Spec me a flavour of linux

Immortal

Immortal

Immortal

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Well Im being given a old laptop,and wanted to try the darkside :p


The specs of the machine are nothing special.

233mhz - 96mb ram :( PS think the hard drive is about 2Gb:o:(:

Again may have a spare floating about somewhere:)


Possibly have some laptop ram laying around-but given the above what would you reccomend-if anything for a linux n00b?


Look forward to some replies
 
riddlermarc said:
lol, one step at a time :p
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Installing gentoo is one step, just a very big one.

I recon something like arch would be good. Not gentoo because you don't want to be compiling for ages on it. But with arch you can build a nice minimal system.
 
riven said:
Installing gentoo is one step, just a very big one.

I recon something like arch would be good. Not gentoo because you don't want to be compiling for ages on it. But with arch you can build a nice minimal system.
Click to expand...
You could argue it both ways.. the compile will be better suited than a binary that was compiled on a probably better machine.. if you can find the binaries for your (generic your) processor.
 
Dj_Jestar said:
You could argue it both ways.. the compile will be better suited than a binary that was compiled on a probably better machine.. if you can find the binaries for your (generic your) processor.
Click to expand...


canu you explain that in laymans terms-or for n00bs! :D
 
Compiling the software will build the application to your machines specs (or rather, it should) as it will use your systems environment variables and specs to to fine tune the various components. Where as installing a pre-compiled binary doesn't do this, but saves you many hours not having to compile the software.
 
ahhhh!

Think I may give linux a miss on this lappy then!


Have got arch and xbuntu downloaded-unsure wether to try them or not! :confused:
 
Immortal said:
okey dokey-and when it comes to wireless-im assuming manufacturers websites for linux support?
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If you're lucky. :(

If your manufacturer doesn't make Linux drivers NdisWrapper might be able to help you run the Windows drivers in emulation/compatibility. There's also a chance that the distro will already recognize your card but the chances of that diminish with these lightweight distros.

Let's just jump that hurdle when we get to it. Install first and see how it runs. :)
 
Dj_Jestar said:
You could argue it both ways.. the compile will be better suited than a binary that was compiled on a probably better machine.. if you can find the binaries for your (generic your) processor.
Click to expand...

Yeah but i386 bins will be fine for his hardware. Also optimizations mean bigger bins which means more ram usage (assuming not using Os in which case it isnt optimised for a specific computer much anyway). I use gentoo on my T22, but thats an 800MHz PIII with 256mb ram.
 
Post your wireless manufacturer and model here and I will find out how well supported it is in Linux. Atheros and Ralink based chip sets are the best.

Companies like Belkin and Linksys don't make the chips on the card itself.. they buy them from other companies like Ralink and Atheros and other wireless chip set manufacturers.
 
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