[nsx_23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif I suggest Slax Slax: your pocket operating system So wrong! You obviously missed the GNU/Linux vs. UNIX lesson...

I blame my beers last night.

Note to self: Don't browse head-fi whilst drinking

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsx_23 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I blame my beers last night. Note to self: Don't browse head-fi whilst drinking

Cheers!

 

[Fitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MCC /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've also heard mention of Arch linux before on low-power machines but I've never tried it.

I wouldn't really recommend Arch for a beginner... the initial install is very barebones and requires some previous knowledge of setting up a Linux system.

 

[Pepsione1]

I am going to download Linux Mint and try that since you guys recommended it for my slow machine.

 

[vagarach]

Hi Pepsione1...I'd just like to say, that although linux mint is great and all, easy to use, etc, it might not be so hot with only 128MB RAM. I once tried out Ubuntu 5.something on a PIII 450Mhz with 192MB RAM, and it worked quite well, but just a tad sluggishly.

I saw the PIII in your spec but not the RAM, and although most distributions of linux aren't overly bloated, they are modern OS's and are best used on say, < 4-5 year old hardware.

I think in lieu of Linux Mint you should instead look at the suggestions made by the other head-fiers for lightweight distros--DSL, xubuntu (a lot of the sluggishness you may experience will be from kde or gnome rather than the OS underneath).

 

[MrSlim]

While you're at it, checkout Zenwalk Linux :www.zenwalk.org - Ever tried zen computing?
It runs very well on older hardware, and includes all the basics, including Gnumetric (excel clone) and Abiword (a very good word processor without the bloat of Open office)

 

[Pepsione1]

Nothing can be worse then Windows XP that's loaded on this right now. I don't know who in their right mind wasted the effort of installing something so unsuitable. I will get rid of it and put something else on it so it's usable again.

So what's easier to learn? xubuntu or Mint? Mint really that much of a resource hog compared to xbutunu?

 

[XXII]

I recommend Puppy linux as well either on a USB key or on the hard drive. Just get the version with OpenOffice installed. The hardest thing IMO about getting a linux distro running is always the network; are you using wireless? If so it might be wise to check if your brand is easy to set up.

 

[Ech0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fitz /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wouldn't really recommend Arch for a beginner... the initial install is very barebones and requires some previous knowledge of setting up a Linux system.

x2 on this. Arch would be ideal but you have to know your hardware and be ready to use the command line, imo.

I still wonder about one of the *buntus which won't be all that lightweight of an install. I would choose *buntus over mint for support. Forums are newb friendly and fairly good documentation. The forums are important as you'll probably frequent them a lot at the beginning.

An off topic plug for ArchLinux. It's worth looking at once you get some experience. I was a distro hopper big time until I landed on arch a few years back. It stays out of your road and lets you do your work. No dependancy hell would be the biggest attraction.

 

[EnOYiN]

DSL would be the way to go in my opinion. Linux mint might be easier (if your wireless card works right away), but I think that Mint might be a little too heavy for your system.

 

[yuckymucky]

Xubuntu will run fine on the machine and you can use the install disk with no issues. I have it running on an old p3 700mhz with 128mb ram and it runs pretty decent. The machine just sits now but we had it running some scripts a few weeks ago. OpenOffice is going to be very sluggish with only 128 though, maybe check out Abiword.

 

[Pepsione1]

I have a DLink USB wireless stick for the laptop right now. DLW G122 and currenty the DLink site says there's no Linux driver for it. Am I out of luck?

 

[vagarach]

This wifi usb stick is a common model, and it does appear that there is a driver for it under the rt2x00 project (their goal is to support wifi on all devices based on a handful of wireless chips, of which your dlink is one).

Give the ubuntu live cd a try and see if it works!

 

[Pepsione1]

I just tried running xubuntu off the cd and it failed. It got to the desktop and and froze. The desktop was not displayed correctly. Last third of the desktop was overrunning to the first third on my screen.

Any suggestions? The check sum of the ISO I downloaded is good and it's doing the memory test.

Will this be fixed if I install it to the harddisk first?

 

[Pepsione1]

I tried installing it last night but it kept freezing. I didn't get as far to getting prompts for action after the install option was selected. What's going on?