Linux Lite: Small distros for old machines
Submitted by srlinuxx on Sat, 05/19/2007 - 18:58.
One of the reasons why one would get Linux is to make use of old hardware. Windows Vista, with all the DRMs built in, is bloated beyond belief, especially with the shiny "Aero" effects. Pretty but useless, like Paris Hilton... Anyways, people who do this had better check the system requirements before they pick a distribution. Ubuntu is the obvious choice for most people, but when that person is stuck on a 400MHz Pentium II laptop with 128MB of RAM, it might not be such a good idea. So, here are some small distributions that get the job done on old systems, too. They might also be good for gamers who want to eke every possible bit of performance out of their machine.
-Ubuntu Lite and Fluxbuntu: Variants on Ubuntu that use IceWM and Fluxbox, respectively, as their desktops. Although these are lighter than their GNOME counterpart, you can still do better- they come with bloated services that slow the system down.
-Zenwalk:
Must we mention Puppy, Damn Small Linux and Austrumi too ?
Yes, we must.
They are the active tiny Linux distros(90 mb or less). New versions are released often. But dram memory is hogged by browsers(256 mb needed).
Even Luit Linux, which is available, but stayed with kernel 2.4.22, Xfce window manager and Dillo(64 mb memory needed), from India.
These are also all livecd, which means you can use them on public computers, when you travel.
Footnote:
Then, there are active midi Linux distros around 200 mb of length. Ubuntu is a standard issue with only Gnome and FireFox of about 700 mb length. We all want the enterprise Linux(about 4 gb length) such as Knoppix and OpenSuse, but they are too buggy because of inter-related code conflicts, and need a training Linux distro, of more simplicity just to learn the terminology or file names involved. How to use Linux, has to be taught; until GUI icons are self explanatory to the degree that you can survive merely clicking mouse buttons(anticrash protected).