I just got 512M RAM so i thought to switch off all the programs that i most likely will not need. The big ones, i think might be, gdm, gnome, metacity. I think a plain X will suit my purpose. Can anyone help me do it?

Thanks in advance

hey why not forget the gui and go commando ........ i mean command line

Please tell what distro you are most comfortable with and what window managers (fluxbox, icewm, etc) that you want to use?

i got so frustrated that i tired command line. but the realities soon came heavy on me. for browsing i used lynx, and i used nvlc for the media files, man you should have seen the video in command line.. not at all cool.

I use fedora 11 .. i am ready to go with any window manager thats easy on memory and stable.

Thanks

Why not start with a debian netinstall?
It will install a minimal system, then you can add whatever you want.

Kind regards

The thought of installing a minimal system crossed my mind... but i would really like to have the tools at my disposal. Also a parallel system will cost me space. And its a matter of reconfiguring... by the way is difficult??

i would try the fedora-lxde-live and the fedora-xfce-live usb's and see if they are fast enough for you.

else you could look at dsl ?

First of all, I recommend upgrading from Fedora 11 (obsolete) to Fedora 14 (current). You might get a speed boost simply from using a recent kernel.

Second, you should experiment with lightweight desktop environments such as Xfce and LXDE. Both of these are easy to install on your existing system from the Fedora repositories, or you can "start from scratch" with the Fedora LXDE or Xfce "spins." If those are still too "heavy" for your needs, then maybe try fluxbox, openbox, etc.

Third, 512mb of RAM should be plenty... have you considered the possibility it is not lack of RAM that's slowing down your system, but perhaps something else? For example, using the wrong video driver is a common source of slowdown on certain hardware. Another example, some people have slow browsing with certain web browsers on certain websites, and see a big improvement by changing to a different browser. So if you describe the symptoms you're experiencing in more detail, perhaps I can suggest a cure.

A gentoo or lfs would suit your needs. Kind of time consuming but would be fast enough. Also debian or any other source based ought to work with x or lightweight gui.

Why not try one made for your system like slitaz or arch or maybe puppy.

I've tried http://crunchbanglinux.org/ on my old-ish laptop, couldn't be happier. Openbox edition is just what i needed, very slim indeed, and squeeze compatible. Nice touches like preconfigured dropbox, conky and terminator