spec me a very lightweigh OS

wesley

wesley

wesley

Soldato
Joined
29 Jul 2003
Posts
7,700
Hi guys

got a spare PC, it's fairly old one, decided to use it for downloading box only,control it via network (remote desktop connection).

so i need a lightweight OS, a wee list of must have :

1) easy to install/config the OS
2) bit torrent and usenet client software
3) RDC "ready" for me to access the box

that it :)

i've tried the latest Ubuntu, found it to be slow and got too many stuff i dont really needed.

thanks :)
 
Try plain 'ol Debian. Apt-get ssh, vnc, and any other software you need.

You might want to try torrentflux as well.

EDIT: What's the spec of the machine? If it's i686 or better Arch might be a faster choice.
 
Arch. Faster than a scalded cat, as everything is compiled for more modern machines, and you build it up from the kernel with whatever packages you want, so it's uber light too.

This thread can be closed now.
 
Nah- Arch is all you need- honestly. All flavours of Ubuntu are way too heavy IMO. Arch is slightly harder to configure than Xubuntu though.

Looking at your machine spec, my old PC was like that, and Arch absolutely flew on it- Ubuntu was OK but noticably slower.
 
Arch will be faster, but Debian will be easier. Take your pick.

Xubuntu has all the same unnecessary software as Ubuntu but with a more lightweight window manager. Frankly I don't think you even need a window manager. Torrentflux would give you a web interface and ssh would let you do anyting you needed to do remotely.
 
I don't know squat about Usenet so I can't really help there. NFS should be present in most every distro. Samba is an apt-get away in Debian. I'm sure it's available for Arch as well.
 
i'm on Xubuntu LIVE now, am having problem with installing, while scanning disks, stopped at 46% for more than 10 mins. no idea what's up. i've formatted the disk with paritionmagic.

gonna try Arch now
 
It is easy! Gah it took me about 1 hr to get Arch + Gnome working... Just look on the 'net for a tutorial or something or go install Windows :p
 
If you really don't want to install Arch or Debian for any reason, you could always try FluxBuntu, which is Ubuntu but with the FluxBox wm and small footprint apps. It's designed for slower/older hardware and is even faster than Xubuntu, though a more modern (i686) arch version is available too iirc.

Failing that, if you want easy but with control over exactly which wm and apps you do/don't get, I'd install Fedora 7 and hand-pick the apps when installing. That way you don't need to install a whole load of default gunk, and have only the apps and config tools you want and need. Could say the same for Arch though, and Arch would be quicker still ;)
 
How about installing Ubuntu Server then X11 and fluxbox? It'd strip out all the office, media, and productivity apps that you'll never use and leave you with a blank slate with a GUI that you could fill with the apps of your choice. It's what I do with my Myth boxes.
 
Damn Small Linux. for a fast small gui.

Your hardware is hardly old. Linux will fly on that. Personally I'd install a Debian server, and apt-get install anything I need.
 
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