hello there. I want to try to make (some of) my programs runnable on linux. I'm not really going to actually *use* it, ie., working with it. What I linux noob need is a distro that's easy and quick to install/configure. I have absolutely no time to fiddle around with it for ages, it should install and then be able to run my programs ;) It would be nice if it ran sufficiently well on OLD machines, like, Pentium 166 MMX with 32MB RAM. And, as I want to keep MSDOS on such machines for old games, the linux needs to come with a boot menu. Because hard drive space is not plenty on this old machine, being small would be nice too for the distro. EDIT: If the P166mmx is out of question speed-wise, I also have a P-II 400 MHz with 128 MB RAM. SOoooo..... which can you recommend? [grin] thanks in advance! [Edited by - UnshavenBastard on June 17, 2007 10:01:10 AM]

You could try Damn Small Linux if size if your priority:
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

Ubuntu if you want ease of use:
http://www.ubuntu.com/

Ubuntu which eats lesser resources:
http://www.xubuntu.org/

All of the above are Debian based so you can pretty much quickly
and easily install software using the command line utility:
apt-get.

E.g.

apt-get install firefox

Which downloads + installs firefox for you.

Ubuntu has a gui version of this too.

I recommend the Ubuntu or XUbuntu for the sake of ease of use.

If you want to try a distro without actually installing it, try to find a 'live' disc for it. These are CDs that let you run a disro off the CD. If you like it, they usually have some way of installing to the hard drive.

I use Fedora
http://fedoraproject.org/
Though it may use more resources than you have (I use ~130MB RAM, I think)

It is Red Hat based so you use Yum to install software (I think it can use apt, but I've never tried to)

E.g.
yum install firefox (in the console)
or
use the graphical manager and find firefox

If you want to run linux on a 166 Mhz P1 with 32 Mb RAM you can pretty much forget fancy guis and graphics. You might be able to use some of the more basic windowmanagers, but Gnome and KDE is pretty much out of the picture. You would probably not even be able to install Ubuntu, much less run it.

I might sound a bit negative, but I'm just trying to save you some time and frustration. I have a 300 Mhz laptop with 96 Mb RAM, which I run archlinux on. I use fluxbox as my windowmanager, and I can use firefox as long as I don't open more than 3-4 pages at the same time. With 32 Mb RAM it would be totally unusable.

So what I'm trying to say is that if your programs are text only, you could try Damn Small Linux. If it's graphical program like games, you should try and find a better computer.

well, I could also install it on my P-II 400MHz 128MB RAM. I mentioned the P 166 mmx because I want to test the performance of graphical programs like games which target weaker hardware (ie weaker hand held).
But if these linuxes draw so much CPU themselves, the P2 400 might be just fine :-)

Quote: Original post by UnshavenBastard
well, I could also install it on my P-II 400MHz 128MB RAM. I mentioned the P 166 mmx because I want to test the performance of graphical programs like games which target weaker hardware (ie weaker hand held).
But if these linuxes draw so much CPU themselves, the P2 400 might be just fine :-)

It's not actually linux that takes much resources, it's more all the applications that you run. It's the same with windows really, you wouldn't be able to run WinXP on that computer for example. The most popular linux distros often use either Gnome or KDE, which use far to much memory to be able to run on 32 MB.

But with linux you can choose your graphical environment, and thus you can choose a more memory-friendly window manager. In fact, if you only want to simulate hand held computers, you don't need a windows manager at all. Just start X with only a terminal. That would be enough to start your programs and test them.

My recommendation would be to try Damn Small Linux, since it's goal is to be small and use little memory. It's not a beginner distro though, so prepare to be reading a lot (and learn a lot too!). However, I realized just now that DSL doesn't include a compiler, so you would need to install that yourself. That might not be entirely easy though...

Another option might be Slackware, which include many more packages. Again, not a beginner distro, but you won't find a userfriendly distro that runs on your computer. Slackware is a nice distro if you don't need bleeding edge and aren't afraid of compiling your own packages. But I think it might suit you fine.

Slackware is easy enough to install and configure, if you read the manual. Be prepared to do alot of reading though. But on the plus side you'll learn a lot about linux. As they say: "If you need help with your Linux box, find a Slackware user." [smile]

So, to sum it up: I think you will be best off with Slackware running some small window manager like fluxbox or windowmaker, or even no window manager at all. Anyway, if you have more questions, just ask. I've used linux for many years, and things that might be obvious to me may be confusing to you.

Solaris 10 might be an option. Technically its a unix variant, but what compiles on unix or Solaris should usually compile on a linux machine.

The Solaris 10 Java Desktop system is designed to be an intuitive desktop environment comfortable for people used to WindowsXP. However, you probably wouldn't be able to the Java Desktop system with the limited constraints your first machine has.