hey every body i have a vaio laptop with these specification it is old :
processor: pentium 3 850MHZ
Ram : 384MB
Hard drive : 30GB
screen size : 10 inch
could you please give me the best supported linux Distro for this laptop ModelPCG-SRX51P/A)
Thank you

Debian with lxde or xfce, xubuntu, vector linux

Welcome to Linux Questions!

I have an old IBM Thinkpad with a Pentium M underclocked to 600MHz, so there's hope for your machine! The memory is not even too small. Looking at my records, I'd suggest you consider

Swift. This will run with a P2 and 128MB, so it would be fine for you. It's rolling release, which means you never need a new version: you just bring it up-to-date once a month or so.

Salix. This runs on a P3 and 256MB. A more modern-looking user interface, but it would be a little slower. That's what I have: it's slow to boot but OK once it's running.

Look at the reviews listed at http://distrowatch.com/ and my reviews on this site.

Does the debian come with the GUI or should i install it ?
because i downloaded a version 6 fom it it is about 400 Mb ,installed it without internet connection
it is came in ( text mode)

Personally, I would stay away from the *buntu's (why?)

Try CrunchBang 11 (Waldorf/Testing) - it's Debian Wheezy, but with Openbox replacing Gnome. This makes for a muuuuuuch lighter system than standard Debian or even an Xfce distro.

1 members found this post helpful.

I have my old laptop (not as old as yours) running linux off of a usb flash drive. I have to use a cdimage of grub to boot it, but it works. Amd Sempron 3300+ with 512MB ram. 32 bit and 2GHz though. The fan on it hasn't worked in years but it's still going. I just make sure to disable the symlinks for flash and java when I web browse. Otherwise debian squeeze on a cruzer 8GB stick. No swap file, and it does write to the stick. But good enough to web browse, and act as a wireless bridge for my desktop that doesn't have any more slots for a wireless card.

If the usb stick fails, I'm out $5, but I've got it imaged on the desktop so I can setup another fairly painlessly. It's at about 2.7GB of usage with browser cache and all the .debs I used to install it. Running IceWM as the desktop. I just got to make sure that the cpu load in the taskbar meter doesn't go too crazy on me. Since it basically doesn't have a fan (a working one anyway). Nevermind that the cursor keys will fall off if I turn it upside down.

1 members found this post helpful.

well how much CrunchBang needs update to be supported because this laptop doesnt have a CD-Rom Driver . and cant boot from flash memory ( old bios)
so i need to remove hard drive and install the system using another laptop

Are you new to Linux? If so, I recommend upgrading your hardware, so you will have a fun and hassle-free introduction to Linux. Depending on where you live, you can probably find a 2ghz or better processor, 1gb or more of RAM, and a decent video card, for under $100 (and possibly FREE) if you check Craigslist, Freecycle, etc. Hardware in that range will be much better suited to a Linux beginner, in my opinion.

Don't they have a docking station for laptop drives? It would still require another computer to install the system to the hard drive that way.

While my laptop doesn't support booting usb directly. It does have PXE boot capabilities over a network. If that works for you, then you can use that to boot linux on that laptop and install linux from linux on that laptop. Or just keep on PXE booting. I was in the process of setting this type of thing up (and learning how) when I discovered that my cdrom drive did still work (1 out of 3 boots). And on one attempt where it tried but failed to read the cdrom, it somehow booted the usb stick automagically. Maybe it was a fallback for PXE when a cable is connected only on one end. I don't know but it was a good fail.

http://www.debian.org/releases/stabl...apds03.html.en

This was the guide of sorts that I used for my usb flash endeavors. Because installing linux on a machine without a fan would have been risky and I didn't want to push my luck. I did the chroot install in my /home/ location and made a tarball to put on the boot medium. Which also minimizes the number of writes to the medium. The guide lacks a few admin tidbits, but otherwise covers a basic install for a bootable (and minimal) system.

CrunchBang is based on Debian Stable, so you will only get security updates, not such a great amount of updates. Why do you think that need you a CD or boot from USB to make system updates? Just connect it to the Internet.

I have an older VAIO too, and I think that the best OS I had on it was Mandriva, however, I took an adverse liking to Mandriva and have since switched to OpenSuse. Probably the best OS that I had on it was Fedora 8, the only problem I encountered was that the screen would sometimes turn pink at boot.

CrunchBang 10 (Statler) is based on Debian Stable, but CrunchBang 11 (Waldorf) is based on Debian Testing. http://crunchbang.org/download/testing

The release version of Crunchbang is based on Debian Stable. Once Wheezy becomes Stable Waldorf will be the release version, so my statement is correct.

1 members found this post helpful.

I stand corrected!

Depends on what you have downloaded.
try
# startx
E17 (enlightenment) is very polished and light weight and better than open box (IMO).
How do you connect to the internet?
It should be possible to configure everything from terminal/konsole/....