Is there a Linux package for old junk PC's?

Dinkas · 28 Jul 2009 at 23:56

The old PC in question is some HP relic with 256MB RAM, 8-10yr old Intel chipset, 900MHz Celeron.

I was looking for something Kiosk-style like xPUD (which I would've used, but it has a min. 384MB RAM requirement) just for a very simple web machine and music player.

Any recommendations?

manic111 · 29 Jul 2009 at 01:20

It might be completely wrong (and I know that it's optimised for netbooks), but have a look at Moblin. It's the only other kiosk style OS that I can think of and like I say it may not be what you're after, but it's something to look at at least!

xPUD looks cool, going to have a play in a VM!

Dinkas · 29 Jul 2009 at 09:28

Unfortunately Moblin seems to require a modern CPU according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moblin

I'm going to try and find some cheap SDRam and maybe give xPUD a bash

zinc · 29 Jul 2009 at 09:33

Yea give moblin a go the interface is nice. They have a Live CD so you cam give it a test drive before commiting to a full install. Although I could never get the live CD to work for me it give me errors when it started to load on two of my computers. I'll give it another go tomorrow to see if I can get it running and report back.

edit - Nvm yea you need a recent hardware. I wonder why it doesn't work on my computers though they are very recent with intel chipsets

gbradders123 · 29 Jul 2009 at 13:10

xbuntu should run.

queen13 · 29 Jul 2009 at 23:10

It's linux after all. If it can run on my router, access point or mobile phone, it will also run on your laptop.

If you want something lightweight, try enlightenment or xfce.

PermaBanned · 29 Jul 2009 at 23:19

DSL, Puppy, Feather and Arch are all great choices for bringing new life into old PCs.

Biffa · 30 Jul 2009 at 21:15

Puppy looks great, really like it.

manic111 · 31 Jul 2009 at 01:33

Biffa said:
Puppy looks great, really like it.

Yea, it's a really nice little distro; I keep a copy on a memory stick to retrieve files through if my HDD ever goes down, but had it installed for a while on my Eee and it was a pleasure to use!

Simian · 4 Aug 2009 at 13:31

Tried Puppy on a clunky old Compaq Presario 705EA Laptop (AMD4 1Gb, 256Mb RAM, 16Mb Shared GFX). it ran okay but I though I'd put Xubuntu on it as a test (puppy is quick to install if it don't).. Worked like a charm!.. even found my basic Wi-Fi card..

Very Happy!

brendan · 5 Aug 2009 at 08:13

moblin requires an Intel atom. Your pretty much stuffed without one, because all packages are compiled in i686 with all extensions from atoms. On core2s it works too but thats about it.

Try puppy, Damn small linux or arch if you are braver.

.walls · 5 Aug 2009 at 10:31

brendan said:
moblin requires an Intel atom. Your pretty much stuffed without one, because all packages are compiled in i686 with all extensions from atoms. On core2s it works too but thats about it.

Try puppy, Damn small linux or arch if you are braver.

Arch is compiled for i686 as well - so it may not be suitable as OP hasn't stated what processor is in it other than "900MHz Celeron".

brendan · 5 Aug 2009 at 12:44

.walls said:
Arch is compiled for i686 as well - so it may not be suitable as OP hasn't stated what processor is in it other than "900MHz Celeron".

thats a very good point. I forgot :-(

well i guess Gentoo it is then ;-)