Linux on old laptop - still trying...

[Ben Scott]

On 6/6/06, Tech Writer <TechWtr at handspun.com> wrote:
> As a side note...  I have been a little surprised at how much disk and
> memory I need for a reasonable flavor of Linux.

  Most Linux distributions tend to keep pace with technology.
Unfortunately, that means their system requirements have risen almost
as fast as those of Micorosoft Windows.  Red Hat says 256 MB RAM and
800 MB disk space are the *minimums* for their current distribution.
It used to be you install a working Red Hat system in less than 100 MB
of disk.  Even Debian, famous for it's flexibility and light
requirements, will just barely be satisfied by your hardware (32 MB
RAM minimum).

  I think others are correct in that the right path is to look for a
distribution tailored for older hardware.  All the "modern",
general-purpose distributions are going to be targeting bigger iron
than what you have.  In particular, that link Bill Ricker posted to
linux.com looked promising.

-- Ben