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Re: [Wlug] Another distro Question

by Brian Waite

----- Original Message ----- From: Martin, Eric <martine(a)worc.k12.ma.us> Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 09:04:51 -0400 Subject: [Wlug] Another distro Question To: Worcester Linux Users Group <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> I'm teaching a Beginners Linux course in a few weeks for Nitelife with the Worc Pub Schools. I was almost ready to go with Fedora, but I don't think that has what I'm looking for. I want something easy for people to pickup, and I don't think RPMs don't give you the linux feel. I'm going to start out w/Knoppix, but I also want to get into a disk install. I've only used Gentoo, RHAT, and Knoppix. A friend mentioned SuSe, but I've never used it. Very open to suggestions, I want as people to enjoy this class, not think that linux is out of their grasp. So, the question is what distro would people recommend for beginners aside from Knoppix? Eric, Are you familair with the Knoppix hdinstall? It is not 100% perfect yet, but sometimes that the linux feel :). As it is using debain as its under pinnings, you can then show them how to migrate from knoppix to the debain stable/unstable repoistories and update their systems. If you are looking ofr more of a windows based installers where you answer some questions, install and don't touch it again, then they are all toss-ups. Why don't you think RPMS give you the Linux feel? If you are loking for the barebones to the metal feel go with Gentoo, but this I think will scare general users. Thanks Brian

Aug. 17, 2004

RE: [Wlug] Another distro Question

by JONATHAN BEALL

Aug. 17, 2004

Another distro Question

by Martin, Eric

I'm teaching a Beginners Linux course in a few weeks for Nitelife with the Worc Pub Schools. I was almost ready to go with Fedora, but I don't think that has what I'm looking for. I want something easy for people to pickup, and I don't think RPMs don't give you the linux feel. I'm going to start out w/Knoppix, but I also want to get into a disk install. I've only used Gentoo, RHAT, and Knoppix. A friend mentioned SuSe, but I've never used it. Very open to suggestions, I want as people to enjoy this class, not think that linux is out of their grasp. So, the question is what distro would people recommend for beginners aside from Knoppix? Eric

Aug. 17, 2004

Re: [Wlug] Linux distro for older hardware

by JONATHAN BEALL

Aug. 17, 2004

Re: [Wlug] Linux distro for older hardware

by Brian Waite

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 07:40:37 -0400, Joel Desrochers <joelgroup(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > I second the vote for Slackware. > Text based install and overall performance make it my favorite for older > hardware. > Unfortunately I prefer 128 MB RAM minimum for console only and around 256MB > for X. > Memory is cheap though. > > I am still quite happy with my P300/384MB RAM with Slack. > Before Slackware, I toyed with a few minimalist distros (Peanut and Grey Cat > Linux but found most of them lacking in either reliability or application > packages/support). > > Two other tips on trying Linux and picking a distributionto try: > 1) Don't rule out Knoppix, the popular CD-ROM bootable distro. You can use > it on another box (possibly your current Windows 9X or XP) without modifying > anything on the hard disk. Also makes a great PC diagnostic tool. > http://www.knoppix.com/ > I am a huge fan of knoppix. I have used it since version 3.0. I find it is the most effective to test a system for hw support. The amazing thing is I run it on 2 laptops and most , if not all, the suspend/freq scaling works well out of the box. I usually do a hard drive install after I am happy with the functionality and it works great. > 2) Consider reading up on the many distros on one of the many websites that > list information. I would also consider debian. (knoppix is based on deb). The number of "requred" packages is very small with a huge set of optional packages. ou should be able to build a nice system even with lower horsepower. The nice thing about deb also is it gives you a very nice package install and dependency tracking system with apt. Nothing against Slack and its tar.gz but deb packages are really nice because they help with dependencices. Thanks Brian

Aug. 17, 2004

Linux distro for older hardware

by Joel Desrochers

I second the vote for Slackware. Text based install and overall performance make it my favorite for older hardware. Unfortunately I prefer 128 MB RAM minimum for console only and around 256MB for X. Memory is cheap though. I am still quite happy with my P300/384MB RAM with Slack. Before Slackware, I toyed with a few minimalist distros (Peanut and Grey Cat Linux but found most of them lacking in either reliability or application packages/support). Two other tips on trying Linux and picking a distributionto try: 1) Don't rule out Knoppix, the popular CD-ROM bootable distro. You can use it on another box (possibly your current Windows 9X or XP) without modifying anything on the hard disk. Also makes a great PC diagnostic tool. http://www.knoppix.com/ 2) Consider reading up on the many distros on one of the many websites that list information. These are my two favorites and I am sure there are many more. http://www.linux.org/dist/index.html http://www.distrowatch.com Joel _________________________________________________________________ Dont just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/

Aug. 17, 2004

Re: [Wlug] linux for older computers

by Mike Leo

well, if you want to go crazy sure...or try http://lfs-mirror.tpegg.org/lfs/news.html if you REALLY want to learn linux, and not just use linux! I am in the begining stages of lfs myself...plan on learning more than I thought possible --- Adam Keck <ghostis(a)mac.com> wrote: > Or you could roll your own distro: > > http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-lwl1/ > > I did this with moderate success last Memorial Day > break for a 486 > laptop with 16mb of RAM and a 540 MB hard-drive. > Very fun. Requires a > second Linux machine of acceptable speed to compile > on and some sort of > working bootable removable media on the target > machine. In my case I > used the 1.44mb floppy. For easy of compiling, if > you are not > comfortable with building your own tool chain, I > recommend using an > older version of uclibc which builds gcc wrappers > for you. > > > -Adam > > On Aug 15, 2004, at 8:31 AM, Andrew Perry wrote: > > > > > Hi everyone. I have some older computers, > > the newest of the bunch being Celeron-566 MHz-64 > MB > > RAM, the oldest a 486-25 MHz- maybe 16 MB RAM > > and wonder if anyone could either > > > > a) recommend linux distributions for them > > or > > b) point me to a site with minimum hardware > > requirements for linux distributions > > > > Primarily my goal is to learn more about linux. > > I would prefer something sold for a nominal cost > on > > CD's. > > > > Cheapbytes.com sells Pink Tie 7.3,Mandrake 8.2, > > Debian 2.2 and some others for around $1 only, > > but offer no guidance as to the hardware > requirements. > > > > Thanks, > > Andrew > > > > ===== > > -Dr. Andrew B. Perry > > Assistant Prof. of Mathematics, Springfield > College > > 263 Alden St., Springfield MA 01109 > > _______________________________________________ > > Wlug mailing list > > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail

Aug. 16, 2004

Re: [Wlug] linux for older computers

by Adam Keck

Or you could roll your own distro: http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-lwl1/ I did this with moderate success last Memorial Day break for a 486 laptop with 16mb of RAM and a 540 MB hard-drive. Very fun. Requires a second Linux machine of acceptable speed to compile on and some sort of working bootable removable media on the target machine. In my case I used the 1.44mb floppy. For easy of compiling, if you are not comfortable with building your own tool chain, I recommend using an older version of uclibc which builds gcc wrappers for you. -Adam On Aug 15, 2004, at 8:31 AM, Andrew Perry wrote: > > Hi everyone. I have some older computers, > the newest of the bunch being Celeron-566 MHz-64 MB > RAM, the oldest a 486-25 MHz- maybe 16 MB RAM > and wonder if anyone could either > > a) recommend linux distributions for them > or > b) point me to a site with minimum hardware > requirements for linux distributions > > Primarily my goal is to learn more about linux. > I would prefer something sold for a nominal cost on > CD's. > > Cheapbytes.com sells Pink Tie 7.3,Mandrake 8.2, > Debian 2.2 and some others for around $1 only, > but offer no guidance as to the hardware requirements. > > Thanks, > Andrew > > ===== > -Dr. Andrew B. Perry > Assistant Prof. of Mathematics, Springfield College > 263 Alden St., Springfield MA 01109 > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

Aug. 15, 2004

Re: [Wlug] linux for older computers

by Andrew Robert

I was wondering if you had considered Knoppix? It can be run from the CD or be installed on the hard drive. Requirements for this are pretty small. i486+ processor 16MB RAM (text mode) 96MB RAM (graphics mode) Bootable CD-ROM Standard SVGA graphics card PS2 or USB mouse You can read up more on Knoppix at http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html . Thank you, Andrew Robert Systems Architect TS&S Infrastructure Support - OpenVMS Massachusetts Financial Services Phone: (617) 954-5882 Pager: (781) 764-7321

Aug. 15, 2004

Re: [Wlug] linux for older computers

by Jeff Kinz

On Sun, Aug 15, 2004 at 05:31:28AM -0700, Andrew Perry wrote: > > Hi everyone. I have some older computers, > the newest of the bunch being Celeron-566 MHz-64 MB > RAM, the oldest a 486-25 MHz- maybe 16 MB RAM > and wonder if anyone could either > > a) recommend linux distributions for them > or > b) point me to a site with minimum hardware > requirements for linux distributions > > Primarily my goal is to learn more about linux. > I would prefer something sold for a nominal cost on > CD's. The RULE project produces a redhat based distro re-configured for use with "smaller hardware" configurations. Its here: http://www.rule-project.org/ -- Linux/Open Source. Now all your base belongs to you, for free. ============================================================ Idealism: "Realism applied over a longer time period" Jeff Kinz, Emergent Research, Hudson, MA.

Aug. 15, 2004