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Old 03-27-2006, 02:21 AM   #1
nizmo311
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Registered: Mar 2006
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Question best linux for a 233mhz???


Hello world!

i am new to linux. I have an old 233mhz box with 192mb of ram & a 10gig HDD. I was wondering
if anyone can tell me which distro i should install on it.

I want to have a full install with the KDE desktop. I will most probably be using it for playing
with apache and things like FTP, DHCP. I just want to get better at using linux.

In the long term i would like to set it up to be be an intranet web server & FTP server.

Thanks everyone!!!!

one other thing. Is it possible to install ubuntu from the "live" cd? If true then please tell me
 
Old 03-27-2006, 02:51 AM   #2
ethics
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Registered: Apr 2005
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Check my sig for a good link to a site in helping your distro choice, or search these forums, you'll get quite a few results for 'which distro'

Anyway i'm at a loose end right now so i'll address your questions.

Those specs are quite low for running a modern distro with KDE (i would go for a MUCH lighter DE/WM especially since it's going to be a web server), also i wouldn't really go for ubuntu either, it's user friendly but again, probably too high for those specs to run with any sort of optimum performance..

You'll be able to tweak any system to meet those requirements however there are some other considerations such as security, installing things such as .PHP etc.

http://www.vectorlinux.com/ seems a good bet, small and lightweight.

Also my usual recomendation for this type of thing - Debian - http://www.debian.org/. Stable easily keeps upto date with security patches and runs like a trooper, plus you can get the net install cd and choose/download/install all the packages you need (otherwise it's 15 cds of packages...)

I see that your LONG term goal is the web server, which is good, because your primary objective is going to be learning Linux, once you have achieved that on a user friendly distro (don't get too comfortable with GUI admin tools) you can switch to a simpler (possibly more powerful, hopefully very stable) Distro for your goal.

As for installing from Ubuntus Livecd, i did a quick google, and checked their site, couldn't really find any reference to it. Maybe with more looking you could turn up something, or just download the install cd from the website...

Last edited by ethics; 03-27-2006 at 02:53 AM.
 
Old 03-27-2006, 02:53 AM   #3
Agrouf
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Damn Small Linux (DSL)
And please don't install KDE it will suck up all your memory.
 
Old 03-27-2006, 09:27 AM   #4
proliant_fan
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Registered: Oct 2005
Location: Surrey, UK
Distribution: Fedora Core 1,4 and mandriva 2006
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XFCE, fluxbox, enligtenment or similar. Stay away from KDE anfd knome as windowmagagers. Dunno about distros, im still running RH 7.2 (Security isnt an issue) on my 266mhz 64mb RAM Compaq Proliant 16O.
 
Old 03-27-2006, 03:54 PM   #5
MoonMind
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I'd like to double up on Agrouf: Try DSL. You'll not be using KDE with that one, but all services you mention are already there, and it's less than 50MB to download. Installation on one of my old boxes (233MMX with 64MB RAM) works almost flawlessly (except for some exotic problems with wireless that could be solved by reading man ndiswrapper and man iwconfig). DSL also offers some helpful scripts that make it easy to configure system basics - and they even come with a GUI.

KDE is a memory hog (as is GNOME, albeit a bit less - well, has been, don't know about 2.14 yet) - your RAM might just suffice to run it, but considering the CPU speed as well, I'd not do that.
 
Old 03-27-2006, 06:19 PM   #6
tamoneya
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i would agree with dsl. vector linux is a good choice but dsl uses kernel 2.4.x as opposed to 2.6.x which is used by vectir. 2.4.x is relatively smaller than 2.6 and therefore better for older systems
 
Old 03-28-2006, 09:16 AM   #7
proliant_fan
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i have 64mb RAM proliant with 233mhz p2 and 4gig hdd. Managed to get FC1 working once upon a time (just) but agree, either get a copy of FC and just use a plain Xterm (for graphical utilities) or get DSL
 
Old 03-28-2006, 10:29 AM   #8
khaleel5000
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NIZMOO311 i am not a PRO in linux but if u like KDE coz its easy do install FLUXBOX with it , its faster and after some time try 2 swith to flux box , its VERY lightweight in comparision to KDE , and virtually as EASY as KDE --VIRTUALLY
 
Old 03-28-2006, 10:35 AM   #9
anti.corp
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Hi

Definately pick Vector or Damn Small L. They will both bring back new life to your old pc.

Im currently running VectorLinux on a 333Mhz Celeron with 128MB of RAM, using fluxbox and icewm. Though Celeron is wellknown as pretty weak, the performance is still good

Sincerely, Jorgen
 
Old 03-29-2006, 01:19 AM   #10
Emmanuel_uk
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Registered: Nov 2004
Distribution: Mandriva mostly, vector 5.1, tried many.Suse gone from HD because bad Novell/Zinblows agreement
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vector as well (from experience).

Your HD is big enough to do a Linux dual boot.
You can add Mandriva as well (or whatever else).
Mandriva 2006 has a good selection of lightweight desktop manager.
Then you can keep a default distro and mess with a second one
(and judge the difference in speed, etc.)

No the ubuntu live cd is not installable.
 
Old 03-29-2006, 04:22 AM   #11
ivrobi
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Registered: Nov 2005
Distribution: Ubuntu Breezy & DSL
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Hi!

One more vore for DSL. I'm looking for a distro for a 233 MHz P1 with 64 MB of RAM and 1.6 GB HDD and after some searches I found that DSL will be the best solution IMHO, considering also the fact that I'll need dual-boot with win98. I tried DSL on this "ole can" as a live CD and I was satisfied with the performance. Take some time to explore the DSL web site to find out more about it - it's worth.

If I'm not wrong, the new release of Ubuntu live CD will include an installer.

Greetings!
 
  


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