now i have tons of books i downloaded (Linux nag,LFS, cookbook and other stuff ) and i am anxious to try things out without messing with my personal data .

eww, Linux + compaq is probably the biggest missmatch.

I was just looking for a usefull information from finegan and i saw zLinuxz post . can anyone tell me some more about it or where i can find usefull information on the subject ? I don't get it , why these people don't fully support Linux ? Weeks ago i remember reading an article about IBM stop supporting Linux on some computers ( mainly portables , i guess ) . I apreciate your help .

most companies figure that it's not worth for them to hire technitians who will program drivers for their hardware for Linux...I mean they with some difficulty make drivers for Macintosh...which I would understand why hehe, toy computers...but the truth is that they figure that all the revenue they need is in the Windows market....since it's the biggest one in the world and from which they can live off without any problems. Hiring these extra people to program drivers for linux is a cost for them...they rather not get any richer by programing drivers so that linux users can buy their hardware but not have the cost of hiring extra programmers. Costs always affects managment