I spent the better part of the afternoon over at distrowatch.org reading up on the mind-boggling array of linux flavors out there. What I'm trying to find is something that will enable a decent GUI and basic "average Joe" programs on an old Compaq Presario with a 233 Mhz P2 and 64 megs of RAM. What I'm running into is a problem with GNOME and/or KDE and/or X being big, fat RAM hogs that essentially render the machine unusable after starting. I could install Slack 3.x from my old CD-ROMs, but that seems kind of pointless. So my questions are these:

Can anyone recommend a newish distro that will work on an oldish machine?

and

Aside from the obvious stopping of unneeded services and reduction of color depth, are there any tricks for making X/GNOME/KDE run (or even jog) on a RAM-challenged machine?

Thanks.

Try Damn Small Linux and/or Vector Linux; they're both designed to run on older hardware and include light weight window managers more appropriate for your system specs.

i would give up the idea of gnome or kde, fast (because it's not going to be ).

try for as lean a distro as possible. debian base install from the installer would be a good choice, or maybe something like vector. then with some tweaking (compile custom kernel, turn off services, hdparm, etc.), a window manager like fluxbox or ICEwm should be okay. i've used ICEwm on a 300mhz with 64mb and it was not bad at all.

do you plan on using this box to surf the web.....??

if not then try.....Slackware 8.0 or 8.1
the X server and KDE/Gnome are pretty good on NOT hogging
resources........OR get Slackware 9 and install fluxbox! this setup just
might be what you are looking for-------

According to their web page your machine will run Damn Small (X, desktop, browser) with ease.