For Mint Xfce, the system idled at 160MB on my 32-bit machine.

Slackware is easy to install: the installer is not flashy but it's simple and logical. The problem is that there's very little software installed and the DVD is the complete repository. If you need anything else, it has to be compiled. Slackware has a system that makes this an easier and more reliable procedure than usual, but it's still a job that has to be done.

Doudou recommends 256MB RAM. It has some great educational tools and games installed:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/review...page/15/sort/7

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I have a very old laptop with lots of hardware issues. I installed Debian "netinstall" CD on it (without installing anything additional) and I am running openbox or something like that. Using the same image, you can customise it with Enlightenment or something more user friendly for GUI.

The image is about 300mb and contains the core Debian packages only.

Yes, Slackware is a great choice, but as long as you like spending time researching and learning. Slackware does not resolve dependecies nor warn you about them if they don't exists. It'll be up to you to figure out what packages needs what. The reason slackware is like that, so it can be highly customizable and intended for the more advanced uses. However they do welcome new users and include slackbook that has alot of information for you.

However like I said before, I have Debian running on 64MB of Ram and P3 Processor while it couldn't do much, it can be even lighter. But you will need more ram regardless if you want to browse web etc. I've install Debian Minimal (CD Disk 1) and uncheck all options when it ask for addition software to install.

Then just run as root

# apt-get install xfce4 xfce4-goodies iceweasel

to add a software center
# apt-get install software-center

This will give you a lightweight desktop running 160MB of Ram and a web broswer, Iceweasel if firefox but rebranding to meat debian requirements.

Please note, use your regular user account to browse web and everyday use.

As DavidMcCann said,

But with the large collections of tutorials and how-to out there you can compile any software easily.

ROTFL - ok thanks, but no thanks! with so many distros out there, I don't need the hassle. I want to live life, not to give my life to maintaining my computers.

Your initial post wasn't asking for help. But I see you went back and edited it so that now it is a request for help. Smart move. You will get more help that way. You initially said, quote, "Please, I'm not interested in learning about all other distros under the sun..."

But now you have opened your mind up and are willing to consider distros that people might recommend. In that case, I would probably recommend Slackware. It's fairly lean, but you may need to do a bit more work setting it up the way you want it. The default installation is not difficult at all, but the on-going maintenance/upgrade is maybe a tad more difficult than other distros. But what you get in return is a quite solid system that is tailored to your needs.

Another alternative might be to install a more "user friendly" distro (meaning heavier weight) on one of your other home computers in a VM. And then on your daughters netbook, install an ultra-slim distro where she'd only be running something like NoMachine NX to remotely access the heavier-weight distro running on that other computer. As a parent, this would also give you ultimate control over what she is allowed to do or not do with her computer, as you would have the VM resident on your computer and totally under your control.

Use somehthing with XFCE or. Maybe fedora with xfce. I might even look at puppy

./configure ?

Slackware for a child would be a bit much I would think. Great distro, just seems like teaching an 8 year old about install prefixes when all they want to do is play wack-a-mole would be a bit much. Would be comedic to see an 8 year old walk up and ask about some odd linked lib so she could get ECDSA working in ssl cause disney wont let her log in other wise.

snicker...snicker. Why not just make your own ubuntu spin using one of those " make my install cd " tools? You install all you want and then it builds a cd from it. You could pin repos and packages as well. Any way, my 1 cent.


"./configure --prefix=/whats/a/user/local"

Not so often you need to do that with Slackware. If you want something that has neither a ready-made package or a SlackBuild available, then there's src2pkg: does what the name says, builds an installable package from source.

Why in the world would you teach an 8 yo. how to install stuff?

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Why not?

Any good parent who has raised them right and has trust in their children should give them the chance to expand there mind.

That's 100% correct, forget about linux why in the world would you teach an 8 yo how install stuff in windows ???

But that's not relevant to Timmi's subject.

My point was just that I thought slackware would be a bit on the heavy side for a grandmother and a 8 y.o. Maybe I read the original questions wrong.

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you want to teach an 8 yo how to build from source with slack?

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